The Budyonnovsk hospital hostage crisis was an incident in June 1995 when Chechen separatists led by Shamil Basayev seized a hospital in the city of Budyonnovsk and took over a thousand hostages. The hostage-takers issued an ultimatum, threatening to kill the hostages, unless their demands, including an end to the Chechen war and the withdrawal of Russian troops from Chechnya, were met. After several days, Russian forces tried to storm the hospital compound, meeting fierce resistance. After 48 hours of fighting which cost the lives of over 100 hostages, a ceasefire was agreed on and 227 hostages were released. A second Russian attempt to take control of the hospital failed. In the end, the remaining hostages were freed and the fighters were allowed to return freely to Chechnya.
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