Two-hundred-and-fifty-one residents of the Daghestani village of Mokok are to receive compensation, after the village was devastated by fire in August. Some villagers have expressed anger that so few are to be compensated, claiming that twice this number were affected by the fire.

The decision was announced on the website of Daghestan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs of on 16 November.

‘Based on examinations of registers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Daghestan for compliance with the indicated addresses and passport data of citizens, the information is confirmed for 251 people and the compiled list was sent to the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Daghestan. Those victims who have been included in this list will receive monetary compensation’, the ministry said.

However, many villagers from Mokok have claimed that the number of people affected by the fire is much greater. They say that there are many people not on the official list because some residents of Mokok were not registered. Most of them are children.

‘Many parents simply did not know that children needed to be registered with the Office of the Federal Migration Service — needing a stamp on the back of the birth certificate. But the list did not include some adults as well. For example, one woman has lived all her life in the village, but she is not in the database as if she is not a citizen of this state’, one local resident, Magomed Abdulayev, told OC Media.

He said that the question of compensating people not on the list is being decided right now.

A major fire hit the village of Mokok in Daghestan’s Tsunta District on 21 August 2016, after old wiring short circuited due to strong winds, setting fire to hay. The fire spread to neighbouring houses in a matter of minutes.

The fire engulfed 83 houses in the village, according to several sources leaving around 500–700 people homeless.

By law, families affected by fire are entitled to up to ₽300,000 ($5,100) for loss of property — ₽100,000 ($1,700) per family member for up to three people. In addition, they can receive up to ₽1.8 million ($31,000) for lost housing (₽25,000 ($420) per square metre up to 73 square meters).

On 13 November, several dozen fire victims from Mokok came out on the central square of Makhachkala demanding a meeting with interim head of Daghestan Vladimir Vasiliev. As a result, 14 men were detained on suspicion of holding an unsanctioned rally. Police used tear gas to disperse the demonstration.