Russian Village Affected by Ethnic Strife in AzerbaijanThe Russian Information
Agency ITAR-TASS — March 1, 1990
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| MOSCOW —
Residents of a Russian village in Soviet Azerbaijan suffer
from ethnic strife, the newspaper Selstkaia Zhizn' [Rural
Life] writes today. The village Russkie Borisy sprang up some 150 years ago in the highlands in Azerbaijan, in Shaumian district [now Goranboi raion] that last January was the epicentre of ethnic strife. The village is inhabited by descendants of Molokans, a Christian sect that rejected clergymen and the [Russian Orthodox] Church. [In 2006, the 70 remaining Molokan families were preparing to move to Russia.] The Shaumian district is inhabited by Armenians and Azerbaijani whose relations have become aggravated, worse. Armenians prohibit Molokans to sell potatoes and cabbage to Azerbaijani. On New Year's Eve the village was plunged into darkness. There was a power blackout and no telephone service. A step-down transformer was switched off during the ethnic clashes. A power plant in good working order was withdrawn from the village under the pretext that it needed an overhaul. The villagers wanted to operate a diesel-electric generator but fuel supplies in the district have been irregular since last year. Because of ethnic conflicts, the village was supplied with only five tones of coal last year. |
The village has
a population of 760 and has a school. [Most residents are Molokans of three
religious congregations: Consant,
Spiritual,
and Subbotnik ] Stocks of flour in the village are running out. The village store does not stock either cereals, sugar, cigarettes, or matches. The post office has been closed. [It's the only location of telegraph service and pay phones.] The village residents have not been recieving mail or newspapers since January [2 months]. Buses to not serve the village. A village resident, Fenia Neverova told the newspaper correspondent: “Look what happens. They shoot at each other, take hostages, start economic blockades, and we suffer. Helicopters loaded with food products touch down in Armenian villages occasionally. Azerbaijani do not go hungry either. In our village store, the shelves are bare, with only a few cans of fish which will probably be sold soon.” The correspondent said he was told by Azerbaijan and Armenians that Russians are their brothers. “We hear ever more often now that people have nothing to do with this, that a handful of extremists are to blame for the tension and bloody clashes. But one would like to ask where have the people been looking when all this was happening? What about the local authorities and law enforcement bodies? Why are people threatened at a time when there is no natural disaster, in a land that is not occupied by an enemy, in the place where Soviet laws and the constitution should function?” |
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