Is The Ruler Of Chechnya Out Of Control?

President Putin meets with Chechnya's leader, Ramzan Kadyrov, at the Kremlin, December 4, 2014. REUTERS/Alexei Druzhinin/RIA

Joshua Yaffa, New Yorker: Putin's Dragon

Is the ruler of Chechnya out of control?

The center of Grozny, the capital of the Russian republic of Chechnya, is unrecognizable to anyone who saw it during the country’s two most recent wars against Russia. The First Chechen War, which began in 1994, was a war of nationalist resistance—Chechnya had declared independence from Russia when the Soviet Union disintegrated—and ended two years later, after a Russian bombing campaign killed thousands of civilians and left the city in ruins. The Second Chechen War, which the Russians launched in 1999, in an effort to curb not only Chechen separatism but the threat of militant Islam, wound down a decade later, with special operations carried out deep in the craggy, wooded hills of the Caucasus. These days, the rubble is gone. The city’s skyline is punctuated by the glass towers of Grozny-City, a collection of skyscrapers that house offices, luxury apartments, and a five-star hotel. Grozny is quiet and bland, with well-paved boulevards running through its center; there is still a faint air of menace—men in black uniforms stand with automatic rifles on many street corners—but the city’s flashier attractions, like a man-made lake with a light show, seem whimsical and family-friendly.

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WNU editor: When you do this .... Putin ally issues video of opposition leader in sniper's cross-hairs (Reuters) .... and this.... Menacing Video Posted by Chechen Leader Alarms Critics of Putin in Russia (New York Times) .... you know that this person has a problem.  What I do not understand is that Chechnya .... and Chechens like Ramzon Kadyrov .... are a liability to Russian President Putin. Russians do not like Chechens .... and for as long as I can remember there has always been this level of distrust, prejudice, and hostility. It also does not take a genius to figure out that Ramzon Kadyrov is out of control .... and heaven help him if something does happen to the Russian opposition leaders that he is threatening.