On 24 June the Head of the Russian Region of Ingushetia Yunus-bek Yevkurov has announced his intention to resign, reported Vestnik Kavkaza.
“I have made the decision to reach out to Russian President Vladimir Putin with a request to accept my resignation,” he said yesterday in an address broadcasted by the region’s national TV. According to Yevkurov, the dissociation of the region’s authorities and the public was the main reason for his resignation. “Let’s be brave enough to say that we all - the power that I represent as well as the public, religious and other organizations are responsible for our dissociation today. We are all facing a choice, personal interests or interests of our home region and everyone acts in accordance with the upbringing, ideals and notions on the statehood of our region. I call on all involved parties to make their choice, I already have made mine,” he said.
Some residents of Ingushetia celebrated the news of Yevkurov’s resignation. Videos emerged on social media on how the residents of Nazran and Magas celebrated Yevkurov’s decision to resign on the streets. According to Yakub Gogiev, an Ingush activist and a member of the "Dzurdzuki" Historical-Geographical Society, Yevkurov’s resignation was a victory of the people. “Yevkurov was appointed for five more years; he was appointed to stay until this term ends! But he resigned after a few months. He left under the people's pressure, because we stood as united as a wall,” read Gogiev’s facebook post.
Yunus-bek Yevkurov was born on 30 July, 1963 in the village of Tarsky of the North Ossetian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. He graduated in 1989 from the Ryazan Higher Airborne Command School. Afterwards, he went to the Frunze Military Academy and to the Military Academy for the General Staff of the Armed Forces. He served in the Army since 1982, occupying commanding positions in the Russian airborne troops. In 1999, he led a unit of paratroopers that conducted a forced march from Bosnia to Kosovo where they occupied the Pristina Airport. There he was awarded the Medal of the Red Star and the Courage Medal. During the Chechen military campaign, Yevkurov was the head of the reconnaissance group of paratroopers which freed twelve Russian soldiers from captivity. From 2004 to 2008 he was Deputy Chief of Staff of the Volga-Ural Military District
Yevkurov became the head of Ingushetia in October 2008 by the direct order of President Vladimir Putin after the former Ingush head’s Murat Zyazikov’s early resignation. He was re-elected to this position by the Ingush parliament in 2013. He was re-elected again for a third term in August 2018 when his candidacy was once again recognized as the most suitable among all those deputy candidates submitted to the parliament by the President of Russia.
Yevkurov’s legitimacy was brought into question on 4 October 2018 when he agreed with the Head of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov to exchange territories. On 26 March 2019, mass protests broke out in the capital of Magas requesting Yevkurov’s resignation (reported by Caucasus watch).
