ABSTRACT
On the eve of Russia’s first invasion of Chechnya, in 1994, the Chechens’ mantra of ‘nothing is forgotten, nothing will be forgotten!’ mingled with the Sufi dhikrs (chants) to Allah as the secularized Chechen mystic-Muslims prepared to once again defend their homes and families from their aggressive Slavic neighbour. In time-honoured fashion, thousands of Chechen jigits (braves) armed themselves with Kalashnikovs and RPG-7s (rocket propelled grenades, the so-called ‘Chechen atom bomb’) and went to do battle in the killing streets of Groznyi and the familiar mountains of their youth. Their motivations for fighting ranged from a sense of Baltic-style nationalist activism to a deeper desire to take revenge on Moscow for conquering their lands and deporting their parents and grandparents in 1944.
