The Conflict in Chechnya

This brass cup is actually a safety cap used to cover the triggering mechanisms for a Russian landmine. The cup screws over a pressure switch on the explosive device.

I was working late into the night, covering a Russian medical team that was providing emergency care in a makeshift field hospital. They were operating inside a poorly lit old bar in Chechnya. It had been a fairly long, brutal night with many battle casualties, including one burn victim. The members of the medical team were exhausted and they decided it was time to make a toast to their fallen comrades. They asked my producer and I to join them.

My producer, Ingrid Formanek, immediately made an excuse as to why she would be unable to toast, but said I’d be happy to partake. Knowing it would be an insult if we both refused, I drank the toast. They didn’t have any vodka, so the anesthesiologist supplied some liquid from his medical stocks and gathered safety caps (to use as cups) from nearby landmines. They filled the caps and passed them around. Then we made a toast.

I downed the cup filled with whatever alcohol it contained (I believe it was 100% alcohol mixed with water). As soon as I drank the liquid, I could feel all the hair follicles on my head stand up. I managed to swallow, only to find out that the toasts came in groups of three. I still had two more cups to finish!

After I was done, a Russian photographer friend took one of the cups, hauled it back to Moscow and had it engraved. He then waited until I returned and presented me with the cap as a memento of the trip.