Place of interview: Balashikha city

Interview date: 2000

The interviewee talks about the death of her ten-year-old nephew. According to her, the incident occurred on May 1, 2000 in Grozny. On that day, the boy’s father had gone to a forest belt adjacent to his house. As there was no electricity or gas in the city, it was necessary to bring chopped wood home for cooking. The boy also followed his father to the forest with a cart. While on the road along the forest belt, the boy stepped on a mine and was killed. He was the only son in the family.

According to the interviewee, the road had been mined by the Russian military.

Speaking about the incident relating to her 76-year-old uncle in September 1999, the interviewee explains that her uncle had travelled from Grozny to Sernovodsk to visit his sick cousin. During his journey, he was seized by drunk Russian tankmen who led him to an unknown house, put him against a wall and started firing machine guns around him. The old man lost consciousness. When he awoke, the military had gone, but he himself had become paralyzed as a result of the incident. He did not overcome his paralysis and died in March 2000. The interviewee emphasizes that the victim was her mother’s brother. In response to the interviewer’s question, she explained that she had recently travelled home in order to attend her brother’s funeral but had also travelled to her uncle’s family home at the same time to express condolences, as her uncle had died a little earlier than her brother.