How the Chechen miracle kick-started the Russian ‘Path of Redemption’

In my recent visit, I met with people who once fought a bitter war against Moscow, but are now the country’s fiercest defenders

Russia’s mettle, however, can't be measured by its social and cultural accomplishments alone. The true test of a people comes only when the foundation of their society is threatened, and the nation is called upon to rally together in its collective defense. Amidst all the holiday celebration and fanfare that I witnessed there lurked an underlying reality that Russia was very much a nation at war. This war was defined in the mindset of those people I met not so much in terms of a Russian-Ukrainian conflict as it was an existential struggle between Russia and the collective West – led by the US – in which Ukraine is being used as a proxy.

Let there be no doubt, everyone I spoke with about this conflict was weary. They wanted the fighting to end, and to be able to get on with their lives. But they were all likewise united in their conviction that the war could only end in a Russian victory that resolved once and for all the issues that underpinned the current conflict – blocking NATO expansion into Ukraine, eliminating a Ukrainian armed force that has become a de facto extension of NATO military power, and the extermination of the odious ideology of Ukrainian ultra-nationalism as defined by the legacy of Stepan Bandera and the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists.

To a person, the Russians I spoke with were insistent that the time for compromise had long passed and that, given the investment in blood and treasure that Moscow had made to date, there is no alternative to a decisive victory. Yes, the Russian people are tired, but they also understand that the war is a necessary evil which has to be endured all the way to a final comprehensive victory if there is ever to be a chance of a lasting peace. I was able to glimpse the character of the Russian people during the portions of my sojourn to Russia that took me out of its two largest metropolitan centers, and to the south of the country – into what I have come to call the “Russian Path of Redemption” – Chechnya, Crimea, Kherson, Zaporozhye, Donetsk, and Lugansk.

Redemption is the action of saving or being saved from sin, error, or evil. In the case of Russia’s conflict with Kiev, the six named territories all play a role that precisely matches this definition. Of them, Chechnya stands out as having no geographic, historic, ethic, religious, or political connection with Ukraine. And yet it is with Chechnya that the Russian Path of Redemption begins.

It was the scene of two bloody wars between Moscow and separatists fought between 1994 and the early 2000s (with the final counter-guerilla operations concluding in 2009) that killed tens of thousands of people. The fighting that transpired was bloody and ruthless; little mercy was shown by either side. By 2002, Chechnya’s capital city, Grozny, had been completely leveled.

And yet, despite all the negative energy generated by the tragic history of Russian-Chechen relations, the two peoples have found a pathway to peace and prosperity. A visitor to Grozny today is greeted by a city that has been completely rebuilt from the ruins, a place where Russians and Chechens live side-by-side in peace, respectful of their respective linguistic, cultural, and religious differences. I call this transformation “the Chechen miracle”, and yet divine intervention had nothing to do with it. Instead, the Chechen and Russian people were blessed by the leadership of two remarkable men – Russian President Vladimir Putin, and the Chief Mufti (religious leader) of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, Akhmad Kadyrov – who realized that continued violence would only hurt the people they were tasked with serving, and that the best chance for peace was for the two to sit down a talk in an effort to find a pathway to peace. They succeeded.

[rt.com]

I thought this would be a good read for anyone who isn't afraid of the manufactured bogeyman. I did some other post on Chechnya shortly after Russia finally went to the defense of the regions mentioned above. Mainly in regards to a documentary of their soldiers fighting in those regions and the relationships they built with the citizens after liberating them. Distributing food and various other types of aide, and helping to track down lost family members who were left behind in the battle zone areas.

Chechnya made one wise discovery in time recognizing what so many miss. The consumption of societies as the ending result within wars purposely created by outside interference.

{While in Chechnya, I had the opportunity to meet with several prominent Chechen figures, including former deputy interior minister Apti Alaudinov, State Duma member Adam Delimkhanov, chairman of the Chechen republican parliament Magomed Daudov, and the head of the Chechen Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov. What these four individuals all had in common was that, at some point in their lives, they had taken up arms against Russia. But they were also united in the fact that, at some point during their resistance against Russia during the Second Chechen War, they realized that the cause of an independent Chechen Republic had been hijacked by foreign jihadists whose passion for violence had superseded any logical notion of Chechen nationalism, and instead created the conditions where continued conflict threatened to consume the Chechen people.

“We have witnessed for ourselves how outside parties sought to infect us with their foreign ideology in order to further their larger struggle against Russia,” I was told. “We ended up realizing that the best way to protect ourselves from being destroyed by these foreign agents was to align ourselves with Russia. In doing so, we discovered that the Russians shared our same desire to live in peace, free from outside manipulation. This is why we have made fighting alongside Russia in the Special Military Operation such a high priority. We see in the Banderist forces in Ukraine the same evil that we saw in the foreign jihadists who came to fight in Chechnya. We worked with Russia to destroy this evil back in the early 2000’s, and today we are working with our Russian brothers to destroy the same evil as it has been manifested in Ukraine.”}

I'm adding the documentary mentioned above below also. If you want to know what this war is about, a significant description is in the beginning from these men. You also get the conditions the Ukraine troops are in from those captured. They don't want to fight. Death in front of them, and death by their own behind them. Their families are threatened against them. Front line action you won't see from our medias and contact with civilians. In the minds of Chechens, they are fighting a global evil. If they don't fight it in Ukraine their children will fight in on their streets.

Battle for Freedom: On the frontline--Chechen divisions fight neo-Nazis during the special operation in Ukraine

[rtd.rt.com]freedom-on-the-frontline/

I'm also adding a recently released documentary below This one is more in regards to conditions left behind after forcing the Ukrainian troops out. Testimony from citizens. It's a heartbreaking scenario.

Donbass: The Flipside of War--Volunteers locate, identify, and inter the civilians' bodies in Donbass

Over the past 9 years, thousands of Donbass residents have lost their lives in attacks led by Kiev. Large mass graves now mark every liberated town in the Lugansk People's Republic. The dead are found there literally every day: civilians and soldiers from both sides. They need to be identified, their relatives found, and bodies buried. Stepping up to this daunting task are selfless people, volunteers from the NGO 'Memorial: We Shall Not Forget, We Shall Not Forgive'. These dedicated activists endure the hardships of constant shelling and heavy mining. Since February 2022, the volunteer team has been reburying civilian remains to ensure dignified burials for them. They also search for and identify soldiers to repatriate their remains to their families. The documentary sheds light on their daily efforts and explores what gives these brave activists the strength to persist in their vital mission, even at the risk of their own lives.

[rtd.rt.com]