Russian President Mr Vladimir Putin has demanded a drastic shakeup of security forces' tactics against terror after the seizure of a school by Chechen militants ended in chaos and bloodshed.
As the death toll from the furious battle that ended the siege in southern Russia rose to 330, nearly half of them children, Mr Putin admitted authorities had failed to recognise or react effectively to the threats facing his country.
"We ... displayed weakness," the Kremlin leader said in a sombre televised address that followed a week of devastating attacks linked to Chechen separatists. "And the weak are always beaten."
Grief, anger and uncertainty pervaded Beslan, a normally quiet town of 30,000, a day after the siege ended with wounded and half-naked children dodging hostage takers' bullets as they fled the school and security forces stormed the building.
"Everyone in this town has lost someone," said Alan, looking for news of his sister who had been at the school. "There could be 600 dead."
Blinking repeatedly to hold back tears, Alan strode through crowds of pale, exhausted people, thronging the town's squares and street corners and scanning lists in a desperate search for news of missing friends and relatives.
Mr Putin, dressed in a dark suit and tie and standing beside a Russian flag, denounced the gunmen who attacked "defenceless children".
But, in the first criticism of his troops' handling of the siege, he said Russians had a right to demand more from security forces in times of crisis. Some Western experts have said the troops were unprepared and bungled their attack.
"We must create a much more effective system of security. We must demand that our security forces act at a level appropriate to the level and scope of the new threats,"Mr Putin said.
"We have to admit we showed no understanding of the danger of processes occurring in our own country and the world at large," he said. "We failed to react appropriately to them and, instead, displayed weakness. And the weak are always beaten."
Mr Putin said earlier he had ordered Beslan and the surrounding region of North Ossetia sealed off, and declared Monday and Tuesday days of national mourning.