In Chechnya, in 2012, at least 174 persons fell victim to the armed conflict

In 2012, in the Chechen Republic, at least 174 persons suffered from the armed conflict ongoing in Northern Caucasus; of whom at least 82 persons were killed and 92 more were wounded. The number of victims is somewhat smaller than in 2011, when there were 201 of them. These are the results of the calculations made by the "Caucasian Knot" based on the data received from its own correspondents and on information from other open sources. The number of victims in 2012 in the republic can be essentially higher, if we take into account the official data.

Explosions and terror acts

In 2012, Chechnya suffered from at least eight incidents with explosions; of them, two self-explosions occurred practically simultaneously on August six in Baisangur Benoisky Street in the Oktiabrskiy District of Grozny, near the "Voentorg" store. According to the data of the MIA, these two explosions killed four Russian servicemen; two other militaries, a Chechen policeman and a local resident received wounds of various gravity. Operative agents found fragments of a "shahid belt" in the place of the terror act".

In 2011, Chechnya registered 26 explosions, including seven committed by suicide bombers and self-explosions. The largest terror act in the republic in 2011 was committed in Grozny late in the evening on August 30, when three suicide bombers committed self-explosions. As a result of them, apart from the bombers themselves, nine persons were killed, and at least 21 persons were wounded.

Losses of power agents and the underground

In Chechnya in 2012, losses among the members of the armed underground, according to the data of the "Caucasian Knot", made 38 persons, and one more person was wounded.

The list of casualties among supposed militants includes two suicide bombers, who blew themselves up on August six in Grozny, and five militants, killed during a special operation on January eight in the Vedeno District, seven members of the grouping under command of Magarbi Timiraliev, defeated in February in the mountains on the Chechen-Dagestani border, and four IAF members killed in a special operation on May 24 in the Achkhoy-Martan District.

According to the data of the "Caucasian Knot", out of employees of power bodies, in 2012 Chechnya lost 43 power agents; 84 persons more were wounded.

The highest number of victims among power agents was in the course of the special operations on January eight (4 casualties and 16 wounded persons) in the Vedeno District; in the February special operation on the border of Chechnya with Dagestan (17 casualties and 24 wounded persons); at the double explosion in Grozny six August (4 casualties and three wounded persons); at undermining an ATC (armoured troop carrier) in the Achkhoy-Martan District on August 10 (5 wounded persons); and in the course of the September special operation in the Vedeno District (4 casualties and 11 wounded persons).

It should be noted that not all the data used by the "Caucasian Knot" was confirmed by official sources; however, they were taken into account, since they were referred to by reliable internal informers and other information agencies.

Besides, according to official data, the number of victims both among power agents, and among the members of the armed underground is much higher. Thus, on January 10, in the course of a press conference by the outcomes of 2012, the head of the Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadyrov stated, referring to the information of the local MIA, that in 2012 in the region "42 militants were liquidated at rendering armed resistance", while the fight for preservation of the "calm and stable situation" in the republic took the lives of 54 policemen (of them, 22 were killed in the course of armed clashes); besides, 148 policemen were wounded.

That is, according to Kadyrov's data, at least 244 persons became victims of the conflict, both from the armed underground and from among power agents. It does not seem possible to check the figures, since the head of Chechnya did not specify the announced figures.

In 2011, the losses of the armed underground in Chechnya, according to the data of the "Caucasian Knot", made at least 62 persons (under the official data of the republic's MIA - 56 persons), while the number of casualties among employees of power bodies in the course shelling, explosions and armed clashes made at least 21 persons; 97 power agents more were wounded.

Victims among civilians

Civilians also fall victim to the armed conflict. In 2012, in Chechnya, eight such cases were reported: one person perished and seven more were wounded.

The death toll, according to statements of power agents, of those militants liquidated on July 12 in the Kurchaloy District, included one huntsman.

The victims of the armed conflict includes two slightly wounded persons - occasional passers-by, who suffered during a shootout that burst out in Grozny on May 30, when policemen tried to stop a car for inspection; and the man opened pistol fire at them from inside the car. Two more local residents were wounded as a result of triggered small-power explosion device on May 24 in Grozny: the bomb was planted into a mobile phone. As a result of the explosion, one of victims lost his wrists and damaged his eyes.

In 2011, in the Chechen Republic, 12 civilians were killed, and at least nine more were wounded.

Total count of victims and official data do not allow concluding about stabilization of the situation in Chechnya

In 2012, the number of victims of the armed conflict in Chechnya, as compared with 2011, according to the data of the "Caucasian Knot" (174 victims, including 82 casualties and 92 wounded persons, in 2012, against 201 victims, including 95 casualties and 106 wounded persons, in 2011) went somewhat down.

However, both the total count of victims in the republic, and the data presented by the Chechen leadership do not allowed making a conclusion that the situation in the region has stabilized - here, special operations are conducted on a regular basis, explosions occur killing both members of the armed underground and employees of law enforcement bodies; besides, civil residents also suffer from various armed incidents.