Yuri Khaschevatsky: Now We Must Realize That War is Terror :: Charter'97 :: News

Fearful events are currently unfolding near the Moscow Palace of culture of ball-bearing plant, where the Chechen guerillas hold over 700 civilians hostage. Among the latter there are also Belarusian nationals. In this connection, we asked to comment on the tragic occurrence the famous Belarusian filmmaker Yuri Khaschevatsky, who has just finished his documentary about Chechnya “Caucasian captives”. The film shows how people’s lives get transformed in the process of war. “I noticed that many people felt rather curious about the war. Boring and miserable life made them think that war would change things for the better. Today it is important to understand that war is something awful and it makes beasts out of people. Both the Chechen rebels and Russian troops are becoming beastlike. And there atrocities soon penetrate the peaceful society”.

- I believe that’s a joint provocation on behalf of the Chechen insurgents and the Moscow-based Party of war, which wants continuation of bloody massacre. This is big money, you know. That’s the reason why they tried to get Georgia involved in the conflict and, I figure, they aren’t finished with such attempts yet.
What we see is utterly disgusting. And it is especially abhorring that the Russian soldiers are, to a great extent, psychologically brutalized people. One may get an impression that atrocities in the Russian army are encouraged by generals. The cult of force and intolerance to the so-called “blacks”, the hatred cult are all welcomed there. One shouldn’t go too far to find proof of that. Simply recall Budanov’s story and the arguments of the defense, cited by Shamanov, who once served as commander of federal forces in Chechnya and now works as governor of the Ulianovsk region. Now they call the man national hero and the state leadership sticks to a similar thinking, so what else can be added to this? Abominable events in Moscow are but a follow-up of the policy, which the Party of way is leading in Russia. Let us beware these people, for having such insatiable appetites, they may destroy the whole world soon.
- Yuri Iosifovich, can something similar possibly occur in Belarus and what can provoke it?
- The supreme Belarusian leadership also represents the Party of war at the moment. They are waging war against their own nation, applying brutal force, absolute lawlessness, which we witnessed yesterday (deportation of SPS leader Boris Nemtsov and Vice-Speaker of Duma Irina Hakamada), they are instilling fear in people’s hearts. “Fear” is translated as “terror”. That is why I believe that Belarusian authorities are using terror, by threatening people, opposition, Russian politicians.
I see no big difference in what’s going on among the so-called Party of war in Russia and the environment in which the Belarusian society currently dwells. Sometimes I feel as if these were the elements of the same chain.