Afghan war veterans go on hunger strike in Dagestan
In Dagestan, about 20 veterans of the Afghan war started an indefinite hunger strike in Makhachkala. They demand housing from the authorities.
The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on August 2, about 25 Afghan war veterans threatened the authorities with holding a hunger strike. The Afghan war veterans claim that they have been expecting housing from the state for many years.
The main demands of the hunger-strikers are a meeting with Dagestani leader Vladimir Vasiliev and a solution to the housing problem, reports Selim Selimov, a participant of the protest action. According to him, after the rally of August 2, the authorities promised to solve all the problems, but nothing changed.
Selim Selimov himself lives in an apartment of 27 square meters with 11 other people, the "MBKh-Media" reports.
According to the Dagestani Ministry of Labour, about 800 Dagestani Afghan war veterans need housing.
On February 15, on the day of the 30th anniversary of the withdrawal of the Soviet troops from Afghanistan, a rally was held in Makhachkala. At the rally, Zurab Bagomedov, Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Development, announced that the authorities planned to improve the living conditions of 60 families of Afghan war veterans in 2019.
This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on September 17, 2019 at 05:26 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.