“Ramzan Kadyrov’s Chechnya” by Olga Kravets
Today marks the 20th anniversary of the start of the War in Chechnya, fought from 1994-1996.
For over a decade, Russia kept journalists out of the region and activists silent. Filling the void in the last years, Olga Kravets has been documenting Chechnya’s recovery from the war under the radicalized rule of Ramzan Kadyrov.
Completed with a 2013 Emergency Fund grant, “Ramzan Kadyrov’s Chechnya” tells the story of a traumatized and fragmented society that has learned to cope with an oppressive government. It is now available to view on our Emergency Fund website.
The demolition of Grozny’s old market, which was a meeting point for locals before and during two wars in Chechnya, but did not survive the city’s reconstruction. Grozny, Chechnya, Russia, October 2009
Men belonging to the White Hats Sufi sect attend Dhikr, a religious ceremony to praise Allah held at the funerals. Sufism has witnessed a strong come back in Chechnya, with the republic’s president Kadyrov being one of its biggest proponents. Grozny, Chechnya, Russia, May 2010
Students of the Islamic University in Grozny (men in the front, women in the back) listen to a lecture by a guest mullah from Jordan. Grozny, Chechnya, Russia, 2013
