In Grozny, civil servants take part in clearing buildings affected by CTO

A subbotnik was held in the Chechen capital, when local residents helped to clear up the House of Press and School No. 20, damaged during the recent counterterrorist operation (CTO) conducted in Grozny. Employees of state institutions were involved in the works, said a source from the city administration.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on the night of December 4 militants attacked policemen in Grozny. The Chechen capital was put under the counterterrorist operation regime. Most of the attackers took refuge in the House of Press, and some of them – in School No. 20; both buildings were blocked. According to latest reports, the fight resulted in 11 killed members of the armed underground and 14 lost power agents; other 36 law enforcers were wounded. Both buildings suffered severe damage.

On December 7, over 500 residents took part in removing the burnt-down structures and garbage collection, including the republic's MPs, the staff of the Ministries for National Policy and Print and Information, as well as employees of other state organizations.

Civil servants themselves have treated their participation in the subbotnik as "voluntary-mandatory". "Nobody asked our opinions on this subject; we were just told that we should take part in the clean-up works on December 7. We have gathered at the ministry; then, we were brought to the House of Press and split into groups. Almost all day we dealt with removal of debris and burnt-down structures there," said a woman-employee of one of the ministries.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.