“What did I know about Chechnya before last week? For someone who grew up in the 1990s the very word Chechnya meant a string of grainy images on TV showing people in battered camouflage outfits, shooting at each other amid destruction and ruin. Fear, wahhabis, Shamil Basayev, terrorism, mountains: these were the words that used to spring to my mind when someone mentioned Chechnya”. – Maxim Shemetov. Photo: Special forces officers stand guard during a government-organised event marking Chechen language day in the centre of the Chechen capital Grozny April 25, 2013. (Photo by Maxim Shemetov/Reuters)

Australian cosplay enthusiast Sunni Daniele dressed up as his favourite character from either animation, comic or video game poses for a photograph during Oz Comic Con in Sydney, Australia, 27 September 2015. Cosplay is a combination of the words 'costume' and 'play' where fans dress up as their favourite Japanese comic characters. (Photo by Dan Himbrechts/EPA)

Three Chinese soldiers at the time of a civil war in China. (Photo by General Photographic Agency/Getty Images). 1922

A man dressed as the “Star Wars” character Darth Vader sits on a bench in central Lviv, Ukraine, November 24, 2016. (Photo by Gleb Garanich/Reuters)

Members of staff makes last minute touch ups of wax figure Chewbacca, from Star Wars, on display at “Star Wars At Madame Tussauds” on May 12, 2015 in London, England. (Photo by Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images)

Female soldiers march in formation in St Petersburg' s Palace Square during a rehearsal of a Victory Day military parade marking the 72 nd anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in the 1941-1945 Great Patriotic War, the Eastern Front of World War II, on May 5, 2017. (Photo by Peter Kovalev/TASS)

A view of the cemetery where the graves of the soldiers who lost their lives in the Russia-Ukraine war are located as daily life continues in shadow of war in Kursk, Russia on August 18, 2024. (Photo by Vladimir Aleksandrov/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Aerial dancers from Voloa, perform a dress rehearsal ahead of their performance at the opening night of Salisbury International Arts Festival on May 20, 2011 in Salisbury, England. The 39th Salisbury International Arts Festival runs from tonight until Saturday 4 June 2011 and features a programme of theatre, dance, circus, film, music, comedy and spoken word in locations around the historic city, from Salisbury Cathedral to Stonehenge. (Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images)