effectively beginning the First Chechen War. Thirty years later and two wars since, Chechnya, under strongman Ramzan Kadyrov, has become a key pillar of Russian President Vladimir Putin's ...

But in not giving Aliyev satisfaction, Putin risks alienating a key ally. A freeze in Azerbaijani-Russian relations could ...

Chechen paramilitaries have joined Russian forces in the war in Ukraine ... Goryachev is thought to be the first such fatality for a year. Those fighting for Ukraine and those who have lost ...