An inhabitant of Podolsk wrote on a Russian forum on 11 May, referring to eyewitnesses, that 150 corpses of Russian soldiers were unloaded from 4 railway wagons with "cargo 200" (the Russian military code for corpses) in Podolsk between 27 April and 2 May, after very high combat activity in the Shatoi district of Chechnya. At present the corpses are stored in Podolsk, Moscow district, at the address Ulitsa Mashtakova No. 4, District Military Hospital No. 1586, Pathological Department. This must be seen in connection with a helicopter "crash" on 27 April, with 18 victims officially reported. The helicopter was shot down according to the Chechen side. The Podolsk inhabitant wrote that 75 Russians were killed only on the first day of fighting in the Shatoi district, and that the battle lasted until 9 May with a large number of Russian losses. One of the Chechen commanders had reported on the phone that dozens of Russians and Chechen traitors ("30-50") had been killed in the helicopter crash. The remains of the Russian troops were taken to Podolsk, because it has a specialized military hospital (to identify the remains). Only "a handful of small pieces" was left of the troops who had been in the shot-down helicopter, according to the inhabitant. He also mentioned that the 150 corpses might have been taken to the Moscow district for burial in their places of residence. Another Russian, who serves in the main military hospital of the Interior Forces reported on the same forum that he talked with the mercenaries hospitalized there. He drew the conclusion that the majority of them are victims of the mine war, that only mercenaries are serving in the area now and that many of them get killed. The Russian side reacted quickly, and the head of the medical department of the mentioned hospital, Garey Khazhin, said in an interview to the site NEWS.ru, that the reports about 150 corpses were "complete madness", and that they had no corpses from Chechnya in the hospital.
Nevertheless, let us point out in this connection that the practice of the concealment of losses in Chechnya was declared in its time by Russian occupational command, by the officially legalized instruction, which categorically forbids promulgating any real information on this score. Known General Shebalkin repeatedly in his interviews and statements separately emphasized that Russian side never and under no circumstances not it will give the real number of losses, since this is state and military secret. Kavkaz Center
Publication time: 17 May 2007, 18:09
Permanent address at KAVKAZCENTER.COM: http://www.kavkazcenter.com/eng/content/2007/05/17/8284.shtml
© Copyright 2001-2011 KavkazCenter.com