–MORE PRESSURE ON REFUGEES

Publication: North Caucasus Weekly Volume: 4 Issue: 34

The Chechen residents of the increasingly beleaguered Bella refugee camp in Ingushetia had their water cut off on September 19, Agence France-Presse reported on September 20. Following a September 17 electricity cutoff, this new step is clearly designed to place the refugees under even more pressure to return to Chechnya before next month’s presidential election. “Officials came and showed us a paper ordering the water to be cut,” one of the refugees told the French news agency. “They say they’re not planning to force us to return, but this comes to the same thing.”

–RUSSIAN CASUALTIES CONTINUE