Plenty of Chechens take Ramzan Kadyrov's recent promise to do away with separatists in the republic by the end of the year for wishful thinking. Frequent attacks on the police and the military do nothing to dispel this skepticism.
"I do not know why Ramzan (Kadyrov) is so confident," a resident of Grozny told this correspondent. "If you ask me, the rumors of the impending end of armed resistance in Chechnya are a gross exaggeration."
"Consider the latest developments," the man continued warming up to the subject. "Ten young men went over to the rebels, Tsa-Vedeno was raided, North Battalion barracks in Grozny (Jokhar) came under fire, and so on... Granted that rebels are not so strong as they were, say, in August 1996 when they overran Grozny, they are not as weak as many believe."
"Several friends of mine are from Nozhai-Yurt in the southeastern part of Chechnya," said one Ahdan, a student of the Chechen State University. "They say rebels set up posts and pickets on the roads
more and more often. They also tell me that rebels feel quite free, at least in certain villages. I do not think the authorities can keep their word and do away with armed resistance by the end of the year.
It's impossible. Moreover, the second war here is in its eighth year now and rebels are still not crushed.
Source: Kavkazsky Uzel
Kavkaz Center
Our button
print version
