The seizure of a hospital in Budennovsk in 1995 became the largest terrorist attack in the world. Almost 2,000 civilians were taken hostage, including children, women, old people... They died from bullets and shrapnel, and went crazy with fear. The result is 129 dead, 415 wounded. For the first time, terrorists put forward political demands and for the first time, our state conceded. The author, an officer of the Alpha special forces and a participant in those events, conducted his own investigation. He met with hostages, operatives and militants. It turned out that there was a plan to avoid a tragic outcome. Why was a different path chosen and who is responsible for the tragedy of Budennovsk? The answers are on the pages of this book.