CHECHNYA
16’41
June 2000
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01:01
A Russian flag flies over the skeletal ruins of what once
was Grozny...and a conquering soldier fires a volley into the air to celebrate.
Captured Chechen rebels who once seemed invincible
adversaries...are now just defeated men...the losers that could not stop the onslaught of the
Russian war machine.
01:30
The civilians of the broken capital have also been humbled and they are silent
now as they walk past their old masters they hoped would never
return...although the anguish of the
city can still be heard.
02:00
These were the scenes of Russian triumph just three months
ago, a seemingly crucial victory that the Kremlin said would soon mean
the end of rebellion and the end of
Chechnya's short lived and hard fought independence.
02:20
A promise to crush Chechen separatism was the
whirlwind Vladimir Putin
rode to sweep Russia's presidential election, declaring repeatedly that
the Chechen “bandit problem “ would soon be over.
02:40
But his soldiers cannot go home. Chechnya is not pacified.
Russian columns are routinely attacked, sometimes wiped out and Western
intelligence agencies believe Russian casualty figures are far higher than Moscow
admits.
Although 90% of Chechnya's territory now supposedly
under tight Russian control--- a resistance movement flourishes against the odds --- hidden in village safehouses and guerrilla bases
deep in the forests and mountains.
To bring you these images of so called “ Free Chechnya” a three
person team of journalists was smuggled
some five hundred miles through Russian territory. Assisting us was an array of
Chechen partisans, professional smugglers and bribed or sympathetic Russian soldiers.
We traveled by car, on foot, even horseback---slipping by
Russian security forces every step at more than forty checkpoints.
We can’t show you the clandestine journey we undertook to
reach rebel Chechnya. A condition of our trip was that the route remain secret.
By definition this report offers a one sided
perspective. Our journey itself is a crime under Russian law.
This is 31 year old Turpal Ali, his name means the Warrior
Ali--- an
automatic pistol is always on his hip, he is on Moscow's most wanted list. His
full official title is Minister for Counter-Intelligence and security.
For
him the war is far from over.
Turpal Ali Chechen
Counter-Intelligence Minister
03:40
" I think the
war will never end until Russia realizes that we have the same rights as other
peoples for self-determination."
03:50
Turpal moves
constantly from safehouse to safehouse, for security reasons it cannot be revealed where this one
is located or even what it looks like outside. It is one of several where the
Chechens hid our reporting team over a period of four weeks. A Russian military base is
only a couple of miles away which is why assault rifles and grenade launchers
are close to hand.
04:00
This is home video footage filmed by Chechen partisans in last three months
when Turpal led a small Chechen unit into combat against the Russians. He
claims his fighters killed forty enemy soldiers that day and earlier described the tactics of
ambush.
04:20
"We infiltrate un-noticed and seize key positions with small groups of men along their advance routes and lines of communication. When the Russians move… we hit them hard…so they suffer great losses in transit."
04:36
Abu Said seen on the
left heads Chechnya's largest civil rights group and Adam Mousayev on the right
is the Chechen government's Development minister.
04:50
At great personal risk they traveled together to speak to
Nightline. One of their companions was
arrested on the way to this meeting. That alone is a measure of how desperate
the Chechens are to convey their message.
ABU SAID Chechen Civil
Rights Leader
05:08
" Why is the
whole world ignoring us? We are being wiped out. The entire Chechen nation is
being exterminated. The Russians don't make war on our fighters, they make war
on women and children."
Adam Mousayev Chechen
Development Minister TC
05:20
" I'd like to
ask Clinton…recognizing America's tradition of defending the rights of nations
throughout the world. Remembering Kosovo, remembering Iraq when America was the
shield of human rights…can't he use his power to stop this genocide?"
05:45
"Whole
villages are burned down. Innocent people are slaughtered. Women are raped.
This is happenning in real time. Today. Now. When the world is talking about
civilization and democracy."
05:58
In another safehouse the following morning a group of Chechen fighters
awaken in darkness to prepare for a pre-dawn march to their base.
The trek
will take them several miles along a rugged dirt track through the forest…Russian mortars and
artillery often shell this hidden path…Russian patrols can be on the prowl… but
by first light the partisans safely reach the outskirts of their mountain
stronghold.
Many wear green Islamic headbands to
show they are Mujahadeen --- Muslim holy warriors.
The fighters are mostly young men ranging
from teenagers to those in their early
twenties.
Their equipment
and weaponry are all items
captured from the Russians.
This guerrilla anti-tank gunner
shouldering his RPG rocket launcher is only sixteen.
06:44
But it is not only young men and boys who resist the Russian
invader nor even just Chechens who fight back.
Natasha a 35 year old ethnic Russian and
convert to Islam joined the insurgents after her husband was killed in Grozny.
Natasha
07:00
" Many
husbands and brothers died. Many Russian men and women have been defending
their homeland…Chechnya. Now and in the future it will
always be like this because this is our homeland too."
07:15
It's hard to immagine this gentle and soft spoken woman is a
hardened fighter, but she
is as defiant as any veteran guerrilla.
Natasha
:
"Its pointless
trying to destroy us. What Russia wants it cannot have. We are made of steel.
Steel melts then joins together again stronger than before. Chechens…we are
like this,"
07:48
The closest Russians are only a mile and a half away but 45 year old
Marsoud the veteran bearded unit
commander worries more about random shelling than meeting the enemy face to
face.
Marsoud Chechen Guerrilla Commander
" The Russians are not good soldiers. None of them know
how to fight. But they have a lot of armor and hardware and they just keep
shooting everywhere."
********
There is hardly a fighter among Marsoud's
troop who doesn't feel the loss of war.
Young
Fighter
" Me…Him …and him…He's lost his brother. We all come
from the same place. There isn't a single person here who hasn't lost a
relative, a friend, a brother or cousin."
08:18
A desire to avenge widespread
allegations of Russian
atrocities motivates this young guerrilla.
Young fighter again
" Seventy women were taken away and released weeks later. When they came home we knew what they had done to them."
08:36
The determination of the young guerrillas to fight on is
matched by a government forced to exist in the shadows.
Adam Mousayev chechen Development Minister
" Eighty percent of the cabinet is still intact and we will be with our President until the end. If we have to die we will die but we will not surrender our freedom."
(End segment 1)
(start Segment 2)
09:09
After last minute instructions to the detachment left to guard the perimeter Marsoud and the rest of his men move on to
the main guerrilla camp a half mile away.
It is a small complex of only partially bomb proof shelters and
trenches carved from the earth. The sound of Russian reconaissance planes
overhead is almost always heard.
Marsoud explains his camp is reasonably safe from Russian
intrusion. He says his opponents are often afraid to be caught in the forest
after dark.
09:49
Marsoud
" The Russians only control where they are at any given moment. Where they park their tank that's what they control."
10:03
Two overflying Russian fighter bombers force the
fighters and this reporter to take shelter in the bunkers. It is not the last
time we will take cover.
The danger over for now
, two five man teams prepare for
patrol.
The scope is adjusted on a sniper rifle…
Ammo pouches crammed with rifle clips
are secured…
The aim on rocket launchers is checked and a
carrying strap adjusted…
A few final words…
And the partisans set out to do battle if they can find it…..
10:40
The partisans are in a jovial mood and there are
many smiles in camp today…the patrol did find the Russians…engaging a unit of
reportedly 30 soldiers within earshot of the guerrilla base last night.
The rebels claim two Russian dead and a score of wounded with no casualties of
their own. Living to fight another day
is reason enough to celebrate.
So the camp cook has stoked the fire in the adobe hut
that serves as both mess and kitchen and there is a hearty stew to fill empty
stomachs.
The great luxury is cup after cup of piping hot tea
sweetened with cans of condensed milk.
And Marsoud is optimistic over the hit and run war his men are now
waging.
11:20
Marsoud
" Before our
losses were too high but now our combat casualties are minimal
and we kill Russians…every day…everywhere."
A visiting teenage insurgent from another base cannot forget
Grozny and he tells his
story disguised by the darkness of the
bomb shelter for fear of reprisal against his family.
11:44
Young fighter
" To leave we
had to open a path through a minefield by detonating the mines with our bodies.
This is how we got out and hundreds died. Many others died from cold and
hunger, some even shot themselves during the retreat not able to take it
anymore."
12:05
Still it is a day of respite, a day when weapons usually
held at the ready can be unshouldered, a day away from the tensions of war when blossoming flowers can still be
beautiful though a Russian spotter plane drones above.
12:25
One rebel finds the time for a quiet
moment on horseback. Another for some
gymnastics. Even when the cook spots a
Russian jet no
one runs for cover, not today. Today is a day when violent death perhaps
waiting just around the corner can be briefly forgotten. The usual precautions overcome by the elation
the guerrilla troop still feels after yesterday’s combat.
12;41
Marsoud dons his Papaha, the traditional sheepskin hat of the Chechen
warrior. None is more cheerful than
Arsan, one of Marsoud's
veteran deputies. He tells me he is proud his battle fatigues are
American made…(he
shouts made in USA!)
13:06
They need mending and a female resistance member
, whose face cannot be shown because she is a courier for the President,
sows a button with great care as Arsan merrily shouts (Allah Akhbar!)…God is
great.
13:23
In the cookhouse a gift is given by the
guerrillas, the headband
Arsan has worn in battle since the first war, it's Arabic
inscriptions have faded with the years and the 18 year old
spiritual leader of the troop retraces them with a pen...it reads
""There is no god but god, god is great and I am a warrior of
god."
13:42
A horse is hitched up to a wooden cart to take some of the guerrillas home on leave, except for it's small rubber
wheels it seems a relic from antiquity, but the fighters are glad not to walk
and glad to be going home.
13:59
As dusk falls, Saifullah, a young fighter whose name means
sword of Allah leads the partisans. Another spy plane flies overhead to remind
us this is a place of war but as the Mujahadeen bow in reverence towards Mecca
singing birds mingle with the sounds of faith.
(end segment 2) (Start Segment 3)
14:36
A nightime march on horseback through the Russian lines
brought us here… another Guerrilla base reportedly only a little over a mile from 6000 Russian
soldiers to the north and South. Russian helicopter gunships overflew our group
throughout the night as we marched alongside an artillery barrage
but we arrived unharmed and unseen by the Russians. It is where we await the rebel
Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov , he
became President three years ago after a democratic election both the United
Nations and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe judged free and fair.
15:08
A couple of fighters head off into the woods to scout the
area prior to the President's arrival.
Routine Russian shelling of this hideout has scarred the landscape. Soon
a detachment of the Presidential Guard, is deploying around the camp setting
up a security cordon for Maskhadov.
15:28
Patiently, they keep a sharp eye on the various points of
approach in silence--- weapons trained on any would be intruder. The President
dressed in military fatigues and wearing a fur hat --- arrives as if appearing
out of thin air. Aware of the increased
threat to his life by leaving his safe haven, he made
the trip willingly. Sweating from the labors of his walk he parts his hair to
make himself presentable for the camera. The one concession to Presidential
decorum is an oriental carpet
to cover the log, he sits on.
Maskhadov believes western diplomacy has inadvertently
helped to legitimize Russian agression, citing in particular Putin's visit to Britain this
past April. .
Aslan Maskhadov Chechen
President
16:14
" After Putin's meeting
in London the war resumed with greater ferocity. Although the European Parliament , the UN and the OSCE have condemned Russia, Western
governments are vacillating over Russia and still don't understand what the
Russian army is doing here."
The embattled President is also pained that what he openly
labels genocide is seemingly ignored in western capitals..
16:44
Maskhadov
" The voice of
human rights organizations unfortunately does not reach western leaders
Including Britain and to my deep regret the United States."
Maskhadov who was chief of Staff of Chechen forces in the
last war believes a prolonged guerrilla strategy will lead to a hammer blow.
17:08
Maskhadov
" Our small units will exhaust the Russians for another six months or a year. The Russians will suffer great casualties and at the right moment our units will link up to deliver a punch that will mark the turning point in the war as it was the last time."
He says Putin fails to grasp the inevitable.
Maskhadov
17:28
" Putin should
realize the truth…that it is an unwinable war, a war he has already lost. They
will have to leave in shame and disgrace and he should come to the negotiating
table to end it."
And the alternative?
17:46
Maskhadov
"Losing is not
an option. If we lose this war we will be exterminated, we will be destroyed.
This is why we must win and we will."
END 18:05
Chris Kline for Nightline Inside Rebel held Chechnya.