“Here’s a future suicide bomber,” Gasan mutters under his breath so the woman can’t hear. “If she doesn’t get anywhere, she’ll blow herself up in front of a government building.”
Gonzo Goes to Grozny
Before the Boston Marathon bombing, few people had heard of Dagestan. Two years earlier, in April 2011, I traveled to the Russian province and its neighbors Chechnya and Ingushetia. I wanted to see for myself a region that most Russians associate with bandits and Islamic terrorists. And I was dead-set on tracking down Ramzan Kadyrov, the Kremlin-backed warlord who holds Chechnya in an iron grip.
Russia’s Highlanders Explained
“We may share a common language with Russians, but our ethno-psychology is different,” says Zaur Gaziyev. “The free spirit lives on in the people. We didn’t have 600 years of serfdom like Russia did.”
Dear Ramzan Kadyrov
How do you get an interview with the warlord of Chechnya? The best bet for catching Ramzan Kadyrov is just to show up on his own turf, announce your presence and hope for the best.
Age of Empires
Even though both his grandfathers died in Bolshevik captivity, Ilyas Kayayev can’t say Russian rule has been bad for Dagestan on the whole: “What’s the point of being independent and sitting in a cave?”
Welcome to Makhachkala
Government officials and policemen are the targets of attacks, though innocent bystanders also get caught in the crossfire. Strashno – it’s terrible, Arslan says, especially if you have children.
Aboard Dagestan Airlines Flight 372
Dagestan Airlines Flight 372 is a Tupolev-154 which hasn’t seen a redesign since the 1970s. I get a window seat in row 31, where I can put up my legs on a hump that covers the landing gear. The only advantage of my seat is that I’m next to an emergency exit.
