The North Caucasus perceived the tragedy in Kemerovo, which killed 64 people, as if it was their own, the representatives of the Caucasian intelligentsia told the correspondents of Vestnik Kavkaza, expressing their condolences to the families of the victims of a fire in the Zimnyaya Vishnya shopping mall in Kemerovo.
The president of Kabardino Balkarian State University Barasbi Karamurzov stressed that this tragedy united all Russian people. "I know no person who would have reacted neutrally to this catastrophe. This is a real horror, our common tragedy. Everyone reacted to this as if it was their own," he said.
Barasbi Karamurzov added that no words can heal this pain. "It's hard to know what to say to support the parents who have lost their children. I'm an aged man, but I do not know what to say to help them. I can only express my deepest and most profound condolences. I think that this is the worst thing for every person. I would like to help somehow, it's our common tragedy," the president of KBSU said.
Professor of the Pyatigorsk State Linguistic University Maya Astvatsaturova also stressed that residents of the North Caucasus, like all other Russian citizens, perceived the tragedy as if it was their own, especially since their own losses are fresh in their memories. "I am referring to the capture of the hospital in Budyonnovsk, the Beslan siege and the explosions in the markets. Unfortunately, we know what it's like. There are mourning and commemoration events with participation of students and young people in virtually all the cities and settlements," she said.
"The idea of a large family with many children is very common in the North Caucasus, it is not an accident that there is the largest birth rate in Russia in some regions of the North Caucasus Federal District. Of course, we mourn all the dead children in Kemerovo these days. Volunteers, public organizations and the heads of the subjects were unified these days, like the whole of Russia. It could not be otherwise. Regardless of ethnic and religious affiliations, mosques and Russian Orthodox churches, Armenian Orthodox apostolic churches and synagogues held commemoration events. The whole our country mourns, this is our common tragedy. And, of course, we also hope that it will be investigated. We have two large shopping malls in Pyatigorsk, practically all cities have them, and we are all interested in security," Maya Astvatsaturova summed up.
Director of the Educational and Scientific Center for the Study of Ethnopolitical and Ethno-Cultural Processes of the Russian State University for the Humanities, Magomed Omarov, also drew attention to the sincerity of the feelings of the residents of the North Caucasus Federal District who went to the streets to commemorate the victims of the Kemerovo tragedy. "We have a special attitude towards children, so we took this pain to heart. In all the cities people gathered in central squares and sincerely expressed their feelings, laid flowers. It was both in small villages and in the capitals of the republics of the North Caucasus, because Russia had a terrible tragedy," he noted.
"I am a father and I can hardly imagine what it's like to lose a child. It's the worst thing that can happen. At this time, we just need to support these people to help them go through this terrible time. The children who were left without parents also need help. This was a great shock for us, when children died in broad daylight and we just want to help the victims and the families of the victims, morally or financially," Magomed Omarov summed up.
