"No man has greater love than to give up his life for another" (from
memory)

MOSCOW, September 6 (RIA Novosti) - The Alpha and Vympel elite
special forces units lost ten members in the battles in Beslan and 26
were wounded, a spokesman for the Vympel veterans public organization
said.

Mostly senior officers were killed. The Vympel unit lost seven
officers and the Alpha unit lost three. According to the spokesman,
Vympel unit had not lost so many men since it was created.

A FSB spokesman announced on Monday in Vladikavkaz that the burial
of the officers would take place on Wednesday.

The spokesman said that FSB special forces suffered such heavy
losses because the hostage rescue operation began spontaneously, when
the roof of the school's gymnasium collapsed.

When the special forces entered the gym, they saw a mass of
bodies, both dead and alive.

"The officers started to take the living out of the school
building," the spokesman said.

The terrorists, who were on the upper floors in prepared
positions, began to shoot the escaping hostages and the officers and
civilians who were rescuing them. The FSB special forces shielded the
children from the bullets with their bodies.

"I understand very well, the feelings of the officers and soldiers
from the Vympel and Alpha units," the spokesman said. "They acted in
the first place as fathers, brothers and sons, saving the children at
the cost of their own lives."

One of the FSB officers, who carried a small girl away from the
terrorists' fire, was wounded in the head and only came out of a coma
on Monday.

"We hope he will recover," the spokesman said.

Other wounded special forces officers were mostly wounded on their
extremities, but there are also more serious wounds, the spokesman
said.

When visiting the scene of the tragedy on September 4, President
Putin said that special services had sustained great losses.

"The events developed quickly and unexpectedly. The special
services members behaved especially bravely," Mr. Putin said.