A security cordon was soon established around the school , consisting of the Russian police ( '' militsiya '' ) , Internal Troops , and Russian Army forces ; Spetsnaz , including the elite '' Alpha '' and '' Vympel '' units of the Russian Federal Security Service ( FSB ) ; and the OMON special units of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs ( MVD ) . A line of three apartment buildings facing the school gym was evacuated and taken over by the special forces . The perimeter they made was within of the school , inside the range of the militants ' grenade launchers . No fire-fighting equipment was in position and , despite the previous experiences of the 2002 Moscow theater hostage crisis , there were few ambulances ready . The chaos was worsened by the presence of Ossetian volunteer militiamen ( '' opolchentsy '' ) and armed civilians among the crowds of relatives who had gathered at the scene ; there were perhaps as many as 5,000 of them
Moscow theater hostage crisis
Moscow theater hostage crisis
Beslan school siege