The mines were frozen so they did not explode, while we walked for several kilometres along the [mine] fields.

October 6, 2012 7:27 PM

The history of the Russian-Chechen conflict spans two centuries. Images of Chechen enemies were mentioned even in a lullaby by Lermontov that put children to sleep in the 19th century. War correspondents Robert Parsons, Sofie Shehab, Petra Prohazkova and Andrey Babitsky tell about the war they saw with their own eyes in Nino Kirtadze’s film “The Chechen Lullaby”.

A film by Anastasya Khonyakina: “War in Chechnya - People”
Two military campaigns. 250,000 dead. What really happened in Chechnya? Many people know. Very few talk about it. Exclusive interviews with the Chechens from all over Europe. They tell the truth about their past, risking their future.

A Documentary “Field Hospital” by Zurab Kodalashvili.
Nobody sees any sense in this war. You can only rely on the heroism of the doctors, and the selflessness of the relatives. To save yourself, you must either get wounded, or become a deserter.

A documentary by Anastasya Khonyakina: “War in Chechnya – Men in Uniforms”.
400,000 Russian officers vs 1 million Chechens. What was the fate of the resistance? Chechen officers, soldiers and victims of filtration camps. Exclusive interviews from all over Europe.

A Documentary “The Deserters” by Zurab Kodalashvili.
Nobody sees any sense in this war. You can only rely on the heroism of the doctors, and the selflessness of the relatives. To save yourself, you must either get wounded, or become a deserter.

posted by infinite intimation (7 comments total)

All links include graphic images, and discussion of the many violences of war, and should be considered NSFW.
posted by infinite intimation at 7:27 PM on October 6, 2012 [2 favorites]

Don't forget Tolstoy's Hadji Murat.
posted by Emperor SnooKloze at 12:20 AM on October 7, 2012 [1 favorite]

Thanks very much for this post; I'm saving the links until I have time and fortitude to watch them.

Some books for those who want background on Chechnya and the endless war:

Carlotta Gall and Thomas de Waal, Chechnya: Calamity in the Caucasus (NYU Press, 1998)

Anatol Lieven, Chechnya: Tombstone of Russian Power (Yale UP, 1998)

Anna Politkovskaya, A Dirty War: A Russian Reporter in Chechnya (Harvill Press, 1999)

Chris Bird, To Catch a Tartar: Notes from the Caucasus (John Murray, 2002)

Arkady Babchenko, One Soldier's War (Grove Press, 2007)
posted by languagehat at 6:44 AM on October 7, 2012 [3 favorites]

I'd add Crying Wolf to that list, too. Just look at that girl on the cover. Still gives me chills.

The Caucasus states have such a long and fascinating history, and their relationships with Russia have been frosty at the best of times. It's madness the way Chechnya was essentially bombed into the Stone Age without so much as a shrug from the international community.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 11:08 AM on October 7, 2012

The March 3 2010 post was spooky as hell.

They screamed and shouted, begging us not to kill them because they had family and kids back home. So what? As if, by contrast, we’d come from an orphanage into this s***hole. We executed them all. Diary of the war in Chechnya.
posted by bukvich at 12:05 PM on October 7, 2012

er March 3 2012. (I need a 20 minute edit window.) Also something is off about the fpp as it currently reads. Text in paragraph 3 and 5 is identical with different links?
posted by bukvich at 12:25 PM on October 7, 2012

The videos aren't just graphic; there are moments that just rip my heart out. Like when one Chechen woman, boarding a bus with a small girl, yells to a news camera, "Cursed be all generations from Russian women born, as cursed as we are." Had to stop for a while at that point. Fair warning.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 5:58 PM on October 7, 2012