"Petersburgskaya Gazeta" apologizes for publication about Ingushes' deportation

After the protest of the Nationalities' Ministry of Ingushetia, the editorial board of the "Petersburgskaya Gazeta" has apologized for publishing an interview with Sergey Plotnikov, Director of the "News Pool" Media Holding, entitled "Ingushes should thank Stalin for deportation and erect monuments to him", in which the deportation of Ingushes and Chechens was called "soft punishment."

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on May 5, Ulan Evloev, Minister for Nationalities' Matters, urged the Russia's General Prosecutor's Office (GPO) to react to this interview, published on May 3.

"The editorial staff of the 'Petersburgskaya Gazeta' and the management of the LLC 'News Pool' are conveying their deepest apologies zing to the Ingush people and the government of Ingushetia for the publication about the 1944 Stalin's deportation, which had touched the honour of Ingush veterans of the Second World War," the website reports.

The "Petersburgskaya Gazeta" notes that the publication had inaccuracies. "In particular, it failed to mention the fact that there were front-line soldiers, who had heroically fought for the Red Army against Hitlerite invaders, among the repressed people," the editorial office of the newspaper has stated.

According to one of the co-owners of the newspaper, Plotnikov has been reprimanded; and his interview was deleted from the website.

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