of course you are correct, they coopted Chechnya, after the second Chechen war [1] Now a month ago they had a big scandal with an ex-chechen judge, forces under

of course you are correct, they coopted Chechnya, after the second Chechen war [1] Now a month ago they had a big scandal with an ex-chechen judge, forces under the command of kadyrov snatched the wife of the judge from a region that is not part of Chechnya. This was a big scandal, as the authority of the central government in Moscow is kind of put into question. Putin did avoid a conflict with Kadyrov, i think that makes sense in hindsight: he needed kadyrov and his forces for the planned war... See here: [2] All that happened a month before the outbreak of the war; that may be an indication, that the war was already a decided matter, at that point in time. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Chechen_War https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Chechen_War [2] https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-chechnya-judge-flees-wife-abducted/31668999.html https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-chechnya-judge-flees-wife-abd...