On April 9, several vehicles carrying Chechen servicemen and bearing the word “Akhmat” instead of license plates entered the village of Novaya Tavolzhanka in the Shebekinsky district. According to the outlet Pepel, citing sources, the servicemen began breaking into houses and taking valuables from them. Local residents were told to “shut up” and were threatened with weapons.
Residents complained to the military police, but, as they said, “but [the Chechens] told them to fuck off too,” and they “couldn’t do anything”:
“We appealed to [head of the Novaya Tavolzhanka administration Sergey] Parika, but he only throws up his hands. Local channels are silent. How are we supposed to live now? Drones, shelling. There were thefts and looting before, but not in broad daylight,” Tavolzhanka residents told the outlet.
When one of the villagers took out a phone to record the crimes on camera, he was struck with a rifle butt. Several residents of Novaya Tavolzhanka who no longer live in the village, but heard about what happened from those who remained there, also confirmed the looting to Pepel.