15 January 2018, 17:25
In 2017, six persons fell victim to armed conflict in Stavropol Territory
In 2017, in the Stavropol Territory, at least six persons were killed in the armed conflict in Northern Caucasus. The figure coincides with the number of victims for 2016, when there were also 6 of them. These are the results of the calculations run by the "Caucasian Knot" based on its own materials and information from other open sources.
As a rule, the main indicator of the intensity of an armed conflict is the number of victims killed and wounded people during armed clashes and armed incidents, as well as bombings and terror acts. However, the very number of such cases is no less important and informative.
The "Caucasian Knot" provides the information on the number of armed incidents, terror acts, and bombings in the regions of the North-Caucasian Federal District (NCFD) in 2017 compared with the number of similar incidents in 2016.
Armed incidents
January-December 2017
In 2017, there were three armed incidents in the Stavropol Territory, in which 6 victims were registered. The victims were suspected militants who were killed. At night on April 21, in the Kochubeevsky District, two persons were killed when law enforcers tried to detain them a shootout occurred. At night on December 9, in the centre of Stavropol, three men were killed in a counterterrorist operation (CTO), including the one blown up in an explosion of an improvised explosive device (IED) inside a house cordoned off by law enforcers. At night on December 20, an unidentified person activated, presumably, a grenade in an apartment building in Stavropol and after that he was killed by law enforcers.
The "Caucasian Knot" notes: the statistics on members of the armed underground mentions those who were declared as such by the law enforcement bodies.
January-December 2016
In 2016, in the Stavropol Territory, two armed incidents occurred, in which 5 victims were registered. The victims were suspected militants who were killed. On April 11, three men attacked the ROVD (District Interior Division) building in the village of Novoselitskoe (two attackers were killed by the police, and another blew himself up). On April 16, two men were killed by return fire in the village of Sernovodskaya when policemen tried to check their IDs.
Thus, it can be concluded that in 2017, in the Stavropol Territory, the number of armed incidents in the Stavropol Territory increased by 50% as compared to 2016 and the number of victims in those incidents increased by 20%.
Bombings and terror acts
January-December 2017
In 2017, no terror acts were registered in the territory of the Stavropol Territory. Meanwhile, at least one terror act was prevented: on May 17, a metal barrel with five trotyl blocks weighing one kilogram was discovered in the forest near Stavropol. An unidentified device in the form of a firecracker with an ignition device cord was attached to the objects. Besides, according to a source from the law enforcement bodies, the militants killed in Stavropol on December 9 were plotting to commit terror acts on the New Year holidays.
However, in 2017, the Stavropol Territory still registered two explosions. One occurred during a CTO in Stavropol on December 9, and a suspected militant was killed in it. The second explosion took place in an apartment building in Stavropol at night on December 20, no one suffered.
The "terror acts" category implies a bombing, an armed attack and other events in the residential/public sector or a specific strategic object, organized with the aim of violating public safety, intimidating the population or influencing decision-making by the authorities.
January-December 2016
In 2016, no terror acts and explosions were registered in the territory of the Stavropol Territory.
Results of the year: the number of armed incidents in the Stavropol Territory increased.
In total, according to the "Caucasian Knot", in 2017, in the Stavropol Territory, six people were killed in the armed conflict. The victims were suspected militants. In 2017, no victims among law enforcers or civilians were reported.
In 2016, in the Stavropol Territory, six people were killed in the armed conflict, including a civilian and five suspected militants. In 2016, no victims among law enforcers were also reported.
That is, in 2017, as compared to 2016, the changes affected two categories: the number of victims among suspected militants increased by 20%, but there were no victims among civilians.
In 2017, in the Stavropol Territory, the total number of victims to the armed conflict (6 killed people) remained the same as compared to 2016, when, according to the "Caucasian Knot", at least 6 people were killed.
That is, in 2017, in the Stavropol Territory, the total number of victims and the number of killed people remained the same. No wounded were reported, but the number of armed incidents and bombing increased.
It should also be noted that no information about special operations and terror acts in the Stavropol Territory before the December armed incidents in Stavropol was reported over the past three years. The armed incidents which occurred in Stavropol in December 2017 were the first such incidents after 2013, when in June, in Stavropol, a man suspected of shelling of policemen was killed, and in December, a terror act was committed in Pyatigorsk, in which three people were killed.
Following the above information, it can be concluded that the situation in the region became tenser.
Let us remind you that in 2015, in the Stavropol Territory, at least two persons were killed in the ongoing armed conflict in Northern Caucasus. In 2014, in the Stavropol Territory, at least 11 people fell victim to the armed conflict, including 10 killed and another wounded. In 2013, at least 17 people fell victim to the armed conflict in the region. Of them, 13 were killed and four others were wounded. In 2012, 12 victims were reported in the Stavropol Territory, including 10 killed and two wounded.
It should be realized that the provided statistics cannot reflect with the 100 percent accuracy the number of victims for each of the categories highlighted in the review. Not all information is included in the news reports. It is not always possible to check the reliability of the statements voiced by the law enforcement bodies and to reveal involvement of members of the armed underground in certain crimes.
