On October 26, Russia is remembering 130 victims of a dreadful terrorist act at the musical Nord-Ost ten years ago. 

       There were three shocking days in 2002, when an armed terrorist group seized an arts center on Moscow's Dubrovka Street during the show, taking about 900 people hostages, 75 foreigners among them. The group was split into several smaller groups and placed in the different parts of the concert hall. Two huge bombs were placed in the middle of the hall, while women wearing explosive belts spread themselves among the hostages.

       Russia's security forces made several attempts to hold negotiations, but most of them bore no result. Still around 50 hostages, most of them children, were set free. Up to a dozen people also managed to run for freedom, escaping through windows.Security forces were hesitating to storm the building because of terrorists scattered among the hostages. Only on a fourth day, they started an assault operation, pumping a noxious gas into the air system of the concert hall. The gas knocked out everyone in the building and allowed the Russian troops enter.

      The terror act, brought to an end on the morning of October 26, resulted in 130 deaths, 10 children among them. The most hostages died in hospitals after being released. The main probable reason for such massive death is a poisonous gas, though its name or content has never been released, with officials saying it is a state secret. Even medics treating the hostages were reported not to have been told what substance their patients had been inhaling.

      Officials denied any allegations and the court did not find that the Russian authorities’ decision to use the gas contradicted the right to life. So the truth about the one of the darkest pages in Russia's modern history still remains undiscovered.