Fight and hostage-taking in the Vedeno district, cleansing in Starye Atagi

May 31, 2011
 
***
In the evening, in the mountainous Vedeno region, soldiers of the CRI armed formations, who were heading to the village of Elistanzhi, were ambushed by the Russian military. Three people were killed in the ensuing skirmish: 32-year-old resident of this settlement Khasan (Dunga) Gakaev and natives of the villages of Tsa-Vedeno and Khatuni. One of them was Idris Labazanov, 20 years old. Then the military broke into Elistanji and took hostage the family of the murdered Khasan Gakaev, as well as his closest relatives. In total - about 20 people, including the elderly and children.


However, at the exit from the village, the convoy, which consisted of more than ten armored personnel carriers, infantry fighting vehicles and Ural vehicles, was blocked by members of the CRI VF. Opening fire with mortars and automatic weapons, according to local residents, they killed eight servicemen.


The skirmish continued for several hours and stopped only after the Chechen fighters offered to release the captured people in exchange for leaving the encirclement. This condition was soon met, and the armored column managed to escape the encirclement without further losses.
 
 
***


On May 31, the “cleansing” in the village of Old Atagi, Grozny region. During it, the Russian military detained three people: 19-year-old Movldi Nasukhanov, 35-year-old deputy head of the administration of the settlement Ruslan Dzhumaev, and a 16-year-old teenager. All of them were released immediately after the end of the operation. At the same time, the military beat Movldi Nasukhanov and the teenager, and Ruslan Dzhumaev was warned that next time they would make him see his village "from a bird's eye view."


The military beat the shepherds grazing their flocks on the outskirts of Starye Atagi, and robbed several private shops in the village. For example, they took food from Koka Magomadova, whose outlet is located near the Ataginsky state farm. Mansur Atkaev's store on Nuradilov Street was subjected to a devastating raid even twice: on May 30 - on the first day of the "cleansing" - and just before its end.

 

From the book "People Live Here", Usam Baisaev, Dmitry Grushkin, 2006

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