Chechnya is a breakaway republic in Russian
North
Caucasia seeking independence from
Russia.
- Capital:
Grozny
- Population: 1.3 million
- Area: 19.3 thousand square km
- Other Principal Cities:
Gudermes[?],
Argun[?] and
Shali[?]
Чеченская Республика Российской
Федерации
Chechenskaya Respublika Rossiyskoy Federatsii
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- Borders:
Chechen society has traditionally been organized around
many autonomous local clans, called
teips[?]. Even today, many Chechens consider themselves
loyal to their teip above all, one reason why it has been
difficult to forge a united political front against Russia.
Imperial Russian forces began moving into Chechnya in
1830 to secure Russia's borders with the
Ottoman Empire. The Chechens resisted fiercely, led by
national hero
Imam Shamil[?], but Chechnya was finally incorporated
into the
Russian Empire in
1859.
Soviet dictator
Josef Stalin granted the Chechnya-Ingushetia
region status as an autonomous republic within the Soviet
Union in 1936. During
World War II, the
Soviet government accused the Chechens of cooperating
with the
Nazi invaders. On orders from Stalin, the entire
population of the republic was exiled to
Kazakhstan. Over a quarter died. The Chechens were
allowed to return only in
1957, four years after Stalin's death in
1953.
Since Chechnya declared independence in
1991, Russia has attempted to re-take the country twice.
Russia refuses to recognize Chechen independence. Many
ethnic minorities exist in the Russian Federation alongside
a predominately Russian culture, and commentators speculate
that if Russia permits Chechen independence, then other
groups might also push for independence. The civil wars
following the breakup of
Yugoslavia serve as a example Russians do not want to
follow.
On
October 27,
1991,
Dzhokhar Dudayev[?] was elected president of Chechnya.
He declared independence on
November 1,
1991. Under Dudayev's rule, the Chechen economy fell
apart as organized criminal gangs acquired progressively
more power. In
1992, Dudayev broke ties with
Ingushetia. The Russian government supported a failed
coup designed to overthrow Dudayev in 1994.
Russian forces overran Grozny in
November,
1994. Although the Russians achieved some initial
successes, the Russian military made a number of critical
strategic blunders during the Chechnya campaign and was
widely perceived as incompetent. Led by
Aslan Maskhadov[?], the Chechens conducted successful
guerrilla operations from the mountainous terrain.
Russian President
Boris Yeltsin declared a unilateral cease-fire in
April
1995.
In
June,
1995, Chechen guerrillas occupied a hospital in southern
Russian town of
Budyonnovsk[?], taking over 1,000 hostages. Russian
forces attempted to storm the hospital twice and failed. The
Chechens were allowed to leave after freeing their hostages.
This incident, televised accounts of Chechen soldiers
torturing and executing captured Russian soldiers and
Chechen collaborators, and the resulting widespread
demoralization of the Russian army, led to a Russian
withdrawal and the beginning of negotiations on
March 21,
1996.
President Dudayev was killed in a rocket attack on
April 21,
1996. Negotations on Chechen independence were
repeatedly postponed by the Russians due to alleged
terrorist attacks, and finally tabled in
August,
1996.
Maskhadov was elected President in 1997, but was unable
to consolidate control as the country devolved into regional
bickering among local teip leaders and organized criminal
factions.
Renegade Chechen army commanders reportedly financed by
Osama bin Laden led a band of soldiers into
Dagestan[?] in
August,
1999. On
September 9,
1999, Chechens were blamed for the
bombing of an apartment complex in
Moscow and several other unexplained explosions in
Russia. Despite a lack of evidence, Russia's new prime
minister,
Vladimir Putin, ordered forces back into Chechen
territory on these pretexts. Currently, most of Chechnya is
occupied by the Russian military, who have installed a
puppet government of Chechen collaborators into local
government offices. Chechens who work in government jobs are
very often assassinated by the Chechen rebel forces.
Many Chechen rebels have retreated into
Kerigo Gorge[?] in
Georgia. Russia accuses the Georgian government of
willingly harboring terrorists and demands that the Georgian
government take action against the Chechens. Several
Chechens have been detained by Georgian authorities, but
Russia claims that these are empty gestures, and has
repeatedly warned Georgia that if real measures are not
taken soon to control the Chechen rebels, it will invade and
control them itself. Many analysts believe that Russia is
waiting for the
United States to invade
Iraq first, so that it can label the Chechens as
terrorists, and justify an invasion of Georgia on the
same grounds as the United States claim in Iraq.
Putin announced that the Chechen war had ended in early
2002, but Chechen forces still effectively control a
large portion of the mountainous southern regions of the
country and regularly skirmish with Russian troops.
Collaborators are also regular targets. Russian withdrawal
is unlikely, due both to widespread outrage over the
Moscow theater siege and to the notorious corruption of
the Russian army.
The war budget for Chechnya is a tremendous source of
personal revenue for various officials who skim money
designated for equipment and soldiers' salaries, and most of
the Chechen soldiers' weapons are Russian made and rumored
to have been purchased from Russian soldiers. For their
part, the Chechen rebels control a lucrative illegal drug
and oil smuggling trade, and routinely kidnap foreign aid
workers and others for ransom. There is also strong evidence
that local terrorist activity is suported with money and
arms from international extremist
Muslim
terrorist organizations such as
Al-Qaeda.
Both the Russian and Chechen armies have been widely
criticized by human rights groups such as
Amnesty International for alleged war crimes committed
during the two Chechen wars, including well-documented
accusations on both sides of rape, torture, looting, and the
murder of civilians.
Colonel Yuri Budanov became the first Russian to be tried
on charges of
war crimes committed in Chechnya. He was brought to
trial in late
2002 on charges of
murder and
abduction, after being accused of raping and strangling
Heda Kungayeva, an 18 year old Chechen girl whom Budanov
claims was a rebel
sniper. In a controversial decision, he was found not
guilty by reason of insanity on
December 31,
2002 and committed to a
psychiatric hospital for further evaluation and
treatment.
On
October 23,
2002, a group of Chechen guerrillas seized the House of
Culture for the State Ball-Bearing Plant Number 1 in
Moscow, taking over 700 theatergoers and performers
hostage in what has been called the
Moscow Theatre Siege. They indicated that the hostages
would be killed if Russian forces did not immediately
withdraw from Chechnya, and that the building would be blown
up if authorities attempted to enter the building. Russian
commandos pumped sleeping gas into the building several
days later, entered the building, and shot the unconscious
terrorists. The gas, which the Russian government refused to
identify to doctors, also killed at least 115 of the
hostages. The incident triggered a shift in Russian policy
towards Chechnya, with Russian President
Vladimir Putin indicating the beginnings of a new, hard
line approach and a
United States style
war on terrorism.
Following the Moscow theatre siege, Russia announced
plans to intensify its campaign in Chechnya, cancelling
scheduled troop withdrawals, surrounding Chechen refugee
camps with soldiers, and increasing the frequency of
assaults on Chechen rebel positions. The Chechens have
responded in kind, stepping up guerrilla operations and
rocket attacks on Russian helicopters.
At about 2:30 PM local time on
December 27, 2002, two car bombs were driven at high
speed into the
Grozny headquarters of Chechnya's
Russian-backed government in an apparent suicide attack,
killing at least 61 people, injuring at least 76, and
destroying the Chechen government administrative building.
The next day, Russian counterterrorism officials accused
President Mashkadov of conspiring with Chechen warlord
Shamil Basayev[?] and an
Arab named
Abu al-Walid[?], said to be a member of a terrorist
organization called the
Muslim Brotherhood, to plan the attack. Mashkadov issued
a statement condemning the attacks and denying any
involvement.
According to Russian officials, the vehicles used in the
attacks were a large, heavy truck and a smaller Jeep-type
vehicle with Russian military license plates. The drivers
wore Russian military uniforms and carried official passes
which allowed them through three successive military
checkpoints on their way to the headquarters building. A
guard at the fourth and final checkpoint attempted to
inspect the vehicles, and began firing on the trucks as they
drove through the checkpoint towards the building.
Chechnya is a [[republic]. The president,
Aslan Maskhadov[?], was elected in an internationally
monitored election in
1997. Maskhadov left Grozny and moved to the
rebel-controlled areas of the south with the onset of the
Second Chechen War. President Maskhadov has been unable to
influence a number of warlords who retain effective control
over Chechen territory. Russia refuses to recognize the
Chechen government. Most other countries do not officially
recognize Chechen independence, in order to avoid
jeopardizing their diplomatic relationships with Russia.
The Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister is
Akhmed Zakayev, appointed by President Maskhadov shortly
after the 1997 election. After the theater siege, Russia
demanded his extradition from
Denmark, and later, the
United Kingdom, but to date this has been denied.
Following their 1999 invasion, the Russians installed a
puppet government based in Grozny and run by Chechen
collaborators. The President of this government is
Akhmad Kadryov[?].
Rudnik Dudayev[?] is head of the Chechen Security
Council.
- Much of the material in these articles comes
from the
CIA World Factbook 2000 and the 2003 U.S. Department
of State website.
- Russia's Chechen Wars 1994 - 2000: Lessons
from Urban Combat, by Olga Oliker.
ISBN 0-8330-2998-3. A strategic and tactical
analysis of the Chechen Wars.
-
46 Die in Chechen Suicide Attack (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A45863-2002Dec27.html)
by Sharon LaFraniere. The Washington Post, Saturday,
December 28, 2002; Page A01
-
Russia Links Arab Millitants to Bombing in Chechnya
(http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/29/international/europe/29RUSS.html?ex=1041742800&en=4a77d5edfa2b32e6&ei=5062&partner=GOOGLE)
by Michael Wines. The New York Times, December 28, 2002
-
Court Rules Russian Colonel Insane (http://europe.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/europe/12/31/russia.colonel/)
CNN, December 31, 2002
