Yukiko Kikuchi, 25, an exchange student at Moscow State University, wants to make a difference in Chechnya.

Kikuchi, who is also a member of a Moscow-based humanitarian aid group, has watched new buildings and streets constructed in Grozny, but she is also aware bombed-out structures remain.

Despite the reconstruction in the cities, battles continue in mountain-ringed regions between forces seeking the republic's independence and pro-Russian forces, tearing apart its people.