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Several dozen coffins of dead Chechen fighters have been returned to Chechnya following deadlly clashes early this week at Donetsk International Airport between Kremlin-backed insurgents and Ukrainian anti-terrorism troops. Reporters for Kavkazky Uzel said that between 35 and 45 corpses arrived in Grozny on May 30. Ukrainian border guards said the bodies of slain Russian nationals were being allowed to return to Russia for humanitarian reasons. Increasing evidence of direct involvement by volunteer fighters from Russia in the rebellions that erupted 2 months ago in the wake of Russia’s annexation of Crimea has vexed Western diplomats, who have repeatedly asked their Russian counterparts to de-escalate tensions in Ukraine’s eastern provinces, where Kremlin-backed insurgents and local separatists continue to occupy government buildings. Ukraine’s State Security Service says foreign fighters are arriving into Ukraine via Rostov from former hotspots in Russia and its North Caucasus fringes such as Chechnya whose own troubles in the past 20 years have spawned a proliferation of armed groups.
