Photo Scrapbook

Tiempieva Hasan (far right) poses with her family outside their tent in the Sputnik camp set up by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Tiempieva, her eight children, a son-in-law, and two grandchildren have lived in Sputnik since October 3, 1999. Tiempieva lost all of her teeth in an explosion while fleeing her home in Gudermes, Chechnya, located about 80 kilometers (50 miles) away.

This woman lives with a host family in Nazran, Ingushetia. More than 20 people from five families are living in the home's two garages and spare rooms.

These Chechens live alongside chickens and other livestock in a dark, crumbling barn outside Nazran. This farm is one of the estimated 200 spontaneous settlements in Ingushetia.

In October 2001, correspondent Kristin McHugh and producer Reese Erlich traveled to Ingushetia, the tiny Russian republic situated just west of Chechnya. Ingushetia is now home to more than 150,000 Chechens displaced by the ongoing conflict. Nearly 80 percent of the IDPs — or internally displaced persons — are living with host families in Ingushetia. The rest live in tent camps or spontaneous settlements along the Chechen-Ingush border. These photos offer just a glimpse of what daily life is like for the Chechens who are longing to go home.

This is the Kavkaz Checkpoint, one of the main crossing points between Chechnya and Ingushetia. Many Chechens living in Ingushetia travel back and forth between the two republics to check on their homes and loved ones unable to make the journey to Ingushetia. On the morning of our visit, monitors observed 50 people fleeing from Chechnya and about 20 returning to the war zone. The sign indicates Grozny, the capital of Chechnya, is 68 kilometers (42 miles) away.

The plume of black smoke rising in the distance is from a fuel depot near Grozny. The fire has been burning since the Russians bombed the depot in the fall of 1999. The plume, visible for miles, is seen here from the Sputnik tent camp in Ingushetia.

Reese Erlich and Kristin McHugh standing outside the United Nations' office in Nazran, Ingushetia. For security reasons, UN workers are allowed to work in the office only during daylight hours.