Pushkin square is dominated by flashy Western advertising. A P.R stunt is promoting a car rally - unimaginable in Soviet Russia. Across the road, people are demonstrating against the war in Chechnya - no one is taking any notice. "Mr.Putin is getting away with the Chechen war and his crackdown on Russian democracy," comments Yuvgenii Kiseliev. In camps on the border with Chechyna, the mood is hostile - "Chechens don't expect anything from Russia, but they don't understand the indifference of the West," says one woman.

Four weeks earlier, the Russians had carried out a zachistka - a clean up. "They beat us and tortured us with electric shocks" says one of the victims. In Grozny, there are booby traps and landmines scattered all over the city. The Russians now have a new defence: that this is a war against international terrorism. With moves to increase Russian influence within NATO, it seems that Chechen suffering will go virtually unchallenged by Western governments; what seems important is that Russia is kept open for business.

A report by Marcel Theroux for Unreported World.