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Reference News reported on August 21Russian President Vladimir Putin compared Ukraine's invasion of Russia to the 2004 Beslan hostage crisis, in which more than 330 people died, AFP reported on August 20.

It was Putin's first visit to the school in nearly 20 years, and he paid tribute to the victims at a memorial service that included a cemetery and the site of the destroyed school, where Chechen militants had held more than 1,000 hostages.

Putin met with mothers who lost children in the hostage situation and said Russia's enemies were once again trying to destabilize the country, referring to Ukraine.

"Just as we fought against terrorists, today we must fight against those who committed crimes in the Kursk region," Putin said, referring to Ukraine's cross-border offensive that began two weeks ago.

Putin added: "But just as we achieved our goals in the fight against terrorists, we will also achieve our goals in this direction in the fight against neo-Nazis." Opposite him sat three members of the Beslan Mothers' Committee.

"We will punish the criminals, there is no doubt about that," he said.

According to the Russian Satellite News Agency, Putin came to the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania on the 20th and visited the "City of Angels" Memorial Hall, where 266 victims of the terrorist attack on the Beslan No. 1 Middle School in 2004 were buried. Putin also laid flowers at the monument at the former site of the Beslan School Gymnasium and communicated with the mothers of the victims of the terrorist attack.

The report mentioned that on September 1, 2004, a terrorist attack occurred at the No. 1 Middle School in Beslan, killing 334 people, including 318 hostages, and 186 of the dead hostages were children. The terrorists drove more than 1,000 hostages to the school gymnasium and forcibly detained them for three days without water or food. (Compiled by Hu Guanghe)