THE JOURNAL OF REGIONAL HISTORY V.6 No.2
The Ossetian-Ingush armed conflict of 1992 as covered by the Russian central press
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The article examines the coverage of the Ossetian-Ingush armed conflict in the publications of the largest Russian mass media during the hostilities in the Prigorodny District in autumn 1992. The author analyzes the most typical reportages from the scene as well as the interviews with high-ranking military commanders and officials published in such central newspapers as Krasnaya Zvezda, Trud, Izvestiya, Kommersant, Literaturnaya Gazeta, Moskovskie Novosti, and some others. In addition to the media mentioned above, the author analyzes materials from the regional press, such as the Yaroslavl newspapers Severniy Krai and Zolotoe Kol'tso. These publications contained official documents and other valuable information relating to the growth of criminal activity in the North Caucasus in the early 1990s, the battles between the Ossetian and Ingush people in the Prigorodny District, the objectives of the federal troops’ peacekeeping operations, and information about the exploits of military personnel. The authors of the publications under analysis made it clear that it was the Russian security forces that prevented a real war in the Caucasus. The Ossetian or Ingush fighters who opposed the federal forces were presented in their coverage either as deceived people whose nationality was not even mentioned or as bandits. At the same time, the democratic media published articles describing ethnic cleansing of the Ingush population in the Prigorodny District during and after the hostilities. Publications in the left-wing media emphasized the illegality of the Ingush actions, and the sympathy of the authors was clearly on the side of the Ossetians. Sometimes the opposition press (the newspapers Sovetskaya Rossiya and Pravda) even drew parallels between the actions of the Ingush and the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany. The author concludes that the Russian authorities and security services managed to terminate the conflict relatively quickly in 1992. However, the Ossetian-Ingush armed conflict of 1992 can still be seen as a precursor to the First Chechen war of 1994–96 during which the balance of power in the information field remained similar.
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Zdravomyslov, A.G. Osetino-ingushskii konflikt: perspektivy vykhoda iz tupikovoi situatsii [The Ossetian-Ingush conflict: Prospects for breaking the deadlock]. Moscow: ROSSPEN, 1998. (In Russian)
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Kochieva, I., and A. Margiev. “Proshlo 68 let…” [68 years have passed...]. In Den' katastrofy – 888. Ostanovlennyi genotsid v Yuzhnoi Osetii. Sbornik [Day of the Catastrophe – 888. The stopped Genocide in South Ossetia. A collection], compiled by V. Bykova and N. Davletshina, 53–152. Moscow: Evropa, 2008. (In Russian)
Koshkin, A. Shturmovik [Stormtrooper]. Moscow: Astrel'; St Petersburg: Astrel'–SPb; Vladimir: VKT, 2012. (In Russian)
Kotkin, S. Predotvrashchennyi Armageddon. Raspad Sovetskogo Soyuza, 1970–2000 [Armageddon averted. The Soviet collapse, 1970–2000]. Moscow: Novoe literaturnoe obozrenie, 2018. (In Russian)
Kulikov, A.S. Tyazhelye zvezdy [Heavy stars]. Moscow: Voina i mir buks, 2002. (In Russian)
Lieven, A. Chechnya: tragediya rossiiskoi moshchi. Pervaya chechenskaya voina [Chechnya: Tombstone of Russian power]. Moscow: Universitet Dmitriya Pozharskogo; Russkii fond sodeistviya obrazovaniyu i nauke, 2019. (In Russian)
Ostrovsky, A. Govorit i pokazyvaet Rossiya. Puteshestvie v proshloe sredstvami massovoi informatsii [The invention of Russia: The journey from Gorbachev’s freedom to Putin’s war]. Translated by T. Azarkovich. Moscow: Izdatel'stvo AST: CORPUS, 2019. (In Russian)
Pishchuk, M.D. “‘Ekho 44-go’: deyatel'nost' Goskomnatsa Rossii po predotvrashcheniyu osetino-ingushskogo konflikta” [‘Echo of 1944’: The activities of the Russian State Committee for National Security to prevent the Ossetian-Ingush conflict]. In Voiny v istorii. Genezis, predposylki, prichiny mezhdunarodnykh voennykh konfliktov v istorii. Istoricheskie dokumenty i aktual'nye problemy arkheografii, istochnikovedeniya, rossiiskoi i vseobshchei istorii novogo i noveishego vremeni: Sbornik materialov Odinnadtsatoi mezhdunarodnoi konferentsii molodykh uchenykh i spetsialistov “Clio–2021” [Wars in history. Genesis, prerequisites, and causes of international military conflicts in history. Historical documents and topical problems of archaeography, source study, Russian and general modern and postmodern history: Proceedings of the 11th International Conference of Young Scientists and Specialists “Clio–2021”], edited by A.K. Sorokin, 149–52. Moscow: Politicheskaya entsiklopediya, 2021. (In Russian)
Rossiya i SSSR v voinakh 20 veka: Statisticheskoe issledovanie [Russia and the USSR in the wars of the 20th century: A statistical study], под редакцией Г.В. Кривошеева. Moscow: OLMA-PRESS, 2001. (In Russian)
Shnirel'man, V.A. Byt' alanami: intellektualy i politika na Severnom Kavkaze v XX veke [Being the Alans: Intellectuals and politics in the North Caucasus in the 20th century]. Moscow: Novoe literaturnoe obozrenie, 2006. (In Russian)
Shokin, S.D. Severnyi Kavkaz v politike Rossiiskogo gosudarstva ot Drevnei Rusi do nachala XXI veka [The North Caucasus in the politics of the Russian state from Ancient Rus' till the beginning of the 21st century]. Yaroslavl: YarGU, 2015. (In Russian)
Snegirev, V.N. Ruslan: Istoriya zhizni pervogo prezidenta Ingushetii, rasskazannaya im samim i ego druz'yami [Ruslan: Life story of Ingushetia’s first president, told by himself and his friends]. Moscow: Eterna, 2014. (In Russian)
Treisman, D. Istoriya Rossii. Ot Gorbacheva do Putina i Medvedeva [The return: Russia’s journey from Gorbachev to Medvedev]. Moscow: Eksmo, 2012. (In Russian)
Tsutsiev, A.A. Osetino-ingushskii konflikt (1992–…): ego predystoriya i faktory razvitiya. Istoriko-sotsiologicheskii ocherk [The Ossetian-Ingush conflict (1992–...): Its pre-history and factors of development. A historical and sociological essay]. Moscow: ROSSPEN, 1998. (In Russian)
Tsyganok, A.D. Voennye pod Rossiiskim flagom: russkii vzglyad. 1991–1993 [The military under the Russian flag: a Russian view. 1991–1993]. Moscow: AIRO–XXI, 2012. (In Russian)
Tumakov, D.V. “Nachalo pervoi chechenskoi voiny 1994–1996 gg. v osveshchenii rossiiskoi ofitsial'noi pechati” [The beginning of the First Chechen War of 1994–1996 as covered by the Russian official press]. In Istoricheskii put' Rossii: iz proshlogo v budushchee: materialy mezhdunarodnoi nauchnoi konferentsii: v 3 t. Sankt-Peterburg, 2 aprelya 2021 goda [Historical path of Russia: from the past to the future: Proceedings of the International Scientific Conference: 3 vols, St Petersburg, April 2, 2021], edited by S.I. Bugashev and A.S. Minin, vol. 1, 592–600. St Petersburg: SPbGUPTD, 2021. (In Russian)
Tumakov, D.V. Trevozhnyi region: vooruzhennye konflikty na Severnom Kavkaze v pervoi polovine 1990-kh gg. i Yaroslavskaya oblast' [Troubled region: Armed conflicts in the North Caucasus in the first half of the 1990s and the Yaroslavl Region]. Yaroslavl: Avers Plus, 2016. (In Russian)
Gromov, B.V., ed. Voiny i vooruzhennye konflikty vtoroi poloviny XX veka [Wars and armed conflicts of the second half of the 20th century]. Moscow: R–Media, 2003. (In Russian)
Zdravomyslov, A.G. Osetino-ingushskii konflikt: perspektivy vykhoda iz tupikovoi situatsii [The Ossetian-Ingush conflict: Prospects for breaking the deadlock]. Moscow: ROSSPEN, 1998. (In Russian)
Zhukov, D.A. Voiny na ruinakh SSSR [Wars on the ruins of the USSR]. Moscow: Yauza; Eksmo, 2009. (In Russian)
Keywords:
North Caucasus, Ingushetia, North Ossetia, Prigorodny District, armed conflict, Russia, federal center, military men, refugees, violence
For citation:
Tumakov, D.V. “The Ossetian-Ingush armed conflict of 1992 as covered by the Russian central press.” Historia Provinciae – the Journal of Regional History, vol. 6, no. 2 (2022): 439–84, https://doi.org/10.23859/2587-8344-2022-6-2-3
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
ISSN 2587-8344 (Online)