A glance at the Northern Caucasus in nowadays Russia: four articles by Anna Politkovskaja translated in Italian, previously unpublished

The following articles have been translated from Russian into Italian to give a documentary contribution to the translator's bachelor thesis on the Caucasus and Russia's influence on it. Anna Politkovskaja was not just a brave journalist devoted to the cause of human rights, but also an attentive observer of society and political processes, and these articles can give a general, but somehow detailed picture of four realities of the Northern Caucasus and their problematics in the age of Putin's Russia.
 
The articles were translated by Alessandro Bonomelli, with the supervision of prof. Monica Perotto (Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures, University of Bologna).
 
"Voglia di un pezzo di patria" ("Craving for a piece of motherland") is the translation of Anna Politkovskaja's article "Хочется немного родины". The article is about the painful issue of rehabilitation of a formerly deported group of Chechens into their ancestral homeland, a corner of nowadays' Dagestan. The Author finds out how, despite the fact that the Russian law repeatedly ordered the rehabilitation, these people have not seen any concrete reconstruction yet, and still live in precarious conditions.
 
"Là dove si ruba scoppia la protesta" ("Where they rob, revolts burst out as well") is the translation of Anna Politkovskaja's article "Где воруют, там и революция". The Author investigates the situation of the budget management in Murat Zjazikov's Ingushetia, how the age of his governorship was renowned for an incredibly high degree of corruption and criminal use of federal funds, and how the President himself attempted to divert the critics on this issue.
 
"L'El'brus sta più in alto della Costituzione" ("Mount El'brus soars higher than the Constitution") is the translation of Anna Politkovskaja's article "Эльбрус превыше Конституции". This article takes us to the Republic of Kabardino-Balkarija, where the Author reports the concrete consequences of the transfer of jurisdiction of some rural villages to the administration of the capital, Nal'čik. The territories of the traditional economy and way of living of the Balkars have been practically confiscated from them, while protesters have a hard life in asking for help and a solution.
 
"L'intera Cecenia nelle mani di una famiglia" ("All of Chechnya in the hands of one clan") is the translation of Anna Politkovskaja's article "Вся Чечня в кругу семьи". In this article, written in the occasion of the fifth anniversary of Ramzan Kadyrov's appointment as President of Chechnya, Anna Politkovskaja draws her considerations on his clan's governorship with the help of a short but astounding list of the recent episodes of violence happened in the Republic, the majority of which seem to be directly connected to the President's entourage.