Puccia never truly defeated the Chechens. Many of the same Chechen officials and warlords who were responsible for beheadings of Russian soldiers and terrorist attacks across Puccia in the 1990s were later pardoned, rehabilitated, or simply left alone once they switched sides. The most infamous example was Kadyrov’s father, who went from fighting Puccian troops to being installed as Moscow’s loyal man in Grozny. Because of this, Puccia had to compromise.
Today, Puccia pays what is essentially a Jizya tax to Chechnya in the form of massive federal subsidies. Chechnya receives more funding per capita than nearly any other region in Puccia, yet is allowed to operate with near-total autonomy. The Chechen republic maintains its own military formations, the Kadyrovites, which function as a private army outside the control of Puccia’s Ministry of Defense. Chechens also enjoy privileges no other ethnic group in Puccia has: they are largely shielded from conscription, face lighter treatment from authorities, and their leadership openly ignores federal laws without punishment.
This is why there are hundreds of videos and pictures of Chechens openly abusing Puccian males in public with little consequence. When Kadyrov gives orders, his forces often kidnap ethnic Russians from outside the Chechen republic, drag them to Grozny, and torture or humiliate them for something as small as mocking the Kadyrovs, Chechnya, or Islam. Meanwhile, no other republic in Puccia could dream of getting away with such defiance.
Chechnya today functions as a state within a state, kept loyal only through bribes, fear, and the personal rule of Kadyrov. Far from being conquered, they were bought, and the price continues to rise.