13:01, 1 July 2008

Residents of Chechnya suspect "Vostok" of concealing tombs of their victims

Residents of the Gudermes District of Chechnya suspect that the militaries of the special-purpose battalion of the GRU (Main Intelligence Directorate of the Russian General Staff) "Vostok" (East) are destroying the tombs of their victims.

After detection in the first half of June in the Gudermes District of Chechnya of a number of mass burials with remains of people, presumably, victims of extrajudicial executions committed by servicemen of the "Vostok" battalion, now in the evening unknown militaries in masks are blocking certain areas of the District. The "power agents" announce that they are conducting another special action, while local residents who are searching their kidnapped and missing relatives assert that under the pretext of "special actions" the "Vostok" battalion is covering up the traces of its former crimes.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Chechnya has refused to give any comments, saying that no written applications on the matter arrived from citizens.