Dagestani authorities ignore request of Avars from Kenkhi village

The request of the Avar residents of the village of Kenkhi, Sharoi District of Chechnya, to build a road connecting the village with the Tsumadin District of Dagestan, remained unanswered. This year, roads were built only in the village itself; but there is no road to the border of Dagestan, said Ramazan Djalaldinov, a resident of the village.

In April this year, Avars from Kenkhi asked Vladimir Vasiliev, the Acting Head of Dagestan, to build a road to the Tsumadin District. They justified their request by their everyday needs and the threat of assimilation in Chechnya.

Mr Djalaldinov has noted that about 3000 Avars live in the village.

The Chechen authorities have also failed with their promises to recover the mountain areas, build roads and repair schools.

Both roads that lead to Kenkhi, both the Chechen and the Dagestani ones, are broken. The road to Dagestan is dangerous even when you go on foot, the journalist Vasily Polonsky has confirmed.

In April 2016, local residents told the "Caucasian Knot" that only a pedestrian road links the village with Dagestan, which can be used in summer; during other seasons, to get to Dagestan, villagers have to use a detour via Chechnya.