Two Chechens

A year ago, as a result of a special operation in the Chechen village of Tolstoy-Yurt, President Ichkeria Aslan Maskhadov was killed. Shots with the image of a half -naked gray -haired man with baked wounds on the body bypassed all the largest television channels in the world. Representatives of the FSB regarded this operation as success. The official Terrible was expressed a little differently.

The then head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, now President ALU Alkhanov, even played: “It is symbolic that our president Akhmat-Haji Kadyrov heroically died on a male holiday-Victory Day. And this so-called Ichkeria president found his death in a cheese cellar on international female day. There is nothing to add to this.”

And Ramzan Kadyrov tried to reduce the heroic intensity of the situation, which the emissaries of separatists in the West had already exploited with might and main - they say, Maskhadov preferred death to captivate and left undefeated. Kadyrov said that before the surrender, one of the guards “as a result of careless handling of weapons” shot Maskhadov.

Through the year, which passed after a short but fierce skirmish in the courtyard of a rural house, one result is increasingly clear-the post of 54-year-old elected separatist president will take nobody, except for the Kremlin, the 29-year-old prime minister, and the current head of the Republic of ALU Alkhanov will receive an honorable and less troublesome place in Moscow.

Who was sacrificed for the sake of Ramzan

Maskhadov was doomed. Not because he headed (at least formally) the weaker side of the military conflict, but because it was an extremely uncomfortable figure not only for the federal center, but also for Chechen radicals. In addition to a few dozen loyal militants, he had nothing to rely on.

The former colonel of the Soviet Army condemned terrorism, offered himself as the main negotiator with bandits in Beslan under the minimum guarantees of security, and declared his readiness to give Shamil Basayev an international tribunal. He told the Western media that Vladimir Putin was “deeply mistaken” about the situation in the republic, relying on the inaccurate information that the generals and Chechen “puppets” supply him. He convinced everyone and first of all himself, which could end the war 30 minutes after personal communication with Putin. With all these actions, Mashadov only harmed himself - in Moscow they did not believe in his readiness for darling, in Chechnya they suspected cowardice and even betrayal. However, by a strange coincidence, he was eliminated only when the probability of peaceful negotiations with the separatists approached. Maskhadov’s death has changed little in the operational sense, but a lot in the political.

For whom Aslana was eliminated

Experts said then that every chance of a peaceful exit from a circle of violence that lasted more than a decade disappeared, and that Moscow got rid of the last person among militants, with whom you can conduct at least some dialogue. The shifter of the former Soviet colonel was already filled with force, recruited new armed supporters, made new useful ties on the Old Square - in addition to one, the most important.

This, of course, is Ramzan Kadyrov. If a year ago his influence in the republic was determined to a large extent by the name of his father and personal patronage of Vladimir Putin, now the red -bearded fighter by the power of his character has turned into a self -sufficient and powerful domestic political factor.

An unattainable ideal

In everyday life, a graduate artilleryman and mathematician Aslan Maskhadov looked intelligent, even shy. Brutal Ramzan Kadyrov (in Chechnya they say that he actually has an unfinished secondary education) with all his appearance makes it clear that it is better not to stand in his way.

Maskhadov greatly appreciated the power of the word, spoke slowly, carefully choosing the words, but very eloquent.

Kadyrov with his rural pronunciation and jargon vocabulary loves loud vows and promises.

Maskhadova was respected for courage in extreme situations and the ability to listen to the opponent in the ordinary.

Kadyrov is simply afraid - the whole republic knows very well that in disputed moments he goes ahead.

The former colonel could not become the leader of all Chechens precisely because of his relative softness. The former wrestler is unlikely to become a national leader because of just excessive stiffness. The portrait of the best Chechen president has yet to be drawn by the Kremlin artists - if they are really interested in such a picture.