BESLAN

It is 4 years since Beslan. Spoke on the phone with one of the mothers. As they have done every year since the tragedy, they have spent the last 3 days in the charcoaled walls of what used to be the school gym, without food or water, as they and their children did in 2004. Back then she was there, in the school, with her two sons. One of the sons died. He was 4 years old. Her other son survived, was wounded and now needs yet another operation. His eardrums burst during the explosion and there is now a lump that needs to be removed. The authorities, who are suppose to pay for it, asked for a ridiculous amount of paperwork and now that she provided it there is no response. She told me today something we have already discussed before. She wants to leave Russia. For the sake of her boy, her only son left.