The expulsion was ordered by NKVD chief Lavrentiy Beria after approval by General Secretary Joseph Stalin.

Despite this, according to Soviet reports in May 1943 there were 44 groups of anti-Soviet rebels, 941 people, on KBASSR territory; these included former Communist Party members.

It is believed that the reason for the deportation of the Balkars, in a broad sense, was the Stalinist system, which depended on the repression of the Soviet people.

Z. D. Kumekhov, an ethnic Kabardinian and First Secretary of Communist Party's Local Committee, sent "a report with descriptions of the current situation in Balkar's areas of the KBASSR".

Kumekhov's report ended with the words "Based on the above, we find it necessary to resolve the issue of the possibility of resettlement of the Balkars outside the KBASSR."

In a top-secret telegram to Stalin, Beria described the necessity of deportation is proved as follows:...in 1942, anti-Soviet elements in Balkaria carried out significant operations in the rear of the Red Army, creating gang-rebel groups, using deserters from the Balkar people...

In the early morning of March 8, 1944, two days earlier than planned, Balkar's population was ordered to get ready to leave their homes.

After the end of World War II, Karachay and Balkar officers of the Red Army were discharged and later also deported.

[3] Stalin's successor, Nikita Khrushchev, delivered a secret speech at the Party Congress on February 24, 1956, condemning these Stalinist deportations.

While 64 million roubles were allocated to assist the Balkars in rebuilding their housing,[11] they were never given full financial compensation for their lost property or suffering in exile.