Budanov voices his regret for murdering Chechen girl Kungaeva

Former colonel Yuri Budanov has declared that he was sorry about his murder of Chechen girl Elza Kungaeva in 2000 in Chechnya. However, Elza's father does not believe him.

"First of all I want to state that the war had brought misfortune to Elza and her family... To my great regret I was involved in all that," said Yuri Budanov.

The former colonel has confessed that he "was gnawed by conscience." It was gnawing me mercilessly day and night during all these 8 years and 10 months... It's gnawing me now..." said Budanov in his interview to the "Komsomolskaya Pravda" newspaper, published on January 17.

Visa Kungaev, Elza's father, has treated Budanov's regretful words as "too late and cynical".

"I am surprised with cynicism of Budanov's utterances; I am also amazed how he can so coolly speak that he regrets about the murder of an innocent girl, and also tries to mislead Russian public by the words that he had been mercilessly gnawed by his conscience day and night," Mr Kungaev told the "Interfax" on January 17 in his comments on Budanov's interview.

The casualty's father asserts that Budanov's statements are made "under someone's advice", being, in his opinion, "an unhidden attempt to cool down the wave of protests both in Russia and abroad."

Since 2004 on, Yuri Budanov served his term in a colony. On July 25, 2003, the court found him guilty of kidnapping and murdering a Chechen girl named Elza Kungaeva and sentenced him to 10 years of imprisonment.

See also: "Authorities and public of Chechnya condemn Budanov's release".