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Putin has floated on that wave of patriotic support ever since. The war was safely remote. Many Russians despise Chechens as "blacks" who lie, cheat and steal. "We must round up all these black scum in Moscow and tell the terrorists we'll be killing 100 of them for each dead Russian," declared a burly, bearded Muscovite, in the crowd outside the theater, whose son is fighting in Chechnya. "Yeah," agreed a young man nearby. "And if we withdraw our army from Chechnya, they'll butcher all the Russians there." For citizens like these, Putin's standing will suffer if he does not hang tough.
Yet for many others, starting with the terrified relatives of the hostages, the siege in the heart of Moscow has shattered the illusion that Russia is winning in Chechnya. Says Ruslan Khasbulatov, former chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the Russian Federation, an ethnic Chechen: "This war has served only to beget this homespun terrorism that will kill more people. You want to stop this terrorism, stop the bloodshed in Chechnya." Criticism like this hasn't been heard much during Putin's reign until now.
Seizing a theaterful of innocents may only convince many that Putin is right when he dismisses the rebels' cause as plain terrorism. But Putin's leadership will be judged on how he manages the fallout. He might now feel compelled to try decisive action in Chechnya. But the public might push instead for re-examination of a war that refuses to slink away. --Reported by Paul Quinn-Judge andYuri Zarakhovich/Moscow