Everything happening in Chechnya, Ingushetia, and the North Caucasus in general—and what people from that region are doing in Moscow—forces us once again to think about the question: Do we want, and can we, live with these people in one state, one city, one society? Zyazikov kills Yevloyev. The Yevloyevs publicly declare a blood feud against the Zyazikovs. Kadyrov kills Yamadayev. And explains it as a blood feud. The Yamadayevs declare a blood feud against Kadyrov. And so on and so forth. All these people are very different. In their political views, education, attitude toward religion, clan affiliation, and whether they belong to “the authorities” or “the opposition.” Unfortunately, all of North Caucasian society and all its elites are united by only one thing: the desire to follow bestial laws and customs. Paradoxically, lately even fairly liberal media outlets have been letting slip things like, “ah, the Caucasus... it must be respected... such people... ancient customs... blood feud.” Blood feud as a phenomenon is acquiring a kind of romantic aura. And this is no longer just, and not only, Yulia Latynina and company. To me, blood feud is in the same category as sex with sheep. And it is just as romantic. It is just as ancient a custom. And it deserves exactly the same degree of respect. The Russians, too, once had blood feuds. But Yaroslav the Wise (Grand Prince of Kyiv) abolished them long ago. Since then, it has been a crime. And not just formally: society genuinely condemns it. Of course, we too have bastards who turned the personal tragedy of that Ossetian man who lost his family in a plane crash and then killed the air traffic controller into a kind of national heroism. But still, the overwhelming majority of people are capable of viewing this appropriately. But not in the North Caucasus. Reports from there about declarations of blood feud are now received like updates on the implementation of the national project “Agriculture.” Just think about the phrase itself: "Blood Feud of the Chechen OMON." And yet this is an ordinary newspaper headline describing an ordinary phenomenon. I am convinced that anyone publicly declaring a blood feud should be arrested immediately and put on trial. If a civil servant does it, they should be thrown out of public service once and for all. But that does not happen. Chechens, Ingush, and others continue playing the entertaining game of “we don’t need laws, we have the laws of the mountains,” and our law enforcement agencies are unable to respond. And in a way, responding seems pointless: after all, you cannot change a people’s mentality with a line in a statute. It is not fringe figures crying out for blood feud—it is the national elite. Will you say this is the “Chechenization of the conflict”? Meaning, let them slaughter each other? But they have been slaughtering each other for years now in the streets of Moscow. I categorically refuse to accept that some basmachi (a derogatory term for armed Muslim insurgents) are running around Moscow taking revenge on one another with assault rifles. I am not even satisfied with the formula “let them go back to their auls (mountain villages) and do whatever they want there.” If this is my country, then I do not want regions to exist within it where blood feud is a normal and socially accepted phenomenon. I want to understand: where are the opinions of respected religious leaders? Why is every statement about a death sentence not accompanied by their outraged comments? Where are the much-talked-about elders whose opinions, supposedly, people in the Caucasus listen to so closely? Can they actually influence anything? Then let them influence it. Or are they, as I suspect, simply senile old men who like to dance in circles waving wooden sticks? The latest events are cause for serious reflection. This issue cannot be solved with tolerance lessons or budget infusions. We cannot live normally with peoples who themselves declare that they want to live like animals. The question of coexistence is long overdue—past overdue.