After the dissolution of the USSR, Russia struggled to reassert its status as a great power by improving its territorial cohesion. Futile military campaigns against the rebellious Chechen people prompted the Kremlin to strike a deal with an unorthodox warlord, Ramzan Kadyrov, who would prove to be a loyal ally, granting Chechnya an unprecedented level of autonomy in return. Today we examine the dynamics of Vladimir Putin's puppet's rise to power.

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