“The Russians did this once in a theater held by terrorists.. It killed a few people but many more would’ve died had they not done it.”
They took a lot of heat for this (mostly from people outside of Russia), because some of the hostages also died from the gas. But what they used had to act fast and anyone will tell you that anesthesia is not a precise science.
The critics don’t understand the Russian philosophy. Those terrorists were already dead when they started; the hostages are victims of the terrorism and if any can be saved, this is a big plus; and, “justice” from the Russians is swift, certain,and grossly disproportionate, with “precision” a very secondary concern with the safety of the dispensers of justice the primary concern.
That’s why it doesn’t happen often over there.
Moshe Dayan said pretty much the same of the Israeli philosophy after Entebbe. They considered ALL hostages to be dead already...any they saved would be a bonus.