In the early morning of September 1, 2004, a detachment of 31 men and two women set out from a grove on one of the hills of the Sunzhenskaya ridge. Came out to commit the bloodiest act of terror since the September 11 tragedy in New York. These people seized school No. 1 in Beslan and killed 344 people. Russian officials did their best to slow down the flow of information about the events. The Soviet-era art of disinformation has blossomed in full bloom. The same information that was brought to the public by the prosecutor's office, special services, army and police officials reflected, first of all, the desire to hide their own mistakes from prying eyes. The magazine Der Spiegel made an attempt to restore the chronology of these events, including their background. This is how the chronicle of the bloody crime in Beslan arose. It tells the story of what happened in those first days of September 2004 in the North Caucasus, a region that should be considered one of the most acute crises shaking the world today.