Will President Vladimir Putin seize the opportunity to redirect his strategy towards a genuine political solution, or continue to use the global ‘war’ on terrorism to avoid embarking on meaningful peace talks? And what about Russia’s veterans of violence: human time bombs returning home from the front steeped in alcohol, crime and drugs?
The assassination in Grozny of Chechen president Akhmad Kadyrov, Vladimir Putin’s anointed representative in the troublesome southern republic, was redolent with symbolism. Victory Day – May 9 – commemorates the Soviet defeat of Nazi Germany and is Russia’s most solemn anniversary. But for all Chechens, the occasion is a reminder of Stalin’s 1944 deportation of their entire nation to Siberia and Kazakhstan.
