The silence of the West From Mr Oleg Gordievsky Sir:
Not far from the Middle East, but on the European Continent, there is an area where the hostilities and casualties are even more severe (Ile threw stones. He gets shot. So?', 7 October). It is Chechnya. The capital of the country, and many villages, have been entirely destroyed by the Rus- sian army. The number of killed is now measured in thousands. The number of refugees outside the republic is comparable with that of Kosovan refugees in the spring of 1999. They and numerous people who are still inside Chechnya are facing a very cold winter with no electricity or heating and too little food. There are still hundreds of Chechen men who are tormented in the Russian 'filtration camps'. The Russian heavy artillery daily (and particularly night- ly) is shelling the mountain shelters of the Chechen fighters. The frequent bombers and gun-helicopter sorties against the Chechen positions are only hampered occa- sionally by bad weather.
The West's silence about it is deafening.
Oleg Gordievsky
London WC2
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