A phone call from a small republic played a vital role in Malaysia's effort to retrieve bodies and the black box from Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, which was blown out of Ukrainian skies in 2014.
The all-important call came from Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, who appealed to separatists in control of ground zero where MH17's wreckage and remains of its passengers were located, to help Kuala Lumpur.
On the other end was Alexander Borodai, the leader of the self-declared Donetsk People's Republic.
Before they parted ways, Borodai told Lieutenant-Colonel Muhammad Mustafa Omar — then a major who was one of the leaders of the Malaysian team sent to retrieve the black box and bodies — that Kadyrov had convinced him Malaysia was a "good friend" in need.
Mustafa said Borodai revealed that the Chechen leader was his close friend and that Malaysia, being a "good Muslim country", should be helped.
"That call was what prompted him (to help Malaysia)."
Mustafa added that former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's role in backdoor negotiations also helped with the retrieval mission. He attributed the mission's success partly to the unofficial diplomatic relations between Malaysia and Chechnya.
"In 2001, (then) Chechnya president Aslan Maskdov sent a letter to (former prime minister) Tun Dr Mahathir (Mohamad) for help in urging Russia to negotiate with Chechnya in ending the conflict between the two countries.
"The request was only possible due to Dr Mahathir's good relations with the Russian government and our stand in supporting Muslim countries through the Organisation of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC).
"In 2003, during the OIC conference in Kuala Lumpur, Dr Mahathir highlighted to Russian President (Vladimir) Putin on the need for Chechnya to be independent.
"So, this could have prompted (Kadyrov) to call Borodai, asking him to help Malaysia," Mustafa said, adding that Malaysia's exceptional handling of the incident served as a good reminder of how diplomatic policies, even towards non-state actors, had immensely benefited Malaysia.
"Chechnya is just a non-state actor... we helped them before, and they reciprocated later."