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Russian soldiers stand at a check point in the Chechen town of Urus-Martan, 20 km (12 miles) southwest of Grozny, Sunday, Aug. 29, 2004, with an election poster depicting the region's top police official, Maj. Gen. Alu Alkhanov, the unquestioned favorite among the seven candidates for president, and Russian President Vladimir Putin in the background. Against a backdrop of war and squalor, Chechens voted Sunday for a replacement for their assassinated president, in a vote the Kremlin hopes will bring some stability to a region wracked by a decade of violence. (KEYSTONE/AP Photo/Misha Japaridze)