Vladimir Putin's Inhumane Blueprint to Terrorize Civilians in Chechnya, Syria – and now Ukraine
ILLUSTRATION BY DOUG CHAYKA.
Vladimir Putin became the prime minister of Russia in August 1999, then president in March 2000. And in the 24 years since, the list of wars conducted on his watch amounts to a catalog of human misery. They stretch from the Second Chechen War to a military incursion into Georgia, from the annexation of Crimea to Russia’s lockstep allegiance with Syrian president Bashar al-Assad to destroy that country’s opposition forces. That roster of calamity has culminated, of course, in the war that has mobilized Europe against Putin’s war machine—the devastating invasion of Ukraine, which commenced a year ago this week.
In each of these bloody forays, Putin and his commanders have followed a blueprint. They have targeted the most vulnerable link at the core of each nation: its civilian population. In other ways, Putin, even as he has tried to revitalize Russian military power in ways reminiscent of the days of Stalin, has expanded his battle methods to include new capabilities.
Read the full story in Vanity Fair here.