Place of interview: Ingushetia, hospital

Interview date: November-December 1999

A young man was the victim of a rocket bomb. Missiles had been lain outskirts of the village of New Sharoy, close to a mosque under construction. One morning, residents from the village, including many children, decided to examine the area. Following the gathering of a crowd in the area, there was a strong explosion. Several people died and 17 were injured, including the interviewee.

The victims were taken to Urus-Martan, and several of those who were wounded died on the way. Eight days later, the victim among others, was transported by ambulance to Ingushetia. The interviewee explained that for many kilometers during this journey there was a convoy of refugees along the administrative border. During this time, explosions were also heard in the vicinity and Russian planes were seen in the sky.

The interviewee says that he was brought to Ingushetia together with residents from neighboring Samashki, who were also injured as a result of the shelling.

Comment from the Natalia Estemirova Documentation Center: the term “rocket” in this interview most likely means the submunition  of the Uragan multiple launch rocket system, which was fired from the forest massif on the night of October 22-23 (according to other sources, on the night of October 23-24), and also the tract between the villages of Novyi Sharoy and Samashki.