Resuming the air strikes against civilians in Grozny just in few hours after the Yeltsin's declaration about stopping it begin to look as henocide, a sort of Hitler-style "Endloesung der tschetschenischen Frage" (the final solution of Chechen question). I am agree with Mamuka, telling that here are involved some very important interests connected with Baku petroleum contract and oil pipe transporting problem (Chechnya is the only possible way to transport oil from Baku to the Black Sea). It looks also like some very imported interests of highest military commanders (Grachev), chief of Yeltsin's guard gen. Korzhakov and others are invested in that region.

It seems to me, that the political message of all our possible actions must be as follows:

1. The generals do not suborder Yeltsin's decisions to stop te bombardments - bombardments which destroy the living area especially, in order to free the space from Chechenians. It permits to speak about the putsch generals, at least formally, not taking in consideration, that in fact Yeltsin is not yet in Foros, at least physically.

2. Independently from how and when the conflict will finish, all what happened and what continues to happen looks like war crimes and crimes against humanity. At least 2,000 killed civilians is enough to speak about it. THEREFORE IT IS A NEED TO OPEN AN INITIATIVE TO CALL THE GUILTIES IN THIS CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY TO THE RESPONCE, EVEN ON INTERNATIONAL LEVEL (ICC?).

3. Attacks on press in the context of war and some other "internal" events in Russia permit to say about some serious changements in the Russian internal policy towards the autocratic and police state.

That could be a starting point for our initiative and political message of it.

I would like to propose also a concrete international action in solidarity with civilian victims of Russian armed forces in Chechnya, called "HAPPY NEW YEAR ALSO FOR CHECHNYA".

The idea is to organize at 0.00 of January 1 a coordinated action on some European squares - Red Square, Piazza Navona, Grand Place, Venzlav Platz, Majdan Nezalezhnosti (Kiev), etc. - an action with candels to remember the civilians who were killed by Russian bombs and still are killed in the Happy New Year Night...

The slogans which I propose to use could read as follows:

- HAPPY NEW YEAR ALSO FOR CHEVHNYA

- CHECHNYA IS RUSSIAN TERRITORY, BUT HENOCIDE IS NOT AN INTERNAL AFFAIR

- 2,000 OF MASSACRED CIVILIANS

- STOP THE PUTSCH GENERALS!

- INTERNATIONAL TRIBUNAL FOR THOSE RESPONSIBLE IN WAR CRIMES

- WEST, WAKE UP!

etc.

In half an hour we go to the press conference organized by Memorial after todays Kovalev's telephone call from Grozny. We will also speak with Memorial leaders about the possibility to organize by common way this New Year action...

Let us know as soon as possible what do you think about this proposal for action and is it possible in your opinion to do the same in Rome, Brussels, Madrid, Prague, Zagreb, Kiev, etc.?