Menyailo orders closure of entrances to North Ossetia after brawl on border with Ingushetia

The statement by the head of North Ossetia, Sergei Menyailo, was preceded by two brawls that took place on the night of August 25 on the border of the two republics.

As "Kavkazsky Uzel" wrote, in January 2023, at the Chermen post on the border of Ingushetia and North Ossetia, shots were fired into the air from a car without registration plates, 

 Sergey Menyailo instructed law enforcement agencies to close entry into the republic in the event of domestic conflicts that could escalate into larger-scale and interethnic ones. He made such statements at a staff meeting today.  "We will deal with our own people inside the republic. But in such a situation it is better to play it safe so that no one from the neighboring republics participates in the conflicts,” Menyailo said.

In turn, the Ministry of the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania for National Policy and Foreign Relations denies information about a mass brawl at the checkpoint in the village of Chermen. “This is an exaggeration. There were two tête-à-tête brawls. Representatives of the republican government, including Deputy Prime Minister Irbek Tomayev, have arrived at the scene,” the head of the North Ossetian Ministry of Nationalities Alan Bagiyev told the Osnova publication.

At the Chermen checkpoint, which separates Ingushetia and North Ossetia, a fight between residents of the two republics occurred on the evening of August 24, a source for Fortanga reported. Footage from the scene of the incident, which was distributed by the publication, shows that several dozen people from both sides are involved in the clashes. According to the publication, the incident was caused by a domestic conflict.

The Telegram channel "Ossetia" reported, citing the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of North Ossetia, that the conflict was "quickly resolved" with the participation of the police and the Russian National Guard. The security forces who arrived at the scene separated the representatives of the two sides.

"The largest post on the border of Ingushetia and North Ossetia, which is located at the entrance to the Prigorodny district, is the "Chermen" post, there are no other posts. "The "Chermen" post is manned by police officers from central Russia. There are two more posts at the entrance to Dzheyrakh, where the Terek separates the two republics. There are Ossetian police officers there. There is also a post in the Malgobek district on the Terek - Malgobek road. There is just a quiet highway there. "The people who travel are mainly Ingush, who are moving from Pyatigorsk, Stavropol, and who need to go to Malgobek," Albert Darbazanov, a public figure from Ingushetia, told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent earlier .