Russian losses in Chechnya exceed those in Afghanistan

Topic: Chechnya/Russia

A veteran of the Soviet war in Afghanistan told a Tambov meeting on Nov. 26 that Russian losses in Chechnya had exceeded the country's losses in Afghanistan.

Eye on Eurasia: The costs of Chechnya... Washington Times.

And yet the world hardly takes notice. Of course, it is hard to get anything in the way of reliable news from Russia, with the independent press rapidly disappearing. Nor does it help that foreign journalists are not allowed into the Chechen conflict zone, much less the Red Cross.

Natalia Zhukova, chairwoman of the Committee of Soldiers' Mothers, had an opinion article appear recently in the Chicago Tribune.

Once upon a time, Americans felt threatened by my country's military. During the Cold War, the United States felt compelled to undertake huge military expenditures to match its rival's might and vice versa.

Those days, thankfully, are over.

But today, the Russian armed forces still pose a serious threat--to our own people.

The Committee of Soldier's Mothers is the organization that recently tried to meet with the envoy of the elected President of Chechnya, now living in exile in the U.K, to talk about peace. They were to meet in Belgium, but at the last moment were denied Visas.

Belgian Interior Ministry officials had indicated they had been approached by "the Russian side," which had expressed opposition to allowing Zakaev into Belgium. Likewise, the non-government organization Pax Christi International, which was also involved in arranging the talks, warned that the meeting might be scuttled as a result of pressure on Brussels from Russia's Foreign Ministry

ZAKAEV MEETING WITH SOLDIERS' MOTHERS SCUTTLED... The Jamestown Foundation

Its really quite simple. The last time legitimate elections were held in Chechnya, Aslan Maskhadov, a Chechen patriot yet also a moderate in dealings with Russia, was elected President. Now he is in exile, and Moscow would rather obliterate the Chechens than talk with their leader. The Committee of Soldier's Mothers, decided to take matters into their own hands. They approached Maskhadov about a meeting to talk about a possible peace. Maskhadov himself can't attend, because Brussels would allow Russia to arrest him. So Maskhadov assigns a representative to meet with them in Brussels, Belgium. With days left before the meeting the Belgian consulate refuses to issue the Committee's delagation visas, citing "technical" problems. Yeah, right. How about, "political" problems? Or maybe just "we-don't-want-to-piss-off-Moscow" problems.