In France's eastern city of Dijon, the tension was sparked by an attack on a 16-year-old member of the Chechen community on June 10.
Lack of or belated official recognition marked Muslim contribution to the Soviet war effort, even though it was an ethnic Kazakh soldier, Rakhimzhan Qoshkarbaev who was the first to raise former USSR’s flag at the German parliament building.
On the 160th anniversary of Shamil's surrender to Tsarist forces, he inspires courage among the youth of Dagestan, including MMA champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. But in neighbouring Chechnya, he's viewed differently.
Most people in the Caucasus feel they are facing a cultural onslaught, equating the bill to the policy of former Russian emperor Tsar Nicholas II, who wanted Russian to be prioritised over other native languages.
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