Reuters Articles

Runaway Russian 'Slaves' Plague Caucasus Republic
According to newspaper accounts and television programmes in Russia and Ossetia, Russians are tricked into coming to the south Russian republic of Ingushetia by promises of high wages, and are then sold into slavery. Slaves? Not according to Dzhebrail Bagatyrev. For this Ingush official, the "slaves" are no more than Russian tramps working here illegally. He says the accusations are fabricated by hostile Ossetians to make Ingushetia look bad in Russian-brokered peace talks.
Reuters (April 10, 1994)

Cossacks Accuse Chechens of Terror Tactics
Legend has it that in 1774 the women and children ofNaurskaya fought off an attack by the Turks, armed only with pitchforks and pots of hot soup. As Cossacks, Russian warrior-farmers, it was their duty under the Tsars to defend Christian Russia's expanding southern borders against Moslem Tatars and Turks. Today, the Cossack women of this village are once again ready to take up pitchforks.
Reuters (March 27, 1994)

Ingushetia Poll Marked by Violations, Opposition Says
Preliminary poll results on Monday showed that General Ruslan Aushev was headed for re-election as president of the volatile southern Russian republic of Ingushetia. Opponents accused Aushev, whose army of uniformed police patrolled the polling stations, of securing victory in the north Caucasian republic by force and trickery.
Reuters (February 28, 1994)

Azerbaijan Army Regroups, Pulls Itself Together
Six months ago Azerbaijan's army suffered defeats so monumental that the president fled the country and a fifth of the Transcausasian republic ended up in enemy hands. Critics from all sides castigated the military for gross incompetence in the face of attacks by separatist Armenian forces pushing into the republic from the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Reuters (Jan 21, 1994)