Chechen MIA treats execution of Russian colleagues as "tragic accident"

The incident on July 30, when Chechen militiamen opened occasional fire on the car with their Russian colleagues, having killed two of them, is treated in Chechnya as a "tragic accident", referring to external similarity of one of the casualties with a Wahhabite ideologist.

"In village of Valerik, a real tragedy happened, when local MIA agents shot their two colleagues dead by mistake. On preliminary data, a 'Niva' model car with tinted glasses failed to stop on militiamen's demand for examination; and one of those in the car triggered the breechblock of his firearm. Besides, as militiamen assert, the 'Niva' driver looked amazingly like Wahhabi ideologist Said Buryatskiy; therefore, by virtue of all these circumstances, they were forced to open fire," said a source in law enforcement bodies of Chechnya.

According to the latest data, the casualties were two employees of the Operative-Search Bureau (ORB-2) of the Russian MIA for the SFD (Southern Federal District), who were sent to Chechnya from Yakutsk and Tyumen. A criminal case was opened on the fact of the incident.

A member of one of local NGOs said in his comment on the incident in Valerik village that the guilt is on the republic's leadership.

"Ramzan Kadyrov has in fact provided his power agents with a carte blanche on any actions against the people who just seem suspicious. Recently he kept repeatedly stating that militants, their possible helpers and even members of their families shall be liquidated. He also advised not to try detaining potential IAF (illegal armed formation), but open fire to kill at once, to avoid any victims among participants of special operations," said the source.

"Moreover, the practice is now widespread in the republic, when for every killed militant Kadyrov encourages his militiamen and other servicemen by presenting cars, money and other values to them," the source has added, having emphasized that as a result of this practice militiamen are ready to kill any suspicious person.