Ingushetia Faces Another Loss of Territory, This Time to Russian Defense Ministry

Paul Goble

            Staunton, July 1 – When Ingushetia, the smallest federal subject other than the two capitals, lost 69,000 hectares of land to Chechnya in September 2018 as a result of a backroom deal between then-republic head Yunus-Bek Yevkurov and Chechnya’s Ramzan Kadyrov, that sparked months of protest and continuing outrage.

            Now, Ingushetia faces the loss to the Russian defense ministry of 12,000 more hectares; and the Union of Teips, having failed to get a response from either the defense ministry or Putin, has appealed to the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources to prevent this from happening (fortanga.org/2020/07/sovet-tejpov-ingushetii-opasaetsya-peredachi-zemel-minoborony-strany/).

            This land contains both rare flora and fauna which the base will destroy and important historical and cultural monuments which the actions of the Russian army are likely to disturb, the Council of Teips says.  Adding insult to injury, this territory adjoins the land earlier lost to Chechnya and thus looks like another Moscow-backed Chechen move against Ingushetia.

            The appeal does not mention the constitutional amendment that allows for the creation of federal territories, possibly at the expense of non-Russian republics; but it is almost certain that some of the authors had that in mind, seeing this latest Moscow move as directed against the very existence of the republic.

            To the extent that is the case, this new land grab by outsiders is likely to trigger a new round of demonstrations unless Moscow, Magas and the Russian defense ministry back down. And it is also likely to be viewed in other republics as a threat not only to Ingushetia but to them as well.

            The increasing willingness of the Council of Teips to speak out on such public issues – it earlier opposed the land transfer to Chechnya and Vladimir Putin’s constitutional amendments – has prompted pro-Moscow groups in the North Caucasus to attack it as unrepresentative and a troublemaker (capost.media/news/obshchestvo/in-ingushetia-detained-protesters-in-support-of-idps-from-chechnya/).

            Meanwhile, more information has surfaced on yesterday’s clash between the Ingush and the siloviki in front of the government building in Magas. Approximately 15  people took part, and four have been detained after refusing orders to disperse (capost.media/news/obshchestvo/in-ingushetia-detained-protesters-in-support-of-idps-from-chechnya/).