> It seems like this is a low point for Russia - a protracted hot war on what was previously its own turf. That kind of “low point” is most of the history of t

> It seems like this is a low point for Russia - a protracted hot war on what was previously its own turf. That kind of “low point” is most of the history of the independent Russian Federation, given the first (1994-1996) and second (1999-2009) Chechen wars and the North Caucasus insurgency (2009-2017).