Chechnya: over 10,000 letters-appeals to militants gathered within the "Call of the Soul" action

In Chechnya, within the large-scale action "Call of the Soul", more than ten thousand children's letters-appeals to militants were gathered, asking them to return to peaceful life, said the Republic's Ministry of Education and Sciences.

"In less than two weeks from the start of the action, the schools of the republic managed to gather over 10,000 children's letters to members of illegal armed formations (IAFs), in which pupils of the first-seventh forms urge militants to stop the senseless confrontation, describe the today's appearance of the republic's cities and districts and encourage them to lay down their arms and return to civilian life," said an employee of the above Ministry of Chechnya.

According to his story, the collection of letters-appeals will continue in the schools of the republic until the end of the month; and then they will be dropped down from a helicopter over the remote mountainous districts of Chechnya.

The population is not unanimous about the action "Call of the Soul" in schools. Many people believe that it was wrong that the republic's authorities attract children to such actions.

"Our children are actually used in some questionable action of political nature. Why should we involve children in adult games? Who could think that a person who had knowingly went to the forest against his parents' will, or someone who is hiding in the mountains for years with the intent to avenge for the death of his relatives and friends, or for his experienced humiliation, after reading a child's letter, throws down his machinegun and run home," said Adam Kh., a local resident.

According to a local expert, no practical effect can be expected from the action "Call of the Soul". In his opinion, no large-scale one-time actions can solve the problem of the armed underground in Chechnya; while, as the source is convinced, neither the federal centre nor the local authorities have any real long-term plans in this regard.