Russia: July 7, 2004

Archives

Last months rebel attacks in Ingushetia were planned several months in advance, according to interrogations of attackers  and captured documents. Over 200 attackers, half of them from Ingushetia, were sent in to kill as many security personnel as possible. This was done partly for revenge, and partly to try and intimidate the security forces and cripple increasingly successful counter-terrorist operations in Ingushetia and Chechnya. The Chechens have made themselves pests for centuries by not knowing when to quit, or when to stop plundering and exploiting their neighbors. Ingushetians and Chechens are ethnically related, making it possible for Chechen warlords and gang bosses to recruit in Ingushetia. But the majority of the people in the region would rather be done with warlords and organized crime. 

Corruption in the Russian military continues, as police intercepted a T-80  tank, and another unidentified armored vehicle, with documents describing them as "farm machinery," in the process of being exported to Turkey. The two vehicles were valued at about a million dollars. The Russian military officials (probably officers or Defense Ministry civilians) likely received only a tenth of that. However, that is still a considerable sum of money for poorly paid Russian military officials. 

 

X

ad

Help Keep Us From Drying Up

We need your help! Our subscription base has slowly been dwindling.

Each month we count on your contributions. You can support us in the following ways:

  1. Make sure you spread the word about us. Two ways to do that are to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
  2. Subscribe to our daily newsletter. We’ll send the news to your email box, and you don’t have to come to the site unless you want to read columns or see photos.
  3. You can contribute to the health of StrategyPage.
Subscribe   Contribute   Close