DATE=12/28/1999
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
TITLE=YEARENDER: CHECHNYA WAR, PART TWO
NUMBER=5-45138
BYLINE=PETER HEINLEIN
DATELINE=MOSCOW
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: This past year saw Russia launch a military
offensive in its restive northern Caucasus region.
The stated goal was to wipe out bandits and terrorists
and restore Moscow's rule in the breakaway republic of
Chechnya. But as in the previous Chechen war from
1994 to 1996, most of the victims have been civilians.
In this end-of-year review, V-O-A's Peter Heinlein
reports an increasingly defiant Russia is brushing
aside international calls for restraint as it pushes
ahead with a brutal campaign to reclaim the rebel
republic.
TEXT: The last Chechen war ended badly for Moscow.
After 21 months of fighting that left an estimated 80-
thousand people dead, Russian troops were forced to
withdraw in defeat, leaving the region in enemy hands.
It was a bitter admission of failure for a once-proud
army that only a few years earlier represented a
world-class superpower. Humiliated generals blamed
political leaders for surrendering just as they were
on the verge of victory. They made no secret of
their desire to settle the score.
Almost three years to the day later, the generals got
the chance they were waiting for. Renegade Chechen
commander Shamil Basayev led a group of fighters into
neighboring Dagestan, where they clashed with Russian
troops. Moscow called it an invasion.
President Boris Yeltsin ordered his new prime
minister, Vladimir Putin, to use all force available
to crush the uprising.
/// Yeltsin Act in Russian, then fade to
///
He says, "There will be tough measures taken. We will
restore order in Dagestan and other north Caucasus
republics."
Within days, Russian warplanes were in the air,
striking both in Dagestan and Chechnya.
But just as in the last war, the bombs took a heavy
toll among civilians. The tiny farming village of
Elistanzhi, just a few kilometers inside Chechnya, was
among the first to feel the force of Mr. Yeltsin's
promise.
/// SFX of women sobbing, then under to
///
Elistanzhi buried 48 of its townspeople two days after
Russian warplanes swooped down and peppered a two-
block area with shrapnel bombs. Nearly half the
victims were children.
Standing in a blackened potato field, her weather-
beaten face streaked with tears, 69-year-old Parja
Chumakova tells how her pregnant daughter-in-law was
mowed down in a hail of bombs.
/// Chumakova Act in Russian, then fade to
///
She says, "We were not fighting. Just sowing
potatoes and bringing in the crops. Then bombs fell
on us like apples."
The Elistanzhi incident sparked international outrage.
But those expressions of concern from foreign capitals
only seemed to stiffen Russia's resolve.
President Boris Yeltsin, addressing a European
security organization summit in Istanbul, bluntly told
assembled world leaders to mind their own business.
/// Yeltsin Act in Russian, then fade to
///
He says, "You have no right to criticize Russia for
Chechnya."
/// SFX of artillery, then under to ///
Meanwhile, the war was expanding. Russian tanks
rolled into Chechen territory, quickly taking the
northern third of the region, advancing to the heights
overlooking Grozny.
/// Opt ///
The Chechens, with their automatic rifles, were no
match for Russia's superior firepower. Twenty-four-
year-old Grozny native Ibrahim Abdulkadirov, a devout
Muslim sitting in a trench as Russian artillery shells
crashed around him, said he was prepared for
martyrdom.
/// Abdulkadirov Act in Russian, then fade
to ///
He says, "I am ready to use my gun and kill, and I'm
not afraid of death. I'm sure I will quickly go to
heaven."
/// End Opt ///
The Russian offensive, and the steady hail of
artillery and rockets, triggered a mass exodus of
civilians. A quarter-of-a-million people, nearly a
third of Chechnya's pre-war population, fled.
But when they got to the border with neighboring
Ingushetia, many found Russian troops blocking the
roads.
/// SFX of gate closing, horn honking,
then under to ///
Large metal gates had been erected at the border. The
line of cars waiting to get out of the war zone
sometimes stretched back 15 kilometers. In some
cases, people camped along the road for more than a
week for a chance to escape. Those who got through
told of a constant stream of bomb attacks on towns and
villages.
/// Tatayeva Act in Russian, then fade to
///
"They've been bombing us steadily for four days," were
the words of Ausha Tatayeva as she arrived from
Grozny.
/// Opt ///
Many, like 27-year old Tunisha Shamilova, arrived
wounded by attacks on their homes, angry and vowing
revenge against Russia.
/// Shamilova Act in Russian, then fade to
///
"I will become a terrorist myself if I survive." But
her chances of joining the fight are slim. One of her
eyes was destroyed and the other damaged by a shrapnel
bomb that killed her mother and wounded her two-year
old son.
/// End Opt ///
Despite these eyewitness accounts, Russian leaders
flatly deny civilians are being targeted. Prime
Minister Vladimir Putin called the reports "lies."
/// Putin Act in Russian, then fade to ///
He says, "As far as bombing of civilians goes, it is
just nasty propaganda done by terrorists. In truth,
nothing like that is happening."
But James Ron, a researcher for Human Rights Watch,
who interviewed hundreds of victims, says the evidence
clearly indicates Russia is using indiscriminate force
in Chechnya.
/// Ron Act ///
There are perhaps bandits in Chechnya, but you
cannot designate an entire population as
bandits. That is the indiscriminate designation
of huge numbers of people as enemy targets,
which is clearly wrong.
/// End Act ///
/// SFX of refugees screaming, then fade
to ///
At the Sputnik refugee camp just across the border
from Chechnya, thousands of refugees face a grim
existence, surviving freezing temperatures in old
railroad cars or overcrowded tent cities. Sputnik
camp administrator Tugan Chupanov says malnutrition
and disease are constant threats.
/// Chupanov Act in Russian, then fade to
///
He says, "We are only able to provide bread and
water." And even bread is limited to one loaf for
every four persons a day.
/// Opt ///
Members of an Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe (O-S-C-E) delegation that
visited the camps in November said they were appalled
by what they called the alarming plight of the
refugees. Norwegian diplomat Kim Traavik, the
delegation leader, said the team saw first-hand
evidence of a developing humanitarian crisis.
/// Traavik Act ///
I said repeatedly, what we have seen leads us to
conclude that we are faced with a very serious
humanitarian problem.
/// End Act // End Opt ///
/// SFX of tanks rolling, then under to
///
Inside Chechnya, meanwhile, Russian tanks advanced
relentlessly toward Grozny from several directions.
Standing on the outskirts of the capital, field
commander Colonel Sergei Skiba said his troops would
move cautiously to try to avoid the heavy loss of life
that eroded public support for the last war.
/// Skiba Act in Russian, then fade to ///
"There are gunmen in there," he says, pointing to
houses a few hundred meters away. "But," he adds "we
are not attacking because we want to avoid heavy
casualties."
Eventually, however, they did attack. As they
advanced into Grozny, reports from fleeing residents
told of homes being looted, troops rampaging through
newly captured neighborhoods.
Human Rights Watch investigator Peter Bouckaert
interviewed dozens of witnesses to an incident in the
Grozny suburb of Alkhan-Yurt in which 41 civilians
were killed.
/// Bouckaert Act ///
Some people were killed on December first when
soldiers threw a grenade in a basement, and
since then, relatively, a large number of people
have been killed by looting soldiers.
Basically, they were in the wrong place at the
wrong time when the soldiers came to loot their
homes.
/// End Act ///
Russia at first vehemently denied reports of the
Alkhan-Yurt massacre, calling it disinformation from
foreign intelligence services. But later, the Defense
Ministry backtracked, saying it was launching an
investigation into the incident.
The year ended with a series of reports and statements
from human rights groups documenting atrocities, and
from world capitals criticizing Russia's failure to
observe international norms.
But despite the massive - some say disproportionate -
use of force, many military analysts say Moscow's
hopes for a quick and relatively casualty-free victory
are unlikely to materialize. Like the last war,
federal forces are again mired in a difficult fight
against a well-equipped, highly trained and highly
motivated indigenous urban guerrilla force.
It could be a recipe for another protracted and bloody
conflict. But with the war remaining popular - and
with Russian generals craving revenge - Kremlin
leaders appear to have little choice but to defy their
international critics and push on. (Signed)
NEB/PFH/GE/JP
28-Dec-1999 13:33 PM EDT (28-Dec-1999 1833 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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