Chechnya, a Real Challenge for Putin?

Join the VisualPolitik community and support us on Patreon:   / visualpolitik   The war in Ukraine has left us with a lot of news stories, but perhaps one of the most curious and one that few people have stopped to really consider, is that Chechnya has sent troops to Ukraine. In theory, Chechnya is just another part of Russia, so this should not be news, but it turns out that things are not so straightforward. This region has a long history of conflicts and has not exactly had a good relationship with Russia throughout its history. There have been everything from Chechen genocides, to collaborations with the Nazis to get rid of Russia. Now Kadyrov wants to pay Putin back for all the money Putin has given him to stay in power by supporting him in Ukraine. But the feared Chechen army is not what it seems either. Does Chechnya have an army parallel to Russia? How was the Chechen conflict resolved? How effective are the Kadyrovites? Is Chechnya really loyal to Putin?