Today, I stumbled upon an absolutely fascinating PBS Wide Angle documentary on the Second Chechen War called Greetings from Grozny. The filmmakers embed with Chechen rebels, Russian special forces, and civilians. The film is packed with original and rarely seen footage. Best of all, the entire documentary is available free online.
Small and fiercely independent,the republic of Chechnya has been embroiled for years in a war for self-determination against Russia. The ruined cityscape of Grozny and the scarred roads and fields of the countryside bear witness to a conflict that has been marked both by brutal occupation and terrorist resistance. This film is a journey that leads the viewer behind the lines on both sides, and into the hearts of civilians and soldiers alike. Film crews accompany Russian troops on “cleansing missions” through residential districts of Grozny, and spend 24 tense hours at a Russian checkpoint. They also go undercover in the border regions where a radical Islam increasingly motivates Chechen fighters and provides glimpses of the webs of special interest woven around this horrific conflict by the United States, the Wahabist Muslims and the Georgians.
Nobody would confused the Russian strategy with winning hearts and minds.
Christopher R. Albon is a political science Ph.D. specializing in armed conflict, public health, human security, and health diplomacy.
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Since you enjoyed Greetings from Grozny, you should check out the work of Jason Lyall at Princeton. He has done a lot on counterinsurgency, especially with respect to the Chechen conflict. He presented this interesting and controversial paper at NYU in the Fall.
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