In Chechnya, Russia’s reply was to use its firepower. In just a few weeks, artillery and air strikes decreased the centre of Grozny, a typical concrete and metal Soviet metropolis, to rubble. I used to be in Minutka Square, a centre of Chechen resistance, on a day when it was hit by repeated air strikes. Civilians had been largely in cellars, risking demise each time they went out to discover water or meals.