While distributing humanitarian aid in Grozny in 2000, Czech journalist Petra Procházková conducted a wide range of interviews with women who wanted to describe to the outside world what life in Chechnya had become. These are the women who struggled to survive and keep their families together while their husbands or other male relatives fought first in one war against Russia, then a second. Now, with their husbands dead, vanished or unable to leave their houses for fear of being arrested by Russian soldiers and sent to detention camps, the burden of rebuilding Grozny lies in the hands of these women.

Procházková presented two of these firsthand accounts for this WIDE ANGLE personal narrative. Two women — one Chechen, one Russian — tell us why they’ve decided to live on in the ruins of Grozny and how the attitudes of this city’s Russian and Chechen residents have changed towards each other.

About the Author

In 2000, Czech journalist Petra Procházková went to Grozny to report on the war for the Czech newspaper, LIDOVE NOVINY. She later put her journalistic career on hold to remain in the city to help those living in the destroyed capital. During her stay, she interviewed several women whose lives were affected by the war. The interviews will be published in a book in late 2002.