The majority of the articles I write for outside publication (stuff outside of The Velvet Rocket) have been printed in Italian newspapers. This makes things relatively easy as I can simply post the English version here and not conflict with a publication that would be upset about the duplicate content. However, the main eastern Ukraine … Continue reading
I provided an introduction to the mountains of Chechnya in a previous post, but with this post, we’re getting into the most restricted area where a lot of heavy activity went down in the recent Chechen Wars (and still does now). I’m referring to the region of Chechnya that borders Georgia’s Pankisi Gorge… The eight-mile-long … Continue reading
Aside from the historical significance of these images and their interesting subject matter, I am also laying the foundation for a future article with this post… So, first of all, who was Roddy Scott? Roddy Scott was a talented and dedicated freelance journalist/photojournalist who was, by all accounts, a genuinely decent person of the sort … Continue reading
In 1841, a few months before his death (in a pistol duel with a fellow officer at the foot of Mount Mashuk in the Caucasus), Mihail Lermontov (1814-41) composed a remarkably prophetic poem: In noon’s heat, in a dale of Dagestan, With lead inside my breast, stirless I lay; The deep wound still smoked on; … Continue reading
If one were to try to pick the exact date that the contemporary conflict in the North Caucasus turned dramatically in favor of the Russians, it would be September 1, 2004. However, it was not, as many have suggested, that the Chechens lost as much as the Russians won – despite the incredibly high casualty … Continue reading
As Ramzan Kadyrov and the Kremlin seek to legitimize their control of Chechnya, there is a steady rewriting and glossing over of history underway. One dramtic example of this is found in the strenuous effort to promote Akhmad Kadyrov as the father of modern Chechnya. Indeed, Grozny’s stadium has been named after him. And the … Continue reading
Crossing into Chechnya from Ingushetia one will immediately find themselves entering the plains of Chechnya: The Russians like the plains. The plains offer greater visibility and mobility and thus the mechanized advantages of the Russian military can more easily be brought to bear here, making it easier to do battle with the Chechens. Rather than … Continue reading
The Velvet Rocket 