President Putin’s telegram to Ruslan Aushev said, in part:
“Tens of thousands of people were deprived of their homeland, lost their relatives and suffered from poverty and lawlessness. There can be no justification to the crimes, from which all peoples of our country had suffered.
“The terrible pages of the 20th century history now belong to the past. I believe the 21st century will bring peace and prosperity to Russia. Let inter-ethnic and civil accord, as well as worthy living standards in the North Caucasus, serve as the best memory for those, who had experienced all the hardships and pains of exile.”
In his telegram to Akhmat Kadyrov President Putin asked him to “convey sincere words of sympathy to all those, who had experienced bitter exile, and who had lost their relatives and beloved ones.”
The telegram said, in part: “The peoples of Russia have one common destiny and have jointly experienced the bright and tragic episodes of the 20th century. Nobody will be able to separate us and to sow animosity and distrust.”