Natives of Chechnya and Dagestan tell about interethnic tensions in Krasnodar

Disputes about the Chechen-Dagestani border have exacerbated the hostility among natives of these republics in the Krasnodar Territory, members of national communities have pointed out.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that at night on August 21, in Krasnodar, a conflict occurred involving several dozen people; and a local resident, a native of Dagestan, received a mortal gunshot wound. After the conflict, several natives of Dagestan and Chechnya were detained.

A Krasnodar businessman, a native of Dagestan named Anzor told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that he did not believe in the everyday version of the conflict. "Relations with our neighbours from Chechnya have always been tense, this is not a secret. But after they began seizing our land; and how they treated our elders, who opposed the seizure, these relation have naturally deteriorated even more," said the man.

"I think that any reason can trigger a scandal, because the relationships are extremely tense. I myself did not see the start of the quarrel, but many of my friends saw it. Our guys asked their young people to make music in the car, which was very loud, quieter. Maybe the reason for the conflict is domestic, but in reality it's much deeper. Young people have absorbed hostility towards each other, one might say, with mother's milk," said Anzor.

Ramazan, a member of the Chechen Diaspora in Krasnodar, has also expressed the opinion that a domestic quarrel resulted in a conflict with shooting on interethnic grounds. "Everyone knows that there's hostility between our nationals," he said.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on August 22, 2019 at 08:23 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.