Mother of child who perished in 1999 during shelling of Grozny denied compensation

A court in Krasnodar denied compensation to Natalia Zagudaeva, a resident of the city of Belorechensk, whose child was killed in 1999 during the shelling of Grozny by federal troops. Her defence has called the ruling a gross violation of the presidential decree.

According to Sergey Melikov, an advocate, the prosecutor called the compensation to the mother of the perished child "an extra budget expense."

"However, the Russian General Prosecutor's Office (GPO) expressed an unequivocal position on the need to pay the victims of the war in Chechnya in accordance with the Russian President's decree," Mr Melikov has stated.

Due to the war in Chechnya, Natalia Zagudaeva lives in very difficult conditions, the advocate has added. "In fact, her entire life was destroyed by her grief," he has explained.

Officials refuse to enforce the presidential decree so as not to create a precedent for other relatives of civilians killed by Russian troops' shelling, the advocate has added.

Ms Zagudaeva said that her three-year-old son died as a result of shelling in 1999.

"From 1999 to 2009, a 'counter-terrorist operation' (CTO) was conducted in Chechnya ... Large-scale military operations were held, artillery shelling of dwelling settlements was undertaken. Thousands of civilians in Chechnya fell victim thereto," she has explained.

On November 3, 1999, the family left the house during shelling; and a shell fell next to Zagudaeva and her child, who was mortally wounded.