Video cameras and solar panels on ancestral towers outrage residents of Ingushetia

The installation of video cameras and solar panels on historic towers in the mountains has angered residents of Ingushetia. Solar panels provide power to surveillance cameras that should protect the towers from vandals and thieves, the Djeirakh-Assinsky Nature Reserve has explained. Such decisions can negatively affect the towers' appearance, a historian and a photographer believe.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in December 2019, museum workers in Ingushetia complained to the police about the people destroying historic towers in the village of Beini. According to Murad Daskiev, the head of the Ingush Board of Teips, the vandals had destroyed ancient towers in order to steal their arched ceilings and transport them to Chechnya.

Residents of Ingushetia wrote in social networks that the towers could be damaged when installing solar panels.

"Just because it has been agreed does not mean that the monument has not been damaged. We need to check who has agreed to this barbarism!" Khanifa Ozdoeva wrote on the Facebook.

The installation of video surveillance on towers in the mountains of Ingushetia is associated with high-profile cases of vandalism, said Khalid Malsagov, Deputy Director of the Djeirakh-Assinsky Nature Reserve. According to his story, they plan to cover a number of historical monuments in the mountains of Ingushetia with video surveillance. He has treated the installation of solar panels to towers as a forced and temporary measure.

Timur Agirov, a photographer is against the installation of devices directly on monuments. He has supported the idea of installing video cameras to protect towers, but has noted that the installation thereof on ancient buildings could disrupt their historical appearance.