The ''', '''Chechnia''', or '''Chechenia''', is a
Federal Subject of
Russia (a
Republic ). Bordering
Stavropol Krai to the northwest, the republic of
Dagestan to the northeast and east,
Georgia to the south, and the republics of
Ingushetia and
North Ossetia to the west, it is located in the
Northern Caucasus mountains, in the
Southern Federal District .
During the
Collapse Of The Soviet Union in
1991 , the government of the republic declared independence as the .
As Of 2006 , their independence has not been recognized by any state. On
September 6 1991 , militants of
National Congress Of Chechen People (NCChP), headed by
Dzhokhar Dudayev , stormed a session of the
Chechen-Ingush ASSR parliament, killing the chief of the Soviet Union Communist Party (PCUS) of Grozny,
Vitali Kutsenko , severely injuring several other parliamentaries, and effectively dissolving the government of the Chechen-Ingush ASSR.
This situation, as well as the economic importance of Chechnya due to several oil and gas pipelines on its territory, and the fact that constitutionally Chechnya, unlike Soviet Socialist Republics, did not have the right to secede, has led to armed conflicts between the forces of the self-declared government and the Russian Federal army.
Chechen officials claim that between 1994 and 2004 over 200,000 people were killed in Chechnya, including more than 20,000 children , and further that ethnic Chechens comprise only one quarter of this number [http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2005/08/b23f8d99-f15d-4b40-882c-975598c29ae3.html . They do not account for the remainder of those killed.
Insurgent sources claim that federal forces have killed more than 250,000 people in Chechnya, including 42,000 children
Independent sources put the number of civilians killed at 180,000 .
According to official population census number of Chechens in Russia in 2002 is 1,360,253 persons (in 1989 - 898,999 persons) (source : results of census from Federal Service of the state statistics of Russia )
The official death toll for federal troops is more than 10,000, although insurgent sources claim the real figure is closer to 40,000. The Committee of Soldiers Mothers, the human rights NGO puts the death toll at 14,000 and 11,000 in the first and second Chechen wars, respectively
{Link without Title} .
See Also: History of Chechnya
Chechnya is a region in the Northern
Caucasus which has constantly fought against foreign rule, beginning with the
Ottoman Turks in the 15th century. Eventually the Chechens converted to
Islam and tensions began to die down with the Turks; however, conflicts with their Christian neighbours such as
Georgians and
Cossacks , as well as with the Buddhist
Kalmyks intensified. The Russian
Terek Cossack Host was established in lowland Chechnya in
1577 by free Cossacks resettled from Volga to Terek River. In
1783 , Russia and the eastern Georgian kingdom of
Kartl-Kakheti (which was devastated by Turkish and Persian invasions) signed the Treaty of Georgievsk, according to which Kartl-Kakheti received protection by Russia. In order to secure communications with Georgia and other regions of the Transcaucasia, the Russian Empire began spreading her influence into the Caucasus mountains. The current resistance to Russian rule began during the late
18th Century (
1785 -
1791 ) as a result of Russian expansion into territories formerly under the dominion of
Turkey and
Persia (see also the
Russo-Turkish Wars and
Russo-Persian War, 1804-13 ), under
Mansur Ushurma -- a Chechen
Naqshbandi (
Sufi ) Sheikh -- with wavering support from other North Caucasusian tribes (it was not uncommon for tribal khans to change sides in the conflict several times in the same year). Mansur hoped to establish a
Transcaucasus Islamic state under
Shari'a law, but was ultimately unable to do so because of both Russian resistance and opposition from many Chechens (many of whom had not been converted to Islam at the time). Its banner was again picked up by the
Avar Imam Shamil , who fought against the Russians from
1834 until
1859 .
Chechen Rebellion would characteristically flame up whenever the Russian state faced a period of internal uncertainty. Rebellions occurred during the Russo-Turkish War (''See''
Russo-Turkish War, 1877–1878 ), the
Russian Revolution Of 1905 , the
Russian Revolution Of 1917 ,
Russian Civil War , and
Collectivization . Under Soviet Rule, Chechnya was combined with
Ingushetia to form the autonomous republic of
Chechen-Ingushetia in the late
1930s . The Chechens, though, again rose up against Soviet rule during the
1940s , resulting in the deportation of the Chechen population to the
Kazakh SSR (later
Kazakhstan ) and
Siberia during
World War II .
Stalin and others argued this was necessary in order to stop the Chechens from providing assistance to the Germans during the Second World War. Although the German front never made it to the border of Chechnya, an active
Guerrilla movement threatened to undermine the Soviet defenses of the
Caucasus (noted writer
Valentin Pikul' claims in his historical account
Barbarossa that while the city of
Grozny was being prepared for a siege in 1942, all of the air bombers stationed on the Caucasian front had to be directed at quelling the Chechen insurrection instead of fighting the German
Siege Of Stalingrad ). As well, incidents of covert German airdrops into Chechnya and interceptions of radio exchanges between German and Chechen rebels were frequent. The Chechens were allowed to return to their homeland after
1956 during the
De-Stalinization which occurred under
Nikita Khrushchev .
The Russification policies towards Chechens continued after 1956, with Russian language proficiency required in many aspects of life and for advancement in the Soviet system. Many ethnic Chechens managed to achieve top positions in the government and military of the USSR (notable among them are
Ruslan Khasbulatov (speaker of Soviet
Supreme Soviet ),
Dzhokhar Dudayev (Soviet general),
Doku Zavgaev (chairman of Chechen-Ingush ASSR), and
Aslambek Aslakhanov (Soviet/Russian lawmaker)). The Chechens remained peaceful and relatively loyal to the state until the introduction of
Glasnost under
Mikhail Gorbachev in the late 1980s.
With the impending collapse of the Soviet Union, an and hence did not have a right under the Soviet constitution to secede; (2) Other ethnic groups inside Russia, such as the Tatars, would join the Chechens and secede from the Russian Federation if they were granted that right; and (3) Chechnya was at a major chokepoint in the oil-infrastructure of the country and hence would hurt the country's economy and control of oil resources.
See Also: First Chechen War
Dzhokhar Dudayev , the Republic of Chechnya's nationalist president, declared Chechnya's independence from Russia in
1991 . Dudayev's cabinet was largely filled with relatives and members of his
Teip , many of whom were alleged to have been involved in criminal activities, and a few of whom had previous criminal convictions. This, combined with a failure to maintain control over the republic, saw his rule descend into chaos and wide-spread corruption. From 1991 to 1994, as many as 300,000 people of non-Chechen ethnicity (mostly Russians) fled the republic, and an unknown number (some estimate as high as 50,000) were murdered or disappeared (
At this time, the slave trade also re-emerged in Chechnya (the earliest known person taken as a Chechen slave, Vladimir Yepishin, was kidnapped in 1989 and released in 2002, and claims to have come in contact with other slaves kidnapped by Chechens in the mid-80s [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/1875162.stm ). [http://www.anycities.com/user/conrad/english/genocide/genocide_2.htm][http://www.anycities.com/user/conrad/english/genocide/genocide_1.htm].
Chechen sources claim
{Link without Title} non-Chechens were victims of common criminals and were not singled out. Russian sources, however argue that xenophobic rhetoric of Dudayev and other Chechen nationalists played some part in the events of those years.
On May 26 and on July 29, 1994, Chechen terrorists took hostages (including schoolchildren) in Russian city Mineralny Vody. 4 persons died.
In December 1994
Russian President Boris Yeltsin ordered 40,000 troops retake Chechnya (''see''
First Chechen War ), after having been told by close advisors that it would be a popular, short, and victorious war. Yeltsin hoped to use the victory to overtake political opponents and win in the 1996 presidential elections, which was extremely uncertain as opponents within the former Communist Party and nationalists under
Vladimir Zhirinovsky had gained a large amount of popular support while Yeltsin's approval ratings hovered in the single digits.
The Russian army entered Chechnya on
December 10 ,
1994 , with only a few weeks of preparations and almost no prior planning or reconnaissance, with the official mission of restoring constitutional order. Unprepared for and not expecting intense fighting, Russian forces suffered humiliating losses after entering Grozny, which unbeknownst to ground troops had been fortified and filled with the Chechen army and a large number of volunteers in preparation for the invasion (it should be noted that despite knowing they would be fighting for control of Grozny, Dudayev's government did not issue an evacuation notice for the city, something which was responsible for the majority of civilian casualties during the battle for Grozny). Russian troops had not secured the Chechen capital of
Grozny by year's end, managing to gain control of the city in February
1995 after heavy fighting. A few months later, the majority of active Chechen resistance was pushed back into the mountains around Ichkeria. In response, Chechen fighters launched two attacks on Russian soil. The most high-profile of these, led by Chechen field commander and later first vice-premier of Ichkeria,
Shamil Basayev , was the
Budyonnovsk Hospital Hostage Crisis in June 1995. Shamil's large group seized the hospital and the 1,600 people inside for a period of several days. In total, 129 people died and 415 were wounded. Most victims died in a cross-fire. Ten hostages (Russian military men) were shot by separatists. Separatists used patients of a maternity hospital as covering. Although he failed in his demands to withdraw Russian troops from Chechnya, Basayev and his fighters were able to successfully retreat back to Chechnya under cover of hostages. The media coverage surrounding the hostage-taking and Basayev's safe retreat propelled the then mostly unknown Basayev into Chechnya's most famed national hero overnight. Seeking to emulate Basayev's success,
Dzhokhar Dudayev 's son-in-law,
Salman Raduev , led a similar raid on the hospital of
Kizlyar in January 1996. 78 hostages and policemen, and most of Raduyev's 300-strong group, died in the hostage crisis.
Yeltsin's government, weary of negative media coverage of the conflict and wanting a quick end to the fighting, halted the Russian advance and began a long series of fruitless peace talks with the separatists. Most of the Russian army was withdrawn, with the biggest contingent being a 3000-strong force left to secure Grozny. The error in this judgement became immediately apparent as the remaining Russian troops came under small but regular guerrilla-style attacks despite the many cease-fires under effect during negotiations. During a break in the negotiation process in April of 1996, Dudayev was killed in an air raid. The peace process impacted Russian intelligence gathering as well, demonstrated most dramatically when thousands of Chechen irregulars from all over the country poured into Grozny in early August 1996 to retake the city in a plan hatched by , but gave the
Republic Of Ichkeria de-facto independence in the meantime
{Link without Title} .
See Also: Second Chechen War
Despite the peace agreement the situation remained unstable.
On November 16,
1996 an apartment house in
Kaspiysk (Dagestan) was blown up. Sixty-nine persons, mainly members of frontier guards' families, died. Moscow authorities blamed Chechen fighters for this action and other actions listed below. Chechen president Aslan Maskhadov did not support any of these actions.
On April 23,
1997 a bomb was detonated in the Russian railway station of
Armavir . Three persons died.
On May 28,
1997 , there was an explosion in the Russian railway station of
Pyatigorsk , killing two persons.
In December,
1997 the Chechen warlord (''emir'') Hattab attacked the Russian garrison of
Buynaksk (Dagestan). The President of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria Aslan Maskhadov condemned this action, but many comentators accused him of not taking action to prevent the incursion; Russian authorities blamed Chechen govenment for all the hostilities taking place at that time.
On March 19,
1999 , an explosion in the Central market of
Vladikavkaz (Ossetia), killed 64 persons.
The incursion by Chechen armed groups into agents, rather than Chechen separatists, were behind the Moscow attacks. In support of his theory, Berezovsky cited an incident in Ryazan, where undercover FSB agents were caught by the local police on September 23, 1999 while planting explosives (or a substance simulating an explosive ) in the basement of an apartment house
{Link without Title} .
Today, Chechen separatists still claim an independent Chechnya. Official authorities of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria such as late President Aslan Maskhadov, Deputy Prime Minister and a Foreign Minister Akhmed Zakayev and current President Abdul Khalim Saidullayev condemned any actions against civilians. Maskhadov and Zakayev often made proposals of peace talks, however all these proposals were rejected by the Russian side.
{Link without Title}
However some Chechens decided to choose terrorist attacks in their fight against Russia. Such acts took place in the republic and within Russia itself. These acts were used by Russian President Putin to associate the conflict with the in May 2004.
Many Chechen separatist groups have become increasingly radicalized and fractured, with
Shamil Basayev adopting a strongly
Islamist position and inviting support from
Arab Islamist organizations, such as
Al-Qaeda . This was opposed by
Aslan Maskhadov , who publicly desired a negotiated settlement to the conflict until his death on March 8 of 2005 when he was killed by Russian forces.
{Link without Title} . While the two may have stood together against what they saw as a Russian occupation, they appeared to differ greatly in both vision and ideology.
Chechnya is considered an independent s, despite the existence of pro- and anti-Russian political structures.
Since 1990, the Chechen Republic has had legal, military, and civil conflicts involving separatist movements and pro-Russian authorities.
The motivations of the Russian and Chechens in these conflicts are complicated. Principally, Russia's stake in Chechnya relates to the fear that if Chechnya becomes independent, even more territories will break away from Russia, leading to its disintegration. Another factor are economic interests: Chechnya possesses large oil reserves, and the Russians are concerned that prolonged instability may lead to third parties entering the region in order to seek to control the oil, causing further instability and war. There is also a long standing conflict between Russia and Chechnya that has perpetuated itself due to
Bad Blood on both sides.
There are different groups, within Chechnya, fighting the Russians who have different political, economic and/or ideological motivations for doing so. Some of these derive from hatred and a desire for the revenge of past Russian military and political action in the region. Most notably the forced relocation, in the 1940s, of the entire population to Siberia, resulting in the estimated death of a quarter of the population. The combination of motives demonstrates the cycle of violence and hatred that often fuels regional conflicts of this nature, as well as a military culture that makes much of the population willing to engage in military struggle under the command of one leader. Unemployment and poverty are also factors in the prolonged conflict.
The former separatist warlord,
Akhmad Kadyrov , looked upon as a traitor by many separatists, was elected president with 83% of the vote in an internationally monitored election on
October 5 ,
2003 . Incidents of ballot stuffing and voter intimidation by Russian soldiers and the exclusion of separatist parties from the polls were subsequently reported by the
OSCE monitors.
Rudnik Dudayev is head of the Chechen Security Council and
Anatoly Popov is the Prime Minister. On
May 9 ,
2004 , Kadyrov was assassinated in
Grozny football stadium by a
Landmine explosion that was planted beneath a VIP stage and detonated during a
World War II memorial parade.
Sergey Abramov was appointed to the position of acting prime minister after the incident. However following a car accident in Moscow in 2005 Sergey Abramov has been unable to function as prime minister.
Ramzan Kadyrov (son of Akhmad Kadyrov) has been caretaker prime minister since the accident and on March 1 2006 Abramov resigned from his post as prime minister. Abramov told the
Itar-Tass news agency: "I resigned on the condition that Ramzan Kadyrov lead the Chechen government because I sincerely believe that this decision is right."
Many believe that
Ramzan Kadyrov would have attempted to succeed his father if he had not been barred from doing so by his age – he is currently in his 20s and the constitution requires that the president be 30 years of age or older. Many also allege he is the wealthiest and most powerful man in the republic, with control over a large private militia referred to as the 'Kadyrovski'. The militia – which began as his father's security force – has been accused of killings and kidnappings by human rights organizations such as
Human Rights Watch .
On
August 29 ,
2004 a new Presidential election took place. According to the Chechen electoral commission,
Alu Alkhanov , former Chechen Minister of Interior, received approximately 74% of the vote. Voter turnout was 85.2%. Some observers, such as the
U.S. Department Of State ,
International Helsinki Federation For Human Rights , as well as the opposition, question the election, citing, in part, the disqualification of the major rival
Malik Saidullayev on a technicality. Polling conditions were also questioned, but no formal complaints have been made. The election was internationally monitored by the
Commonwealth Of Independent States and
Arab League ; western monitors didn't participate in monitoring the election in protest at previous irregularities, despite being invited.
In addition to the elected government, there is a self-proclaimed separatist government that is not currently recognized by any state (although members have been given political asylum in European and Arab countries, as well as the United States). The separatist government was recognised by Georgia (when Georgian President was
Zviad Gamsakhurdia and Chechen President was
Dzhokhar Dudaev . In 1999 the
Taliban government of Afghanistan recognized independent Chechnya and opened an embassy in Kabul on 16 January 2000. Recognition ceased with the fall of the Taliban in 2001. The president of this government was
Aslan Maskhadov , the Foreign Minister was
Ilyas Akhmadov , who was the spokeman for Maskhadov. Ilyas Akhmadov is currently living under asylum in the United States.
Aslan Maskhadov had been elected in an internationally monitored election in
1997 for 4 years, when the separatists were a major political force. In
2001 he issued a decree prolonging his office for one additional year; he was unable to participate in the
2003 presidential election, since separatist parties were barred by the Russian government, and Maskhadov faced accusations of "terrorist offences" in Russia. Maskhadov left
Grozny and moved to the separatist-controlled areas of the south at the onset of the
Second Chechen War . President Maskhadov was unable to influence a number of warlords who retain effective control over Chechen territory, and his power was diminished as a result. He came to denounce the attack by insurgent forces on Beslan and attempted to distance himself from the Islamist
Shamil Basayev , who claimed responsibility for the attack. Russian forces claimed to have killed him on March 8, 2005.
Akhmed Zakayev , Deputy Prime Minister and a Foreign Minister under Maskhadov, was appointed shortly after the 1997 election and is currently living under asylum in
England . He and others chose
Abdul Khalim Saidullayev to replace Maskhadov following his death, bypassing Basayev. It has been reported, however, that Basayev turned the position down and has since pledged loyalty to Saidullayev. Saidullayev is a relatively unknown Islamic judge who was previously the host of an Islamic program on Chechen television. His position as a rebel is also unknown, leading the Russians and others to speculate that his selection marks the continued rise of Basayev – with Saidullayev as a figurehead – and the dearth of leadership figures that remain in the Chechen separatist movement.
consists of the following
Raion s (districts):
#
Naursky (Наурский)
#
Shelkovsky (Шелковский)
#
Nadterechny (Надтеречный)
#
Groznensky (Грозненский)
#
Gudermessky (Гудермесский)
#
Sunzhensky (Сунженский)
#
Achkhoy-Martanovsky (Ачхой-Мартановский)
#
Urus-Martanovsky (Урус-Мартановский)
#
Shalinsky (Шалинский)
#
Kurchaloyevsky (Курчалоевский)
#
Itum-Kalinsky (Итум-Калинский)
#
Shatoysky (Шатойский)
#
Vedensky (Веденский)
#
Nozhay-Yurtovsky (Ножай-Юртовский)
#
Sharoysky (Шаройский)
#
Grozny (city, 210,720)
#
Urus-Martan (city, 55,000)
#
Shali (city, 40,356)
#
Gudermes (city, 33,756)
#
Achkhoy-Martan (16,742)
#
Itum-Shale
#
Naurskaya
#
Nozhay-Yurt
#
Shatoy
#
Shelkovskaya
#
Vedeno
#
Znamenskoye
Situated in the eastern part of the North Caucasus, Chechnya is surrounded on nearly all sides by Russian territory. In the west, it borders North Ossetia and Ingushetia, in the north, Stavropol Kray, in the east, Dagestan, and to the south, Georgia. Its capital is Grozny.
Chechnya is located in the
Moscow Time Zone (MSK/MSD).
UTC offset is +0300 (MSK)/+0400 (MSD).
During the war, the Chechen economy fell apart.
Gross Domestic Product , if reliably calculable, would be only a fraction of the prewar level. Problems with the Chechen economy had an effect on the federal Russian economy - a number of financial crimes during the 1990s were committed using Chechen financial organizations. Chechnya has the highest ratio within
Russian Federation of financial operations made in
US Dollars to operations in
Russian Rouble s. There are many
Counterfeit US Dollars printed there. In 1994, the separatists planned to introduce a new currency, the
Nahar , but that did not happen due to Russian troops re-taking Chechnya in the
First Chechen War .
As an effect of the war, approximately 80% of the economic potential of Chechnya was destroyed. The only branch of economy that has been rebuilt so far is the
Petroleum industry. The
2003 oil production was estimated at 1.5 million metric tons annually (or 30 thousand
Barrels per day), down from a peak of 4 million metric tons annually in the
1980s . The
2003 production constituted approximately 0.6% of the total oil production in Russia. The level of
Unemployment is high, hovering between 60 and 70 percent. Despite economic improvements,
Smuggling and
Barter ing still comprise a significant part of Chechnya's economy.
{Link without Title}
According to the Russian government, over 2 billion
Dollars were spent on the reconstruction of the Chechen economy since
2000 . However, according to the Russian central economic control agency (''Schyotnaya Palata''), not more than 350 million dollars were spent as intended.
See Also: Chechen people
The current population of Chechnya is approximately 1.3 million; this includes
Chechens , Russians,
Ingush , and other North Caucasians.
Most Chechens are
Sunni Muslim , the country having converted to that religion between the
16th and the
19th Centuries . At the end of the Soviet era, ethnic Russians comprised about 23 percent of the population (269,000 in 1989). Due to widespread crime and the alleged
Ethnic Cleansing carried out by the government of
Dzhokhar Dudayev most non-Chechens (and many Chechens as well) fled the country during the 1990s. Today there are only several thousand ethnic Russian residents of Chechnya.
The languages used in the Republic are
Chechen and
Russian . Chechen belongs to the Vaynakh or
North-central Caucasian linguistic family, which also includes
Ingush and
Batsb . Some scholars place it in a wider
Iberian-Caucasian Super-family .
Chechnya has one of the youngest populations in the generally aging Russian Federation; in the early 1990s, it was among the few regions experiencing natural population growth.
- : 1,103,686 (2002) - numbers are disputed.
- ---''Urban'': 373,177 (33.8%)
- ---''Rural'': 730,509 (66.2%)
- ---''Male'': 532,724 (48.3%)
- ---''Female'': 570,962 (51.7%)
- : 22.7 years
- ---''Urban'': 22.8 years
- ---''Rural'': 22.7 years
- ---''Male'': 21.6 years
- ---''Female'': 23.9 years
- : 195,304 (with 1,069,600 people)
- ---''Urban'': 65,741 (with 365,577 people)
- ---''Rural'': 129,563 (with 704,023 people)
- ''2004 Population in Chechnya'': 1,088,816.
- ---''In Grozny (the capital of Chechen Republic)'': 80,000.
- ---''Ethnic Chechens predominate, with 98% of the population.''
- Vyacheslav Mironov. ''Ya byl na etoy voyne.'' (I was at this war) Biblion - Russkaya Kniga, 2001. Partial translation available online {Link without Title}
- Matthew Evangelista, ''The Chechen Wars: Will Russia Go the Way of the Soviet Union?''. ISBN 0815724993.
- Roy Conrad. ''A few days...'' Available online {Link without Title}
- Olga Oliker, ''Russia's Chechen Wars 1994 - 2000: Lessons from Urban Combat''. ISBN 0833029983. (A strategic and tactical analysis of the Chechen Wars.)
- Charlotta Gall & Thomas de Waal. ''Chechnya: A Small Victorious War''. ISBN 0330350757
- Paul J., Ph.D. Murphy. ''The Wolves of Islam: Russia and the Faces of Chechen Terror''. ISBN 1574888307
- Anatol Lieven. ''Chechnya : Tombstone of Russian Power'' ISBN 0300078811
- John B Dunlop. ''Russia Confronts Chechnya : Roots of a Separatist Conflict'' ISBN 0521636191
- Paul Khlebnikov. ''Razgovor s varvarom'' (Interview with a barbarian). ISBN 5-89935-057-1. Available online in full {Link without Title}
- Marie Benningsen Broxup. ''The North Caucasus Barrier: The Russian Advance Towards the Muslim World''. ISBN 1850650691
- Anna Politkovskaya. ''A Small Corner of Hell : Dispatches from Chechnya'' ISBN 0226674320
- Chris Bird. ''"To Catch a Tartar: Notes from the Caucasus"'' 0719565065
- Carlotta Gall, Thomas de Waal, ''Chechnya: Calamity in the Caucasus'' 0814731325
- Yvonne Bornstein and Mark Ribowsky, "Eleven Days of Hell: My True Story Of Kidnapping, Terror, Torture And Historic FBI & KGB Rescue" AuthorHouse, 2004. ISBN 1418493023.
