 Small and fiercely independent,the republic of Chechnya has been embroiled for years in a war for self-determination against Russia. The ruined cityscape of Grozny and the scarred roads and fields of the countryside bear witness to a conflict that has been marked both by brutal occupation and terrorist resistance. This film is a journey that leads the viewer behind the lines on both sides, and into the hearts of civilians and soldiers alike. Film crews accompany Russian troops on "cleansing missions" through residential districts of Grozny, and spend 24 tense hours at a Russian checkpoint. They also go undercover in the border regions where a radical Islam increasingly motivates Chechen fighters and provides glimpses of the webs of special interest woven around this horrific conflict by the United States, the Wahabist Muslims and the Georgians.