Quotes of Russian (terrorist)
soldiers in Chechnya
"Without atrocities, we'll get nowhere in
Chechnya. We have to be cruel to them. Otherwise, we'll achieve nothing." -
21-year-old russian soldier
"You don't make it obvious, and they don't
look too hard. Everyone understands that's the way it works." - 21-year-old
russian soldier is being confident that authorities will make no serious
effort to investigate war zone misconduct.
"What kind of human rights can there be in
wartime? It's fine to violate human rights within certain limits." -
31-year-old russian police commando
"The easiest way is to heat your bayonet
over charcoal, and when it's red-hot, to put it on their (Chechen) bodies,
or stab them slowly. You need to make sure they feel as much pain as
possible. The main thing is to have them (Chechens) die slowly. You don't
want them to die fast, because a fast death is an easy death. They should
get the full treatment. They should get what they deserve. On one hand it
looks like an atrocity, but on the other hand, it's easy to get used to. I
killed about nine people this way. I remember all of them." - Andrei,
russian soldier
"Cutting ears may seem savage to some, but
it has its explanations," said one commander. "It's an old tradition among
the special forces--you cut off the ears of the enemy in order to later lay
them on the tombstone of your friend who was killed in the war. . . . It's
not a manifestation of barbarism. It's just our way of telling our deceased
mate: Rest in peace. You have been avenged." - 33-year-old russian army
officer
"I would kill all the (Chechen) men I met
during mopping-up operations. I didn't feel sorry for them one bit." -
Boris, russian soldier
"I remember a Chechen female sniper. She
didn't have any chance of making it to the authorities. We just tore her
apart with two armored personnel carriers, having tied her ankles with steel
cables. There was a lot of blood, but the boys needed it." - Boris, russian
soldier
"We would also throw fighters off the
helicopters before landing. The trick was to pick the right altitude. We
didn't want them to die right away. We wanted them to suffer before they
died. Maybe it's cruel, but in a war, that's almost the only way to dull the
fear and sorrow of losing your friends." - Boris, russian soldier
"Our hatred is against all Chechens, not
just the individual enemies who killed your friends." - 23-year-old russian
army officer
"It's much easier to kill them all
(Chechens). It takes less time for them to die than to grow." - Valery,
russian personnel officer
"So there will be one Chechen less on the
planet, so what? Who will cry for him?" - Gennady, 24-year-old russian
paratrooper
"I hated them when I fought in Chechnya,
and I hate them now. I can't even watch TV when it shows Chechens--I feel
all my muscles start to ache and I want to smash something." - Gennady,
24-year-old russian paratrooper
"Our commander told us all the time,
'There's no such thing as a Chechen civilian.' " - russian conscript
"It's easy for a person to get away with
almost everything. You take this wretched Chechen down into a basement or a
cellar under the guise of checking his documents in a quiet place. And then
you just knock him off the way you want. There are no eyewitnesses, and no
one will say anything." - Denis, russian major with the elite police forces
"Neither I nor the president has ever said
there are no violations of human rights in Chechnya." - Vladimir A.
Kalamanov,
President Putin's special representative for human rights in Chechnya
"There are not enough psychologists in all
of Russia to treat those who are returning." - 40-year-old russian police
officer about new generation of troubled Russian soldiers with deep
psychological problems, many of whom are violent.
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