A Chechen woman and her grandson stand on a platform at their appartment in the Chechen war-ruined capital of Grozny. A Chechen woman and her grandson stand on a platform, what is left of their destroyed balcony, at their appartment in the Chechen war-ruined capital of Grozny, October 25, 2004. Russian President Vladimir Putin had sent troops to Chechnya in 1999 to end the region's short-lived independence won in the first war of 1994-96. REUTERS/S.Dal