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"Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty"
April, 22nd 2008
Meeting in Moscow on April 18, senior Defense Ministry officials decided to postpone until after the May 7 inauguration of President-elect Medvedev any decision on the future of the Vostok battalion headed by Hero of Russia Sulim Yamadayev, kavkaz-uzel.ru reported on April 21 quoting gazeta.ru. Following incidents on April 13 and 14 in Gudermes involving members of Vostok and of Chechen Republic head Ramzan Kadyrov's bodyguard, Kadyrov personally accused Yamadayev and his brothers of crimes against the civilian population, and the Chechen parliament adopted an appeal to Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov and to outgoing President Putin in his capacity as commander-in-chief of the armed forces either to disband Vostok or to replace Yamadayev as its commander (see "RFE/RL Newsline," April 18, 2008). Kavkaz-uzel.ru on April 21 quoted Kadyrov as saying that 343 servicemen have resigned "voluntarily" from Vostok, but he denied that they have been offered alternative employment in the police force or security bodies. Kadyrov stressed that he has no personal grievance against rank-and-file Vostok members, but that he considers it imperative to apprehend "individual criminals" serving in its ranks. Meanwhile, some 160 weapons confiscated from Vostok members last week are being subjected to a ballistic examination, kavkaz-uzel.ru reported on April 21 quoting an unnamed Chechen Interior Ministry official. LF
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