The British newspaper The Sunday Timespublished excerpts from a personal diary of a senior officer of the Russian special forces, the Spetznaz, who participated in the second Chechen war. The original text was published in Moscow in Russian by Novaya Gazeta. Columnist Mark Franchetti, who personally translated the text from Russian into English, said in his commentary that nothing like it has ever been published before.
"The text does not claim to be a historical overview of the war. It is author's story. A chilling record of executions, torture, revenge and despair the author wrote over a ten year period during 20 tours in Chechnya", such he describes the publication of the article entitled "The war in Chechnya: Diary of a killer".
The extracts from the diary contain descriptions of fightings, attitude toward prisoners and death in battle, and sharp remarks about the Russian ...