Two large-scale hostage takings , the 2002 Moscow theater hostage crisis and the 2004 Beslan school siege , resulted in the deaths of multiple civilians . In the Moscow stand-off , FSB Spetsnaz forces stormed the building on the third day using an unknown incapacitating chemical agent that proved to be lethal without sufficient medical care , resulting in deaths of 133 out of 916 hostages . In Beslan , some 20 hostages had been executed by their captors before the assault , and the ill-prepared assault itself ( started hastily after explosions in the gym that had been rigged with explosives by the terrorists ) resulted in 294 more casualties among the 1128 hostages , as well as heavy losses among the special forces
Moscow theater hostage crisis
Moscow theater hostage crisis
Second Chechen War