My name is Movladi and I am a Chechan freedom fighter. Those who write history call me a rebel. But the label is untrue for as all freedom fighters; I fight for the liberation of my country from the oppression of an invading atheist enemy.
The Chechen people have been fighting against Russian oppression for decades. Several times in recent history, the Russians have made serious attempts to exterminate my people. Under the guise of an alleged bomb attack last year, the Russians used this as an excuse to launch an all out war against the Chechen people. The siege of Chechnya has now entered its forth month.
At the time of this writing, the Russians now control one third of the Chechen capital of Grozny. During daylight hours they gain control of more Chechen held outposts, while at night, brave freedom fighters retake much of what was earlier confiscated.
We have suffered heavy losses. The odds against us are so great that anyone can tell that we do not have a chance. But, we are fighting for the freedom, the very survival of our country and we are not afraid of dying, for we know that we fight Jihad in the name of God. To die, is the greatest blessing any martyr can have. This is why we have had any chance at all of fighting against a very heavily and well-equipped Russian enemy.
My comrades and myself have been surrounded by Russian atheists who fear no God, fear no evil and who continue to pillage and plunder Chechen villages. Our supplies have been cut off and we wage a war against the kafr invaders in sub-zero temperatures.
What is even harder to bear than the arctic cold is the fate of the elderly and women and children. The other day we visited a hospital. My stomach felt so queasy when I saw the civilian wounded especially the children. One of the young nurses was crying and she could not stop. I will never forget the faces of the small children who have been wounded by tons and tons of relentless Russian mortars, shells and bombs. This is not merely a war waged by the inadequate old drunk Yeltsin against rebel Chechen soldiers, but an attempt at genocide…an all out war against the civilian population of my people. Russian tanks now blast away buildings in Grozny while helicopter gunships hover overhead, firing down on our positions. Warplanes and helicopters have flown more than 200 raids, the worst yet, in the savage Russian bombardment of our city. One of the Russian generals is missing. We have captured him and his name is Maj. Gen. Mikhail Malofeyev.
In the streets of my beloved Grozny, there is furious hand-to-hand combat and the Russian forces are moving in on us freedom fighters from several directions in an apparent attempt to sandwich us between their forces.
Fierce fighting also continues in the southern Chechen mountains where Russian aircraft and artillery have been pounding our positions. As can be expected, many of our civilian population have been killed.
As I write this report my hands are freezing and I suffer from frostbite. When I sleep intermittently off and on, I dream of my parents and my wife and children. I have not received word from any of them for days and do not even know if they live or not, or are among the injured. Ah, but if only you could see Chechnya when there is no war and when the summer season is upon us. It is a veritable heaven. Green grass abounds all around and we are blessed with abundant forests and pure unpolluted rivers. In the summer, when there is no war, flowers of every color grow everywhere and the Chechen earth is rich and fruitful.
What hurts me more than anything is that no Muslim or Arab country protests our deplorable situation except for some very brave Palestinians who have lived all their lives under a brutal occupation of the invading Israeli forces. It is only natural that they can sympathize with us, for they have known the horrors of war and occupation for more than 52 years. The only good thing about my certain imminent death is that I will go to heaven and to a far far better place than I have ever been before. I can only hope that one day, my Muslim brothers will be united and stand against the forces of evil and oppression. But it just might be too late for the people of my beloved homeland, Chechnya.
Remember, as my fellow freedom fighters struggle against our oppressor and exterminator, history is written by those who hang heroes. We are the heroes of this war…the unsung heroes.
There are heroes in the seaweed. There are children in the morning. They are leaning out for love. They will lean this way forever