[KavkazUzel] Extrajudicial executions during the two Chechen military campaigns took place throughout Grozny, so the remains found on the outskirts of the city may belong to the victims of these executions, human rights activists Oleg Orlov and Alexander Cherkasov suggested. Examination to establish the age of the remains can be carried out even in one day, said an expert in the field of forensic medicine.
The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the remains of at least 10 people were found near a dacha settlement on the outskirts of Grozny, this follows from a video posted on social networks on March 1. The authors of the video suggested that the remains belong to those killed during the Chechen campaigns. From an audio message distributed on WhatsApp, which is at the disposal of the "Caucasian Knot", it follows that the remains were discovered on the evening of February 28 outside the Andreevsky Valley in the Zavodskoy district of Grozny.
Ombudsman of Chechnya Mansur Soltaev stated on his page on the VKontakte social network that the information found in the Sheikh-Mansurovsky district of Grozny (until December 2022 - Zavodskoy district ) was unreliable, the burial was made during the years of military campaigns in the republic.
"I went to the burial site, examined it, talked with experts. Judging by the remains and some signs, this place was an old cemetery. According to archaeologists working on the site, this is one of the old cemeteries that was here around the 18th century," he pointed out late on the evening of March 1.
One day is enough to determine the age of the remains
A medical examination of the bones of a person to determine when he died can be carried out even in one day, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told at the Department of Forensic Medicine of the Medical Institute of the Peoples' Friendship University of Russia.
"The method for determining the age of human remains is somewhat subjective, but the examination is done quite quickly. Subjectivity arises when using the ultraviolet illumination technique. Experts may disagree on the criteria for determining age," a representative of the Department of Forensic Medicine explained.
According to the expert, difficulties arise when determining the age of bones more than 50 years old.
"Up to 50 years old, age is normally determined. After 50, it’s not so clear. But, of course, the difference between the remains of 20 or 200 years ago can be determined without difficulty," he stressed.
Remains may belong to victims of extrajudicial executions
Oleg Orlov, co-chairman of the Memorial Human Rights Center, said that extrajudicial executions took place throughout Grozny during both Chechen wars.
"Grozny was a battlefield several times. There were many who died during the fighting, both members of the armed formations and civilians. There were also extrajudicial executions. There were many places of illegal detention in Grozny - the so-called filtration points. Moreover, at that time there were large spaces near the factories. It was convenient to commit such crimes there," he told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.
According to the human rights activist, burial places of war victims, including those who died from extrajudicial executions, are periodically found in Chechnya.
"There are many graves in which from 2-3 to several dozen people were buried. Such burials are also frequent in cemeteries. Because the corpses of tortured and killed people were thrown into cemeteries. Sometimes the inhabitants themselves found unidentified bodies and buried them in their cemeteries. Usually these unidentified they left descriptions of them, objects, clothes that they had, so that those who search could identify loved ones among the dead and buried. There are cases when people, looking for their missing relatives by visiting different cemeteries, found them by these things, which were preserved local residents. Then the remains were exhumed and reburied in family cemeteries," Orlov said.
In the area of the plant on the outskirts of Grozny, people who died under various circumstances may be buried, Alexander Cherkasov, a member of the board of the Memorial Human Rights Center, believes.
"If these are burials of the First Chechen War, then people who died from bombing and shelling were buried in this way," he said.
During the second Chechen military campaign, Russian military units were stationed in this area from the side of the ridge, and it is possible that the dead were victims of extrajudicial executions, the human rights activist believes.
"During the assault and after the assault on Grozny, the 21st Brigade of the Internal Troops and the 205th Motorized Rifle Brigade were there. They participated in the cleansing operations, during which there were mass enforced disappearances in the Staropromyslovsky district. And among those found may be the remains of those who disappeared in December 1999 - January 2000 years. But this is preliminary. An accurate result could be given by a genetic examination," Cherkasov explained.
Mass graves in Chechnya exposed the problem of identifying the remains
Alexander Cherkasov confirmed that periodically mass graves are found in Chechnya and this becomes an event in the republic.
"But every time this is a problem. Because the question of identification arises. This has not been systematically solved for more than 20 years. It is necessary to systematically search for the missing, the number of which, according to various sources, is from 3,000 to 5,000 people," Cherkasov emphasized.
Work to find the remains of people who disappeared during the military campaigns in Chechnya is too slow , local residents said on the occasion of the Day of the Missing in 2019. Methods for identifying the remains are being improved, but there is no progress in investigating the deaths of these people and similar crimes in other regions of the North Caucasus, human rights activists interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" pointed out at the time.
In 2008, a mass grave containing the remains of six people was discovered on the outskirts of Gudermes . The identity of the deceased and the date of death are unknown.
In June 2008, a mass grave dating back to the 1995 hostilities was found in Chechnya, Nurdi Nukhazhiev, then Chechen Ombudsman, said. About 800 people were buried in a mass grave on the territory adjacent to the Christian cemetery in the Leninsky district of Grozny
On December 31, 2016, it became known that the remains of 109 people who died, presumably, in the first military campaign, were brought to Chechnya from Rostov-on-Don. They were buried in two mass graves in a fresh cemetery between the settlements of Elevator and Pobedinskoye in the Grozny region of the republic.
"In total, more than 160 skeletonized remains were found there. It was assumed that this was the burial place of military personnel of the federal forces. The remains were taken to Rostov-on-Don for an examination. It turned out that only two of them were dead military personnel, and all the rest, most likely only civilians who died during the first military campaign in the republic," a representative of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent at the time.
The "Caucasian Knot" also wrote that builders in Makhachkala found the remains of 18 people on the beach near the Jami Hotel on the shore of the Caspian Sea, this became known on February 28. Bullet holes are visible on some turtles, the Baza telegram channel drew attention. The burial was made, presumably, in the 1930s, investigators said.
On the site of the Makhachkala beach, where a mass grave was found, executions were carried out in the 1930s , the scientist Said Ninalalov and the representative of the "Russian Congress of the Peoples of the Caucasus" Denga Khalidov said. This is the only burial place in Dagestan for the victims of Stalinist repressions, they suggested.
However, the authors of comments on the footage of these remains published on social networks questioned the version of scientists and investigators, suggesting that the remains belong to a much later time, especially given that well-preserved shoes are visible in the footage next to the bones.