Anger and recrimination: Russian newspapers yesterday reflected the national mood of grief for the people of Beslan tinged with anger at the government and security forces for the huge loss of life there.
Here's what some of the media said:
Let us stand shoulder to shoulder and ask forgiveness of those children whom neither we nor the government we elected could protect. - Izvestiya
What are we paying the intelligence services for, if they are not able to disrupt the plans of terrorists? Does this President, who came to power riding a wave of terrorist attacks, understand that this new wave might not just sink his popularity but also create a threat to the very existence of Russia? - Vedomosti
They're lying to us all the time. They lie that the situation is under control. They lie that our special forces are the most effective and professional. And when these "effective" and "professional" special forces doze through the latest act of terror, they start lying so much it makes your head spin. The last five terrorist attacks have been one long uninterrupted stream of lies. - Moskovskiy Komsomolets
We know for certain that in Beslan two or three dozen terrorists dealt a huge political and psychological blow to a great country, a blow which could lead to inter-ethnic warfare and total destabilisation of the whole region. Our military, secret services and law enforcement agencies are ineffective, unprofessional, demoralised, and thoroughly corrupt. Only breathtaking incompetence and lack of readiness could explain the nearly 10 hours of fighting in Beslan. - Novaya Gazeta
Where is the clearly formulated policy on Chechnya to bring the endless slaughter to an end? How are the latest terrorist attacks linked with the process of peaceful settlement in Chechnya? - Vedomosti
The Russian authorities were insisting firmly that the terrorists in Beslan were international. Why? Because it then appears the children died not because the war in Chechnya has been going on for 10 years, but because Russia has been attacked by international terrorism... - Kommersant
BBC Monitoring