Actual News from Chechnya

News update

Sappers of Russian troops operating in Chechnya check more than a thousand kilometres of roads in Chechen towns and villages daily to prevent bomb attacks. In a most recent indicent, they founds a makeshift bomb made from an anti-tank missile while checking one of the streets in Chechen capital Grozny, a source at the headquarters of the federal forces in Northern Caucasus told Itar-Tass on Thursday. The sappers thus prevented victims among the local population, the source said. He said a reconnaissance group of federal troops found a base near the village of Serzhen-Yurt. It had five dugouts with a capacity for five or six people each. Police got down to establishing identities of the people involved in building that base, the source said. In addition, two caches were uncovered in forest arrears of the Nozhai-Yurt district on Wednesday. They contained two kilos of TNT, 1.56 kilos of plastic explosives, 3,500 cartridges, 27 fragmentation hand grenades, three mines and two projectiles for a grenade launcher. The seized munitions were destroyed by an explosion. Another cache was found in the village Komsomolskoye, the Gudermes district. It contained five hand grenades, six anti-personnel mines, two tanks with aluminium powder and saltpetre as well as a thousand cartridges.
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Human Rights Commissioner of the Council of Europe Alvaro Gil-Robles welcomes the idea to hold a roundtable on political settlement in Chechnya. This idea was forwarded by Swiss parliamentarian Andreas Gross during the fall PACE session. The Russian delegation supported this initiative on two conditions: people using terrorist methods and backing Chehcnya's independence should not participate in the roundtable. Head of the Russian delegation Konstantin Kosachev told RIA Novosti that the roundtable would be held in Moscow. Its date has not been fixed yet. According to preliminary data, it will be held in early March. I come out for any step towards peace, Alvaro Gil-Robles told RIA Novosti commenting on this initiative. The sides need a dialogue and I welcome this initiative, he stressed. Speaking about the European parliamentarians' excessive critics of the human rights problem in Russia Mr. Gil-Robles said that he criticized Russia to improve the situation. I criticize everyone, not only Russia because this is my job, he noted. (more...)

Chechen history

Chechnya | Questions and answers

This pamphlet is about Chechnya, a Russian territory which has witnessed the most tragic events over the past decade. The book is the latest update on the Chechen Republic . And this is very important, since a lack of fresh and accurate information about events in Chechnya generates many distorted conceptions and rumours - both within and outside Russia . For example, that Chechen society is allegedly inherently alien to Russia , that pro-Russian elements in the republic are marginalised; and lastly, that Russian power structures are fighting the Chechen people, rather than armed bandit groups. The reality, however, is that only with the return of the legitimate authorities are villages and towns being restored, children going to school for the first time in many years, and pensioners receiving long-forgotten pensions, i.e. a social rebirth is underway. Lying ahead are a referendum on a new Chechen constitution, and parliamentary and presidential elections. These votes will be held, despite continued attempts by bandit groups and their leaders to scupper the process of normalisation in the republic, the latest terrorist act being the bombing of the republican government building. The war being waged by Chechen separatists against federal forces and more often than not against their own co-citizens is by no means a "national liberation struggle of the Chechen people", but an episode in the overall offensive by international terrorism on the fundamental principles of modern civilisation. The facts show that being a part of the Russian Federation in no way threatens the Chechen Republic 's cultural identity, the free use of its own language, and preaching Islam. On the contrary, it was during de facto "independence" from Russia that the Chechen people suffered a humanitarian tragedy on an unprecedented scale. Hostage-taking, the slave trade and plundering came to form the economic basis of the new regime, while chaos and war became the form of its political existence. We want to emphasise once more: Chechnya is part of Russia , geographically, politically and civilisation-wise. So a hypothetical triumph of radical Islamism on its territory would be anti-historical. Such a development would signify the establishment in the midst of Europe of a Taliban-like regime, with all ensuing consequences for the international community. The corporate author - journalists of the Russian Information Agency Novosti - have attempted to be as brief as possible on providing answers to the most-often aked questions (above all posed by a foreign audience) about the Chechen issue. Hence the book's title: " Chechnya : Questions and Answers". It draws heavily on information provided by various Russian ministries and departments that in one or another way are involved in normalising life in the republic.
Russian Information Agency Novosti
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Chechen economics

Russian savings bank is restoring its branches in Chechnya

TheNorth Caucasus branch of the Russian savings bank was opened in the middle of December in prospect Pobedy, house number 5 in Grosny, where all existing 40 banking operations can be carried out. Money can be received and sent to any part of Russia, payment for communal services and other financial operations can be effected. In addition to the Grozny branch another one has been operating for 3 years in the Naursk settlement, serving in the man, private individuals and enabling residents to keep money safe in the bank. It also pays compensation for depreciated savings and accepts payment for communal services. In an interview for the free Chechnya radio chairman of the North Caucasus subsidiary of the Russian savings bank Viktor Gavrilov has said that among the functions of the banks branches in Chechnya is paying both state and local compensations to Chechens, including for lost and damaged property and house arising from the fighting in Chechnya. They equally pay compensation to former account holders as well as pay out states pension and benefits. The recently signed agreement between the Chechen prime minister, Sergei Abramov and the chairman of the Russian savings bank, Andrei Kazymin on compensations payment envisages the orders of remittance and payment into special account of residents as well as payouts and accounting. The agreement lists out affiliates of the North Caucasus savings bank in which a special account can be opened. Apart from the branches in the Nausk village and Grozny 6 other branches are also to pay out money. They are located in the border regions of Chechnya: two are in the Dagestani branch in the town of Kizlyar, pereulok Rybni, house number 4-A and the town of Hasav-Yurt, Daibova street, house number 8. In Ingushetia; the town of Malgabek, Gardanova street number 27; in the village of Ordzhonikidzovskaya, Oskanova street number 34; the town of Nazran, prospect Bazorkin, 10; and in the town of Mozdok, Kirov street, house number 61. The Russian savings bank is to enlarge services to clients in Chechnya with the granting of loans to buy goods, building materials as well as give out mortgage credits. The participation of the savings bank in economic projects in Chechnya is under active consideration and an agreement is to be signed with republican leaders on the construction of apartment buildings. In 2005 the 3rd branch of the North Caucasus subsidiary of the Russian savings bank will be commissioned in Gudermes and the opening of other branches in several parts of Chechnya will follow.
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Issue 259
31.01.05

Chechnya: news | arguments | facts

31 January 2005  Murder of mufti solved in Chechnya
The murder of Mufti Shukhman Madagov of Chechnya's Vedeno district has been solved, the Russian Interior Ministry's local press center told Interfax on Monday. "An investigation revealed that Shukhman Madagov was killed by an active member of illegal armed formations named Bediyev and other militants on August 29. Bediyev confessed to committing this crime," a press center spokesman said. An examination is being made to establish if Bediyev was involved in other crimes. Police discovered five militant bases during sweep operations in a forest near the village of Dyshne-Vedeno, the spokesman said. The bases contained food, sleeping bags, winter camouflage uniforms, three grenade launcher rounds and four grenades. The bases were destroyed an operation was launched to find the militants.
(more News from Chechnya...)

31 January 2005  PACE Bureau disagrees to put Chechnya on next session agenda
The Bureau of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has denied a PACE Political Affairs Committee proposal that the "Chechen issue" be put on the agenda of the next Assembly session. The Bureau on Friday considered a document titled 'Declaration on the recent human rights violations in the Chechen Republic', which was earlier adopted by the Legal Affairs and Human Rights Committee, and found that the conclusions made in it are not well-grounded and are based on unconfirmed information, the secretariat of the Russian delegation to PACE told Interfax on Saturday.
(more News from Chechnya...)

31 January 2004  Four suspected militants aprested in Chechnya
Four suspected members of unlawful paramilitary units were arrested in Chechnya, reports the joint press center of the regional command center for conducting the North Caucasian counter-terrorist operation. They were arrested during passport checks in Grozny, the capital of Chechnya, and the Shali district. According to the regional command center, a man named Zelimkhan has already confessed, saying he had murdered a Shali-district resident named Beisultanov on order from his ring-leader Musa Dzhabrailov in exchange for 3,000 rubles, press-center people added. Another 25-year-old active member of an undercover gang from Yandy in the Achkhoi-Martan district illegally acquired and stored two assault rifles, a tubular grenade launcher, two pistols and two home-made explosive devices, investigators say. Criminal proceedings have already been instituted in this connection. Law-enforcement officers are trying to find out whether the arrested bandits had committed any other crimes.
(more News from Chechnya...)

Russia - Chechnya

Chechen culture

The modern-age Chechen literature started in the 1920s when writers and poets in Chechnya established contacts with colleagues in other parts of the Soviet Union. It was a close concern of such great founding fathers of the Soviet literature as A.Serafimovich, M.Gorky and M.Golodny. A.Serafimovich was a frequent visitor to Chechnya at the time. In 1929, he attended an executive meeting of the Grozny Association of Proletarian Writers. In an address to the gathering, he called on the Chechen writers 'to move as one into real life'. In 1930, he sponsored the publication of a Russian version of the poem 'To the Time of the Tsars' by the Chechen poet Said Baduyev. The poem was published in the opening issue of the NA PODYEME ('On the Rise') literary journal. In the late 1920s and in the opening half of the 1930s, M.Gorky was in overall charge of inter-ethnic literary exchanges within the Soviet Union. His favourite method was dispatching writer support brigades to outlying Soviet republics and regions. Said Baduyev in 1932 responded to this by publishing an essay entitled 'Maxim Gorky is Our Teacher'.
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Chechen tarditions

The book "Vainakh Ethics" by Edi Isaev is an utmost important work at a time when the life in Chechnya is returning to normal. Edi Isaev is a historian, Professor at the Chechen State University, writer and publicist directs his book to youth. In introduction he emphasizes: "The norm of Vainakh ethics is the code of wise truths of people that reflects their ideals." The book is educational. It contains the ideas on ethics by thinkers of various people and various times from Epicurus and Confucius A.S. Makarenko and L.N.Toltoi. The second chapter is devoted to ethic norms of Chechens. The third chapter considers in detail traditional family ethic code. The final chapter is devoted to Islamic ethic norms. Materials from the book Vainakh Ethics by Edi Isaev is devoted to customs and traditions of Chechens.
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Chechen cuisine

"The Chechens, like the rest of the highlanders, avoid extremes in their eating and drinking habits. What they usually eat is chureks or corn bread with mutton lard spread on it, and wheat stew with lard in it; water is their basic refreshment." "...Unleavend wheat or barley bread baked on charcoal, milk and cheese constitute their daily menu; meat is eaten, very rarely, by the richest of the Chechens." That was written about the Chechen eating habits in the 19th century. And it was not until the late 19th century that many vegetables grown in Europe - tomatoes, cabbage, radish - had found their way to the kitchen gardens of mountainous Chechnya. Chechen farming units have, since times immemorial, been self-sufficient, with only spices and sweetmeats being bought at the market. And, although they have become familiar with the cuisines of many other ethnic communities, the Chechen women cherish the very special culinary traditions of their own.
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