Beslan students back at school
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|  VIDEO |
 Putin touts anti-terrorism initiatives, but some say he's making a power play
 Thousands of Russians rally against terrorism in Moscow.
 Footage taken by hostage takers inside the school gym.
 Political fallout over the attack hurts Putin.
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BESLAN, Russia -- Teachers and students have returned to school in Beslan, two weeks after a deadly terrorist siege left more than 300 adults and children dead.
Several students expressed fear at returning to school Wednesday after the horrific massacre, CNN's Ryan Chilcote reported. One student, scolded by the school principal for being late, held up his hands as if he was being arrested.
Students began the school day with a minute of silence, and officials said the town's seven schools would have a shortened day, The Associated Press reported.
The survivors of the school massacre have not returned to school. They have been given two months leave and are receiving treatment in the Russian resort town of Sochi.
No classes have been held in the southern Russian town since September 1, when a group of 32 terrorists stormed School No. 1 and took some 1,200 adults and children captive in a 48-hour siege that ended with the deaths of at least 335 hostages, about half of them children.
School No. 1 remains closed and has been turned into a makeshift memorial.
The hostages were killed on the morning of September 3 when a standoff between Russian troops and the hostage-takers came to a bloody end, with terrorists setting off bombs in the gymnasium where most of the hostages were held and shooting those who tried to flee.
Security experts believe the terrorists had pre-positioned weapons and explosives in the school ahead of the deadly siege.
On Tuesday, the start of the school term was abruptly postponed -- just 15 minutes before classes were to have begun -- over concerns all school properties in the city had not been searched for explosives, police said.
Zarema Burgalova, a North Ossetian education official, told the ITAR-Tass news agency many students still suffering from shock and stress were not expected to show up for classes, AP reported.
She also said students in older classes would be discussing the tragedy.
Meanwhile, Russian prosecutors have charged a Chechen man with terrorism and murder in the Beslan siege, AP quoted the Interfax news agency as reporting.
The man, identified as Nurpashi Kulayev, was charged with nine counts, including kidnapping and banditry, General Prosecutor Vladimir Ustinov was quoted as telling Interfax on Tuesday.
Kulayev was detained by authorities and he was later shown on Russian state television looking frightened as he was manhandled by masked law enforcement officers, AP reported.
He said on television that he and other hostage takers were told the goal of the raid was "to unleash a war on the whole of the Caucasus," but he swore to God that he didn't shoot women and children.
Also Tuesday, Russia said it was pouring $5.4 billion in additional funding into its security agencies in the country's fight against terrorism. (Full story)
The announcement came a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed a major extension of Kremlin control over political and security structures. (Full story)
Putin's move drew criticism from Russian liberals as well as from Washington and Europe.
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell told Reuters the planned changes were "pulling back on some of the democratic reforms" and said he would raise his concerns with the Kremlin.
On Wednesday, EU External Relations Commissioner Chris Patten urged Putin to fight terrorism by solving the Chechnya conflict rather than taking a hardline approach that could affect human rights.
"I hope they (the solutions) are forthcoming and that the government of the Russian Federation will not conclude that the only answer to terrorism is to increase the power of the Kremlin," Patten told the European Parliament.
But the Kremlin rejected such criticism. Referring to Powell's comments, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said: "First of all, the processes that are under way in Russia are our internal affair.
"And it is at least strange that, while talking about a certain 'pulling back', as he put it, on some of the democratic reforms in the Russian Federation, he tried to assert yet one more time the thought that democracy can only be copied from someone's model," Lavrov said.
"We, for our part, do not comment on the U.S. system of presidential elections, for instance," he said.
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Associated Press contributed to this report.
