01 October 2024, 23:47
Authorities ignore 25th anniversary of start of Second Chechen War
The 25th anniversary of the beginning of the Second Chechen War has been ignored by the authorities and state-run media of the republic. Participants of the war complain on social media that the state has still not paid some war veterans and does not provide them with assistance. It is not in the authorities’ interests to mention the Chechen war, since it does not fit into the narratives they use for propaganda, an analyst explains.
The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that on September 30, 1999, the introduction of the federal troops into Chechnya began: tank units of the Russian Army crossed the border of the republic in the Naursky and Shelkovsky Districts, while aircrafts had been bombing Grozny for several days already. The anniversary of the beginning of the Second Chechen War is not officially remembered in the republic.
Although officially the new military campaign in Chechnya began in 1999, in fact, violence in the Caucasus did not stop after the peace agreements had been signed in Khasavyurt in 1996. During the three relatively peaceful years after the end of the First Chechen War, a series of terror acts and militant attacks occurred in Russia, and kidnappings and murders of people continued.
An entry mentioning the anniversary of the beginning of the Second Chechen War was posted on the “VKontakte” social network by “The Chechen War” is eternal! “The Chechen war” public account. Some of the social media users have complained that even after 25 years, the problem with payments to war veterans remains relevant.
“The state has not yet paid to those who were there and those who did not return. Especially to 18-year-old conscript soldiers,” Oksana Prusova emphasized.
“The wars in Chechnya raise too many uncomfortable questions. It is difficult to mythologize them, as many of the direct participants of the events are alive, and memories of them generate far more than just victorious associations,” noted human rights defender Stanislav Dmitrievsky, a participant of legal projects and field missions in the armed conflict zone.
The authorities prefer not to notice the anniversary of the beginning of the Second Chechen War, so as not to remind residents of Russia, including residents of Chechnya, of the serious traumas left by the war. Among them are various war crimes, such as, for example, the massacre in the village of Novye Aldy, an analyst has emphasized.
Let us remind you that in Russia, there is still no exact data on how many people perished during the Second Chechen War. Human rights defenders estimate the losses among civilians alone at 25,000 people.
This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on October 30, 2024 at 12:57 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.
Source: Caucasian Knot
