Hundreds of people took to the streets of Beslan yesterday to vent anger at Russian President Vladimir Putin and demand the resignation of regional leader Mr Alexander Dzasokhov over last week's hostage bloodbath.
"Putin and his people here... they sold us to the terrorists," said Izeta Khugayeva, who lost her sister and niece in the seizure of a school by Chechen rebels that ended in a battle with Russian troops.
Like other Beslan residents who left teddy bears and flowers at the gutted school as a tribute to the 326 people who were killed, half of them children, Ms Khugayeva openly expressed hatred for North Ossetian President Dzasokhov.
"If he comes near me I will kill him," she screamed. "Dzasokhov answers to Moscow, to the world, but for his republic he could not do anything. He should have been killed. My loved ones died, why should he live?"
Ms Khugayeva echoed the views of many in predominantly Orthodox North Ossetia, bordering the troubled Muslim Chechnya region, that Russian authorities could have done more to avert the carnage. Some say Russian troops bungled a storming operation.
In the North Ossetian capital Vladikavkaz, the mood was even more aggressive when 2,500 people took to the streets to demand Mr Dzasokhov's resignation. The greying leader told the crowd he would sack his government in two days - "I promise," he said - but failed to appease the protesters, who chanted "resign, resign".
In Beslan, where almost everyone knows someone who was killed at the school, many feel they were let down by those meant to protect them - the government, the security forces and the police.
"Why don't the bandits attack the police, who aren't worth a dime and who did not do what they should have done. They should have stormed the place at once," said Zayurbek Gutiyev (74), who was held hostage but escaped unhurt.
"Why didn't \ send the Red Cross in to help our children?" said Mrs Lidiya Urmanova, whose daughter, a daughter-in-law and two granddaughters were killed.
One granddaughter was so badly burned she was identified only by her necklace.
"Even the bandits said your president doesn't even worry enough about you to send in the Red Cross... he will let you starve like dogs without food and water," said Mrs Urmanova.
The Beslan carnage has prompted serious questioning about whether Mr Putin can deliver on a pledge he made on coming to power in 2000 to restore order in Chechnya, where separatists have waged a 10-year armed campaign for independence from Moscow.
Just days before Beslan, Chechen rebels were also blamed for bringing down two airliners, killing 90 people, and a suicide bombing in which nine people were killed in Moscow.
"What has happened in Russia is the result of officials' neglect," said Lyudmila Gorbunova, who travelled from the city of Stavropol to join the mourners in Beslan. "There's a poison spreading across our country."