How they clean us up:

Recently, I called the Department of Public Relations of the Ministry of Defense - the question had nothing to do with the war in Chechnya. Colonel N. asked (I will not name the name so as not to compromise it). The duty officer said: "Wait." I wait and hear the conversation. Someone gives the instructions: "Write so. From February 1, we will allow only two channels - ORT and RTR in the combat zone? I understood? The rest - for ... understand?" In the Chechen war - both the past and the current one - there is no front line. But there are two sides. No, I'm not talking about the warriors. There is a side of the "front", "correct", gracefully stubborn and mounted. And there is "wrong", unsightly, vile, dirty. Here is the side of the "front". There is no war. Anti -terrorist operation occurs. During the operation, soldiers hoist the flags and salute with automatic bursts. The grateful population brings portraits to the generals. Everything goes according to plan. A little more, a little more, we’ll take four more villages, and with the enemy (one of the twelve or how many of them were counted in the military doctrine) will be over. And everything will be fine. But the picture is wrong. The "anti -terrorist operation" has turned into a bloody meat grinder. Khattab and Maskhadov are alive and well, Basayev lost his right leg. And we lost the general and more than six thousand killed and wounded soldiers and officers. A huge, once blooming city is completely destroyed. Hundreds of thousands of people have nowhere to live and have nothing to eat. Soldiers and officers are looting. “Straightening” is not a search for hidden militants, but a robbery in broad daylight. The military sells weapons to militants. Chechen elders carry money to the generals, saving the village from the assault. At the blocks, the feds take the bribe for travel from each car, from each person. This is the reverse side of the war. It is impossible to see it, sitting in a headquarters tent. In the war, journalists are divided into their own and strangers. “Their own” are those who conscientiously transfer to the editorial staff. “Aliens” - those who are where bombs and rockets explode, who are hiding in roadside ditches from helicopters, who photographs the dead soldiers thrown at the battlefield. Who becomes a witness - free or involuntary - all the abominations of the "back side". Alien in the war they hate. Fiercely. Mortal. I remember what hatred General Maslov looked at Babitsky (it is possible that it was a pseudonym - in the last war, the generals hid their real surnames). It was in the summer of the 95th. Andrei Babitsky then tried to prove the existence of filtration camps. I don’t know how he already succeeded, but he knocked out a helicopter from the commander Anatoly Kulikov and gathered a group of journalists. We flew to Assinovskaya to the location of the military unit. True, we were not allowed to go further than barbed wire. The general showed us three “funnels” and explained that suspicious persons were delivered on these machines on the block. They are brought to the location of the unit, and then sent by helicopters further. "And where is it?" - Andrei served. “You know a lot - you will live a little,” the general squinted through his eyes, squinting through his teeth. Andrei and Nadezhda is surprisingly much similar in the fate of Andrei Babitsky and Nadezhda Chaikova. Hope was killed on March 30, 1996. As the examination showed, she was killed by shot at the forehead at point -blank from the pistol. The photojournalist Mikhail Klimentiev and I found the Nadi grave on the outskirts of the village of Gexh on April 12. On April 14, they brought the body to Moscow. On the 18th, a funeral took place. A day after the funeral, the editorial office rang out. Someone, called "Ilya Grigoryevich", persistently proposed to meet and talk. "About what?" - "About the hope of Chaikova." - "Who are you?" - "It doesn't matter. But you must listen to me. This is in your interests." I also asked how his last name. What did I hear the mocking: "Abel - will you arrange?" He refused to talk to the editorial office. In the end, we agreed to meet three hours later on Altufevskoye Shosse. I was about to go to him, but almost at the last minute he called again and moved his meeting in the Lianozovsky Park. He spoke for a long time, calmly, not raising his voice. First - about the war in general and about journalists who "run out". Then - about the "common newspaper." Moreover, he showed fair awareness in editorial affairs, especially in who and when went to Chechnya (even indicated the exact days of departure and arrival). And finally reached the main one. “You will, of course, be investigating the death of hope? No need to. You will never know what it was killed for. And if you find out something, you will not be able to prove it. But you are a smart person and must understand that Tchaikov was killed by chance. You are from among the few who saw a hole in her forehead (hope was stubborn in the coffin). Do you want the same?” And then the phrase of General Maslov repeated exactly: you know a lot - you will live a little. For more than a year, the correspondent of “OG” Alexander Mnatsakanyan conducted an investigation with a correspondent. They found the diaries of hope and her unfinished story (they were published). A video in which Nadezhda talked about how the special services recruited it. The last note of hope before departure from Moscow is on a piece of paper: “If they kill me and my body is found ...” After publishing the transcript of the video recordings, the FSB press service demanded a copy of us. We handed over a copy, Yegor Yakovlev wrote a cover letter with a request to help in the investigation. They answered us: "People that Nadezhda Tchaikova are talking about are not on the lists of employees." The prosecutor's office of the Urus-Martan district (where hope was killed) opened a criminal case on the fact of the murder. Two months later, the Prosecutor General’s Office requested the case to Moscow. Then he was transported to the Interregional Prosecutor's Office in Vladikavkaz. The investigator answered all our calls: "We cannot carry out investigative actions, since this territory is not controlled by federal forces." Nevertheless, we restored the picture of the last days of the life of Nadia Tchaikova. On March 21 - 23, 1996, the units of the internal troops carried out the so -called "second sweep" of the Samashki. Nadia was there and shot everything that was happening on the video camera. On the 23rd in the evening, she, along with a group of militants, left the village. I spent the night in the ghins, and in the morning she left for the bus in Grozny. She was heading to the Sleptsovskaya airport to the Moscow flight. She did not get to the airport, the camera disappeared without a trace. Witnesses said that Nadia was removed from the bus at the block depart at the entrance to Grozny. Where she was the next five days - it remained unclear. The forensic expert found that five days before his death, Nadezhda did not eat or drank anything. And, most likely, she was in an unconscious state. On the night of April 30, she was brought on the outskirts of the Ghekhi on the outskirts of a military UAZ, taken out of the car, shot, then dragged a hundred meters in a field and slipped the body under the concrete waterflower. At 7 o’clock in the morning she was found by local residents. Nadezhda Andrei now compare what is known about Andrei Babitsky. He also worked on that “back side”. In places not controlled by federal forces. He returned from a business trip and - inevitably, since there was no other way, he went out to the location of the troops. He was arrested here. And they kept it for several days - again, it is not known where. Then they took to the Chechens. I do not want to continue this comparison, while even the slightest hope remains that Andrei Babitsky is alive. But the method of action of the federals in both cases is the same. The last one remains. Hope was seized and killed for shooting in Samashki. Why did Andrei grabbed? Of course, not for a piece of paper with Ichkerry seals - by the way, I also had such. And, of course, the accusations of espionage are ridiculous - it turns out that Babitsky all the time spent freely in the location of our army. But why does the arrest of Babitsky coincide in time with the notorious cunning operation of our generals? The answer can only be one. Trading "100 thousand per corridor" was actually. And they bargained seriously. And they received the money. Otherwise, the Chechens would not have gone to the corridor. Maybe Andrei Babitsky could know about this bargain (from militants)? And could I report to his editorial office? If his message was intercepted (which is also quite likely), the generals had no choice but to urgently mine the corridor. Otherwise, there would be a shame on the whole world. Then everything falls into place. Two more questions remain. The first is the money. In such matters, there can be only one principle: "In the morning, money is a corridor in the evening." But nothing vice versa. And the second version. If Andrei really, as the authorities assure, were exchanged for five prisoners, then why still no one has told him for these words of gratitude - for five saved lives?

In the Chechen war - both the past and the current one - there is no front line. But there are two sides. No, I'm not talking about the warriors. There is a side of the "front", "correct", gracefully stubborn and mounted. And there is "wrong", unsightly, vile, dirty.

Here is the side of the "front". There is no war. Anti -terrorist operation occurs. During the operation, soldiers hoist the flags and salute with automatic bursts. The grateful population brings portraits to the generals. Everything goes according to plan. A little more, a little more, we’ll take four more villages, and with the enemy (one of the twelve or how many of them were counted in the military doctrine) will be over. And everything will be fine.

But the picture is wrong. The "anti -terrorist operation" has turned into a bloody meat grinder. Khattab and Maskhadov are alive and well, Basayev lost his right leg. And we lost the general and more than six thousand killed and wounded soldiers and officers. A huge, once blooming city is completely destroyed. Hundreds of thousands of people have nowhere to live and have nothing to eat. Soldiers and officers are looting. “Straightening” is not a search for hidden militants, but a robbery in broad daylight. The military sells weapons to militants. Chechen elders carry money to the generals, saving the village from the assault. At the blocks, the feds take the bribe for travel from each car, from each person.

This is the reverse side of the war. It is impossible to see it, sitting in a headquarters tent.

In the war, journalists are divided into their own and strangers. “Their own” are those who conscientiously transfer to the editorial staff. “Aliens” - those who are where bombs and rockets explode, who are hiding in roadside ditches from helicopters, who photographs the dead soldiers thrown at the battlefield. Who becomes a witness - free or involuntary - all the abominations of the "back side". Alien in the war they hate. Fiercely. Mortal.

I remember what hatred General Maslov looked at Babitsky (it is possible that it was a pseudonym - in the last war, the generals hid their real surnames). It was in the summer of the 95th. Andrei Babitsky then tried to prove the existence of filtration camps. I don’t know how he already succeeded, but he knocked out a helicopter from the commander Anatoly Kulikov and gathered a group of journalists. We flew to Assinovskaya to the location of the military unit. True, we were not allowed to go further than barbed wire. The general showed us three “funnels” and explained that suspicious persons were delivered on these machines on the block. They are brought to the location of the unit, and then sent by helicopters further. "And where is it?" - Andrei served. “You know a lot - you will live a little,” the general squinted through his eyes, squinting through his teeth.

Andrey and Nadezhda

Surprisingly, a lot similar in the fate of Andrei Babitsky and Nadezhda Chaikova.

Hope was killed on March 30, 1996. As the examination showed, she was killed by shot at the forehead at point -blank from the pistol.

The photojournalist Mikhail Klimentiev and I found the Nadi grave on the outskirts of the village of Gexh on April 12. On April 14, they brought the body to Moscow. On the 18th, a funeral took place.

A day after the funeral, the editorial office rang out. Someone, called "Ilya Grigoryevich", persistently proposed to meet and talk. "About what?" - "About the hope of Chaikova." - "Who are you?" - "It doesn't matter. But you must listen to me. This is in your interests." I also asked how his last name. What did I hear the mocking: "Abel - will you arrange?"

He refused to talk to the editorial office. In the end, we agreed to meet three hours later on Altufevskoye Shosse.

I was about to go to him, but almost at the last minute he called again and moved his meeting in the Lianozovsky Park.

He spoke for a long time, calmly, not raising his voice. First - about the war in general and about journalists who "run out". Then - about the "common newspaper." Moreover, he showed fair awareness in editorial affairs, especially in who and when went to Chechnya (even indicated the exact days of departure and arrival). And finally reached the main one. “You will, of course, be investigating the death of hope? No need to. You will never know what it was killed for. And if you find out something, you will not be able to prove it. But you are a smart person and must understand that Tchaikov was killed by chance. You are from among the few who saw a hole in her forehead (hope was stubborn in the coffin). Do you want the same?” And then the phrase of General Maslov repeated exactly: you know a lot - you will live a little. For more than a year, the correspondent of “OG” Alexander Mnatsakanyan conducted an investigation with a correspondent. They found the diaries of hope and her unfinished story (they were published). A video in which Nadezhda talked about how the special services recruited it. The last note of hope before departure from Moscow is on a piece of paper: "If they kill me and my body is found ..."

After the publication of the transcript of the video recordings, the FSB press service demanded a copy of us. We handed over a copy, Yegor Yakovlev wrote a cover letter with a request to help in the investigation. They answered us: "People that Nadezhda Tchaikova are talking about are not on the lists of employees."

The prosecutor's office of the Urus-Martan district (where hope was killed) opened a criminal case on the fact of the murder. Two months later, the Prosecutor General’s Office requested the case to Moscow. Then he was transported to the Interregional Prosecutor's Office in Vladikavkaz. The investigator answered all our calls: "We cannot carry out investigative actions, since this territory is not controlled by federal forces."

Nevertheless, we restored the picture of the last days of the life of Nadia Tchaikova.

On March 21 - 23, 1996, the units of the internal troops carried out the so -called "second sweep" of the Samashki. Nadia was there and shot everything that was happening on the video camera. On the 23rd in the evening, she, along with a group of militants, left the village. I spent the night in the ghins, and in the morning she left for the bus in Grozny. She was heading to the Sleptsovskaya airport to the Moscow flight. She did not get to the airport, the camera disappeared without a trace.

Witnesses said that Nadia was removed from the bus at the block depart at the entrance to Grozny. Where she was the next five days - it remained unclear. The forensic expert found that five days before his death, Nadezhda did not eat or drank anything. And, most likely, she was in an unconscious state.

On the night of April 30, she was brought on the outskirts of the Ghekhi on the outskirts of a military UAZ, taken out of the car, shot, then dragged a hundred meters in a field and slipped the body under the concrete waterflower. At 7 o’clock in the morning she was found by local residents.

Nadezhda Andrey

Now we compare what is known about Andrei Babitsky. He also worked on that “back side”. In places not controlled by federal forces. He returned from a business trip and - inevitably, since there was no other way, he went out to the location of the troops. He was arrested here. And they kept it for several days - again, it is not known where. Then they took to the Chechens.

I do not want to continue this comparison, while even the slightest hope remains that Andrei Babitsky is alive. But the method of action of the federals in both cases is the same.

The last one remains. Hope was seized and killed for shooting in Samashki. Why did Andrei grabbed?

Of course, not for a piece of paper with Ichkerry seals - by the way, I also had such. And, of course, the accusations of espionage are ridiculous - it turns out that Babitsky all the time spent freely in the location of our army.

But why does the arrest of Babitsky coincide in time with the notorious cunning operation of our generals?

The answer can only be one.

Trading "100 thousand per corridor" was actually. And they bargained seriously. And they received the money. Otherwise, the Chechens would not have gone to the corridor. Maybe Andrei Babitsky could know about this bargain (from militants)? And could I report to his editorial office?

If his message was intercepted (which is also quite likely), the generals had no choice but to urgently mine the corridor. Otherwise, there would be a shame on the whole world. Then everything falls into place.

Two more questions remain. The first is the money. In such matters, there can be only one principle: "In the morning, money is a corridor in the evening." But nothing vice versa.

And the second version. If Andrei really, as the authorities assure, were exchanged for five prisoners, then why still no one has told him for these words of gratitude - for five saved lives?