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Nezavisimaya Gazeta #240 (3072) 06 Nov. 2003 [BBC Monitoring tr.] Russian generals want to publish detailed Chechnya casualties - paper According to official figures, Russian forces in Chechnya are continuing to lose an average of 25 men killed a month, far less than the 178 incurred in the first Chechen campaign of 1994-1996. But the published data are incomplete, giving rise to speculation about a political cover-up. Now senior Defence Ministry officials are calling for the publication of full casualty lists, but it remains to be seen whether the top leadership will endorse the idea, according to the Nezavisimaya Gazeta newspaper. The following is the text of an article by Vladimir Mukhin, published on 6 November under the headline "Generals to disclose lists - Defence Ministry acknowledges need to publish names of all servicemen killed in Chechnya". The subheadings have been added editorially: During a round table conference dedicated to the problems of protecting servicemen's rights that was held in Nizhniy Novgorod recently, Igor Puzanov and Lyubov Kudelina, Russian Federation deputy defence ministers, declared the need for the "publication by the Russian Federation Defence Ministry of lists of servicemen who have died in Chechnya". Incomplete figures Meanwhile, in summer this year, Defence Minister Sergey Ivanov himself and Vyacheslav Tikhomirov, the commander-in-chief of internal troops, provided only "truncated" statistics on troop losses in the Chechen Republic. According to the report from the defence minister, in the first seven months of this year 148 servicemen died in Chechnya. And Vyacheslav Tikhomirov announced the statistics for losses in the first eight months of this year: During this period Russian Federation Ministry of Internal Affairs internal troops lost 65 servicemen killed and 194 wounded in Chechnya. The statistics cited by military leaders regarding those who have died contain no information on losses among the police, border guard troops, and representatives of the Federal Security Service [FSB], Emergencies Ministry and so forth. The last time that a figure for losses in Chechnya was given that takes these departments into account was almost a year ago. In December 2002, Sergey Ivanov announced that, between 1 October 1999 and 23 December 2002, the security structures' personnel losses in the warring republic had amounted to 4,572 killed and 15,549 wounded. Within this figure, the Russian Federation Defence Ministry's losses amounted to 2,750 killed and 6,569 and wounded. As for the internal troops' losses, in the period from August 1999 to August 2003 they amounted to 1,055 killed. Some questions inevitably arise here. First, why are the overall statistics for federal forces' losses given only from 1 October 1999? Second, why are no statistics provided for servicemen posted missing in action? Third and last, why is it only now that the Russian Federation Defence Ministry has agreed to publish the names of people on the list of those killed in Chechnya? Putin kept informed All the statistical work on servicemen and Interior Ministry staffers who have been killed or wounded or who are posted missing is carried out by the North Caucasus Military District Rear Services, which created an integrated system of rear services and medical support for the troops, including information support on Chechen territory in the period 2000-2003. The statistics relating to those killed and wounded reach the General Staff central command post by 0900 hours each day, and the relevant analysis departments take them into account constantly. In parallel with this, the security departments correlate them through the relevant representatives in the force in Chechnya and at the North Caucasus Military District. The FSB, Interior Ministry, Emergencies Ministry and so forth have these statistics. These statistics are regularly placed on the desks of the heads of the Presidential Staff and are provided to Vladimir Putin. Political reasons The impression is being created that people simply do not want to issue information on losses name by name. This is obviously for political reasons. As is well-known, the military phase of the combat actions in Chechnya ended in 2001. And given that this phase is over, it means that peaceful life has begun and that there are no losses or that they are insignificant. Both Russian and world public opinion, it is said, can rest easy on this score. It is another matter that the absurdity of such a thesis is confirmed by the operational statistics on explosions, hostilities, and losses which reach the news agency teletypes from Chechnya each day. At the same time, even the overall figures for losses provide food for thought. For example, we can now see the structure of losses among servicemen in the first and second Chechen campaigns. These figures can be compared with the analytical information on the actions of the Soviet troops in Afghanistan, the Americans in Iraq, and so on (see table). A simple analysis shows that the losses are continuing even though the intensity of servicemen's losses in Chechnya in 2003 has eased. At the same time, a fairly large troop grouping remains in Chechnya. As Vladimir Boldyrev, commander of the North Caucasus Military District, stated recently, it numbers around 75,000 servicemen. Even though according to unofficial sources, there are fewer than 1,000 gunmen in the republic. Bloodiest conflict It is clear from the table that the first Chechen campaign was the most bloody of the wars and local conflicts of the recent past. For example, according to official statistics, personnel losses among all the security departments in the Chechen campaign of 1994-1996 were 3,927 servicemen and there were 17,892 people wounded. In other words, on average 178 officers and men died each month and 813 servicemen were wounded. Meanwhile, this did not prevent the country's former leadership from publishing in December 1996 named lists of all the servicemen who had died in 1994-1996 (the Ministry of Defence, the FSB, the Federal Border Guard Service and so forth). In the first place, this fact removed all speculation on this theme. Second, Russian citizens learned the truth about the real number of deaths. It seems that people at the military department are now proposing a return to the practice of 1996. The question is whether the country's top leadership will approve this. Table: Comparative analysis of monthly losses in Chechnya and other military conflicts Troop level (average) Monthly losses (dead/wounded) Afghanistan (1979-1989) USSR armed forces 120,000-150,000 139/354 1st Chechen campaign (1994-1996) Russian Federation armed forces 60,000 178/813 2nd Chechen campaign (1999 to present) Russian Federation armed forces 90,000 117/399 2003 Chechnya Russian Federation armed forces 75,000 25/? 2003 Iraq USA 150,000 51/256
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria appeals to all citizens of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria to take photographic materials testifying about the Russian crimes in Chechnya and to send the photographs to the e-mail address of the ChRI MFA <ministry@chechnya-mfa.info>. Please indicate - if possible - the place, time and other appropriate information in connection with the sent photographs. Press Office ChRI MFA, 8 November, 2003. http://www.chechenpress.com/news/11_2003/6_09_11.shtml [Translation by N.S.] |