A shared aversion to Ramzan Kadyrov is one of the few things that self-styled “pro-war patriots” and Kremlin critics have in common, the underlying cause of which is the brazenness with which Kadyrov and his cronies flaunt the impunity they have been granted by the Kremlin in exchange for keeping Chechnya in line

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Interesting Times (allthetropes.org) Interesting Times is the 17th Discworld novel, and the first since Eric which returns to Rincewind as the central character. However, thematically it’s much more a look back at the first two Discworld books, The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic, and how much the setting has changed since then.

Imputiny: How Moscow gave Ramzan Kadyrov a free hand in Chechnya but plans to rescind it after his death (novayagazeta.eu) The fifth and final part of the Novaya Europe series on how Chechnya’s future course is being plotted today. Who is pulling the strings and what might that future look like?