Residents of Chechnya report departure of young people to underground

Several young men have left Grozny aiming to join militants, said local residents.

A resident of the settlement of Stary in Grozny has reported that in early February two young men left the settlement to join the underground. "Two young men left their homes; now, power agents are actively looking for them; and their relatives were warned that they should immediately return their kids back, otherwise they'd have problems," said the source of the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

"Four or five guys left the settlements of Stary and Turbina; there is information about two guys from the town of Mayakovsky... Recently, in Grozny and other places rallies are held, where they talk about the danger of extremism and Wahhabism, and urge parents to be vigilant, and young people – not to succumb to provocations. This is, in my opinion, an evidence of a pretty serious problem," said the head of a Chechen NGO.

The law enforcement bodies of the republic have neither confirmed nor denied the information about the departure of several Grozny residents, who aim to join militants. According to a source from one of special units of the Chechen MIA, the militants' groupings remaining in Chechnya "go under the ground" with the onset of autumn.

According to his colleague, the militants' attack on Grozny in December 2014 was caused by the fact that the attackers had no duly equipped base and opportunities to get ready for winter.

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