Word: chechnya
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...Politkovskaya, who reported on human rights abuses during Russia's war in Chechnya and was a fierce critic of then-President Vladimir Putin, was shot in the head and killed in her apartment building in central Moscow on Oct. 7, 2006. During the four-month trial which ended in acquittals in February, Ibragim Makhmudov was accused of acting as a lookout and calling his brothers to tell them that the journalist was on her way home, while his brother Dzhabrail Makhmudov allegedly drove the shooter, believed to be the third brother, Rustam Makhmudov, who remains at large. The third defendant...
...Muslim militants who have declared war on police and state officials, calling them anti-Islamic for their allegiance to Russia. Other clashes are interethnic, with a century of conflict behind them. Based on the escalating levels of violence over the past 20 years, including two wars in Chechnya, an ethnic conflict between Ingushetia and North Ossetia, and a war in Dagestan, observers say the most dangerous republics in the region are Chechnya, Ingushetia, Dagestan and North Ossetia...
Indeed, Shamanov, who led the 58th Army in Chechnya's western sector during the Second Chechen War, was investigated by Russian prosecutors after the European court's ruling - but they concluded that there was no evidence of a crime. Then in December 2008, the Kremlin notified the Council of Europe that it was reviewing the decision. However, it's unlikely that the investigation will yield any new results. (See pictures of Russians in Ossetia...
After serving in Chechnya, Shamanov was decorated a Hero of Russia, while Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has said he "deserve[s] the deepest respect" for his "great contribution to the success of [the] counterterrorist operation [in Chechnya]." Part of that contribution came during operations in the village of Alkhan-Yurt in 1999. In its report, the HRW says that during fighting in the area, "Russian troops under Shamanov's command committed at least 14 killings that amounted to extrajudicial executions...
...Shamanov said certain airborne units that were due to be cut under the government's blueprint to build a smaller, more professional fighting force would instead be kept on, and some would even be expanded - a step off the party line that has upset the Kremlin. (Read "Russia's Chechnya Pullout: Compromise Over Victory...