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Beheading Of Tatiana Usmanova

[2023-12-31]
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32 year old tatiana usmanova was abducted from their home together with her husband and a friend by chechen militants who were fighting for chechnya’s independence from russia at the time.
according to available information, tatiana was supposed to have cooperated with state agencies, especially the police.

all the gunmen except the cameraman were really young (around 18 years old). the footage did not become public until 2004. by then, most of the attackers were either convicted or dead.

tatiana was tortured, interrogated and beheaded in front of her husband and friend. her husband was the only survivor.

the names of the attackers were also published on some Internet sources:
cameraman – khamzat tazabaev, nicknamed ‘tarik’, born 1974.
the man who made the first incision on tatiana’s neck.. arbi khaskhanov, nicknamed ‘little arbi’, born 1983.
another man who cut throats.. adlan barayev.
the man who cut off tatiana’s head.. ilyas dashaev, born 1982.
ilyas was the only person convicted of this crime in 2007.
he told the police that they finally got rid of the bodies by throwing them into the river.

Eerie nature of VHS Tapes

there’s smth weirdly terrifying about stuff recorded on VHS.
idk exactly what it is, but it just makes everything feel way more disturbing.
maybe its the grainy quality or the fact that VHS is analog, so it feels more "real" and less polished than modern digital footage. there's this gritty, raw texture to it.. like you're watching smth you were never meant to see.

also, that clunky sound of the VHS player starting up, the slight distortion in the audio, the tracking lines... all of that just adds to the unease. and then there's the camera movement.. those old handheld recorders didnt have the kind of stabilization we have now, so everything is shaky and chaotic, which somehow makes violent or unsettling footage feel even more intense.

it's not just the visuals either.. it's the whole vibe. the format itself carries this haunted, nostalgic feeling. as if the past is decaying right in front of you, and you're watching it rot in real time.