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The Chechen authorities' focus upon population health is enacted both through the principles of Islamic medicine and approved biomedical practices. Any healing practices beyond these domains are met with deep suspicion. Practitioners of unofficial complementary and alternative medicine healers may abruptly find themselves regarded as enemies of the state. In light of this precarious circumstance, it becomes pertinent to inquire: How do these healers employ their daily tactics to negotiate the intricate power dynamics between the formidable state apparatus and the established biomedical order? Drawing from our meticulous fieldwork conducted in the year 2021, we investigated the intricate tactics employed by unofficial healers in the Chechen medical landscape during COVID-19. Our research centred on discerning the nuanced tactics aimed at mitigating potential risks. We conclude that healers, having embodied tactics to creatively manoeuvre within the confines of the authoritarian state, perceived the challenges posed by COVID-19 as merely another, often inconsequential, obstacle in their enduring struggle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the decision to invade all of Ukraine and Russia's atrocious behavior and disastrous performance in the war may seem surprising and even irrational, Russia has in fact followed patterns that it used in the recent past with the two Chechen wars of 1994–1996 and 1999–2009. In this article, we compare key similarities and differences in the two Russo-Chechen wars and the current war on Ukraine by analyzing three aspects of the wars: Russian political strategy in the territories, Russian military strategy and conduct, and the Russian state's approach to war-related information and media campaigns. By drawing these comparisons, we hope to show how Russia's past war strategies in Chechnya might shed light on outcomes in Ukraine. In addition, in showing the similarities between Russian actions in Chechnya and Ukraine we highlight the argument that Russia is treating Ukraine not as a sovereign state, but as a part of Russia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the development of Russia's use of repression and cooptation during the Soviet-Afghan War and Russo-Chechen Wars by tracing the origins of these practices to Tsarist Russia's imperial expansion. It further explores the role of information operations targeting domestic and foreign publics during these wars and in Ukraine since 2014, arguing that these narratives endeavor to frame Russia as a great power and regional hegemon. In this way, Russia sees Ukraine's shift Westward as an insurrection against Moscow's hegemony instigated by the collective West, and thus Russia's military intervention in Ukraine can be seen as constituting a sort of self-wrought pseudo-counterinsurgency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article delves into the analysis of Orientalist conceptions put forth by the Russian military scholar, D. A. Milyutin, in his narrative about the peoples of the North Caucasus. This study is anchored in “postcolonial critiques”, a lens extensively applied by international researchers to evaluate the actions of European powers in global peripheries. The aim of this research is to introduce the hitherto overlooked unpublished manuscripts of D. A. Milyutin into academic discourse. Specifically, this focuses on his descriptions of Kabarda and Chechnya, which form the foundation for analyzing the scholarly issue discussed. The paper reveals that, when describing local populations, Russian military scholars actively leaned on Orientalist conceptions. They not only furnished those conceptions with empirical data but also interpreted them in context of the realities faced on the Russo-Caucasian frontier. Assertions that juxtapose Europe with the East, the interplay between the scholarly study of the region and its governance structure, and notions about the inherent stagnation of Eastern societies, as well as the belief in the necessity of external control for the development of Eastern communities, are all echoed in D. A. Milyutin’s works. Concurrently, his rendition of pan-European thoughts introduces a unique “frontier Orientalism”. This perspective captures descriptions of the militarized lifestyle of local residents, their raiding habits along the Line, and provides reasoning for the extended duration of Russian military engagements in the ethnic territories of the Caucasus. This article is tailored for a diverse range of scholars, as well as anyone with a keen interest in the intellectual history of the Caucasus and the evolution of socio-political thought in the mid-19th century Russian Empire.

The article aims at a comparative analysis of the Russian military operations in Kyiv, during the current war in Ukraine, and those carried out in Grozny, during the 1st Chechen War, namely from a discursive and operational standpoint, in order to highlight similarities and differences between both cases and clarify the comparisons used during the attempted siege of Kyiv. The analysis shows the existence of several similarities between the Russian invasion of Kyiv and that of Grozny, notwithstanding the end result, namely from the discursive, the Russian armed force’s preparation and planning, the adversary’s response and the invader’s moral standpoints, as well as in the use of heavy artillery, namely against civilian populations. These similarities raise additional questions about the Russian armed force’s loss of quality during the Putin era, following several military successes. Lastly, the use of this comparison served essentially to raise awareness in the public and in international institutions about what could happen in Kyiv (and in the rest of Ukraine) and to emphasise the need for support to Ukraine on the West’s behalf.

From the year 2000 on, Chechen official international relations – called "paradiplomacy" – have centered around legitimacy-building, security cooperation and investment attraction, priorities set by the republic's first official, pro-Russian president, Akhmat Kadyrov (in office 2000–2004). Kadyrov's successors, Alu Alkhanov (2004–2007) and Ramzan Kadyrov (2007–to date) developed Grozny's international engagements further, introducing new partners – such as China – and new dimensions to the external action – such as militarization. At each step, Grozny operated between full autonomy and collaboration with Moscow, involving itself in high-level diplomacy and furthering Moscow's agenda abroad, primarily in the Middle East. In this article, I argue that Chechen paradiplomacy is an instrument for the inclusion of Chechnya into the governance structures of Russia's federal order. The argument rests on two premises: Chechnya's paradiplomacy is framed by the Kremlin's proactive support and coordination, and Chechnya's paradiplomacy is closely connected to the Kremlin's security priorities. Since reincorporation, Chechen paradiplomacy has not been an addition to Russian federal relations but an intrinsic part of the post-2000 political arrangement between Grozny and Moscow. To empirically ground this argument, I trace the evolution of Chechen paradiplomacy across the three post-incorporation presidencies, ending in 2020. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Chechnya tells an incredibly intriguing tale of legal pluralism. From its political inception 'til the promulgation of its 2003 Constitution, and from thereon out, Chechnya - qua a semi-autonomous Republic within the Russian Federation -has known a multitude of different rulers, religions, and political systems. These have had a direct influence on its law-making capacity, hinging on its sources and its goals. The purpose of this article is to take into account these fluxes, and see whether, in light of the multiple stages of change Chechnya has been subsumed under, it could at once, or does now, qualify as an Islamic Law State: that is, a State whose population is majoritarily Muslim and whose legal system demands a mandatory implementation of Islamic law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Why do jihadi foreign fighters leave local insurgencies? While the literature on jihadi foreign fighters has mushroomed over the last decade, it has largely covered the perspective of individual motivations to join jihadi foreign fighter groups. The critical question of why individual jihadi foreign fighters leave local insurgencies, de facto recognizing the failure of their initial motives to join a distant armed conflict, has remained understudied. Drawing on the case study of Russo-Chechen wars, this article shows that a combination of popular hostility, loss of status, and poor living conditions urged jihadi foreign fighters to abandon local armed conflict. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most scholars working on Russia's use of strategic narratives recognize the importance of the Russian state. Nevertheless, the authors argue that much of the attention on strategic narratives has given insufficient appreciation for how Russia has developed its military and media policies in a coordinated manner: learning from its mistakes and failures as it went along, and becoming more efficient each time. In making their case, they examine three theatres of Russian military activity and their accompanying media coverage: the wars in Chechnya in 1994-1995 and 1999-2000; war with Georgia in 2008 over the separatist territories of South Ossetia and Abkhazia; and Ukraine, especially Crimea, since 2014. The Russian leadership addressed the shortcomings on each occasion, with the news media being increasingly weaponized as time went on. The authors argue that scholars should see Russia's evolving uses of those military and media power resources as part of a single strategic process. How the Russian state goes about its media policy can accentuate the military intervention for better or for worse as far as its image is concerned. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the researcher reviewed the Russian Chinese-American conflict in the geopolitical field, where the reasons for the escalation of the RussianAmerican conflict over the Caucasus region, including the republics of Chechnya and Georgia, were monitored. Then he dealt with the Russian-American conflict in Ukraine, including the importance of Ukraine in relation to both Russia and the United States of America In particular, and to the West in general, and the features of the Ukrainian crisis. The researcher, later on, dealt with the Chinese-American conflict over Taiwan, and the American status in relation to the Taiwan issue as well as the features of the Taiwanese crisis, then the Chinese-American conflict over the Chinjiang region and the issue of persecution of the Uyghur Muslims, and then the issue of The Chinese-American conflict over the South China Sea. The parties to the conflict and the factors that led to this conflict were mentioned, followed by monitoring the features of the Chinese-Russian partnership in areas of influence. The researcher also dealt with the Chinese-Russian conflict over the Latin American region and finally the importance of the Middle East region for all parties Conflict between China, Russia and the United States of America . The researcher analyzed the study sample from the six sites, the Chinese People's Newspapers, the Russian Pravda, the American New York Times, the Chinese satellite channels CGTN, Russia Today, and the American CNN. The subject of the study, during the specified periods, from January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2023, based on the contents contained in the sites - the study population, and related to the events, by relying on the survey method, and the comparative method, during the study periods. The most important applied results that have been reached: 1- The continuation of the conflict between the two parties, China and Russia on one hand, and the United States of America on the other hand, and the research noted that this conflict extends over the entire globe without the emergence of a specific time end . 2- The world is entering into a new era that is a unique combination of the cold war and hot confrontations at the same time to attract the largest number of countries in the world and form large networks of alliances . 3- The strategic and tactical use of the media in a frantic struggle to win global public opinion and to gain the mind and thinking of the ordinary man in the street to direct his behavior. 4- The strong and effective use of psychological warfare in all stages of the conflict. 5- The mutual appearance of the fourth, fifth and sixth generations of wars in heated confrontations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim. Following the discovery of a number of iconographically unique masonry petroglyphs depicting a red deer solar stag (i.e. bearing the sun between its antlers) in settlements of the Chamalal ethno‐linguistic group in the upper Andiiskoe Koisu region of the Tsumadinskiy district of Dagestan, the aim of the research has been: (1) to survey the region to ascertain whether other images of this nature existed and to understand the relationship of the corpus to other petroglyphs produced within the Avar‐Ando‐Dido metacultural zone and of neighbouring ethnic groups in the Caucasus; (2) to study the evolution and meaning to the community of the petroglyphic imagery and (3) to understand the mechanisms by which peoples of the Caucasus shared and adapted polytheistic belief systems arising from the deep past following their conversion to Christianity and Islam.Materials and Methods. Research activities involved field surveys of traditional buildings within the ethno‐linguistic enclaves of the upper Andiiskoe Koisu which might contain masonry petroglyphs and their photographic documentation. A thorough survey of the scientific literature impacting on this field in the Caucasus was undertaken in the libraries and institutions of Dagestan, Moscow and Saint Petersburg. This data added to the documentation of masonry petroglyphs already undertaken in the Gidatli communities of the upper Avarskoe Koisu region.Results. Field surveys resulted in the discovery of more petroglyphs of the solar stag iconography both within Chamalal territory and that of the neighbouring Tindals as well as other petroglyphs of interest in neighbouring republics of the North Caucasus. A socioecological assessment of local habitats which might have sustained both red deer and bezoar goat (the principal game animals since human presence in the region) indicated that the bezoar goat inhabited the territories of both groups but were now rarely found in Chamalal lands. While red deer did inhabit the forests of the Tindals, it appears that they never frequented those of the Chamalals, who must have travelled to hunt them in forests further to the south.Conclusion. The research confirmed the presence of a unique corpus of petroglyphic imagery attesting to beliefs in a solar stag which may date back to period of man’s re‐inhabiting the upper Andiiskoe Koisu region in the early Holocene. Indigenous beliefs relating both to the red deer and the bezoar goat initially represented in rock face petroglyphs of the eastern Dagestan piedmonts and rock paintings of the mountainous regions were by the late Bronze Age represented on masonry blocks used in building in the Avar‐Ando‐Dido metacultural zone. As Christianity spread in Transcaucasia and the Great Caucasus Range, including north‐western Dagestan, indigenous images representing the solar stag were conflated with those of the popular Christian cult of the Miracle of Saint Eustace, resulting in the unique petroglyphs of the solar stag common to

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The paper provides a discussion of various aspects of Chechen relation to the war in Ukraine, including oppositional voices as well as discourses and actions of those supporting the Russian position. The article compares and contrasts the war in Ukraine with the two wars Russia waged against Chechnya in 1994 and 1999. Commenting on the war in Ukraine, the author focuses on the phenomenon of the 'Kadyrovites' (Chechen auxiliary troops fighting on the Russian side) on the one hand and Chechen units fighting on the Ukrainian side on the other. It is argued that the silence of the international community in the Chechen war afforded Russia a sense of impunity, thus reinforcing its reckless military strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Russia is a state with a multi-ethnic federal structure inherited from the USSR. Implementing an ethnic policy that would unite and integrate its citizens is one of its most important goals. Among Russia’s federal subjects are also national republics pursuing their own ethno-political concepts, either conciliatory or conflictual. Tatarstan and Chechnya are examples of such republics. With the use of the comparative method, the article is an attempt at demonstrating many factors that have an impact on the shaping and implementing of the ethnic policy through such criteria as the status of the republics, the concept of the nation, and ethnocentrism, historical memory, the role of Islam and its politicization, and the language policy. The article also outlines their consequences and possible future scenarios.

This article intends to revisit the role of foreign fi ghters in the Chechen war and its aftermath, looking particularly at their impact on Islamic developments in Chechnya and Dagestan during the 1990s–2010s. The article challenges the argument, which is predominant in the literature, that foreign jihadists were primarily responsible for transforming the Chechen insurgency from a secular movement into a religious one. Instead, it argues that Islamist tendencies and Salafi circles were present in the North Caucasus before the outbreak of the First Chechen war. Secondly, this article contends that local Salafi jamaats, in conjunction with foreign jihadist fi ghters, provided the mobilization structures and the ideological framing for the radicalization of the Chechen/ North Caucasus rebel movement. By examining the Salafi -jihadist discourse of both foreign and local Salafi s operating in Chechnya and Dagestan in the 1990s and 2000s, the article shows how foreign Salafi s infl uenced and helped shape the ideological framing of local Salafi politicians and rebel jihadist groups. Yet, this article also shows that many of these Salafi -jihadist projects failed to gain broader societal support. They did not resonate with the local populations in Chechnya and Dagestan in the 1990s–2000s. A fi nal section of this article looks at events in the past decade, particularly at developments since the emergence of ISIS in Syria and Iraq. In this context, the article explains why many young Muslims in Dagestan became themselves foreign fi ghters and travelled to Syria/Iraq to fi ght for and live in the Islamic State. It concludes that Salafi projects, although not indigenous to the region, prospered as a result of the interaction between local Salafi s and foreign jihadist fi ghters and recruiters.

This paper examines the Chechen Black Widows and how they carry symbolic terrorist attacks against Russian targets - the authors' newly created concept of feminevil. By and large, feminevil is a growing phenomenon of girl-militancy in human violence. The theory used in this paper is Symbolic Convergence Theory (SCT). Developed by Bormann (1972), SCT posits that a group can unite to form a collective culture so as to achieve ambitious objectives. Whether it is a word, phrase, narrative, or physical symbol, each tenet - (a) fantasy theme, (b) symbolic cue, (c) fantasy type, and (d) saga - merges with all the others to recognize anything that helps generate, increase, and sustain a rhetorical society's awareness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, brief information will be given about the views of the Muslims living in Chechnya, especially the Naqshbandi and Qadiri Sufis, about dhikr, ways of interpreting the relevant verses, dhikr etiquette, the methods they used in dhikr, concept of seyr u sulûk and the dhikr rites. The article consists of ten sections as introduction, dhikr in Chechnya Sufis, letâif-i ashere, dhikr etiquette, dhikr method among Naqshibendis, dhikr method among Qadiris, oneness of grave and conclusion. The research is based on the works of Naqshbandi and Qadiri sheikhs living in Chechnya and partly in Dagestan (because most of the Naqshbandi lineages in Chechnya come from there) and my personal experiences. In our research, attention is drawn to the difference between Sufism in Chechnya and Sufism in other regions and their properties are explained. Most Russian historians argue that the muridism or zikrism movements in Chechnya have nothing to do with Sufism. These claims are only an effort to vindicate Russia's colonial policy in Chechnya for centuries by presenting the jihad in Chechnya as an ultra-religious and fanatical movement against civilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The article examines the image of radical Islamists, which was created in the publications of the largest domestic periodicals during the military operations in Dagestan in August–September 1999. The author analyses front-line reports and interviews with high-ranking military leaders published in such central newspapers and magazines as Nezavisimaya gazeta, Trud, Izvestiya, Kommersant, Echo planety, Novoe vremya and some others. Among the sources, there are both serious analytical broadsheets and tabloids. The author also pays attention to the regional press, for example, the Yaroslavl periodicals Karavan-Ros and Yaroslavskie novosti. These publications delivered valuable information on the ideology of the enemy, their weapons and equipment, and the war crimes they committed, and also reflected the attitude to the militants of the Russian soldiers and policemen who opposed them. The detachments of militants who opposed the federal forces and the Dagestani law enforcement officers appeared in these reports as cruel religious fanatics, intolerant of the bearers of any other ideology, ready to impose it on other people by force. At the same time, following military and law enforcement officials, Russian journalists were forced to recognize high combat qualities of the enemy, their perseverance and steadfastness in battle. Most of the pieces mentioned the fact that the rebels possessed a large number of modern weapons, both domestic and foreign-made, and also said that they had developed professionally competent in-depth defense. The author draws a conclusion about the antipathy of Russian reporters to the rebel combat units and identifies the reasons for the change in the attitude of the media towards them in comparison with the First Chechen War of 1994–96. In those years, journalists condemned military actions of the federal forces in the Caucasus, but in 1999 they supported the operation in Dagestan and considered Islamic radicals as ordinary bandits.

The paper concerns the documentary Welcome to Chechnya (2020), made in response to the mass purge of gay men and women that started in the Chechen Republic in 2017. The main aim of this paper is to highlight the problem of LGBTQIA+ society in Russia and Chechnya and give a voice to the victims of discriminated minorities. In the face of the war in Ukraine, it seems more important than ever. It is done through presenting the legal situation of LGBTQIA+ in both countries, explaining possible causes of the lack of acceptance of homosexuality in Russia and Chechnya, clarifying the Kremlin's point of view in the domain of homosexuality and explicating the reason for which artificial intelligence (AI) is used in the documentary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethnic confl icts are a challenge to the state as it impacts the foreign policy as well as the domestic politics of a nation. The region of North Caucasus has been the most unstable region among the Republics of the Russian Federation. The present article will analyse the causes of the rising tensions among the ethnic groups and the role of Russia in solving the problems in the region. It will further explain the drawbacks of the Russian authorities and will recommend policies which could bring a positive change in the confl ict. The use of force would not be able to bring any change in the region rather it would be more fruitful if efforts are made to address the causes for the ethnic violence.

The paper analyzes the difficulties of the Soviet-party leadership in the Chechen Autonomous Region in implementing the first five-year plans. The study of this problem is caused by the fact that modern Russia is experiencing a new round of modernization processes, and today the experience of previous generations is important so as not to repeat their mistakes. The subject of this study is of continuous interest among scientists who consider the present as a direct continuation of the past. Given the fact that the North Caucasus has a special place in the recent history of Russia in the last two decades, therefore, a deep study of the trends and contradictions of socio-economic development in Chechnya in the 1928–1937 allows identifying the historical origins and causes of modern problems in this region, which are a direct consequence of the accumulated contradictions in historical development. The policy of industrialization by the Soviet leadership was considered as a decisive factor in creating the material and technical base of socialism and ensuring the country’s defense potential. The industrial jump was caused primarily by the foreign policy aspect, so the leadership emphasized that to delay the pace means to lag behind. Industrialization for the Chechen Autonomous Region meant the creation of industrial production, because here it was almost absent, the main population was employed in agriculture. The city of Grozny with its factories was an independent region. In 1928, the Soviet leadership began to implement the directives of the first congress. The directives of the XV Party Congress emphasized the need for special attention to the issues of economic recovery and culture of backward national outskirts, which was the Chechen Autonomous Region by the beginning of the first five-year plans.

The high level of terrorist threat to the security of the Russian Federation, which has been persisting for decades, is a process of many aspects. The conducted internal policy, involvement in armed conflicts in Ukraine and in Syria, the unstable situation in the Caucasus and the undertaken international co-operation have a significant impact on the activation of terrorist groups in Russia. Already in 2012, before the series of attacks in the French Republic, the on-going conflict in the North Caucasus was described as the most brutal in Europe. Since 2007, Russia has started to cope with international terrorism. What is even worse, it has undergone evolution, permanently destabilizing the internal security of the state. The recent attacks have been associated with the emergence of extremist groups from the Middle East, such as Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State, and their cooperation with rebels from the South and North Caucasus. International terrorist groups began their expansion into the whole territory of the Russian Federation, mobilizing the local government to undertake activities counteracting terrorism. Nowadays, the situation is slowly returning to normal, but new threats are still worth noting. The past experience and new threats of attacks urge us to re-analyse the current situation and define the goals of the anti-terrorist actions of the Russian Federation. This is also important in view of the consequences for other countries which are immediate neighbours of Russia, including possible terrorist consequences for Poland.

This article analyses the official discourse of the Chechen authorities and posits that it reflects the government's efforts as self-legitimation. This investigation seeks to identify the mechanisms exploited by the Chechen regime to boost self-legitimacy by examining the 'News' programme on the Chechen state television channel 'Grozny', which, in the authoritarian setting of Chechnya, became the government's mouthpiece and a propagator of official discourse. To provide for the context and to boost findings, the study is complemented by a discursive analysis of one more historical-political television programme and a political advertisement that was broadcast by the same channel during the period in which the fieldwork took place. The collected data is processed using Critical Discourse Analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 1990s are widely seen as a period of Russian military degeneration during which there were no meaningful reforms to the Russian Armed Forces. Although certainly Russian military power reached its post-Soviet nadir by the end of that decade because of drastic underfunding and inattentive national leadership, Moscow was also able to make some hard choices that finally began a fundamental shift away from the Soviet military model based on mass mobilization. This effort paid immediate dividends during the second military campaign in Chechnya and laid the foundation for more significant and lasting reforms carried out under President Vladimir Putin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The main purpose of my work is to present the determinants and dependencies that characterize the Russian-Chechen relations for international political and economic security in the former Soviet Union and the Middle East, especially the Russian Federation. At the beginning, I intend to trace the process of the Chechen war and consolidate the power of the current leader of the country, Ramzan Kadyrov with the help of the President Russia, Vladimir Putin. At the same time, I will present the geopolitical significance of Chechnya in the international security system. In the following, I would like to present the implications of Russian-Chechen relations for other countries of the former USSR area- Ukraine, where in all probability Chechen “volunteers” participated in the fighting in Donbas. Finally, an important element of this work will be signaling, that President Kadyrov, despite aware of the Kremlin’s dependence on many matters, especially in economic terms, is starting to pursue an increasingly independent policy, as exemplified by the growing islamization of Chechnya, the participation of Chechen the Syrian conflict, Kadyrov active participation in the persecution of the Russian opposition, and finally the defense by the Chechen policy of the Muslim population of Rohingya in Myanmar against Moscow abstemious position. I would like to present the possible consequences of the above actions for the Russian Federation. It is not a secret that President Putin, despite the declared support for Kadyrov, is increasingly disapproving of some of his actions. In addition, it will be reasonable to present the reception of Kadyrov’s activities in other post-Soviet areas. In summary, I intend to answer the question whether major changes in the relations of both countries should be expected – and whether and how any changes will affect the architecture of international security.

The aim of the article is to present Chechen terrorism as a consequence of violations of basic human rights, including the crimes of genocide committed by the Russian Federation in the First Russo-Chechen War in 1994-1996. It has been argued that terrorism has become a dramatic way of drawing the international community's attention to the tragedy taking place in Chechnya. Over time, Chechen fighters were influenced by radical Muslim groups and used terrorist fighting methods. On the other hand, the Russians did not shy away from bombing entire villages they suspected of sheltering wanted fighters. All this led to an escalation of terrorism and radicalization of religious views among a large part of the society. Moreover, the lack of a decisive reaction from the West to the policy of exterminating the Chechen population by the Russian Federation has led to an increase in anti-Western sentiment, which had not been recorded in Chechnya before. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The article focuses on the film House of Fools (Dom Durakov, 2002) of Andrei Konchalovsky, who is one of the most recognized contemporary Russian directors. The selected work is analyzed from the point of view of its intertextual relationships with Russian literary texts and cultural phenomena. The motif of the train, the paradigm of jurodivyj and the reference to the artistic worlds of acclaimed Russian writers (Anton Chekhov, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Leo Tolstoy, Ivan Vyrypaev) are among the main parallels which are discussed in the publication. The eclectic nature of the film allows treating it as a cultural archive founded on the storage capacity of the cultural memory. In the context of war, the sphere of art and the imagined can be seen as the most stable reality.

It is a national conflict. The region of the North Caucasus has been the most unstable region among the Republics of the Russian Federation. It is a list of trends in the region. It will further clarify the situation. It would be a little bit more than a lot of fruit.

The article is devoted to the analysis of the first days of the Chechen war of 1994-96 presented by several well-known foreign journalists (Jan Rozdzynski, E. Lieven, and F. Kukurina). Their publications describe skirmishes between the Russian troops and the Chechen militants, the devastation in Grozny and the deaths of civilians. The parallels with similar publications in the Rus-sian press of that time are drawn. The conclusion about sympathies of foreign correspondents with regards to the Chechen separatists and their proximity to the anti-war publications of the Russian press was made.

The article characterizes the unique high-rise monumental architectural structures of the 18th century - tower and crypt buildings on the territory of Chechnya that form a special complex of historic monuments and material artifacts of the Chechens. As compared to residential towers the military ones are the pinnacle of the ancient Chechens’ architecture and engineering. The Chechen military towers are especially distinguished by “mashikuls” - small protective balconies in the upper floor for successful defense - and large stylized depictions of crosses, snakes, animals and people carved in stone. Some of the tower complexes on the territory of Chechnya can be referred to as “castles” (Pakoch Castle in the valley of the Chanty-Argun river; Aldam-Gezi in the village of Kezenoy; a castle near Galanchozh). A substantial proportion of the architectural monuments in the mountainous areas of Chechnya are those of sepulchral nature - underground and semi-underground crypts as well as elevated ones (malkh-kash). At times the crypt constructions made up “towns of the dead” with houses of various shape and size - the local necropolises. Next to the “towns of the dead” Chechens used to build up sanctuaries - temples. There were two types of sanctuaries. In the 16th through the 18th centuries the pagan sanctuaries and Christian temples were replaced by Muslim mosques that were built of stone and retained features of the traditional architecture. During the period under consideration the Chechens’ settlements were located both in the mountains and on the plains. Living conditions on the plains were found more comfortable by the local population.

The article deals with the problems of historiography of the armed conflict in the Chechen Republic. The author analyzes the approaches to disclosure of the nature and the causes of the armed conflict in Chechnya, existing in modern Polish historiography. The active phase of the military operations of the armed conflict in Chechnya was completed in 2001. At that time, historians, analysts and journalists create a wide range of theoretical works concerning the conflict. A number of common features on the use of basic resources are discussed in these publications. The degree of accessibility of the sources which focus on the description of the conflict and its socio-political assessment is of great importance for researchers and their objectives. Modern Polish historiography, dedicated to the armed conflict in Chechnya, is in the stage of development and the state of its documentary complex is characterized by a number of qualitative changes. The article highlights the scientific and objective truth, comparing it with the comments of the contemporaries. In terms of methodological aspects it is an interesting work for specialists in the fields of history and political science. The author urges us to meditate on the objective truth and subjective opinion about the events. Versions of the causes of the conflict, conflict results and prospects set out in the Polish historiography may have significance not only for understanding of the situation in the Chechen Republic itself but also for the international relations.

Hal Foster (2015) asserts that art should address emergencies. While he speaks of visual and performance arts, I extend his claim to poetry. As such, I use my positionality of queer individual as an entrance point to using poetry to address queer emergencies. Starting with Hegel’s (1975) articulation that the lyric form of poetry starts with our own subjectivity and shows a “coming to consciousness” (Culler, 2015, p. 2) through thought and reflection, this poetry addresses a pressing queer emergency of our current political moment (Chechnya), while also extending its reach to/through the intersections with other queer emergencies of today’s climate. Through this inscription of the present, I strive to illuminate the personhood of queer victims, the intersections of current queer emergencies, and the temporal and real proximity of emergency to those of us who might feel safe based on other identity intersections.