Progress amid chaos?
There are signs that the Kremlin may at last start overhauling Russia's army
COULD the hostage crisis in a Moscow theatre two weeks ago have produced good news? Boris Nemtsov certainly thinks so. Three days after the rescue that killed not only most of the Chechen separatists but also around 120 of their hostages, President Vladimir Putin spoke of a new role for Russia's army in the fight against terrorism. Some read that as a sign that he would step up the war in Chechnya. But Mr Nemtsov, leader of the opposition Union of Right Forces, thinks the opposite: that by drawing attention to the army's failure in Chechnya, Mr Putin will press the generals harder for a sorely-needed military reform.
This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “Progress amid chaos?”
From the November 9th 2002 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the editionDiscover more
Emmanuel Macron shows off the gloriously restored Notre Dame
Five years after it was gutted by fire, the cathedral is more beautiful than ever
Ursula von der Leyen has a new doctrine for handling the hard right
The boss of the European Commission embarks on a second term
Marine Le Pen spooks the bond markets
She threatens to bring down the French government, but also faces a possible ban from politics
The maths of Europe’s military black hole
It needs to spend to defend, but voters may balk
Ukraine’s warriors brace for a Kremlin surge in the south
Vladimir Putin’s war machine is pushing harder and crushing Ukrainian morale
Vladimir Putin fires a new missile to amplify his nuclear threats
The attack on Ukraine is part of a new era of missile warfare