Russia: Ingushetia commemorates deportation victims, Chechnya does not
| Publisher | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
| Publication Date | 23 February 2015 |
| Cite as | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Russia: Ingushetia commemorates deportation victims, Chechnya does not, 23 February 2015, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/550940ff1f.html [accessed 1 June 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
February 23, 2015
By RFE/RL's North Caucasus Service
NAZRAN, Russia – Residents of Ingushetia are remembering the victims of the Soviet Union's 1944 deportation of Chechens and Ingush from the North Caucasus.
Commemoration ceremonies and public prayers were being held in Ingushetia's mosques and cemeteries on February 23.
From February 23 to March 9, 1944, Soviet authorities deported almost all Chechens and Ingush – an estimated 650,000 people – to Central Asia, claiming they were collaborating with Nazi Germany.
As many as half of the deportees died either on the journey or due to the harsh conditions in which they were forced to live.
In 1957, the survivors were allowed to return to the North Caucasus.
In Chechnya, Moscow-backed leader Ramzan Kadyrov in 2012 moved the Day of Grief and Remembrance from February 23 to May 10, the anniversary of the burial of his father, Akhmad Kadyrov, who was killed by a bomb in 2004.
Link to original story on RFE/RL website
