Russia claims that it has killed Chechen president Aslan Maskhadov in Chechnya. If it is true - and it almost certainly is - it´s sad in many ways. After all, he represented the moderate independence fighters in Chechnya. And if the moderates will be destroyed, there will be left just the warlords like Shamil Basayev who use all means possible to win the war, and the corrupted and violent pet Chechens of the Russians. And it´s hard to believe that there could be any compromise then.

Russia didn´t win the first war when they killed Dudayev, and they won´t win this war either.