CHECHNYA: GUNDERMES: LIVING CONDITIONS

(14 Feb 2000) Russian/Nat

Chechnya's second largest city, Gudermes, has largely escaped the fate of Grozny, razed to the ground by Russian artillery and bombs.

Gudermes's authorities and elders convinced rebel fighters to leave and surrender the city to Russian troops without a fight.

The war-weary military were only too glad to accept the offer - to avoid the heavy casualties they had suffered during assaults on other towns and to lighten the task of reconstructing the republic when hostilities finally come to an end.

But even for the relatively fortunate people of Gudermes, the fight to return to normal life is only just beginning and promises to be a long one.

There is a very visible Russian military presence in Gudermes - a sign tensions are still running high in the surrendered city.

Journalists are obliged to have police escorts while traveling around the city: not just because foreign reporters are kept on a tight rein, but also because the fear of snipers remains very real.

An APTN crew was taken on an official tour of the city by Russian authorities keen to show Western media a positive side of their violent campaign to oust pro-independence rebels.

Life is slowly returning to normal, with street markets awash with basic necessities, and restored gas and electricity supplies.

It's certainly not the desperate struggle for survival that Grozny's residents face.

Local authorities are even looking for ways to create jobs, but right now most residents are jobless.

SOUNDBITE: (Russian)
"What's good is that there is no more fighting in Gudermes and the region around. There is cooking gas, water and electricity in Gudermes and the surrounding area. Thanks a lot for that."
SUPER CAPTION: Ali Asaltanov, Gudermes resident

Classes have resumed in thirty-four schools out of Gudermes region's thirty-nine.

English and Chechen language lessons are the most popular subjects with pupils at this school.

A qualification in English offers the hope of a brighter future.

The war has left its impact, of course.

About one hundred kids of the school's one thousand pupils have lost their parents in Chechnya's two wars -- in 1994-1996 and during the latest campaign.

SOUNDBITE: (English)
"About one hundred pupils haven't either father or mother. Now they need help."
SUPER CAPTION: Roza Uradova, English language teacher

The city's central hospital has about one hundred patients of whom 10 are Grozny residents injured during the recent shelling and bombardment of the city by the Russian air force.

The hospital's deputy chief physician, Omar Bamatguriev, said the hospital lacks equipment and medicine to treat patients.

He is appealing to international humanitarian organisations for aid because, he says, Moscow is slow to act on its promises of help.

SOUNDBITE: (Russian)
"There is a lot of treatment that these patients need. Their injuries are serious and they didn't receive proper help. Some have septicaemia so we need to apply lots of antibiotics and we don't have enough of them."
SUPER CAPTION: Dr. Omar Bamatguriev, Deputy Chief Physician

On the surface, life in Gudermes is peaceful and almost normal.

But Russian troops are building up fortifications in strategic locations inside the city and on its outskirts.

They fear partisan sorties by Chechen rebels -- Chechen president Aslan Maskhadov has promised to launch a partisan war throughout the republic.

Even in Gudermes, Moscow's show city in Chechnya, soldiers do not drop their guard.

Every male resident is a potential rebel fighter, they say.



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