The Chechen War through the Eyes of its Victims: A Translation and Analysis of Documentary Writing on the Second Chechen War

This translation project brings together two diaries and a journalistic account to provide a broader context for the life of Chechen civilians during the two Chechen Wars. Their stories account the hellish situations that they had to live through under the occupation of Russian soldiers, which involved arbitrary travel restrictions, indiscriminate bombing campaigns, torture, hostage taking, forced disappearances, humiliation, and murder. The first diary, Diary of Rukiat Ataeva, tells a story of a woman who lost her family due to the actions of the Russian Federal soldiers. The second diary entries are those of Polina Zherebtsova, who published them in her book, An Ant in a Glass Jar: Chechen Diaries 1994-2004. Both translations contain entries that tell stories of zachistka (sweep operations) that they experienced and the depravity that Chechen civilians had to face on a daily basis. The journalistic account of Anna Politkovskaya tells also retells the stories of different Chechen civilians that she interviewed. Historical context is also crucial to more thoroughly understand the Chechens’ experiences as struggles that were unique to the Russo-Chechen social and political context. Thus, this project involves an analysis of the complexities of Russo-Chechen relations as they escalated into two full-blown conflicts