Chechens say wages cut 'to raise funds for eastern Ukraine'

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/06/russia-chechnya-wages-cut-raise-funds-ukraine

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Chechen residents believe their salaries are being docked to raise funds for humanitarian assistance in eastern Ukraine, Caucasian Knot has learned.

Residents of the southern Russian republic of Chechnya have reported seeing deductions taken from from their salaries, and have received demands to allocate money for humanitarian assistance to the Donetsk and Lugansk Regions of Ukraine, where Moscow-backed separatists are battling the Ukrainian army.

It is not uncommon for employees of civil service organisations to find their salaries are in arrears, but in July they found much more than usual was missing, according to Yusup, a staff member of the Chechen law enforcement agencies, who did not want to give his full name.

“Each [of] my colleagues faces a deduction of 5000 roubles (£80) from [their] July salary,” Yusup said. “Some people associate that fact with the government large-scale expenses for the organisation of free meals and other events in the month of Ramadan. Others say the money will be used to help Ukraine.”

According to a director of one of a state-owned enterprise, who also preferred to remain anonymous, each head of state-owned enterprises in the region had been was instructed to allocate 100,000 roubles (£1645) for aid to Ukraine.

“Last week, we got such an instruction from top-ranking officials. It seems the money will be spent to provide assistance to Ukraine, in particular, Donetsk and Lugansk,” he said.

Following a sweeping military campaign, Ukrainian forces say they are closing in on pro-Russian rebels in the two cities. RT, the Russian TV network which has been accused of pro-Russia bias, reported that Lugansk is in a “state of humanitarian catastrophe over a lack of medical supplies, electricity, lighting, mobile and internet communication”.

The US has accused Russia of arming the rebels in eastern Ukraine, and along with the EU, has introduced punitive sanctions targeting the country’s energy, defence and banking sectors. Moscow denies the allegations.

Khasan, a Chechen resident, said he believes assistance to Ukrainian refugees is necessary, but said he did not believe it should not be done at the other people’s expense. He argues that refugees have privileges, such being offered more opportunities to get jobs, while Chechnya faces an acute shortage of employment.

Officials from the Chechen authorities did not respond to requests for comment.

A version of this article first appeared on Caucasian Knot