Here, as well as everywhere, all translations from Russian into English, submitted to your attention, in no circumstances can be considered as professional, artistic translations, and I do not even pretend to anything similar. I only within limits of my modest knowledge of English slightly redacted the "machine" translation executed by a computer program. Sole purpose of this translation - to adumbrate and give to an English reader common idea about the contents of the original Russian texts, from which the translation is executed.

Russia, as a great country, in connection with the Chechen conflict should, in my opinion, follow two noble purposes:

1) to ensure its territorial integrity

2) to achieve historical reconcilement with the Chechen people

These problems can not be settled in separation one from another. Only complex settlement of them is productive from the point of view of historical prospect. Let's consider each of these problems separately.

First one - protection of territorial integrity. The main here, on my view, consists in the following: it is out of the question that any part of Russia would be separated from it owing to force influence or dictatorship, whoever's side they proceeded from. That is the necessity and legitimacy of actions of Russia in Chechnya is obvious to any unbiased observer, and the question is only in efficiency and forms of these actions. Here the following seems important to me: for its own interests Russia should follow two conditions:

а) The actions on suppression "illegal bandit formations" should not have been developed at all and should not develop in a "punitive operation" regarding to all the population. The aim of Russia in Chechnya is noble, and it should be carried out by maximally NOBLE means. This idea should be brought home to each Russian soldier and to each general. They should understand that the question is not in "revenge" to all Chechens for wrongdoings of some their relatives, but the question is in destinies and future of Russia itself. We mustn't let get there people with psychology of the severe chastisers, and the matter is not only in the moral part, according to which it is obvious, that, for example, a Russian "tank man", raping and killing the girl, in the moral aspect, say, is not higher than a Chechen "tractor operator" shooting a captive "contractor". It is necessary here to understand the main thing: to defeat any opponent, it is necessary at least make him out closely, but the people blinded by hatred, with "neurotic reaction" on Chechnya and Chechens, conceiving them as one continuous hostile mass, are not able to estimate the situation there ADEQUATELY, do not find the RATIONAL SOLUTIONS and can not work EFFECTIVELY. Besides, it is also important that just those very people cause most fierce, frenzied resistance and meet extreme counteraction in the most savagely cruel forms.

b) The second moment, perhaps, the most important in all "the Chechen history", and already concerning the "global aspect" of the problem is: the application of military force on the part of Russia should be RESPONSIBLE, PROPORTIONAL and EXPEDIENT. For some years past here there have already been a lot of mistakes made, and I am afraid, they are irreparable. They should not have levelled to the ground the whole cities, subjecting lives of tens thousand peaceful inhabitants to a danger, only for destroying one thousand terrorists. And again, the question is not only in the ethical part of the matter. There are also quite practical questions it is necessary to pay attention to. You see, from the point of view of the planet destinies, what occurred and occurs in Chechnya, a small piece of ground lost in mountains, is not so important. Another thing is important - what signals Russia (the largest country of the planet on territory!) sends from there to the other world, and how its actions are estimated - as responsible and compelled, or as menacing and irresponsible. The main danger of this conflict, on my view, consists in most powerful pulses outgoing from Chechnya and pushing movement of huge new additional flows of dollars, pounds and roubles brought on an altar to a Moloch of the future war. And let nobody be deceived by the diplomatic smiles of any "coming NATO member" in Moscow, or by the "grounded" statements of Russian "force ministers". You see, not the external declarations are important, but that hidden work, invisible to the world, which is going in any sorts of "staffs" and "services", closed "brain strategic centres" and "intellectual clubs", building in calm of studies really "diabolical plans", promising no good to us, ordinary citizens. The elementary analysis reveals the latent, but simple, obvious and terrible logic of development: either Russia, with the purposes of its security, sooner or later will "cover" the other world with a nuclear rocket rain and will ensure long and serene "nuclear winter" on the planet, or the other world, as well with the purposes of its own security, sooner or later will destroy Russia by one or another way. And I do not at all exaggerate the danger of similar development of events. Third world war, you see, has not been cancelled yet by anybody! After thermonuclear war, certainly, there will be no "Chechen hotheads" any more, but the place of the latter will be occupied by victory troops of "Norwegian rats", new masters of the Earth. (Certainly, I have nothing against rats, but how long we will have to wait for that day until they are civilised enough to create beautiful works of art the life on the Earth is intolerably boring without!)

Now we shall consider the second purpose and problem - the necessity of achievement of historical reconcilement in Chechnya. The best minds of Russia should think how to draw, at last, a thick line under this centuries-old opposition and to leave it in the past forever. The problem is, certainly, not simple and can not be settled for one day, but it is QUITE FEASIBLE and already TODAY it is necessary to work on its implementation. Here, on my view, two moments are important:

а) Russian people themselves should seriously set their minds on the reconcilement and carry out resolute measures in this direction. It should be brought home to the mind and heart of every Chechen that the great Russia is ready and eager to make steps towards small Chechnya and stretches a hand of friendship, and that the main aim of Russia is to put an end to mutual animosities and disbelieving forever; and all this should be supported with concrete actions. Here it is necessary to understand, that Chechens, even those of them, who battle against the Russian army, are for the main part ingenuous enough and not "very competent" people which have been not most experienced in complicated diplomatic relations and intrigues. Their hatred in relation to Russian is quite corresponding to a situation and rational; it is caused by completely concrete events of an old and recent history. It grows out of the Russian central authority actions conceived by Chechens as obviously unfair. It is the hatred of a healthy organism to everything that causes a pain and suffering. The transition from such hatred to friendship and fidelity is quite feasible. It is just necessary to restore justice everywhere it is possible. And certainly it is impossible to treat all Chechens like enemies. The most correct thing is to consider them to be stumbled compatriots, and even better mistaken comrades and brothers.

b) The second important moment in this aspect is what will be "after-war arrangement" of Chechnya. Here all forces should be applied to "breaking" traditional structure of the Chechen society by the whole system of well balanced actions and measures. Thus it is necessary to mean, that any cumulative external pressure on such society from above without reforming from inside and from below will result only in "preservation" of the archaic structure and "clan mentality", which at any new historical turn will allow to "remobilize" Chechens again and to turn them into most malicious enemies of Russia. We see, how during long time the authoritative figures, more or less loyal in relation to Russia, are looked for among Chechens, in order to give them the settling of internal Chechnya problems "for a payoff". On my view, it is the most serious mistake. There should not be any uniting figures - neither with the "plus" sign, nor with the "minus" sign, neither at the national level, nor at the regional one. An ordinary Chechen should once and forever be released from any "authorities" - political, religious, military, teip, clan, fraternity, patrimonial, troop, field, criminal etc. The Historical practice has well shown the simple fact: the most reasonable and effective way of struggle with the demand of independence for separate territories is granting INDIVIDUAL INDEPENDENCE to the inhabitants of the given territories. Here it is necessary to understand the following. The idea of independence itself is not terrible - it is a universal and sacred idea, and there is no people on the Earth, which would not wish independence. The question is just in what price the people are ready to pay for it. Today's Chechens are ready to pay the highest price and to agree to unprecedented victims, because there is no civil society in Chechnya and an ordinary Chechen has no personal freedom to take a decision on this question. It would be more easy and with much less losses to occupy three Baltic republics, where the separate citizens compared potential losses and victims with difficulties of a probable occupation, than small Chechnya, where an ordinary Chechen, held down by strict "hierarchical subordination" within the clans and entangled by hidden chains of customs and patrimonial obligations, is just not asked, whether he is ready to spill his blood and to give his life for independence. You see, if there was civil society in Chechnya and an ordinary inhabitant had the RIGHT to VOTE - wild trading of slaves, public executions or introduction of archaic sharia laws. Tens thousand free Chechen citizens would strongly protest against such medieval barbarity! Thus, at the given stage in Chechnya it is necessary to apply the formula: complete freedom below, that is every separately taken Chechen should BE INDEPENDENT of any "Chechen structures" in his everyday life, and rigid dictatorship in relation to Chechnya as a whole, that would exclude occurrence of any arrogant, authoritarian figures above. And temporarily, until really democratic leaders are naturally formed among Chechens, it is necessary to appoint people, desirably not Russian, from outside, from other regions for all authority positions. On my view, the appointment of the representatives from neighbour North-Caucasus republics, in particular, from Ingushetia, Dagestan etc., for such positions, would be ideal. And then gradually there would be a situation, when any heap of mad adventurers never would be able to bring the whole people together with itself for bloody, self-terrible fighting!