| content | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Second Chechen War | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Russian artillery shells separatist positions near the village of Duba-Yurt, January 2000. |
|||||||
|
|||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Russian Federation Chechen loyalists |
 Republic of Ichkeria Caucasian separatists Foreign Mujahideen |
||||||
| Commanders | |||||||
| Vladimir Putin
Gennady Troshev Alexander Baranov Valentin Korabelnikov Akhmad Kadyrov † Ramzan Kadyrov Dzabrail Yamadayev † Sulim Yamadayev Said-Magomed Kakiyev |
Aslan Maskhadov † Sheikh Abdul Halim † Dokka Umarov
Hamzat Gelayev † Shamil Basayev † Akhmed Yevloyev Khattab † Abu al-Walid † Abu Hafs † Muhannad |
||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| At least 93,000 in Chechnya in 1999.[1]
About 50,000 to over 60,000 federal and republican forces in Chechnya in 2006.[2] More in neighbouring regions. |
22,000 in 1999 (Russian estimate).[3] | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| over 5,000 (official figures)[4] - [5] | Over 15,000 killed (Russian estimate)citation needed | ||||||
| Civilian casualties: Est. up to 25,000 killed and up to 5,000 "disappeared" in Chechnya (AI estimate)[6] Est. 50,000 killed in Chechnya (GfbV estimate[7]) More in neighbouring regions More than 600 killed during terrorist attacks in Russia |
|||||||
|
|||||
The Second Chechen War, in a later phase better known as the War in the North Caucasus,[8] was launched by the Russian Federation starting August 26, 1999, in which Russian federal forces largely re-took control of the separatist region of Chechnya.
The Second Chechen War was started in response to the Invasion of Dagestan by the IIPB, and the Russian apartment bombings which Russia blamed on Chechen separatists, although no evidence linking Chechens with the bombings has been released to the public. The campaign largely reversed the outcome of the First Chechen War, in which the region gained de facto independence as the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria. Although it is regarded by many as an internal conflict within the Russian Federation, the war attracted a large number of Jihadist foreign fighters.
During the initial campaign, Russian military and pro-Russian Chechen paramilitary faced Chechen separatists in open combat, and seized the Chechen capital Grozny after a winter siege that lasted from late 1999 to the following February. Russia established direct rule of Chechnya in May 2000 and after the full-scale offensive, Chechen guerrilla resistance throughout the North Caucasus region continued to inflict heavy Russian casualties and challenge Russian political control over Chechnya for several more years. Some Chechen rebels also carried out terrorist attacks against civilians in Russia. These terrorist attacks, as well as widespread human rights violations by Russian and rebel forces, drew international condemnation.
Russia has severely disabled the Chechen rebel movement, although violence still occurs throughout the North Caucasus.[9] Large-scale fighting has been replaced by guerrilla warfare and bombings targeting federal troops and forces of the regional government, with the violence more often spilling over into adjacent regions since 2005. The exact death toll from this conflict is unknown. Unofficial estimates range from 25,000 - 50,000 dead or missing, mostly civilians in Chechnya. No clear figures for Russian losses are known to the public. Both Chechen wars remain largely unpublicized abroad.
Contents |
Historical basis of the conflict
Russian Empire
Chechnya is a region in the Northern Caucasus which has constantly fought against foreign rule, including the Ottoman Turks in the 15th century. The Russian Terek Cossack Host was established in lowland Chechnya in 1577 by free Cossacks who were resettled from the Volga to the Terek River. In 1783 Russia and the Georgian kingdom of Kartl-Kakheti signed the Treaty of Georgievsk, under which Kartl-Kakheti became a Russian protectorate. To secure communications with Georgia and other regions of the Transcaucasia, the Russian Empire began spreading its influence into the Caucasus region, starting the Russian Invasion of the Caucasus in 1817. Russian forces first moved into highland Chechnya in 1830, and the conflict in the area lasted until 1859, when a 250,000 strong army under General Baryatinsky broke down the mountaineers' resistance. However, many troops from the annexed states of the Caucasus also fought unsuccessfully against Russia in the Russo-Turkish War, 1877-78.
Soviet Union
Following the Russian Revolution of 1917, Chechens established a short-lived Caucasian Imamatecitation needed which included parts of Chechnya, Dagestan and Ingushetia; there was also secular pan-Caucasian Mountainous Republic of the Northern Caucasus. The Chechen states were opposed by both sides of the Russian Civil War and most of the resistance was crushed by Bolshevik troops by 1922. Then, months before the creation of the Soviet Union, the Chechen Autonomous Oblast of RSFSR was established. It annexed a part of territory of the former Terek Cossack Host. Chechnya and neighbouring Ingushetia formed the Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic in 1936. In 1941, during World War II, a Chechen revolt broke out, led by Khasan Israilov. Chechens were accused by Stalin of aiding Nazi forces. In February 1944 Stalin deported nearly all the Chechens and Ingushs to Kazakh SSR and Kirghiz SSR, and Siberia. Up to a quarter of these people died during the "resettlement."citation needed[10] The European Parliament has recognized this as an act of genocide.citation needed In 1953, after the death of Stalin, Khrushchev allowed the Chechens to return and the Chechen republic was reinstated. Although the population of the republic experienced widespread political and religious repression, the authority of the Soviet government gradually eroded.
The First Chechen War
During the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Chechnya declared independence. In 1992, Chechen and Ingush leaders signed an agreement splitting the joint Chechen-Ingush republic in two, with Ingushetia joining the Russian Federation and Chechnya remaining independent. The debate over independence ultimately led to a small-scale civil war since 1992, in which the Russians supported the opposition forces against Dzhokhar Dudayev. Thousands of people of non-Chechen ethnicity (mostly Russians) fled the Chechen Republic and Chechnya's industrial production began failing after Russian engineers and workers fled or were expelled. The First Chechen War began in 1994, when Russian forces entered Chechnya to "restore constitutional order". Following nearly two years of brutal fighting, in which an estimated tens of thousands to more than 100,000 people died, and the 1996 Khasavyurt ceasefire agreement, the defeated Russian troops were withdrawn from the devastated republic.
Prelude to the Second Chechen War
Chaos in Chechnya
Following the first war, the separatist government's grip on the chaotic republic was weak, especially outside the ruined capital Grozny. The areas controlled by extremist groups grew larger and the country became increasingly lawless.[11] The war ravages and lack of economic opportunities left large numbers of heavily armed and brutalized former guerrillas with no occupation but further violence. The authority of the government in Grozny was opposed by the unruly warlords like Arbi Barayev and Salman Raduyev. Abductions and raids into other parts of the Northern Caucasus by various Chechen warlords had been steadily increasing.citation needed In lieu of the devastated economic structure, kidnapping emerged as the principal source of income countrywide, procuring over $200 million during the three year independence of the chaotic fledgling state.[12] It has been estimated that up to 1,300 people were kidnapped in Chechnya between 1996 and 1999,[11] and in 1998 a group of four Western hostages were executed. Political violence and religious extremism, blamed on "Wahhabism", was rife as well. In 1998, a state of emergency was declared by the authorities in Grozny. Tensions led to the open clashes like the July 1998 confrontation in Gudermes in which some 50 people died in the fight between Chechen National Guard and Islamist militants.
Russian-Chechen relations 1996–1999
The 1997 election brought to power the separatist president Aslan Maskhadov. In 1998 and 1999 President Maskhadov survived several assassination attempts,citation needed blamed on the Russian intelligence services. In March of 1999, General Gennady Shpigun, the Kremlin's envoy to Chechnya, was kidnapped at the airport in Grozny, and ultimately found dead in 2000 during the war.
Within the Russian government, there was a concern that allowing Chechnya substantial autonomy might lead to a domino effect — other regions within the already-fragmented former Soviet Union might choose to follow suit. The political tensions were fueled in part by allegedly Chechen or pro-Chechen terrorist activity in Russia, as well as border clashes. Former Russian Prime Minister Sergei Stepashin claimed in an interview in January 2000 that the autumn invasion in Chechnya had been planned since March 1999: "As to Chechnya, I can say the following. A plan for active operations has been shaped since March. And we were going to reach Terek in August or September."[13]
Terrorist incidents and border clashes
On November 16, 1996, in Kaspiysk (Dagestan) a bomb destroyed an apartment building housing Russian border guards; 68 people died. The cause of the blast was never determined, but many in Russia blamed it on Chechen rebels.[14] Three people died on April 23, 1997, when a bomb exploded in the Russian railway station of Armavir (Krasnodar Krai), and two on May 28, 1997, when another bomb exploded in the Russian railway station of Pyatigorsk (Stavropol Krai).
On December 22, 1997, forces of Dagestani militants and Chechnya-based Arab warlord Ibn al-Khattab raided the base of the 136th Motor Rifle Brigade of the Russian Army in Buynaksk, Dagestan, inflicting severe losses on the men[15] and equipment of the unit. On April 16, 1998, a Russian army convoy was ambushed in Ingushetia near the Chechen border; among the dead was a general and two colonels, and the local Ingush militants were blamed.citation needed On April 7, 1999, four Russian policemen patrolling the border were killed near Stavropol.citation needed In late May Russia announced that it was closing the Russian-Chechnya border in an attempt to combat terrorist and criminal activity; border guards were ordered to shoot suspects on sight. On June 18, 1999, seven servicemen were killed when Russian border guard posts were attacked in Dagestan. On July 29, 1999, the Russian Interior Ministry troops destroyed a Chechen border post and captured a 800 meter-section of strategic road. On August 22, 1999, 10 Russian policemen were killed by an anti-tank mine blast in North Ossetia, and on August 9, 1999 six servicemen were kidnapped in the Ossetian capital Vladikavkaz. On several occasions, Russian special forces raided deep inside the Chechen territory.citation needed
Planning of the war by Russian government
Former FSB director and prime minister of Russia Sergei Stepashin said in an interview to Novaya gazeta that "the decision to invade Chechnya was made in March 1999... I was prepared for an active intervention. We were planning to be on the north side of the Terek River by August-September of 1999". [16] But the operation was apparently accomplished later.
Conflict in Dagestan
- See: Dagestan War
In August and September of 1999, Shamil Basayev (in association with the Saudi born Khattab, Commander of the Mujahedeen) led two armies of up to 1,400 Chechen, Dagestani, Arab and Kazakh militants from Chechnya into the neighbouring Republic of Dagestan. The purpose was to help local separatist rebels who were attacking Russian Federation forces in the villages of Kadar, Karamakhi, and Chabanmakhicitation needed. This conflict saw the first use of aerial-delivered fuel air explosives (FAE) in populated areas, notably in the village of Tando. By mid-September 1999, the militants were routed from the villages and pushed back into Chechnya. At least several hundred people were killed in the fighting; the Federal side reported 279 servicemen killed and approximately 900 wounded.
Bombings in Russia
Before the wake of the Dagestani invasion had settled, a series of bombings took place in Russia (in Moscow and in Volgodonsk) and in the Dagestani town of Buynaksk. On September 4, 1999, 62 people died in an apartment building housing members of families of Russian soldiers. Over the next two weeks, the bombs targeted three other apartment buildings and a mall; in total nearly 300 people were killed. The Russian government, including then-President Boris Yeltsin, blamed Chechen separatists for the attacks; accused Khattab and Basayev however denied involvement in the bombings. Some high-profile individuals, including the self-exiled Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky[17] and U.S. Senator John McCain,[18] as well as FSB officer turn defector Alexander Litvinenko, have suggested that the FSB staged the bombings to provide a pretext for an invasion of Chechnya.[19] On September 29, Russia demanded that Chechnya extradite the criminals responsible for the bombings in Russia; a day later, Russian troops began their ground offensive.
On January 12, 2004, in a hearing at Moscow City Court closed to the public and the press, Adam Dekushev and Jusuf Krymshankhalov were sentenced to life sentences for delivering explosives to the residential buildings. Both were the members of Karachay-based pro-Chechen Wahhabi group, trained by emir Khattab in Chechnya. The alleged mastermind of the bombings, Achemez Gochiyaev, has never been apprehended.[20] The bombing trial, however, has raised questions by observers.[21][22]
1999–2000 Russian offensive
Air war
|
|||||
In late August and September 1999, Russia mounted a massive air campaign over Chechnya, with the stated aim of wiping out militants who invaded Dagestan the previous month. On August 26, 1999 Russia acknowledged bombing raids in Chechnya.[23] The Russian air strikes were reported to have killed hundreds of civilianscitation needed and forced at least 100,000 Chechens to flee their homes to the safety; the neighbouring region of Ingushetia was reported to have appealed for United Nations aid to deal with tens of thousands of refugees.[24] On October 2, 1999, Russia's Ministry of Emergency Situations admitted that 78,000 people have fled the air strikes in Chechnya; most of them were heading for Ingushetia, where they were arriving at a rate of 5,000 to 6,000 a day.
As of September 22, 1999 Deputy Interior Minister Igor Zubov said that Russian troops had surrounded Chechnya and were prepared to retake the region, but the military planners were advising against a ground invasion because of the likelihood of heavy Russian casualties. By the end of September Russian forces made repeated incursions onto Chechen soil, and had captured some territory.citation needed
Land war
The Chechen conflict entered a new phase on October 1, 1999, when Russia's new Prime Minister Vladimir Putin declared the authority of Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov and his parliament illegitimate. At this time, Vladimir Putin announced that Russian troops would initiate a land invasion but progress only as far as the Terek River, which cuts the northern third of Chechnya off from the rest of the republic. Putin's stated intention was to take control of Chechnya's northern plain and establish a cordon sanitaire against further Chechen aggression; however, later recalled that the cordon alone was "pointless and technically impossible," apparently because of Chechnya's rugged terrain. According to Russian accounts, Putin accelerated a plan for a major crackdown against Chechnya that had been drawn up months earlier.[25]
The Russian army moved with ease in the wide open spaces of northern Chechnya and on October 5, 1999, reached the Terek River. On this day, a bus filled with refugees was reportedly hit by a Russian tank shell, killing at least 11 civilians;[26] two days later, Russian Su-24 fighter bombers dropped cluster bombs on the village of Elistanzhi, killing some 35 people.[27] On October 10, 1999, Maskhadov outlined a peace plan offering a crackdown on renegade warlords;[27] the offer was rejected by the Russian side. He also appealed to NATO to help end fighting between his forces and Russian troops, without effect.[28]
On October 12, 1999, the Russian forces crossed the Terek and began a two-pronged advance on the capital Grozny to the south. Hoping to avoid the significant casualties which plagued the first Chechen War, the Russians advanced slowly and in force, making extensive use of artillery and air power in an attempt to soften Chechen defences. Many thousands of civilians fled the Russian advance, leaving Chechnya for neighbouring Russian republics. Their numbers were later estimated to reach 200,000 to 350,000, out of the approximately 800,000 residents of the Chechen Republic. The Russians appeared to be taking no chances with the Chechen population in its rear areas, setting up "filtration camps" in October in northern Chechnya for detaining suspected members of bandformirovaniya ("bandit formations").
On October 15, 1999, Russian forces took control of a strategic ridge within artillery range of the Chechen capital Grozny after mounting an intense tank and artillery barrage against Chechen fighters. In response, President Maskhadov declared a gazavat (holy war) to confront the approaching Russian army. Martial law was declared in Ichkeria and reservists were called; but no martial law or state of emergency had been declared in Chechnya or Russia by the Russian government.[29] The next day, Russian forces captured strategic Tersky heights within sight of Grozny, dislodging 200 entrenched Chechen fighters. After heavy fighting, Russia seized the Chechen base in the village of Goragorsky, west of the city.[30]
On October 21, 1999, a Russian short-range ballistic missile strike on the central Grozny killed more than 140 people, including many women and children, and left hundreds more wounded. A Russian spokesman said the busy market place was targeted because it was used by rebels as an arms bazaar.[31] Eight days later Russian aircraft carried out a rocket attack on a large convoy of refugees heading into Ingushetia, killing at least 25 civilians including Red Cross workers and journalists.[32] Two days later the Russian forces conducted a heavy artillery and rocket attack on Samashki. Some claimed that civilians were killed in Samashki in revenge for the heavy casualties suffered there by Russian forces during the first war.[33]
On November 12, 1999, the Russian flag was raised over Chechnya's second largest city, Gudermes, when the local Chechen commanders, the Yamadayev brothers, defected to the federal side; the Russians also entered the bombed-out former Cossack village of Asinovskaya. Two days later, 30 Russian solders were killed during a Chechen counterattack on the outskirts of the village of Kulary;citation needed the fighting in and around Kulary continued until January 2000. On November 17, 1999, Russian soldiers dislodged rebels in Bamut, the symbolic rebel stronghold in the first war; dozens of Chechen fighters and many civilians were reported killed, and the village was leveled in the FAE bombing. Two days later, after a failed attempt five days earlier, Russian forces managed to capture the village of Achkhoy-Martan.
On November 26, 1999, Deputy Army Chief of Staff Valery Manilov said that phase two of the Chechnya campaign was just about complete, and a final third phase was about to begin. According to Manilov, the aim of the third phase was to destroy "bandit groups" in the mountains. A few days later Russia's Defense Minister Igor Sergeyev said Russian forces might need up to three more months to complete their military campaign in Chechnya, while some generals said the offensive could be over by New Year's Day. The next day the Chechens briefly recaptured the town of Novogroznensky.[34]
On December 1, 1999, after weeks of heavy fighting, Russian forces under Major General Vladimir Shamanov took control of Alkhan-Yurt, a village just south of Grozny. The Chechen and foreign fighters inflicted heavy losses on the Russian forces, reportedly killing more than 70 Russian soldiers before retreating[35], suffering heavy losses of their own.[36] During the two weeks that followed, Russian forces went on a rampage, looting and burning the village and executing at least 17 civilians.citation needed On the same day, Chechen separatist forces began carrying out a series of counterattacks against federal troops in several villages as well as in the outskirts of Gudermes. Chechen fighters in Argun, a small town five kilometers east of Grozny, put up some of the strongest resistance to federal troops since the start of Moscow's military offensive.citation needed The rebels in the town of Urus-Martan also offered fierce resistance, employing guerrilla tactics Russia had been anxious to avoid; by December 9, 1999, Russian forces were still bombarding Urus-Martan, although Chechen commanders said their fighters had already pulled out.citation needed
On December 4, 1999, the commander of Russian forces in the North Caucasus, General Viktor Kazantsev, claimed that Grozny was fully blockaded by Russian troops. The Russian military's next task was the seizure of the town of Shali, 20 kilometers southeast of the capital, one of the last remaining separatist-held towns apart from Grozny. Russian troops started by capturing two bridges that link Shali to the capital, and by December 11, 1999, Russian troops had encircled Shali and were slowly forcing rebel forces out. On December 13, 1999, two Russian helicopters were destroyed while searching for an Su-25 attack plane that crashed near the village of Bachi-Yurt earlier.citation needed An ultimatum issued by General Gennady Troshev ordered Shali to surrender or face "destruction".citation needed By mid-December the Russian military was concentrating attacks in southern parts of Chechnya and preparing to launch another offensive from Dagestan.
Siege of Grozny
Meanwhile, the assault on Grozny started in early December. The battle accompanied by the struggle for the neighbouring settlements ended when the Russian army seized the city on February 2, 2000.
According to the official Russian figures, at least 368 federal troops and an unknown number of pro-Russian militiamen died in Grozny. The rebel forces too suffered heavy losses, including losing several top commanders. Russian Defense Minister Igor Sergeyev said that 1,500 rebels were killed trying to leave Grozny. The rebels said they lost at least 400 fighters in the mine field at Alkhan-Kala.[37]
The siege and fighting left the capital devastated like no other European city since World War II; in 2003 the United Nations called Grozny the most destroyed city on Earth.[38]
The Russians suffered heavy losses also as they advanced elsewhere, and from the series of Chechen counter attacks and convoy ambushes. On January 26, 2000, the Russian government announced that 1,173 servicemen had been killed in Chechnya since October[39] - a more than double rise from 544 killed reported just 19 days earlier.[40] On February 4, 2000, in an attempt to stop the Chechen retreat, Russian forces bombed the village of Katyr-Yurt and then a civilian convoy under white flags, killing at least 170 civilians in the action later proven in the court to be a war crime.
Battle for the mountains
Heavy fighting accompanied by a massive shelling and bombing continued through the winter of 2000 in the mountainous south of Chechnya, particularly in the areas around Argun, Vedeno and Shatoy, where the fighting involving Russian paratroopers raged since the late 1999.
On February 9, 2000 a Russian tactical missile hit a crowd of people who had came to the local administration building in Shali, a town previously declared as one of the "safe areas", to collect their pensions. The attack was a response to a report that a group of fighters had entered the town. The missile is estimated to have killed some 150 civilians, and was followed by an attack by combat helicopters causing further casualties.[41] Human Rights Watch has called on the Russian military to stop using FAE, known in Russia as "vacuum bombs", in Chechnya, concerned about the large number of civilian casualties caused by what it calls "the widespread and often indiscriminate bombing and shelling by Russian forces".[42] On February 18, 2000, a Russian army transport helicopter was shot down in the south, killing 15 men aboard, Russian Interior Minister Vladimir Rushailo said in a rare admission by Moscow of losses in the war.[43]
On February 29, 2000, United Army Group commander Gennady Troshev said that "the counter-terrorism operation in Chechnya is over. It will take a couple of weeks longer to pick up splinter groups now." Russia's Defense Minister, Marshal of the Russian Federation Igor Sergeyev, evaluated numerical strength of the rebels at between 2,000 and 2,500 men, "scattered all over Chechnya." On the same day, a Russian VDV paratroop company from Pskov was attacked by Chechen and Arab fighters near the village of Ulus-Kert in Chechnya's southern lowlands; at least 84 Russian soldiers were killed in the especially heavy fighting. The official newspaper of the Russian Ministry of Defense reported that at least 400 rebels were killed, figures which they said were based on radio-intercept data, intelligence reports, eyewittnesses, local residents and captured Chechens.[44] On March 2, 2000, a unit of OMON from Podolsk opened fire in Grozny on another OMON unit from Sergiyev Posad; at least 24 servicemen were killed in the incident.
In March a large group of more than 1,000 Chechen fighters led by field commander Ruslan Gelayev, pursued since their withdrawal from Grozny, entered the village of Komsomolskoye in the Chechen foothills; they held off a full-scale Russian attack on the town for over two weeks, but suffered hundreds of casualties in the process;citation needed the Russians also admitted more than 50 killed. On March 29, 2000, a total of about 52 Russian soldiers were killed as a result of the rebel ambush on the OMON convoy from Perm.citation needed
On April 23, 2000, a 22-vehicle convoy carrying ammunition and other supplies to the airborne unit was ambushed near Serzhen-Yurt in the Vedeno Gorge, by an estimated 80 to 100 "bandits" according to General Troshev; in the ensuing 4-hour battle the federal side lost 15 government soldiers, according to the Russian defense minister. General Troshev told the press that the bodies of four rebel fighters were found. The Russian Airborne Troops headquarters later stated that 20 rebels were killed and 2 taken prisoner.[45] Soon, the Russian forces seized last populated centres of the organized resistance. (Another offensive against the remaining mountain strongholds was launch by the Russian forces in December 2000.)
Restoration of federal government
Russian President Vladimir Putin established direct rule of Chechnya in May 2000. The following month, Putin appointed Akhmad Kadyrov interim head of the pro-Moscow government. This development met with early approval in the rest of Russia, but the continued deaths of Russian troops dampened public enthusiasm. On March 23, 2003, a new Chechen constitution was passed in a controversial referendum which international observers described as deeply flawed. The 2003 Constitution granted the Chechen Republic a significant degree of autonomy, but still tied it firmly to Russia and Moscow's rule, and went into force on April 2, 2003. The referendum was strongly supported by the Russian government but met a harsh critical response from Chechen separatists; many citizens chose to boycott the ballot.citation needed Since December 2005, Ramzan Kadyrov, leader of the pro-Moscow militia leader known as kadyrovites, had been functioning as the Chechnya's de-facto ruler. Kadyrov, whose irregular forces are accused of carrying out many of the abductions and atrocities, has become Chechnya's most powerful leader and on February 2007, with support from Putin, Ramzan Kadyrov replaced Alu Alkhanov as president.
Insurgency
|
|||||
Guerrilla war in Chechnya
Although large-scale fighting within Chechnya had ceased, daily attacks continued particularly in the southern portions of Chechnya, spilling into nearby territories of the caucasus as well, especially since the Caucasian Front (Chechen War) was established. Typically small rebel units target Russian and pro-Russian officials, security forces, and military and police convoys and vehicles. The rebel units employ IEDs and sometimes group up for larger raids. Russian forces then retaliate with artillery and air strikes, as well as counter-insurgency operations. Most soldiers in Chechnya are now kontraktniki (contract soldiers) as opposed to the earlier conscripts. While Russia continues to maintain military presence within Chechnya, Russia's federal forces play less of a direct role in Chechnya. Pro-Kremlin Chechen forces under the command of the local strongman Ramzan Kadyrov, known as the kadyrovtsy now dominate law enforcement and security operations, with many members (including Kadyrov himself) being former Chechen rebels who have defected since 1999. Since 2004, the Kadyrovtsy were partly incorporated into two Interior Ministry units North and South (Sever and Yug). Two other units of the Chechen pro-Moscow forces, East and West (Vostok and Zapad), are commanded by Sulim Yamadayev (Vostok) and Said-Magomed Kakiyev (Zapad) and their men.[46]
Suicide attacks
Between June 2000 and September 2004 Chechen insurgents added suicide attacks to their tactics. During this period there have been 23 Chechen related suicide attacks in and outside Chechnya. The profiles of the Chechen suicide bombers have varied just as much as the circumstances surrounding the bombings, most of which targeted military or government-related targets.
Assassinations
Both sides of the war carried out multiple assassinations. The most prominent of these included the February 13, 2004, killing of exiled former separatist Chechen President Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev in Qatar, and the May 9, 2004, killing of pro-Russian Chechen President Akhmad Kadyrov during the parade in Grozny.
Caucasus Front
While the anti-Russian local insurgencies in the North Caucasus started even before the war, in May 2005, two months after Maskahdov's death, the Chechen separatists officially announced that they had formed a Caucasus Front within the framework of "reforming the system of military-political power." Along with the Chechen, Dagestani and Ingush "sectors," the Stavropol, Kabardin-Balkar, Krasnodar, Karachai-Circassian, Ossetian and Adyghe jamaats were included in it. This, in essence, means that practically all the regions of the Russia's south are involved in the hostilities.
The Chechen separatist movement has taken on a new role as the official ideological, logistical and, probably, financial hub of the new insurgency in the North Caucasus.[47] Increasingly frequent clashes between federal forces and local militants continue in Dagestan, while sporadic fighting erupts in the other southern Russia regions, most notably in Ingushetia, but also elsewhere, notably in Nalchik on October 13, 2005.
Human rights and terrorism
Human rights and war crimes
 |
The neutrality of this section is disputed. Please see the discussion on the talk page.(April 2008) Please do not remove this message until the dispute is resolved. |
| |||||