Initial Attack
Basayev's men crossed into Stavropol Krai concealed in a column of military trucks. At about noon of June 14 they stormed the main police station and the city hall, where they raised Chechen flags over government offices.
After several hours, in the face of Russian reinforcements, the Chechens retreated to the residential district and regrouped in the city hospital. There they took hostage between 1,500 and 1,800 people (some estimates reaching as high as 2,000 or even 2,500), most of them civilians (including about 150 children and a number of women with newborn infants).
Read more about this topic: Budyonnovsk Hospital Hostage Crisis
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