Protests erupt over border deal in Russia’s North Caucasus

MOSCOW – Two regions in Russia’s North Caucasus have signed a land swap deal, triggering protests.

About 100 people rallied on Wednesday in the capital of Ingushetia against authorities’ decision to exchange a piece of land for one in neighbouring Chechnya.

Local police in the city of Magas said on Wednesday that they had to disperse an unsanctioned rally of 100 people there, and local media reported that police charged at the protesters with batons.

The Leaders of Chechnya and Ingushetia signed an agreement on Wednesday to swap what they described as small plots of agricultural land. Ingush leader Yunus-Bek Yevkurov told the Tass news agency that the protesters’ fears that Ingushetia would be giving away inhabited land to Chechnya were unfounded.