What Russians think two years after Beslan

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MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti political commentator Andrei Kolesnikov) - In the past two years, the Russians' attitude to the tragic school siege in Beslan in September 2004 has remained practically unchanged.

A recent public opinion poll conducted by the Levada Center shows that half of all respondents still believe that they were told only part of the truth. But there is a significant nuance - many more respondents cannot decide now whether they are satisfied with the official reaction to the events or not.

In 2004, a mere 5% of the Russians found it difficult to assess the actions of the authorities as successful, whereas now the relevant figure is 12%. People do not know whether to believe the authorities or not. Nor do they know whom to believe. Conclusions of various commissions and law-enforcement bodies do not add any new information about the events, which makes the knot of problems even more complicated. In order to be able to discuss who is to blame, we have to know the answer to the main question: who provoked the fatal explosions in the gym, where the bulk of the hostages were kept and, consequently, the assault?

A substantial part of respondents - 33% -- believes the terrorists blasted the school because this had been their intention from the very start. This view testifies to a certain reserved trust in the authorities, or rather to timid attempts to overcome mistrust. The All-Russia Public Opinion Research Center (VTsIOM) indirectly confirms this conclusion. Many respondents think that today the situation is safer, and give credit for this improvement to the security agencies. Moreover, after the hostage-taking crisis during the Nord-Ost musical in the autumn of 2002, many still had illusions about the terrorists' motives, whereas Beslan discredited the Chechen "resistance fighters" once and for all.

Nevertheless, 18% of those polled by the Levada Center, believe that massive casualties could have been caused by the non-professional, erroneous actions of the security agencies during the assault, while 6% think the culmination of the Beslan drama was provoked by the security agencies.

In any event, the absolute majority of Russians - 52% - have a negative opinion of the authorities' actions during the hostage rescue operation. They are joined by another 8%, who are convinced that the public has been misled deliberately.

To sum up: 30% blame the authorities, 50% are not sure they have been told the truth, and 9% have no answer. This adds up to almost 90% of those who call the information they have received in question.

A rally of human rights activists was dispersed fiercely against this background at the Solovets Stone in downtown Moscow during the second Beslan anniversary. The municipal authorities did not allow it because of the City Day festivities. This is exactly the kind of approach that compels the public to call into doubt the official interpretation of the events.

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