Actual News from Chechnya

News update

Senior diplomatic spokesman Alexander Yakovenko also said in Moscow on Friday that Russia and now the United States possess irrefutable proof of the terrorist nature of the three groups in question, 'The Suicide Battalion of Shamil Basayev', 'The Popular Congress of Ichkeria and Dagestan' and 'The Supreme Military Council -- the United Moujaheds of the Caucasus'. He hoped the blacklisting would cut off funds from them and sharply upgrade the Russian-American cooperation against such groups.
(more...)

All four gunmen died in a Russian commando raid in the District of Shali on Friday. The Russian command tells the agency RIA-Novosti that all four were mercenaries from Turkey. They carried Turkish-language instructions on sabotage and Turkish-printed copies of the Koran.
(more...)

Chechen economics

Fighting in Chechnya caused a serious damage to the republics environment. Burned oil wells have polluted up to 40 percent of the plain area with combustion products and heavy metals. In the years of 2000 and 2001 up to 29 wells burned at the same time. In the past two or three years the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources have carried out ecological investigations on the Chechen republic by also using satellite and aero-photography. The laboratory analysis of 800 samples has made it possible for assessing the ecological situation objectively in the republic as a whole and especially, in Grozny. The experts at the Ministry prepared maps that show the state of ecology. They submitted proposals for re-cultivation and deactivation of the polluted areas to the Ministry of Economic Development. At present the Grozneft Company is carrying out such work in the areas where it received license for oil extraction. The deactivation of the rest of the territory is a task of the near future. The department of natural resources and environment protection is functioning in Chechnya under the guidance of Russias Ministry of Natural Resources. It has a staff of 90 people. The department embraces ecological, forestry and geological services and river transport. Lately, the Russian government has adopted a programme to improve Chechnyas ecology. The programme provides for the deactivation of land and water from oil products, strengthening the banks of the rivers of Terek and Sunzha and rebuilding of the destroyed dams. In addition, the Ministry together with Rodon enterprise has been engaged in uncovering radioactive sources and burial places of radioactive waste in the past several years. The enterprise Rodon is a part of State Construction Committee and is financed by the committee and the Atom Inspection commission. According to the head of Property Ministrys department for control Alexei Abueb, Chechen residents could count on the Russian authorities that the territory would be cleaned. And people would live in good conditions not worse than that in other Russian regions.
(more ...)

Russia - Chechnya

Public organizations to Chechnya

The UN World Food Programme distributed 23 hundred tonnes of food in Chechnya and Ingushetia; 180 tonnes went to prepare daily hot meals for elementary school students in Chechnya. People in Grozny and the capital's surrounding rural district got WFP food for working on communal clean-up and reconstruction projects. The UN High Commission for Refugees erected 40 prefab houses for Chechen refugees in Ingushetia. Fourteen of these houses are now occupied by former inhabitants of the Iman tent camp near Aki-Yurt. The UN children's agency UNICEF paid for 60 thousands pairs of warm shoes for schoolkids in Chechnya (the 'Man in Distress' Foundation procured and distributed the footgear). In this or that way, UNICEF also helped some 10 thousand children in 59 Chechen refugee schools in Ingushetia. Backed by UNICEF, the International Salvation Committee opened a sports centre in Karabulak in Ingushetia, for children in Chechen refugee camps in the vicinity. In Chechnya, UNICEF and the 'Polish Humanitarian Action' group daily delivered 300 cubic metres of drinking water to residential neighbourhoods in Grozny, serving at least 20 thousand local people. UNICEF's affiliate organization 'The Voice of the Mountains' gave landmine awareness classes to over 17 hundred school students in Chechnya and to 420 in Chechen refugee centres in Ingushetia. UNICEF and the non-governmental 'Save a Generation' group took 610 Chechen refugee children in Ingushetia to landmine awareness drama matinees in Vladikavkaz in North Osetia. Backed by UNICEF and the World Health Organization, the Vladikavkaz Orthopaedics Centre completed the rehabilitation of 13 women and child victims of landmines. The WHO delivered toys and sports implements to children in four psychological and social rehabilitation centres. It also weekly moved dozens of people with disabilities from the Chechen wars to the Vladikavkax Orthopaedics Centre. On the 13th February, all UN agencies in Russia suspended their work in the North Caucasus for one day to call attention to the case of the Medecins Sans Frontieres representative in Dagestan Arjan Erkel who was abducted on Dagestani territory on the 12th of last August. In a statement on February 13, they say the UN backs Medecins Sans Frontieres in pressing for an immediate safe release of Mr Erkel. They say his abduction seriously undermines their humanitarian programmes in the Russian Caucasus.
(more...)

Issue 70
22.02.03

Chechnya: news | arguments | facts

21 February 2003  President Putin: less federal troops in Chechnya
The number of federal troops in Chechnya will decrease, the Russian President Vladimir Putin said earlier today at a meeting of the army officers. He specified that the downsizing would take place consistently, depending on the situation. At the same time, he said, the republics law enforcement agencies and the police will be beefed up. They will play main role in ensuring security in Chechnya. The President singled out the role of the armed forces in stabilizing the situation in Chechnya. The situation in the republic has changed dramatically, people are returning to peaceful life, he said. President Putin thanked all those who participated in the counter-terrorist operation in the North Caucasus and who are now doing their service with honor in Chechnya.
(more News from Chechnya)

21 February 2003  The plan of reconstruction of the Chechen capital is approved
The population of Grozny, according to census, is estimated at 207 000 people and this number will increase to a half a million in the future. State institute for designing cities took this into account when it worked out the conception of reconstruction and development of the city. The document has already been approved by the government commission in charge of restoration of Chechnyas social and economic area. The director of the institute Mikhail Grudinin who presented the project at the commissions meeting in Grozny said that three transport circles will be organized in Grozny like in Moscow and the city will consist of boulevards. All this is on the plan. Grozny has already rebuilt 15 municipal houses and more than 3 000 private houses. This is very little, of course since up to 70 percent of housed were destroyed partially or fully during the fighting. According to Groznys mayor Oleg Zhidkov, the housing programme for last year was failed to realize in full since some of money had to be used to repair houses affected by floods. The mayor believes that it will take about ten years to rebuild the Chechen capital. The builders have to do various kinds of works, such as the dismantling of buildings unsuitable for restoration, the removal of debris and the preparation of the territory for construction works and the laying of pipelines, heating systems and power lines. So far people in the city have no much comfort. There is even a shortage of water. In this circumstances some people offer a basket of cold water for 50 kopecks and hot water for one ruble at the entrances of houses. Nevertheless, the number of residents is increasing since refugees return home. The refuges are being settled in temporary accommodation centres, similar to that of family hostels. Its Chechen tradition to help relatives and friends. Sometimes two or three families related to each other live in one unharmed house alone. Though this is uncomfortable, people have got used to it. Like in other cities, the price of houses in Grozny increases constantly. Two years ago a three-room flat in Grozny was sold at 3 000 rubles, now it is no less than 5 000 rubles. The reason is that people believe that their houses would be rebuilt. This means the city has a future.
(more News from Chechnya...)

19 February 2003  Buvaisar Saitiev rewarded with a car
Russian athletes proved to be undoubted favorites at the 14th Ivan Yarygin grand-prix free-style wrestling tournament that took place early in February in Krasnoyarsk. Foreign wrestlers managed to beat Russians only in two weight divisions of the 14. The tournament bears the name of a two-time Olympic champion, the first president of the Russian wrestling federation Ivan Sergeevich Yarygin, native of Krasnoyarsk region. Sport fans have a good memory of Ivan Yarygin as a man of an exceptional talent and Siberian might and kindness. He earned applauds at many overcrowded terraces across the globe for his spectacular performance. He was an idol for Soviet-era and Russian youth and had an unconditional authority with his sport mates. It has become a rule that who wins the Ivan Yarygin tournament, becomes world champion or an Olympic medal-winner down the road. Krasnoyarks hosted more than 300 top male and female wrestlers from 18 nations, including Russia, the United States, Turkey, Japan, Greece, Finland, Mongolia, China, Ukraine, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Latvia and Azerbaijan. The Russian team featured Chechen athletes among others. According to general opinion, of all final bouts, the one with participation of the 74-kg-division Buvaisar Saitiev, favorite of Russian fans, was the most impressive. He fought with Magomed Isagadzhiev from Mahachkala who beat B. Saitiev at the last years championship. The audience waited for revenge. And they got it. Regular time of the bout ended with 2:0 in Saitievs score. The referee called cross clinch, which brought defeat to Buvaisar at the hands of Magomed at the last championship. Buvaisar held on this time around and his opponent unclenched arms. Saitiev won with 3:0. Under the decision of the Krasnoyarsk governor Alexander Hloponin, Saitiev was rewarded with the Toyota Corolla car, special prize of the tournament. The 66-kg-division Zaur Bataev won silver in a fight with North Osetian Irbek Farniev losing 4:1. The prize fund amounted to 80 thousand dollars, what is two times more than last year. Gold winners got 5 thousand dollars and silver winners 3 thousand. At the closing ceremony, Presidential envoy to the Siberian federal district Leonid Drachevsky pointed out to great importance of the tournament. Besides sports importance, this competition has colossal educational meaning for the young. The cause initiated by Ivan Sergeevich Yarygin moves on and the tournament under his name is gathering momentum, he said.
(more News from Chechnya...)

Chechen culture | music

Chechen folklore and dance

"Pondur" is the oldest, widest-spread and best loved musical instrument of the Chechens. It is as unsophisticated as the Russian balalaika: three chords and a wooden casing. The difference lies in the casing: the pondur one is rather long, it is made of one solid block of wood. The pondur has a soft, rustling voice. Story-tellers used to sing to the accompaniment of this musical instrument. There is a legend about the pondur: Tamerlane asked his generals after a devastating battle with the Chechens whether they had captured the Chechen pondur. On hearing a negative answer the famous military leader said:"If you failed to capture their pondur, we won the battle but failed to break their spirit..." The pipe, the tambourine, the drum, the horn, the whistle and the wedding flapper - ghema are as old as the pondur. The oldest bow instrument was made of bovine shoulder blade. It had two to four chords made of horse hair or well dried tendons. Fiddles were made of small pumpkins. The first accordeons were made of wood. The Russian accordeon is a much later acquisition and it took the men some time to get used to that musical instrument. Young girls and women were the first to develop a liking for it. Each musical instrument was assigned a role of its own. The reed-pipe was played on summer solstice which marks the day of Pkh'armat. Pkh'armat, just like Prometheus of the Hellenes, has brought people fire. A very old Chechen legend says that Pkh'armat carried burning embers in a reed stalk. The embers burnt small holes in the reed. The first reed-pipe was, as a result, a reed stalk with eight small holes in it. The "chiondarg" resembles the fiddle. It was played in the field because its voice made grain grow faster and yield better crops. Nusic occupied a very special place in the life of Chechnya. It helped people to say words of love and peace, give an oath, cure their ailing brethren. A tune has been recorded with the help of which folk doctors eased pain. The first recordings of Chechen music were made by an exiled member of the clandestine Decembrist society, in the middle of the 19th century. Composer A.A.Davidenko visited many villages of Chechnya in the 20's of the 20th century. He made recodings of a number of historical, ritual, love and dance tunes. Thirty arrangements of Chechen folk tunes were published, in one volume, in 1926 in Moscow.
(in detail ...)

Religion in Chechnya

Penetration of Islam into Chechen and Ingush tribal communities in the 13th 15th centuries was accompanied by peoples consolidation on the confessional principle. As official religion, Islam was first adopted in Simsim kingdom in the south-east of Chechnya in the days of the Golden Horde. The Islamic state, which was situated on the territory of present-day Nozhaiyurt and Gudermes districts, was an ally of the co-religionist Horde, whereas residents of south-western communities (Myalkhs, Melkhistintsys, Lam-Akkis) stayed Christian mainly and adhered to Adat a code of unwritten laws. Islam was adopted by people outside the control of the Golden Horde that called themselves Nashakh freemen community, as they moved on to flat areas. Though the Golden Horde had fallen, Islam had struck deep roots at the foothills of the Caucasus due to its moral laws, social justice and civil freedom that proved more attractive than adat law. Though, in many provisions Adat and Sharia turned out to be allies. Hence , allegations by some Chechen authors and atheist scientists that Islam was taken up by Chechens comparatively recently, are groundless enough. That most Chechens were Muslims back in the 15th 16th centuries, is indicated by the burial rite. The period, to be more exact, 1405-1406, marked the construction of the first known monuments of Muslim architecture the Borg-Kash Mausoleum near the village of Plievo in Nazran district. The mausoleum was erected in honour of a certain Bek-Sultan, son of Khudainado. Intensive penetration of Islam was facilitated by the economic, cultural and political ties between Chechens and Ingushes and people of Kabarda, Kumykia, the Crimean Khanate, Ottoman Turkey and Shakh Persia. In the 16th and 17th centuries Veinakhs established closer economic, cultural and political ties with other peoples of the North Caucasus professing Islam. The mere historical development pointed to the inevitability of Islam taking root in the region and that was an event of historic importance to the mountaineers. With the development of flat areas, farming, cattle-breeding and trade were boostingand people became conscious of the good points of Islam. Legends have it that the first preachers of Islam in Chechen community were Termol, Bat and Bers. They say the sermons brought about all sorts of reaction. And this is understandable, since the history of other peoples and countries knows only too well what difficulties might arise with the adoption of a new faith. As for the highlands, Islam was slow to spread. At the beginning the new religion was taking in age-old traditions trying to adjust to them. Quite often, around family vaults there appeared stelas that were erected over Muslim graves of relatives, who had departed from the old funeral rites but maintained links with pagan kinsmen. An amazing monument of the 16th 17th century is a Muslim tower in Makazhoi community on the border with Daghestan, designed for saying Muslim prayers. Especially famous is a mosque near Etkala village, not far from Itum-Kale in the Argun gorge. The grand mosque was built in line with traditional Islamic architecture. But the minaret is shaped like a miniature, typically Veinakh war tower with a stepped pyramidal roof and narrow loop-holes. Ancient pagan traditions made themselves felt in the ornamental design of gravestone stelas, some of which depict items that in pagan days were buried together with the deceased national costumes, decorations, belts, footwear, daggers, sabers and pistols. Some bear images of people, animals and birds. There is a suggestion of olden times about stelas depicting human beings. Patterns of this sort go back deep into the centuries.All that, however, did not prevent Islam from becoming the Veinakhs dominant and only religion in the course of the 16th through early 19th century. The first big leader of the national liberation struggle was shepherd Ushurma from the village of Aldy, where the Grozny fortress was built later on. Later Ushurma became known under the name of Mansur (the Victor). Mansurs religious and political program got the approval of the clergy of not only Chechnya, but of Daghestan and Azerbaijan. The years 1785-1791 in the North Caucasus were marked by turbulent developments connected with the name of Sheikh Mansur. The wave of popular uprisings subsided in 1791, following the arrest of the mutinous Sheikh. Later on, in the times of Shamil, the main advocates of Islam in Chechnya were Shamil himself and his chiefs. In the middle of the 19th century Chechnya saw the appearance of Sufi Islam, otherwise known as muridism (from murid disciple, follower.The Sufi teaching was propagated by the famous advocate of the principle of non-resistance to evil with violence Sheikh Kunta-Khadzhi Kishiev. But Imam Shamil and his men came to hate Kunta-Khadzhi for his speeches against the war and calls for peace and non-violence.
(more...)

Copyright © CHECHNYA FREE.RU