Hillary Read

“[Akhmad] Kadyrov was killed by an explosion in Grozny’s stadium Dynamo on May 9, 2004 and both Maskhadov and I had very subdued reactions. All he said was that “Allah will judge us.” All I said was, “This is another casualty of this war.” It’s inappropriate to speak ill of the dead. The other reason we didn’t celebrate his death was that it didn’t change the situation; we knew that the Kremlin would find another representative. The personality of this person was not of primary importance as it turned out. Simple decency could have so easily been returned when Maskhadov was killed a year later, and I continue to marvel at how badly his memory was treated.”
― Ilyas Akhmadov, The Chechen Struggle: Independence Won and Lost

“Shamil [Basayev] sounded exhausted; the fact that he was speaking to me this way over the telephone indicated that he was desperate for conversation; he needed to let off steam and complain to someone. He couldn’t speak this way to the other men who were in the trenches with him”
― Ilyas Akhmadov, The Chechen Struggle: Independence Won and Lost

“Gelayev’s unit made a perilous crossing over snow-covered mountain passes, where there were no roads; his men ate bark to stay alive and get to the Pankisi Gorge.”
― Ilyas Akhmadov, The Chechen Struggle: Independence Won and Lost

“I had some friends abroad who told me that they could organize meetings for me if I could reach Europe. Maskhadov asked me, “How much money do you need?”
I said to him, “I think my friends in Europe will be in a position to help with my expenses.” Maskhadov took out his wallet and gave me $500, which both of us understood would not take me very far, but he did not have very much and they needed money more than I did.”
― Ilyas Akhmadov, The Chechen Struggle: Independence Won and Lost