“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)

A young man with the date 25 painted on his face, gives the victory sign in Tahir Square ahead of the first anniversary of the revolution on January 24, 2012 in Cairo, Egypt. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

Women take shelter at a pedestrian overpass during heavy rains caused by Cyclone Tauktae in Mumbai, India, May 17, 2021. (Photo by Niharika Kulkarni/Reuters)

Female body builders flex their muscles as they compete in the 2nd Women Sports Model contest in Guwahati on April 2, 2023. (Photo by Biju Boro/AFP Photo)

Afghan children enjoy their time on Nadir Khan hill during the first day of Eid al-Fitr in Kabul, Afghanistan, Friday, April 21, 2023. (Photo by Ebrahim Noroozi/AP Photo)

A man (bottom) suspected of shooting former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe is tackled to the ground by police at Yamato Saidaiji Station in the city of Nara on July 8, 2022. Shinzo Abe was shot at a campaign event on July 8, a government spokesman said, as local media reported the nation's longest-serving premier was showing no vital signs. (Photo by Yomiuri Shimbun/AFP Photo)

An Iraqi army cadet participates in “the leap of faith”, from a bridge as part of their training, in Baghdad, Iraq on December 15, 2023. (Photo by Ahmed Saad/Reuters)

Pigeons walk in front of the Russian Foreign Ministry building (C) in Moscow on April 8, 2024. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will visit Moscow's key diplomatic and economic partner China on April 8-9, his Ministry said in a statement. (Photo by Alexander Nemenov/AFP Photo)