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Baku-Rostov Highway, October 29, 1999

On October 23, 1999, the Russian army closed the administrative border between Chechnya and Ingushetia to civilians trying to flee the military conflict.¹² As a result, large numbers of civilians, most of them in automobiles, were stuck at the border, quickly forming a long line. The decision drew fierce criticism both domestically and internationally and Russian officials quickly announced the border would be reopened. On October 25, the independent press agency Interfax quoted sources of the 26th Brigade of Internal Troops of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs as saying that four safe routes for civilians trying to leave Chechnya would be opened starting October 29.¹³ One of routes was announced to be the so-called Baku-Rostov highway, the principal artery crossing east-west through Chechnya to the Ingush border, passing just southwest of the capital Grozny.

The announcement was widely reported in both the Russian and international press and Chechen civilians appeared to be well aware it. Asked why they decided to leave on October 29, interviewees consistently told Human Rights Watch they had heard on radio, television or from neighbors that a humanitarian corridor to Ingushetia would be opened on October 29. In fact, many actively prepared to escape to safety on October 29. For example, “Luiza Zubaeva” (not her real name), a woman from the Lenin district of Grozny, told Human Rights Watch,

They closed the road that night [October 23]. The second day, the third day, the fourth day we tried to get out but they wouldn’t let us through. They said: ‘In four days, on October 29, there will be a corridor, come then....’ I was waiting so eagerly for that day, October 29; I have a family and children.¹⁴

Zina Khamidova, a woman in her forties who learned from the radio that the border would open, said that her family had specifically ordered a car with a driver to pick them up in Staraia Sunzha at 4:00 am on October 29.¹⁵

On the foggy morning of October 29, thousands of civilians left their homes and drove toward Ingushetia along the Baku-Rostov highway, quickly forming a massive traffic jam. “Luiza Zubaeva” said:

We and two relatives drove in our own cars (three altogether)... We left without turning our lights on as we were afraid they would shoot at us. We stood in the line-up, they said, they’d open the corridor at 9:00 a.m. It became 9:00 a.m, 10:00 a.m, 11:00 a.m., they didn’t open the corridor.¹⁶

Eye-witnesses estimated the traffic jam may have been as long as ten to fifteen kilometers, ranging from Assinovskaia close to the Ingush border to beyond the exit to Samashki and Achkhoi Martan. Aslambek Magomadov, a former radio disk jockey and law student from Staraia Sunzha, told Human Rights Watch: “It would be impossible now to estimate [how many cars there were]. There were hundreds, and not one or two. There were trucks, passenger cars, busses.”¹⁷ Other eye-witnesses reported that people traveled on tractors, by foot, with cattle, and some apparently carried all their belongings.

By around 12:00 a.m., it became apparent that Russian soldiers would not open the border after all. Many people walked up to the front of the line to talk to the soldiers. Aslambek Magomadov commented: “Chechens are very impatient. They tried to bribe the soldiers. The soldiers were very unhappy and didn’t allow anyone through. I don’t know why.”¹⁸ Officials at the checkpoint gave contradictory reasons for refusing to open the border. Some eyewitnesses were told the Ingush checkpoint was not ready, others were told that there were computer problems. Magomadov said that he and his brother-in-law also walked up to the checkpoint. According to his account, between 11:00 and 12:00 a.m. a Russian commander came to the checkpoint and said that the border would not be opened.¹⁹ Malka Musaieva, a forty-one year old woman from Petropavlovkaia told Human Rights Watch:

At the checkpoint, when we were told that the checkpoint would be closed for [another] four days, we asked if we would be bombed on the road if we went back to Grozny. The commander told us that he would inform his troops that the refugees were returning to Grozny and not to attack.²⁰

With an increasing number of vehicles trying to turn around and head back into Chechnya, a traffic jam formed in the direction of Grozny as well. Aslambek Magomadov said:

For some reason, by the will of Allah, we turned around and went.... The road was wide, there was room to turn around, but there was no order and vehicles turned around with great difficulty. Apart from passenger cars, there were enormous trucks with trailers.... The convoy thus moved very slowly back. We drove maybe ten to fifteen kilometers per hour.²¹

The traffic moved in several rows in both the direction of Ingushetia and Grozny but gradually thinned out as the convoy drove back into Chechnya and some cars exited the main road towards Achkhoi Martan.