According to Victor Klimakhin, head of the Stavropol Cossacks, Vladislav Alzon, 23, was taken hostage 10 days ago in the village Kizlyar and is now being held in the Shangalin region of Chechen republic.
"The terrorists promised to cut off his head and send it to us by post if we don't pay the ransom Friday. But the sum is too big for us, therefore we applied for help to other Cossack organizations of the North Caucasus and Russia," said Klimakhin.
Klimakhin also added that the Russian police are powerless to act in this self-declared independent territory, where gangsters have turned kidnapping into a national pastime.
"We also sent an emergency telegram to President Boris Yeltsin. Maybe this is the only way to save the boy. The state should use its power; otherwise, we will never have peace and elementary order in the North Caucasus," he said.
Another Cossack leader, Yury Churekov, in his interview with Itar-Tass said that they also applied for help to President Dzhokar Dudayev of Chechnya, with no result.
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