Dagestan: over 500 militias receive status of war veterans

The list of candidates for the status of war veterans from among the 1999 militias included about 28,000 people, said Kamil Davdiev, Vice-Speaker of the Dagestani Parliament. However, only 520 of them received the respective certificates; and most of those who really fought were not among them, said activists of veteran organizations, Magomed Umargadjiev and Umakhan Umakhanov.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in August 2019, President Vladimir Putin signed a law granting the Dagestan militias who fought against militants in 1999, the status of war veterans, the right to monthly payments and material benefits.

After the adoption of the law that equated militias to veterans of hostilities, "practically nothing has been done," said Magomed Umargadjiev, a deputy chairman of the NGO "Veterans of People's Militia of 1999".

The approved lists contain people who were not even close to the combat areas; but, at the same time, the really combating residents were ignored, said Umakhan Umakhanov, the chairman of the NGO "Union of Militia Veterans of 1999". He said that in August 1999, he commanded a detachment of more than 1200 militias. The detachment took refuge in the mountains and repulsed 14 terrorist attacks, as a result of which seven detachment members perished.

"Certificates have been issued to those who had been awarded. But often not those who fought were awarded, but those who have close family or friendly ties with officials," he has stated.

Sir Saipov, the commander in 1999 of a militia detachment from the Leninaul village of the Kazbekovsky District, has expressed his concern that "alien people" could have been included into the list of militias.