30 October 2020, 11:18
Ingushetia commemorates victims of Ossetian-Ingush conflict
Today, a memory action of victims of the 1992 Ossetian-Ingush conflict took place at the memorial cemetery in Nazran. Residents of Ingushetia told the "Caucasian Knot" how they helped refugees from North Ossetia on the "road of life."
From October 30 to November 6, 1992, in North Ossetia, in the territory of the Prigorodny District and part of the city of Vladikavkaz, as a result of the aggravation of the Ossetians-Ingushes interethnic relations, an armed conflict broke out among nationals living in Ossetia and Ingushetia. According to the Russian General Prosecutor's Office (GPO), 618 people perished and 939 others were wounded.
Today, the city of Nazran has hosted a memory action of victims of the 1992 Ossetian-Ingush conflict. A mourning action and a memorial prayer timed to the anniversary of the tragic events of the fall of 1992 and the Remembrance Day of Victims of Political Repression were held at the "Gioazota Kashamash" Memorial Cemetery in Nazran.
For refugees from North Ossetia, the only ways to escape and get to Ingushetia were the mountain paths through Djeirakh and the Assa Gorge. Kharon Khamkhoev, the Imam of the village of Alkun, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that the settlement was the first point after the mountain range, along the paths of which people had walked. "From the first days of the conflict, we brought in road equipment and began making road towards the refugees – mostly women, children and old people. Our guys, who came out to meet them, carried old people on stretchers [...] We have 60 households, inhabited by 60 families in our village. And after these events, five or six more families settled in each house."
Angela Matieva, an Ingush activist, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that she, together with a group of refugees from North Ossetia, had walked along mountain paths for 18 hours.
When people came to Alkun, they were offered hot broth and tea to warm up, Ms Matieva recollects. "There were a heap of sliced bread and bowls of hot broth on the table [...] We felt such care that I could not stand it and, pressing soft white bread to my face, burst into tears. An elderly man hugged me, reassuring me that everything was behind and everything would be fine now. And then I vowed that here, at this place where these cauldron with broth and the table with bread were standing, in the outskirt of Alkun, a monument would be erected – as a symbol of gratitude to those people who saved refugees from North Ossetia," she said.
The opening of the "Road of Life" monument on the bank of the Assa River, a few kilometres from the village of Alkun, took place in October 2017. The memorial is dedicated to the tragic events of the autumn of 1992 and tells about the courageous and well-coordinated actions of residents of the Assa Gorge, who received and accommodated refugees from North Ossetia, the "Ingushetia" newspaper has reported.
This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on October 30, 2020 at 02:11 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.
Author: Umar Yovloi, Amina Zakaeva Source: CK correspondents
