ARGUN, Russia — Among the insurgents fighting in Chechnya's long-running war for independence, Musost Khutiyev is known as a "national traitor." This is because he forgave the Russians whose troops seized his 18-year-old son, removed his vital organs, and then ransomed the body back to Khutiyev for $1,500.
Khutiyev, who commanded the Chechen rebels' Argun unit until 2002, is now deputy mayor of the city; his security forces are fighting the rebels in collaboration with Russian troops; and when he goes to the polls in today's presidential election, he will cast his vote for Alu Alkhanov, the candidate the Kremlin wants to see installed as Chechnya's next president.
"I have no moral right to accuse the entire Russian people of killing my son," Khutiyev said Saturday from his heavily secured office at City Hall. "Maybe if we had honest and very decent people as our leaders, Chechnya could function on its own. But right now we can't live without Russia."
It is with this same sense of resignation -- tinged with fear of what happens to those who are not resigned -- that most Chechens are preparing for today's vote, called to replace the last Kremlin-backed president, Akhmad Kadyrov, who was assassinated in a bombing in May.
The insurgents have vowed to disrupt the election and kill Alkhanov if he is elected, and political observers say Russia is taking pains to ensure that there is no other outcome to the balloting.
In the wake of a pair of airline crashes in Russia last week that investigators say may have been caused by Chechen suicide bombers, residents are bracing for possible violence at the polls today. Many have streamed out of the capital, Grozny, for the relative safety of villages. By late Saturday morning, a usually bustling market on the west side of Grozny was nearly deserted.
"I haven't had a customer since early morning. Look, no customers at all," said a nervous Inga Magoyeva, sitting behind a table of cheap electronic games. "I'll pack and go myself soon. Everybody's leaving town. They're afraid."
Russia has been at war with Chechen separatists for much of the last decade. At first there was broad support here for the homegrown fighters, but many others argued for remaining part of Russia. So much violence has taken place that both sides are now regarded by many with equal disdain.
