BOTLIKH, Russia — As Russia's war against Chechnya continued Tuesday, with reports of skirmishes on the outskirts of the capital, Grozny, the chairman of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe spent the day in the neighboring Russian republic of Dagestan.
In what is shaping up as a tightly controlled visit, Russia scheduled the main part of Knut Vollebaek's itinerary on a trip to investigate the war not in Chechnya but in Dagestan. The OSCE chief will spend no more than a few hours today in Chechnya, and that in the northern, Russian-controlled sector.
The United States and Europe have been critical of the high civilian casualties in the current war, and representatives of the 56-nation OSCE are trying to end the violence and move the parties toward peace talks. But Russia has been resistant to the OSCE mission since it was proposed, and the limitations imposed on Vollebaek's trip suggest that Moscow still has a long way to go before it is willing to sit down and negotiate.
The emphasis on Dagestan in the OSCE schedule was clearly Russia's way of underscoring the genesis of the present war in last summer's incursion into Dagestan by Chechen rebels--and the Russian view that tough military actions are not out of proportion to the threat the rebels pose. After the guerrilla retreat from Dagestan into Chechnya, the Russians launched repeated bombing attacks on Chechen villages and in early October began a ground attack.
The clear message that the Russians delivered with the tour itinerary and choice of stops: Send humanitarian aid if you like, there is no political role for you here.
Villages in the arid highlands of Dagestan, the poorest of Russia's republics, have plenty to complain about. Several are still getting over the shock of the invasion by the Chechen militants, who were not driven out by the Russian military until more than a month later. Anti-Chechen sentiment is high in this area. Vollebaek visited one village Tuesday, Tando, in the Botlikh region close to the Chechen border, that was nearly razed by Russian bombers in their drive to oust the Chechens.
Still, Vollebaek struck a conciliatory note after meeting with the leader of Dagestan, Magomedali Magomedov, and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Avdeyev.
"We know that civilians are suffering in Chechnya, and I think it's important that both sides--the rebels from Chechnya but also the Russian forces--take into consideration that they are fighting with civilian lives at stake," he said.
