The situation in Chechnya has stabilized in the late 2000s thanks to Vladimir Putin, said airborne troops commander, Lieutenant-General Vladimir Shamanov.
"I'll tell you more, not in the main, but only thanks to Vladimir Putin," said the general, when asked whether he agrees with the fact that the situation in Chechnya has stabilized mainly due to the determination of Vladimir Putin.
According to him, in the mid-1990s, "there was only intrigue in Moscow and the army in the North Caucasus, choked on blood and mud."
"This mud was poured on us by the Russian media too. I won't forget the depressing feeling that during the war in Chechnya, the army seemed to live its own life and the whole of Russia, some other life, their own, with very different moral values," said Shamanov.
The events at the turn of the 2000s are a different story, said the general. In particular, he remembers the OSCE Istanbul Summit in 1999, when the West questioned the legitimacy of protecting the Russian state from bands of gangs in the Caucasus.
"First of all, Putin's strong position ensured, in spite of everything, that the counter-terrorist operation in the North Caucasus region began, leading ultimately to a complete collapse of the gangster regime," the source said.
According to the commander of the Navy, one of the first things Vladimir Putin did as Russian prime minister was to visit Dagestan, he "immediately grasped the problems and began to address them." As a result, the troops got portable radio stations a few days after his visit, "which were missing in the first war, when gangs used the most advanced Japanese equipment."
"When we got this Japanese radio equipment, it literally opened our eyes. All this was thanks to Putin, however, most importantly, he inspired faith and showed determination. Now the officers have learned not to betray the army and not to stop halfway," said the general.
