Robbery of an institute in Grozny, shelling of cars near Khidi-Khutor, attack by members of the Chechen resistance on riot police in Starye Atagi

October 24, 2001

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A robbery was committed against a cashier in the building of the Grozny Oil Institute. She was giving salaries to teachers and stipends to students when three unknown men appeared in civilian clothes and wearing masks. They injured the cashier and took 50 thousand rubles.

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Coming under fire from a Russian combat helicopter in the village of Yalkhoi-Mokhk. Nothing is known about the victims and destruction of the Memorial Human Rights Center.

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In the evening, a resident of the village of Khidi-Khutor named Yusup and his neighbor (who asked not to give his first and last name) were driving home with a load of tomatoes. A few kilometers before the village, their car was fired upon from a machine gun. They were forced to stop.

The military ran up to them and pulled them out of the cabin. They immediately took about 6 thousand rubles, then tied my hands and shoved me into a KamAZ truck that was standing nearby and also under fire. A little further away stood a Niva with broken windows and numerous holes. The detainees saw how the military shot the engine of this car and put something in the interior. After that, they stated that they would be nearby and, if any of the detainees moved, they would open fire to kill.

The men sat in the KamAZ truck until the morning, and at dawn they got out of the cab and approached the shot Niva. One said: “What a mess!”, and then there was an explosion. The explosive device installed in the car most likely reacted to the sound. Then the cartridges scattered in the car began to explode. The men assume that the Niva belonged to members of the All-Russian Federation of ChRI. Both were slightly injured.

Yusup hesitated for a long time to start his car, fearing that it too might be mined.

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According to local residents, in the village of Stariye Atagi, members of the VF of the Chechen Republic of Ichrystan attacked riot police officers of the Chechen Republic. Two policemen - Magomed Dambaev and Abdula Vakhabov - were killed, the third, Mavladi Makaev, was taken away in an unknown direction.

The name and surname of the policeman captured in Starye Atagi partially coincide with the name and surname of Mouldi Makaev, who disappeared in Grozny. In addition, both of them were riot police. It is likely that we are talking about the same person. However, the Human Rights Center “Memorial” was unable to find out how a person who had been called by radio by his comrades the day before could end up the next day in a village three dozen kilometers from Grozny, where he was last seen.


From the book “People Live Here”, Usam Baysaev, Dmitry Grushkin, 2006.