Just as ice, snow and mud are bogging down the Russian offensive in Chechnya, the bitter winter weather is creating brutal living conditions for Chechen civilians. At revolving-door border crossings, frightened refugees fleeing the war pass by a steady stream of people returning home from freezing, squalid tent cities. About 70,000 refugees returned last Friday to Russia-controlled areas in northern Chechnya to escape crowded refugee camps where the mud is ankle deep, temperatures are well below freezing, and tents and food are in short supply. Of the 250,000 people who fled Chechnya for Ingushetia, more than 80,000 have returned home, said Nikolai Koshman, Russia's chief emissary to Chechnya.
Russian officials insist the returns are voluntary.
Many refugees have returned to Chechnya to escape squalid tent cities. However, he refused to comment on whether Chechnya was safe to return to. We are not saying it is, and we are not saying it is not. Many, after suffering for months in tent cities, are deciding to go back. The conditions in the camps in Ingushetia are extremely harsh.