GROZNY. Dec 23 (Interfax-AVN) - The archives of former Ichkeria president Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev were found in Starye Atagi, in the Grozny rural district, (15 kilometers south of Grozny), in the course of a special operation, Colonel Ilya Shabalkin, representative of the regional headquarters for the anti-guerilla campaign in the North Caucasus, told Interfax Monday.
The archives were retrieved from under the concrete floor of an auxiliary building in the yard of Yandarbiyev's house, Shabalkin said. Yandarbiyev is now abroad.
The cache contained a number of belongings, documents, forms of Ichkeria passports, a working map of the Ichkeria military commissioner, samples of money they planned to use in Ichkeria, Yandarbiyev's writings and parliamentary archives, he said. A letter signed by former Georgian president Zviad Gamsakhurdia was found there as well.
Information about the archives came from a resident of the village of Starye Atagi, who had learned about the cache from acquaintances. The Chechen Interior Ministry was instructed to search for the cache.