INTELLIGENCE FLOWS TO THE REBELS

An anonymous Russian officer gave Moscow correspondent Paul Quinn-Judge of Time magazine a vivid example of the distrust between his colleagues and the Kadyrov administration’s forces, as reported in that magazine’s current issue (cover date October 6). According to the officer, former rebel guerrillas now serving in Kadyrov’s police forces often continue to provide information to the rebels.

“When his unit goes into the field,” wrote Quinn-Judge, “this officer is supposed to inform his local commander’s office, which is staffed by Chechens. But he never lets his chopper land at the planned destination. ‘I always order the pilot to land some two or three hundred meters higher, and open fire at our supposed landing site,’ he says. ‘Then we find dead rebels who have been waiting to ambush us there.'”