Translated material
Silent March
No one noticed the two pacifists
The peace march along the route Chechnya - Moscow, which human rights activists noisily planned to hold a year ago, but were never able to due to opposition from security forces, finally took place. Its initiator, Alexander Lyuboslavsky, arrived in June at the same place where he was going to start in 2001. Then, from the village of Sleptsovskaya on the border of Chechnya and Ingushetia, several dozen Chechens were planning to go with him to Moscow, protesting against the war and living conditions in tent camps. Fearing that the action would result in riots, local authorities banned the march, and Mr. Lyuboslavsky himself was expelled to the Mineralnye Vody.This year, the persistent human rights activist decided not to make the protest public and did not take the Chechens with him. “If I had announced everything in advance, they would definitely have gone, and incidents could have occurred in the Cossack villages of southern Russia,” says Mr. Lyuboslavsky. “I couldn’t take responsibility for people.”
In the Cossack villages everything went smoothly, because Alexander Lyuboslavsky passed through them alone: with a walking cane in his hands and a backpack over his shoulders, carrying a leaflet with the inscription: “Chechens have the right to life, freedom and independence.” “Many people came up and read. Many argued - everyone has their own opinion,” says the human rights activist. — Some people invited me to the house and offered to give me a lift in the car. And I was just doing my civic duty.”
The elderly editor of the magazine “Defense of Human Rights and Freedoms” walked alone 1,860 kilometers from Sleptsovskaya to Red Square. In the Tula region, he was joined by another pensioner - Yekaterinburg resident Vladimir Shaklein from the all-Russian movement “For Human Rights”. “To be honest, people’s reaction is not optimistic,” admits Mr. Shaklein. “But there are a lot of good people.”
A few days ago, both “missionaries” reached the walls of the Kremlin. The “Peace for Chechnya” action was never noticed by anyone in all of Russia, except for a few car drivers on the Rostov highway. The majority of Russians still do not want negotiations with the Chechens - this is the conclusion reached by employees of the independent research center ROMIR. According to the latest national survey, only 3.6% of respondents admit the possibility of a peaceful settlement in Chechnya through negotiations. But the number of people supporting the Chechen policy of the federal authorities has decreased - now only 33.3% are in favor. They believe that the actions of the authorities in Chechnya “should be extremely tough, with a predominance of forceful methods.” Back in February, 37% supported a military solution. Now half of Russians do not agree with the center’s policies. 25% of respondents even believe that ways to solve the problem should be peaceful. About 15% of respondents preferred a mixed “carrot and stick” policy. Russians are not inclined to trust the local Chechen administration: only 6.7% are ready to bet on Kadyrov.