Stick to the French, Alex

Once again, Alex's attempt at a Russian accent lets him down. In the category Rebel Yell was this: "Da! As separatists fighting a rebel war in this Russian region, we've often fought in its capital" Grozhny ... as he pronounced it. But Grozny (Грозный) has a З (Z), not a Ж (Zh).


A tidbit of history: Grozny is the Russian name (it means "terrible" or "threatening") given to the Chechen city the first time the Russians went to war there. Originally, it was called Solzha-gale (Solzha-ghala or Solzhakala (Соьлжа-Гiала, Sölƶa-Ġala). In 1996, during the short-lived independent republic days, it was renamed Dzokhar-Ghala (Джовхар-Гiала, Dƶovxar-Ġala) after Dzhokhar Dudaev, the first president of the separatist Chechen Republic of Ichkeria. An attempt was made to rename it again in 2005, this time to Akhmadkala after Akhmad Kadyrov, but his son, the current Kremlin-installed president Ramzan, vetoed that as non-democratic.