Borozdinovskaya operation

Infobox civilian attack
title=Rampage in Borozdinovskaya


caption=
location=Borozdinovskaya, Chechen-Dagestani border
target=Ethnic Avar village
date=June 4 2005
time=
timezone=
type=Pogrom
fatalities=1 killed, 11 missing
injuries=
perps=Chechen GRU commandos
motive=Murder of a Chechen resident of the village

The Borozdinovskaya operation was cleansing raid ("zachiska", _ru. зачистка) by the ethnic Chechen unit battalion Vostok of the GRU Spetsnaz and the Chechen police on the ethnic minority Avar border village of Borozdinovskaya on 4 June 2005.

Raid

The attack resulted in 11 civilians being "disappeared" and feared dead and a 77-year-old man was found burnt alive. Numerous civilians, rounded-up by the troops, were severely beaten and several homes were torched.

Colonel Sulim Yamadayev, commander of the Vostok battalion, denied that his subordinates were directly or indirectly involved in the raid. [ [http://www.jamestown.org/publications_details.php?volume_id=409&issue_id=3385&article_id=2369953 Yamadayev denies involvement] , The Jamestown Foundation, June 30, 2005] The raid took place after "a series of murders and armed attacks" in and around the village in May-June of 2005, including few days after after an incident in which a father of a Vostok serviceman was shot and killed. [ [http://www.jamestown.org/publications_details.php?volume_id=409&issue_id=3385&article_id=2369952 Memorial details events in Borozdinovskaya] , The Jamestown Foundation, June 30, 2005]

Consequences

The raid prompted a mass exodus over the border to neighbouring Dagestan of the whole population of around 1,000-1,200 villagers [ [http://www.sptimes.ru/index.php?action_id=100&story_id=81 A Terrorized Village in Chechnya Crosses the Border] , "The St. Petersburg Times", June 28, 2005] and led to a serious political standoff in both Chechnya and Dagestan. [ [http://www.jamestown.org/edm//article.php?article_id=2369961 Federal sweep in Borozdinovskaya creates serious crisis in Northern Caucasus] , The Jamestown Foundation, June 30, 2005] Dmitri Kozak, the presidential envoy to the Southern Federal District, even called the raid "an act of sabotage against the Russian state" by "extremists". [ [http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/library/news/russia/2005/russia-050623-rferl01.htm Russia: Scandal Brews Over Raid In Chechnya] , RFE/RL/GlobalSecurity.org, 23 June 2005]

On October 27 2005, Mukhadi Aziyev, company commander of the Vostok battalion, was convicted of "exceeding official authority", and given a three-year suspended sentence. The fate of the abducted people was not established. [ [http://eng.kavkaz.memo.ru/newstext/engnews/id/885460.html Sentence for Borozdinovskaia passed in Chechnya] , Memorial society, 27/10/2005] A legal demand for compensation brought by villagers against the Russian Ministry of Defence was rejected. [ [http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2008/04/D58CD5F5-81DB-4774-B2E4-2E0E23BDAFDD.html Analysis: Russian Defense Ministry Postpones Ruling On Controversial Chechen Battalion] , RFE/RL, April 25, 2008]

In 2006 and again in 2008, during the conflict between Kadyrov and the Yamadayev brothers, the government of Ramzan Kadyrov used the case as an example of the unit's crimes. [ [http://www.jamestown.org/terrorism/news/article.php?articleid=2372453 Kadyrov (selectively) denounced disappearances] , The Jamestown Foundation , April 20, 2006] [ [http://en.novayagazeta.ru/data/2008/27/03.html Clanning Chechnya] , "Novaya Gazeta", 21.04.2008]

ee also

*Caucasian Avars

References

External links

* [http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2005/06/487f4546-26f3-4a08-bb79-e72166328b8d.html Chechnya: Does Outrage Over Borozdinovskaya Sweep Presage Change Of Russian Tactics?] , RFE/RL, June 24, 2005
* [http://eng.kavkaz-uzel.ru/newstext/engnews/id/1190335.html Borozdinovskaya refugees hold protest meeting in Dagestan] , Memorial society, 26/6/2007
* [http://iwpr.net/?apc_state=hruicrs2005&l=en&s=f&o=243861 Chechnya: Fleeing Villagers Protest] , Institute for War and Peace Reporting, 30 June 2005
* [http://www.watchdog.cz/index.php?show=000000-000002-000001-000155&lang=1 Kadyrov bribes refugees to return to Borozdinovskaya] , National Endowment for Democracy, June 30th 2005
* [http://www.jamestown.org/publications_details.php?volume_id=409&issue_id=3401&article_id=2370017 Moscow places its bets on "state terrorists" in Chechnya] , The Jamestown Foundation, July 14, 2005
* [http://www.jamestown.org/publications_details.php?volume_id=409&issue_id=3416&article_id=2370069 Borozdinovskaya residents flee once again] , RFE/RL, July 27, 2005
* [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/news/2005/07/mil-050729-rferl06.htm Russia: Officials Say Pro-Moscow Chechens Involved In Deadly Raid On Avar Village] RFE/RL/GlobalSecurity.org, July 29 2005
* [http://www.jamestown.org/terrorism/news/article.php?articleid=2372232 Borozdinovskaya and the role of revenge] , The Jamestown Foundation, August 10, 2005
* [http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-112492637.html Two policemen wounded in attack on post in minority village in Chechnya] , Associated Press, August 25, 2005
* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2005/sep/16/worlddispatch.chechnya Whose side are you on?] , "The Guardian", September 16 2005