East Prigorodny Conflict The East Prigorodny Conflict was an inter - ethnic conflict in the eastern part of the Prigorodny district in the Republic of North Ossetia – Alania , which started in 1989 and developed , in 1992 , into a brief ethnic war between local Ingush and Ossetian paramilitary forces . According to Helsinki Human Rights Watch , Ossetian militia orchestrated a campaign of ethnic cleansing during October and November 1992 , resulting in the death of more than 600 Ingush civilians and expulsion of approximately 60 , 000 Ingush inhabitants from Prigorodny district . Origins of the conflict . During the Russian conquest of the Caucasus , part of the Ingush territory was colonized by Ossetians and Russians . Russian General Evdokimov and Ossetian colonel Kundukhov in Opis No . 436 " gladly reported " , that the result of colonization of Ingush land was successful : The Ingush village " Ghazhien - Yurt " was renamed " Stanitsa Assinovskaya " in 1847 , < br > The Ingush village " Ebarg - Yurt " was renamed " Stanitsa Troitskaya " in 1847 , < br > The Ingush town " Dibir - Ghala " was renamed " Stanitsa Sleptsovskaya " in 1847 , < br > The Ingush village " Magomet - Khite " was renamed " Stanitsa Voznesenskaya " in 1847 , < br > The Ingush village " Akhi - Yurt " was renamed " Stanitsa Sunzhenskaya " in 1859 , < br > The Ingush village " Ongusht " was renamed " Stanitsa Tarskaya " in 1859 , < br > The Ingush town " Ildir - Ghala " was renamed " Stanitsa Karabulakskaya " in 1859 , < br > The Ingush village " Alkhaste " was renamed " Stanitsa Feldmarshalskaya " in 1860 , < br > The Ingush village " Tauzen - Yurt " was renamed " Stanitsa Vorontsov - Dashkov " in 1861 , < br > The Ingush village " Sholkhi " was renamed " Khutor Tarski " in 1867 . The Russians also built the fortress Vladikavkaz ( meaning : " Ruler of the Caucasus " ) on the former location of the Ingush village of Zaur . In 1924 the Ingush Autonomous Oblast was created . It included the part of Prigorodny district and part of Vladikavkaz , populated mainly by ethnic Ingush . In 1934 , by a Soviet decree , the Ingush Autonomous Republic was merged with Chechen Autonomous Oblast , allocating the Vladikavkaz territories of the Ingush to the newly created North Ossetia , leaving the Prigorodny district under the Chechen - Ingush Autonomous Soviet Republic . In 1944 , near the end of World War II , the Ingush and the Chechen peoples were accused of collaborating with the Nazis , and by order of Joseph Stalin , the whole population of Ingush and Chechens were deported to Central Asia and Siberia . Soon after , the depopulated Prigorodny district was transferred to North Ossetia . In 1957 , the repressed Ingush and Chechens were allowed to return to their native land and the Chechen - Ingush Republic was restored , with the Prigorodny district kept under the control of North Ossetia . Soviet authorities attempted to prevent Ingush from returning to their territory in Prigorodny district ; however , Ingush families managed to move in , purchase houses back from the Ossetians and resettled the district in greater numbers . This gave rise to the idea of " restoring historical justice " and " returning native lands " , among the Ingush population and intelligentsia , which contributed to the already existing tensions between ethnic Ossetians and Ingush . Between 1973 and 1980 the Ingush voiced their demands for the reunification of the Prigorodny district with Ingushetia by staging various protests and meetings in Grozny . The tensions increased in early 1991 , during the collapse of the Soviet Union , when the Ingush openly declared their rights to the Prigorodny district according to the Soviet law adopted by the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on April 26 , 1991 ; in particular , the third and the sixth article on " " territorial rehabilitation " . " The law gave the Ingush legal grounds for their demands , which caused serious turbulence in a region in which many people had free access to weapons , resulting in an armed conflict between ethnic Ingush population of the Prigorodny district and Ossetian armed militias from Vladikavkaz . Armed conflict . Ethnic violence rose steadily in the area of the Prigorodny district , to the east of the Terek River , despite the introduction of 1 , 500 Soviet Internal Troops to the area . During the summer and early autumn of 1992 , there was a steady increase in the militancy of Ingush nationalists . At the same time , there was a steady increase in incidents of organized harassment , kidnapping and rape against Ingush inhabitants of North Ossetia by their Ossetian neighbours , police , security forces and militia . Ingush fighters marched to take control over Prigorodny district and on the night of October 30 , 1992 , open warfare broke out , which lasted until November 6 . While Ingush militias were fighting the Ossetians in the district and on the outskirts of the North Ossetian capital Vladikavkaz , Ingush from elsewhere in North Ossetia were forcibly evicted and expelled from their homes . Russia n interior forces actively participated in the fighting and sometimes led Ossetian fighters into battle . On October 31 , 1992 , a high - level Russian delegation arrived to stop the violence ; however , the first deployment of Russian peacekeepers did not begin until early November . Although Russian troops often intervened to prevent some acts of violence by Ossetian police and republican guards , the stance of the Russian peacekeeping forces was strongly pro - Ossetian , not only objectively as a result of its deployment , but subjectively as well . President Boris Yeltsin issued a decree that the Prigorodny district was to remain part of North Ossetia on November 2 . The hostilities and reprisals in North Ossetia produced approximately 590 deaths , 1 , 000 injured and 1 , 200 hostages among Ingush civilians as well as 65 , 000 Ingush and 9 , 000 Ossetian refugees . 52 Ossetians were killed during the conflict . Allegations of ethnic cleansing . According to Helsinki Human Rights Watch , war crimes and ethnic cleansing were committed by Ossetian police and republican guards against Ingush civilians . Human Rights Watch collected numerous video and photo materials showing extreme brutality carried out by Ossetian police and republican guards against Ingush inhabitants of the district . Helsinki Watch published its report on human rights violations and war crimes , with detailed description of massacres of the Ingush civilians during the events of October and November , in April 1996 . The pressure from Moscow and the Russian - mediated Ossetian - Ingush agreement of 1995 induced the North Ossetian authorities to allow Ingush refugees from four settlements in the Prigorodny district to return to their homes . The return of most refugees had been blocked by the local government and only the Ossetians had been able to return since . Meanwhile , the former Ingush homes and settlements in the district have been gradually occupied by the Ossetian refugees from Georgia . On October 11 , 2002 , the presidents of Ingushetia and North Ossetia signed an agreement " promoting cooperation and neighborly relations , " in which Ingush refugees and human rights advocates invested much hope . However , the Beslan hostage crisis of 2004 hampered the return process and worsened Ossetian - Ingush relations .