Starye Ataghi settlement was shelled
09.11.2005
Chechnya, November 19. Starye Ataghi settlement in the outskirts of Grozny was shelled at 3 a.m. 6 civilians were injured, 3 houses were damaged (one of them in Zelenaya street, two others in Podgornaya street). A few heads of cattle were killed. Local inhabitants say 12 artillery shells exploded in Starye Ataghi, four of them hit near a home ownership of the Yusupov family (Zelenaya street, 20). 6 householders were injured by the shell fragments. They are:
1) Musa Yusupov, 69 years, head of the family
2) Khamila Yusupova, 68 years, his first wife
3) Yakha Berdukaeva, 52 years, his second wife
4) Aimany Ayupova, 28 years, his daughter-in-law
5) Elina Yusupova, 8 years, his granddaughter
6) Adam Yusupov, 17 years, his grandson
With the help of the neighbours four of them were immediately hospitalized. Little Elina Yusupova was brought to the local children's hospital, where she was operated on. Soon afterwards the girl was admitted to the emergency department. The doctors say her stance is grave, the same with Musa and Khamila Yusupovy.
As a result, the shelling seriously damaged one of the 3 houses owned by the Yusupov family, which is not fit to live in nowadays. In the other two houses explosions doors and windows were wrenched, furniture crippled and the roofs hit.
Utility constructions were damaged too. Direct hits destroyed a shed, killed 4 rams and a cow. The rest of the cattle were injured by shell fragments.
A RAF minibus and a UAZ car got out of use. The car-owners say that the UAZ had already been broken when it happened. As for the minibus, the farmers needed it to take their home-grown products to the local market.
The Khaitayev and Suganpov home ownerships (Zelenaya Street/16 and Podgornaya Street/91 accordingly) were partly damaged: glasses hit by the explosion wave, roofs and furniture crippled. Birlant Suganpova (40 years) was slightly injured in her back. The woman was sleeping near the window at the moment of the explosions. After the doctors gave her the first medical aid at the hospital, she was released.
First the Home Ministry officials of the Chechen Republic blamed some “unknown forces” for the assault. However, the investigation, made by the military prosecution of the Joint Army Group, Shali and Khankala Garrisons, detected the fragments of 152mm shells. The criminal cas was opened 349 (part 1) of the Russian Federation Criminal Code - “weapons abuse followed by infliction of grave bodily harm”.
According to the sources in the local Home ministry department, long-range artillery guns were used. It's possible that the guns fired from the direction of Shali. The Military Commander's Office of the Chechen Republic gave further details, saying that the guns were exactly 152mm howitzers. G. Fomenko, the military commander of the Chechen Republic said that the gunners miscalculated the distance. Their actual target was a terrorist base somewhere else. The prosecution will make an investigation, he added. One of Fomenko's men, commander of Groznensky district, called the shelling “a pure accident “, though added that the”mines were in fact fired by the federal artillery in Shali region.”
However, Head of Administration of Starye Ataghi Vahid Gadaev told the press that the assault, “an awful mistake” according to the army officials, wasn't a first such case. “I'm sure there was no necessity in this shelling. As a rule, they fire every time they get drunk and, unfortunately, are rarely punished for that.” - he added.
This is what Irsana Yusupova, Musa Yusupov's granddaughter, told us:
“That day I was visiting my grandpa - I live in Nalchik with my husband. I don't know exactly when it all happened, I only know it was early in the morning. When I first heard the explosions I grasped my 2 year old son and hurried to the bathroom - I thought it was safer there. There I found my cousins and a friend of mine - she was also visiting my grandpa. The next explosion hit the window glasses and everything fell on us. Then we rushed to the basement. Elina ran down to us - she was in another house when it happened. I saw blood-stains on her body. “Are you?” - asked I. - “No, that's granny's blood” - she answered. I looked her over and saw a little wound on her waist, but it wasn't bleeding and I soon forgot about it. Only afterwards, at the hospital we were told that a shell fragment went through, cutting her internal organs. The next shell burst nearby, fortunately, nobody of us was hit.
Afterwards we rushed down to another basement, a deeper one, though with no electricity. When I was running an explosion wave lifted me up and hit me against the RAF minibus. I thought how good it was that my sonny wasn't with me at the moment. My sister has already taken him to the basement. There were nine of us there: granny, grandpa, grandpa's second wife, two children, my son and my cousin's son, the friend of mine and my cousin. As it was dark there and as everybody was in a panic, we didn't notice that granny and grandpa were injured.
When it stopped bursting we heard voices of people upstairs - they were our neighbours', who gathered after the explosions. Only then we came out. More of us could have been injured, when it was not for Hasan (Hasan Yusupov, Musa Yusupov's son - HRC “Memorial”), who didn't let the panic overwhelm him, who helped everybody get to the basement, bearing little regard for the explosions around him”.
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