Beslan, Russia

Beslan

Beslan is a city in the Republic of North Ossetia - Alania. The administrative center of the Pravoberezhny district. The city is located 494 meters above sea level, on the right bank of the Terek River, 14 km north of the city of Vladikavkaz and 18 km west of the city of Nazran.

Beslan is an important railway junction located on the Rostov-on-Don-Baku branch and is the starting point of the branch leading to Vladikavkaz.

Population - 37,371 people. (2020). Beslan is the third largest city in North Ossetia after Vladikavkaz (303,597) and Mozdok (42,039). The area of ​​the city of Beslan is 23.17 km².

 

Etymology

It was founded in 1847 and was originally named Beslanikau - "the village of Beslan", after the local feudal lord Beslan Tulatov. In official use, the name was fixed by surname - Tulatovo or Tulatovskoe. In 1941, the village was renamed Iriston (literally - "Ossetian", from the corresponding ethnonym), and in 1950, when the village was transformed into a city, it was renamed Beslan.

 

History

It was founded in 1847 by immigrants from other regions of Ossetia and named Beslanikau - "the village of Beslan", after the local feudal lord - Beslan Tulatov. But in official use, the name was fixed by his last name - Tulatovo or Tulatovskoe.

By the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR dated April 26, 1941, the village of Tulatovo was renamed Iriston, which in translation from Ossetian means “Ossetia”. And in 1950, upon acquiring the status of a city, in Beslan. The city's buildings are based on two-story or three-story houses of the 1940-1950s.

On September 15-16, 1961, street riots took place in the city, in which 700 people participated. The riot arose from an attempt by the police to detain five people. Armed resistance was shown to the guards of order. One person is killed. Seven are put on trial.

Beslan gained notorious worldwide fame in connection with the terrorist attack in city school No. 1 in 2004.

 

Terrorist attack in Beslan

On September 1, 2004, school No. 1 in Beslan was seized by terrorists, 1128 children and adults were taken hostage. The terrorist attack killed 333 people, including 186 children. More than 1000 people turned to medical institutions for help. During the operation to free the hostages on September 3, 2004, ten soldiers of the FSB Special Forces Center were killed. Department "A" ("Alpha") lost three people, and Department "B" ("Pennant") - seven.

The terrorist act in Beslan was the latest in a series of terrorist attacks in the spring and summer of 2004, for which, according to the France Presse agency, referring to the Kavkaz Center website, the Chechen terrorist Shamil Basayev (assassination of Chechen President Akhmat Kadyrov on May 9, 2004, a raid on Ingushetia on the night of June 21-22, 2004, as well as an attack on Grozny, explosions of two passenger planes and a terrorist attack near the Rizhskaya metro station in Moscow in August 2004).

After the terrorist attack, Russian President Vladimir Putin on September 13, 2004 announced the adoption of a number of measures aimed at improving the socio-economic situation in the Southern Federal District of Russia, toughening the fight against terrorism and strengthening state power in the country. In particular, Putin came up with an initiative to abolish direct elections of top officials of the subjects of the Federation, proposing to confirm them in office by decisions of the legislative bodies at the suggestion of the President. After speaking on television, Putin linked his initiative to the Beslan tragedy. A bill to abolish direct gubernatorial elections was developed and adopted in December 2004.