Former FSB officer accused this organization of a war crime
FSB Major Alexei Potemkin, who fled to Germany, claims that 14 years ago Russian security services killed six Red Cross workers.He allegedly himself took part in that operation, while still in the rank of lieutenant. The defector agent is ready to substantiate his testimony with a transcript of the radio exchange between the security forces and the command.
According to the official version, on the night of 16 on 17 in January, a group of unidentified fighters burst into the school building of the village of Novye Atagi of the Shali district of Chechnya and shot foreign volunteers from the Red Cross mission. Six people died - citizens of Spain, Norway, the Netherlands, Canada and New Zealand. Only the hospital chief survived - Swede Alkobut Hans. After a brief investigation, the Russian authorities announced that the field commander Khattab was responsible for the death of medical workers.
In the "Red Cross" what happened is considered the most terrible tragedy for the whole history the existence of this organization. After this incident, international organizations left Chechnya, fearing for the safety of personnel.
In turn, Major Potemkin claims that the Red Cross volunteers were attacked by special forces of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation. According to him, the task of the security forces was the elimination of the militant group.
After the clashes in the village of Novye Atagi, the FSB division received an order to check the local field hospital and clean it from the enemy. The result was the death of six foreigners from the Red Cross.
Potyomkin claims that he participated in this special operation under the call sign "Blue-eyed". He himself did not enter the hospital building. He says that the building was cleaned by a detachment of 14 people under the command of Captain Sevastyanov (call sign "Trofim"), and he and two fighters only covered the main group. A quick FSB officer calls the incident a tragic mistake, not excluding, however, the probability of deliberately liquidating the Red Cross employees.
If a further investigation does show that the medical services were killed by the Russian special services, the relatives of the victims may file lawsuits against the Russian Federation.
However, experts are very skeptical about the story of a fluent major Potemkin. In particular, it is reported that in 1996, in Novye Atagi, together with the adjacent territory, they were controlled by separatists, and the activity of the Russian troops in the area was minimized. In addition, there is no confirmation of the fact that the FSB conducted such special operations on the territory of Chechnya during the specified period of time.
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