Sadullaev Interview

Liz Fuller at RFE/RL presents a comprehensive account of the interview given to RFE/RL's North Caucasus Service today by Abdul-Khalim Sadullaev, the successor to slain Chechen President and resistance leader Aslan Maskhadov. In the interview, which consisted of replies to questions put by RFE/RL, Sadullaev appears closely to follow the line of Aslan Maskhadov, condemning terrorism:

Sadullaev [..] said that while the resistance will continue to try to inflict the maximum damage on the Russian armed forces and military targets, they will not attack peaceful civilians, women, and children, and will not take them hostage.

The last part of the interview, where Sadullaev gives his comments on the policies of Vladimir Putin, is particularly noteworthy,and contains some shrewd and realistic political analysis:

Asked to comment on the policies of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Sadullaev said he [Putin] seeks to create new points of tension in the North Caucasus by provoking "people who are living peacefully" to the point that there is a backlash against Moscow. Sadullaev said explosions and killings in Daghestan have become as frequent as in Grozny because Putin has no cohesive North Caucasus policy. He said the situation is just as bad in Ingushetia, and only a little better in Kabardino-Balkaria. Adyegya, for the moment, remains comparatively quiet, but Moscow is trying to provoke unrest there, too, he said.

Sadullaev predicted that Putin will move against the long-time president of Kalmykia, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, as "he wants to install his own people everywhere." Sadullaev went on: "It was Putin who began this war and he has no way to end it. The war cannot end with us being forced to our knees and capitulating, and Putin has left himself without an alternative. With his loud pronouncements, those of a stupid and shortsighted person, he has cut off the only path to ending the war." Sadullaev predicted that the war will continue "as long as the price of oil remains high, as long as Russian kids are ready -- despite the demographic crisis -- to put on Russian uniforms and serve in the army, and until something breaks Putin's back." But he continued: "I do not think this can go on for much longer. There will have to be an end, especially as our forces are not becoming weaker, and we are prepared to go on fighting." Sadullaev went on to predict that "Putin will try to get rid of those people who witnessed massive human rights violations and genocide. He will try to destroy anyone" who could record what happened for posterity.