Khaibakh massacre

The Khaibakh massacre refers to a report of mass execution of the Chechen civilian population of the aul (village) Khaibakh, in the mountainous part of Chechnya, by Soviet forces under a NKVD Colonel Mikheil Gveshiani during the Chechen genocide of 1944.

Massacre
The incident reportedly took place on February 27, 1944 during Operation Lentil (during the mass deportation to prison camps in Kazakhstan). Russian apologists claim that it was impossible to convoy Chechen deportees to the railway stations in the plains due to a snowstorm, that is why according to them over 700 villagers, including "non-transportable" elderly, women and children, were locked in a stable fortified with dry hay and burned alive; those who broke from burning stable were shot. One of the witnesses assigned to the military unit, interpreter Ziautdin Malsagov, recalls that ethnic Georgian NKVD commander Gvishiani called the two newborn children in the stable "bandits" before ordering to burn the 704 people alive. After the incident, Gveshiani was reportedly congratulated for his success and good work by Lavrenty Beria, who promised him a medal.

Rediscovery
The aul of Haibach was rediscovered, through archaeological finds in Ukraine. World War II archaeologists found the remains of the North Caucasian scouts who died during one of the operations behind the enemy (German) lines. Letters addressed to their relatives were found in their water-resistant pockets which were addressed to aul Haibach. Stepan Kashurko one of the archaeologists, accompanied by a former Soviet general, decided to inform the families that the bodies of their relatives were found, they learned that the settlement no longer existed. Continuing their search, they discovered that while the Chechen soldiers were dying at the front, their relatives were burned alive by the Soviet soldiers.