Russia and Chechnya have been warring on and off since 1991. The war is unpopular in the west. So, while fighting does continue, Russia is under pressure to not go full out. Two quotes.

Condoleezza Rice: "For instance, on Chechnya, we clearly have differences with the Russian government about Chechnya. We've said to them that we fully agree that the Chechen leadership should not involve itself with terrorist elements in that region, and there are terrorist elements in that region. But that not every Chechen is a terrorist and that the Chechens' legitimate aspirations for political solution should be pursued by the Russians. And we have been very actively pressing the Russian government to move on the political front with Chechnya".

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee: "Western criticism of the Chechen war has heightened Russian suspicions about US and Western activity in neighboring areas, be it energy pipeline decisions involving the Caucasus and Central Asia, NATO's continuing role in the Balkans, or NATO's relations with the Baltic states".

Russia is very sensitive to how the West responds to such issues. My guess is that IF Chechen rebels hijacked the planes, it would give Putin the go ahead to wipe them out. And he would. And like Catz stated, the Russians have historically not had much of a hang up regarding human rights.

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