Russian KGB chief on declaration of state of emergency in Chechen-Ingush Republic
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MOSCOW. Nov 9 (Interfax) – The chief of the State Security Committee (KGB) of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR), Viktor Ivanenko, said in an exclusive interview with Interfax that he, just like the heads of other Russia's law enforcement agencies, learnt about the president's decree imposing the state of emergency in the Chechen-Ingush Republic at a meeting with Vice President Alexander Rutskoi on November 7.
Ivanenko said that he had "always opposed the use of force against the national movement of this republic" while the Chechen-Ingush conflict had been unfolding. A task force led by RSFSR Deputy Interior Minister Gen. Vaycheslav Komissarov was sent to the Chechen-Ingush Republic immediately after the November 7 meeting with Rutskoi, he said.
Komissarov received the order to detain leader of the National Congress of the Chechen People Dzhokhar Dudayev, who has recently been elected Chechnya's president, with the consent of Russia's vice president.
The RSFSR leadership declared the elections in Chechnya invalid.