Local sources have reported that a so-called passport control practice has been implemented in the Russian occupied Chechen Republic of Ichkeria.

According to the information, passport control practices were held and temporary mobile control points were established in the district of Grozny, and testimony was shared from all around the district.

“On December 30, 2013, Russian soldiers came to our house. They asked whether any guests were with us, and then they asked for our passports. They checked all of them for a while, and after that they left. It reminded me of an usual practice in the beginning of 2000, fortunately this time they didn’t take any hostages,” said Kheda, a resident of Katayama village in the Staropromyslovskiy district of the capital Grozny.

“Early in the morning, they came to our apartment. Two Russian soldiers and local police with their weapons out asked whether there was any problem or anything unusual. They left a telephone number and asked for us to call them,” said Maret Kh, a local resident in Grozny.

“On the night of December 30, 2013, soldiers had established a mobile control point in the entrance of our village. They stopped all the vehicles and controlled only the passports of male passengers,” said Salavdi U, another local resident.

*Text was written by Waynakh Online and edited by Michael Capobianco