The Chechen Struggle Quotes

“I deeply believe this bargain is only temporary. Once physical survival is more or less assured, Chechens will again seek justice, freedom, and independence.”
― Ilyas Akhmadov, The Chechen Struggle: Independence Won and Lost

“The deceased President’s son, Ramzan Kadyrov, was summoned to the Kremlin still in his sweat clothes. Today, he is a member of the Academy of Sciences, but then he was an overgrown child in a track pants. He hadn’t finished middle school, he couldn’t tie two sentences together in either Chechen or Russian […]”
― Ilyas Akhmadov, The Chechen Struggle: Independence Won and Lost

“[Akhmad] Kadyrov was killed by an explosion in Grozny’s stadium Dynamo on May 9, 2004 and both Maskhadov and I had very subdued reactions. All he said was that “Allah will judge us.” All I said was, “This is another casualty of this war.” It’s inappropriate to speak ill of the dead. The other reason we didn’t celebrate his death was that it didn’t change the situation; we knew that the Kremlin would find another representative. The personality of this person was not of primary importance as it turned out. Simple decency could have so easily been returned when Maskhadov was killed a year later, and I continue to marvel at how badly his memory was treated.”
― Ilyas Akhmadov, The Chechen Struggle: Independence Won and Lost

“In other countries large segments of the nation were engaged in an underground struggle to bring about their independence. […] For us independence was a slogan and an ambition, but it had very little shared meaning among ordinary people.”
― Ilyas Akhmadov, The Chechen Struggle: Independence Won and Lost

“As far as I’m concerned, only an enemy could do something as provocative as initiating relations with the Taliban.”
― Ilyas Akhmadov, The Chechen Struggle: Independence Won and Lost

“Gelayev’s odyssey lasted over a month, as he and his men zigzagged between Russian posts in the mountains. They climbed impossible peaks with no alpine gear, they lowered their horses and supplies by ropes, and miraculously they all made it. On several occasions they encountered Russian forces and in one case engaged in a real battle near the Osset village of Galashki.”
― Ilyas Akhmadov, The Chechen Struggle: Independence Won and Lost

“Gelayev’s unit made a perilous crossing over snow-covered mountain passes, where there were no roads; his men ate bark to stay alive and get to the Pankisi Gorge.”
― Ilyas Akhmadov, The Chechen Struggle: Independence Won and Lost

“Shamil [Basayev] sounded exhausted; the fact that he was speaking to me this way over the telephone indicated that he was desperate for conversation; he needed to let off steam and complain to someone. He couldn’t speak this way to the other men who were in the trenches with him”
― Ilyas Akhmadov, The Chechen Struggle: Independence Won and Lost

“I had some friends abroad who told me that they could organize meetings for me if I could reach Europe. Maskhadov asked me, “How much money do you need?”
I said to him, “I think my friends in Europe will be in a position to help with my expenses.” Maskhadov took out his wallet and gave me $500, which both of us understood would not take me very far, but he did not have very much and they needed money more than I did.”
― Ilyas Akhmadov, The Chechen Struggle: Independence Won and Lost

“Dudayev used to say, “I can win the war, that’s possible. But how am I going to govern the veterans?”
― Ilyas Akhmadov, The Chechen Struggle: Independence Won and Lost

“Putin’s famous phrase, “waste them in the shithouse,” is embarrassing for many Russians now, but at the time they were thrilled to hear it.”
― Ilyas Akhmadov, The Chechen Struggle: Independence Won and Lost

“Shamsudin Batukayev, one of the radical mullahs who sought full sharia law started yelling, “I can’t listen to this OSCE, PACE, UN; they’re all Satan, the Judeo-Masonic conspiracy! All we have to depend on is our faith.” Then Defense Minister Magomed Khanbiev, jumped up and said, “You’re Satan, and those like you are the Shaytan! It’s you and people like you who brought us to this!” They almost came to blows at a meeting to plan our defenses; and they had to be physically pulled apart. This was tragic to watch. I felt sadness for Maskhadov who was going into the war with such profound rifts among his government and his nation. He just sat quietly and listened to all of this, not speaking at all.”
― Ilyas Akhmadov, The Chechen Struggle: Independence Won and Lost

“When the first war started we had many illusions. I remember the New Year’s eve assault as something light and easy and in the midst of that battle I didn’t realize how bad it was. Only when we took stock and started to dig out bodies from the ruins, did we face the reality. And still, later into January and February 1995 we thought that Yeltsin didn’t understand, that he was misinformed, and we thought that once he figured out what was happening he would call it all off. In contrast, in September 1999, there were no illusions.”
― Ilyas Akhmadov, The Chechen Struggle: Independence Won and Lost

“Vladimir Putin, newly appointed prime minister paid a visit to Dagestan. He was televised at a meeting with military officers who urged him to propose a toast. He raised his shot glass, and said, “We must drink to the victory; to the victors. We must remember those who perished in this war; to the living soldiers; to the mothers . . . and to all of this we will drink together after the victory.” And with that he put down his shot glass and did not drink it.”
― Ilyas Akhmadov, The Chechen Struggle: Independence Won and Lost

“It was comical to watch government meetings disband; each minister would get into his jeep full of fighters with their weapons sticking out in every direction, like needles on a porcupine. It would take them a long time to maneuver their way out of the traffic jam in the narrow passage in front of the government building.”
― Ilyas Akhmadov, The Chechen Struggle: Independence Won and Lost

“I went to Maskhadov’s office and told him, “Look, I have no archive. There are no papers at all in my ministry; there’s literally nothing there. How can there be no archive at the Foreign Ministry?”
“You didn’t get an archive for one ministry,” he snapped. “I didn’t get a scrap of paper for an entire country. It’s okay . . . just start working.” I turned around and walked out.
This comment had a sobering effect on me.”
― Ilyas Akhmadov, The Chechen Struggle: Independence Won and Lost

“I don’t care what war you fought in, even if it was the Russo-Japanese War, save it for when you visit elementary schools on Patriot’s day.”
― Ilyas Akhmadov, The Chechen Struggle: Independence Won and Lost

“Through the lighted window I could see garlands like New Year’s decorations that were machine gun rounds. They were draped like decorations in the barracks.”
― Ilyas Akhmadov, The Chechen Struggle: Independence Won and Lost

“Even Imam Shamil faced rebellions among Chechens when he tried to institute public punishments.”
― Ilyas Akhmadov, The Chechen Struggle: Independence Won and Lost

“Witnesses told me that Dzhaffarov shot and killed Khultygov; then one of Khultygov’s guards shot and killed Dzhaffarov; and, finally, one of Dzhaffarov’s guards shot Khultygov’s guard. The miracle is that the dueling stopped there.”
― Ilyas Akhmadov, The Chechen Struggle: Independence Won and Lost

“Our television station would allow anyone who wanted to speak to appear, provided they had a gun or two.”
― Ilyas Akhmadov, The Chechen Struggle: Independence Won and Lost

“All these sharia courts usually did was dole out lashes to alcoholics.”
― Ilyas Akhmadov, The Chechen Struggle: Independence Won and Lost

“I talked to a man who was a witness to the trade and he told me that part of the ransom payment was in sniper rifles with silencers. The FSB was giving hostage takers weapons equivalent to those of the special forces! The hostage takers were incomparably ahead of our police in their weapons, cars, and communications.”
― Ilyas Akhmadov, The Chechen Struggle: Independence Won and Lost

“There was an old feud between a businessman from Chechnya and a businessman from North Ossetia. Once upon a time, they had been business partners; then had a falling out and in retribution they had taken one another hostage; this happened repeatedly over several years.”
― Ilyas Akhmadov, The Chechen Struggle: Independence Won and Lost

“Of course, Chechnya is a small place and people infer based on what they see, but there is never specific information. You never really know who was responsible for which hostage taking and you never knew what ransom was actually paid.”
― Ilyas Akhmadov, The Chechen Struggle: Independence Won and Lost

“If you pay a million dollars once for a hostage, you can be sure that the hostage takers will never go lay bricks at some construction site.”
― Ilyas Akhmadov, The Chechen Struggle: Independence Won and Lost

“The only thing that had meaning was who fought next to you during the war.”
― Ilyas Akhmadov, The Chechen Struggle: Independence Won and Lost

“Maskhadov tried to use political methods, he tried to seize the initiative; he tried to be moderate, fair and democratic, and the situation that he inherited was so complicated that I doubt very much that another politician would have done better or achieved more.”
― Ilyas Akhmadov, The Chechen Struggle: Independence Won and Lost

“[A] French General after World War I had said that the most painful consequence of any war is the veteran.”
― Ilyas Akhmadov, The Chechen Struggle: Independence Won and Lost

“There was tragedy in all this. Shamil [Basayev] couldn’t send everyone abroad for medical treatment; he couldn’t solve every problem, nor could the government. People were in Shamil’s house night and day; there might be fifteen people there in the middle of the night. Sometimes he demanded to be left alone; the constant demands frustrated him and made him feel ineffective.”
― Ilyas Akhmadov, The Chechen Struggle: Independence Won and Lost