Putin, friend of the UK and hammer of Chechnya

The Chechen capital, Grozny, after heavy attack

President Putin declared that the war in Chechnya would continue until all rebels had surrendered or been killed.

It remains a popular cause in Russia - despite the latest suggestion from an opposition leader that the Russian army in the region is falling apart, afflicted by alcoholism and drug addiction.

Mr Putin will simply brush such criticism aside - just as he has ignored all the protests of the international community.

We investigated how Britain's handling of the Chechnya war measures up to the Government's promise of an 'ethical dimension'?

Whereas outrages in Sierra Leone brought firm, direct intervention by British forces, there was never any danger that Britain or its allies would contemplate a military adventure in Chechnya.

Untouchable?

The argument went that aggression was not the right way to deal with the new Russian president. Instead, Tony Blair rushed to Russia a few days later to be the first foreign leader to congratulate Mr Putin on his election victory, confining his complaints to a few stern words.

Chechen refugees queue for water

Mr Blair's warnings were always likely to fall on deaf ears, as Mr Putin made clear at the same news conference in St Petersburg: he argued, as he has done consistently, that Russia was simply dealing with internal dissent - comparing the problem to Northern Ireland or the Basque Country.

The truth is that Russia, as a nuclear power, can act with comparative impunity inside is own borders - and does so without regard to the normal niceties of modern conflict.

What's more, Mr Putin knows that his country is so important that no one is likely to risk upsetting him too much. Tony Blair was remarkably frank - as he outlined the positive side of Anglo-Russian relations.

They call it constructive engagement. But does it have an ethical dimension?

In April, the UN Human Rights Commissioner Mary Robinson travelled to the region to meet Chechen refugees - and invited people to confront some awkward realities.

Tony Blair begged to differ, as he explained when Vladimir Putin visited London two weeks later - enjoying the accolade of tea at Buckingham Palace.

Talking tough

A Russian soldier prepares to fire on Grozny

The policy, then, was to rely on strong words: President Clinton adopted the same line. And when the parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe tried to have Russia suspended in June, national governments resisted the pressure.

The British Labour peer, Lord Judd, has produced several reports for the Council of Europe - which has condemned Russia's actions as unacceptable.

The Labour MEP Glenys Kinnock is a member of both the foreign affairs and development committees in the European Parliament, and also chairs a think-tank working on conflict-resolution in Chechnya. Did she think there was an inconsistency between British attitudes to Sierra Leone and Chechnya?

She explains her viewpoint, as do the other figures mentioned above in our special report. You can listen to it in full be clicking on the audio button on the left-hand side of the page.