Thousands Protest Land Swap in Ingushetia

Following a controversial land-swap agreement between Ingush President Yunus-Bek Yevkurov and Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov, which was signed on September 26, thousands have flooded the streets of Magas, Ingushetia’s capital, to protest.

The deal, intended to resolve a long-standing border dispute between the two regions, has been highly controversial among Ingush citizens. Yevkurov said that the trade was an equilateral, “inch for inch” exchange of uninhabited territory. However, cartographers estimate that Ingushetia will cede 26,800 hectares of land in exchange for just 1,000.

The law has not been officially published, so its specific terms are not yet public.

Protesters began to organize on the streets of Magas on October 4. That day, according to the Ingush government, the People’s Assembly of the Republic of Ingushetia voted in favor of the land swap by 17 votes to 2. Later, several MPs told protesters that the results were falsified, and 15 out of 24 MPs voted against the legislation.

The same day, Ingushetia’s Constitutional Court ruled that the deal must be put to a referendum in accordance with Article 111 of the Ingush constitution. Yevkurov did not acknowledge the Court’s decision and accused the protesters of “[violating] the law” and “[embarrassing] our republic.”

Between 2,000 and 3,000 protesters gathered in the small town on the first day of demonstrations. The day’s events included authorities firing into the air after protesters hurled trash at Yevkurov and the sighting of two Sukhoi Su-25 fighter jets. Religious leaders drafted a petition for Yevkurov’s resignation on October 5.

Since then, the situation has shown no sign of dissolution. On the first day of protests, cell service for customers of the three largest carriers in the region was reportedly cut entirely, and as of October 12 still unrestored. Leaked internal communications from one carrier—Megafon—led some to speculate government responsibility, which would only be legal in a state of emergency.

A delegation of protesters met with Putin’s representative to the North Caucasus as well as leading figures in the Chechen government on October 8. Chairman of the Chechen Parliament Magomed Daudov claimed that the Chechens did not want “even a metre of Ingush land.”

Since then, Ingush MPs have annulled their votes in the People’s Assembly and repeatedly tried to put the legislation to a revote, failing each time to garner the minimum 17 MPs necessary to hold a vote. According to OC Media, pressure from Yevkurov may be responsible for this absence.

As of October 11, the authorities pressed charges against two leading protesters for insulting a public official, namely Chairman of the Government of Ingushetia Zyalimkhan Yevloyev.

The Chechen-Ingush border has been disputed since the dissolution of the USSR. Under Soviet leadership, Chechens and Ingushes cohabited the Chechen-Ingush ASSR, which dissolved in 1992.

Since then, Chechnya and Ingushetia have been republics within the Russian Federation, regions which enjoy a certain level of autonomy compared to other federal subjects. Several efforts to demarcate the Chechen-Ingush border have been unsuccessful.

This is not the first border dispute that has troubled Ingushetia. In 1992, Ingushetia lost Prigorodny District to North Ossetia, a neighboring republic, in a conflict that left 600 mostly Ingush citizens dead.

Protesters have suggested that Chechnya’s recent expansionism is tied to its acquisition of Chechenneftekhimprom, a state-owned oil firm, on September 19. Ingushetia’s Sunzhensky District is expected to have oil deposits. The opposition also thinks that Yevkurov may have a personal stake in the land deal.

The demonstrations have shown no sign of subsiding, and authorities are permitting the protesters to continue their sit-in until October 15. Nonetheless, the impact of this organized dissent is likely to have lasting impacts in the region. Some protesters have called Yevkurov a “political corpse,” although it is unclear whether he will remain in power until the situation diffuses. Kabardian activist Ibragim Yaganov described the Ingush protests as “a historic protest for the entire North Caucasus and Russia.”