I tend to agree, Volgadon, that this is a recent attempt at revisionism. The version of the poem I referred to was published in 1962 in the Penguin Book of Russian Verse, edited by Dmitri Obolensky. Obolensky was a respected scholar and historian, and made no comment on the validity of the text.

The verse quoted - "The wicked Chechen creeps up the river bank, sharpening his dagger" - fits well with other writings of Lermontov. There are many commentaries on Lermontov's writings from the Caucasus - for example look at page 3 of this paper by Harsha Ram.

Phil