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The Electronic Telegraph (UK)
27 March 2002
Russian troops in Chechnya revolt
By Marcus Warren in Moscow

A WAVE of revolt is sweeping through Russia's military elite as troops refuse to act as "cannon fodder" in the continuing war in Chechnya.

Outraged by poor pay, incompetent commanders and antiquated equipment, a growing number of soldiers from specially trained Interior Ministry units are threatening to disobey orders to serve in the rebel republic.

In the latest case of open insubordination, members of an elite paramilitary squad from the northern city of Cherepovets have given their superiors until next week to heed their demands.

An ultimatum to their commanders, published across a whole page of Komsomolskaya Pravda, a national newspaper, yesterday, ridiculed Moscow bureaucrats for claiming that there is no war under way in Chechnya, just a "counter-terrorist operation".

Their protest came to light on the same day that Russia released figures showing that 3,220 soldiers have been killed and nearly 9,000 injured in two and a half years of fighting in Chechnya. The Cherepovets soldiers' defiance is only the most recent example of a collapse in morale among Interior Ministry troops - professionals, unlike the conscripts serving in the army - ordered to deploy to the North Caucasus.

Units from Syktykvar, Kaliningrad, Murmansk and Vologda, all cities in Russia's north or north west, have all protested at the length and conditions of their tours of duty in Chechnya so far this year. Among their grievances are efforts by their commanders to cut their bonuses for being involved in combat.

The Cherepovets ultimatum goes further, heaping scorn on "Moscow clerks", the officers commanding operations in the region and corrupt pro-Russian Chechen officials.

Troops posted to Chechnya had to take their food, water and bedding with them as supplies were "pitiful", the Cherepovets unit said.

Russia maintains an 80,000-strong force in Chechnya to assert its authority over the war zone but a shortage of combat-ready units has put severe strain on the military.