On October 25, 2002 (September 20, 2002 in the lunar calendar), the Moscow hostage case shocked the world. The Moscow hostage-taking case has lasted for more than 20 hours, but so far the situation has not changed: more than 40 terrorists refused to negotiate with Russian government entities after making political demands to end the war in Chechnya; under the threat of terrorists preparing to take extreme measures, the health of more than 500 hostages has deteriorated sharply. A hostage called the TV station and said that the psychological endurance of terrorists and hostages is weakening, and all kinds of unexpected situations may happen at any time. On the evening of the 23rd, it was raining and snowing in Moscow, but the atmosphere in the Cultural Palace on Melnikov Street in the southeastern district of the city was warm. The musical "Mistral Wind" is being staged here. This is a comedy that Russian audiences love very much. The second act begins when suddenly dozens of armed men in face masks and camouflage uniforms break into the hall, firing guns at the ceiling and shouting loudly. Some viewers initially thought it was a scene specially designed by the director for the plot, but people soon woke up: the happy time is over, and everyone has been held hostage by illegal militants. According to the audience who later escaped, the group of militants numbered 40 to 50, including a dozen women. They looked like ethnic minorities in the Caucasus region, and they spoke their own languages to each other. The militants threatened the audience with Kalashnikov rifles and bombs in their hands to sit in their seats and not move, while the actors were driven backstage. The militants loudly declared that their purpose of this terrorist incident was to stop the war in Chechnya by the Russian authorities. The Palace of Culture on Melnikov Street belongs to the Moscow Bearing Factory. It is reported that the theater can hold 1,163 spectators. There are different opinions on how many people were in the theater at the time of the terrorist incident. Some say there are more than 700 unique viewers, while others say that there are more than 1,000 unique viewers. Russia's powerful departments responded immediately to the terrorist incident. Thousands of special forces soldiers surrounded the Palace of Culture building, and dozens of ambulances and fire engines were also on standby at the scene. At the same time, the hostage rescue headquarters composed of the leaders of Moscow Mayor Luzhkov and the Federal Security Service, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and other powerful departments also arrived at the scene of the incident. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Kasyanov held an emergency meeting in the Kremlin to discuss countermeasures. In order to protect the lives of the hostages, the Russian special forces did not rush to launch an attack, but announced their willingness to negotiate with the terrorists. However, the terrorists only reiterated their demand to stop the war in Chechnya and refused to enter into any negotiations with the Russian government. The detained hostages kept making phone calls from the performance hall. But the information that came out further added to people's concerns: first, the militants made careful preparations before taking action. They not only had weapons in their hands, but also planted mines in the theater. It was extremely risky to take a storm to rescue the hostages. Second, the militants said they were victims of the war and saw no hope in life. In order to prevent the children of Chechnya from becoming combatants in the future, they are ready to fight to the death. Third, the leader of the terrorists is named Bafsar, a relative of the killed field commander Basayev, and the great hatred threatens to make him lose his mind. Time passed in this tense standoff, and the sky gradually became bright. During this period, the terrorists released several groups of spectators one after another, a total of about 180 people, most of them women and children. However, according to the Russian power department, there are at least 500 hostages currently being held. A woman called from the theater to say that 67 of the hundreds of hostages were foreigners. After dawn, the terrorists began to make a series of demands. They initially hoped to negotiate with representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross and Médecins Sans Frontières, and later asked to negotiate with politicians who hold relatively moderate positions on the Chechen issue, such as Yavlinsky and Nemtsov. Representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross and leaders of individual political parties entered the building to exchange views with the terrorists on the release of the hostages, but no substantive progress was made. After the terrorist incident, Russian leaders and people from all walks of life issued statements condemning the terrorists' criminal acts against innocent civilians. President Putin said in a speech that the hostage-taking incident in Moscow was planned by terrorist centers abroad. In order to directly lead the hostage rescue operation, President Putin not only cancelled plans to visit Germany and Portugal, but also decided that Prime Minister Kasyanov will go to Mexico on his behalf to attend the informal APEC leaders' meeting. The Russian State Duma also held an emergency meeting today to discuss the hostage rescue. A child released by armed gangsters walks out of the cultural palace of a bearing factory in southeastern Moscow. Two elderly women anxiously await news of their abducted relatives