The Revitalization of Stalinism in the Chechen War

While the Second Chechen War has come to an uneasy standstill, with most of the country pacified, a final, tragic aspect of the Chechen Wars with similarity to Stalinist Russia shines through, it is the stance of the Russian people in regards to the conflict. A Small Corner of Hell serves as a chilling reminder to the Russian people of the atrocities that their military has committed and that their government has ignored or endorsed. The Russian people have decided to turn a blind eye to the horror that is taking place in Chechnya. Much like the times of Stalin, silence is a virtue and those that protest it are silenced. Anna Politkovskaya’s brutal murder provides evidence enough to this. And since her murder, serious, journalistic opposition to the war has dropped off, and with it the citizenry has resigned themselves to go with the political flow of the Putin Administration. However, the Russian people have been left with a quote that can perhaps help to guide them in their future political endeavors. Anna Politkovskaya quoted Akhmed Zakayev as saying “Real heroes don”t let this happen to their country.’ If the Russian people take this quote to heart, it is possible that they can break from the cycle of murder, rape, and injustice that has carried over from the Soviet Union to the Russian Federation.