Why did the 1st Chechen war begin? Causes of the Chechen war. Other reasons coming from the main

There are many wars written into the history of Russia. Most of them were liberation, some began on our territory and ended far beyond its borders. But there is nothing worse than such wars, which were started as a result of the illiterate actions of the country’s leadership and led to terrifying results because the authorities solved their own problems without paying attention to the people.

One of such sad pages of Russian history is the Chechen war. This was not a confrontation between two different peoples. There were no absolute rights in this war. And the most surprising thing is that this war still cannot be considered over.

Prerequisites for the start of the war in Chechnya

It is hardly possible to talk about these military campaigns briefly. The era of perestroika, so pompously announced by Mikhail Gorbachev, marked the collapse of a huge country consisting of 15 republics. However, the main difficulty for Russia was that, left without satellites, it was faced with internal unrest that had a nationalistic character. The Caucasus turned out to be especially problematic in this regard.

Back in 1990, the National Congress was created. This organization was headed by Dzhokhar Dudayev, a former major general of aviation in the Soviet Army. The Congress set its main goal to secede from the USSR; in the future, it was planned to create a Chechen Republic, independent of any state.

In the summer of 1991, a situation of dual power arose in Chechnya, since both the leadership of the Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic itself and the leadership of the so-called Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, proclaimed by Dudayev, acted.

This state of affairs could not exist for long, and in September the same Dzhokhar and his supporters seized the republican television center, the Supreme Council and the Radio House. This was the beginning of the revolution. The situation was extremely precarious, and its development was facilitated by the official collapse of the country carried out by Yeltsin. Following the news that the Soviet Union no longer existed, Dudayev's supporters announced that Chechnya was seceding from Russia.

The separatists seized power - under their influence, parliamentary and presidential elections were held in the republic on October 27, as a result of which power was completely in the hands of ex-General Dudayev. And a few days later, on November 7, Boris Yeltsin signed a decree stating that a state of emergency was being introduced in the Chechen-Ingush Republic. In fact, this document became one of the reasons for the start of the bloody Chechen wars.

At that time, there was quite a lot of ammunition and weapons in the republic. Some of these reserves had already been captured by the separatists. Instead of blocking the situation, the Russian leadership allowed it to get even more out of control - in 1992, the head of the Ministry of Defense Grachev transferred half of all these reserves to the militants. The authorities explained this decision by saying that it was no longer possible to remove weapons from the republic at that time.

However, during this period there was still an opportunity to stop the conflict. An opposition was created that opposed Dudayev's power. However, after it became clear that these small detachments could not resist the militant formations, the war was practically already underway.

Yeltsin and his political supporters could no longer do anything, and from 1991 to 1994 it was actually a republic independent of Russia. It had its own government bodies and had its own state symbols. In 1994, when Russian troops were brought into the territory of the republic, a full-scale war began. Even after the resistance of Dudayev’s militants was suppressed, the problem was never completely resolved.

Speaking about the war in Chechnya, it is worth considering that the fault for its outbreak, first of all, was the illiterate leadership of first the USSR and then Russia. It was the weakening of the internal political situation in the country that led to the weakening of the outskirts and the strengthening of nationalist elements.

As for the essence of the Chechen war, there is a conflict of interests and an inability to govern a vast territory on the part of first Gorbachev and then Yeltsin. Subsequently, it was up to the people who came to power at the very end of the twentieth century to untie this tangled knot.

First Chechen war 1994-1996

Historians, writers and filmmakers are still trying to assess the scale of the horrors of the Chechen war. No one denies that it caused enormous damage not only to the republic itself, but to all of Russia. However, it is worth considering that the nature of the two campaigns was quite different.

During the Yeltsin era, when the first Chechen campaign of 1994-1996 was launched, Russian troops could not act coherently and freely enough. The country's leadership solved its problems, moreover, according to some information, many people profited from this war - weapons were supplied to the territory of the republic from the Russian Federation, and militants often made money by demanding large ransoms for hostages.

At the same time, the main task of the Second Chechen War of 1999-2009 was the suppression of gangs and the establishment of constitutional order. It is clear that if the goals of both campaigns were different, then the course of action was significantly different.

On December 1, 1994, airstrikes were carried out on airfields located in Khankala and Kalinovskaya. And already on December 11, Russian units were introduced into the territory of the republic. This fact marked the beginning of the First Campaign. Entry was carried out from three directions at once - through Mozdok, through Ingushetia and through Dagestan.

By the way, at that time the Ground Forces were led by Eduard Vorobiev, but he immediately resigned, considering it unwise to lead the operation, since the troops were completely unprepared for conducting full-scale combat operations.

At first, Russian troops advanced quite successfully. The entire northern territory was occupied by them quickly and without much loss. From December 1994 to March 1995, the Russian Armed Forces stormed Grozny. The city was built up quite densely, and Russian units were simply stuck in skirmishes and attempts to take the capital.

Russian Defense Minister Grachev expected to take the city very quickly and therefore did not spare human and technical resources. According to researchers, more than 1,500 Russian soldiers and many civilians of the republic died or went missing near Grozny. The armored vehicles also suffered serious damage - almost 150 units were damaged.

However, after two months of fierce fighting, federal troops finally took Grozny. Participants in the hostilities subsequently recalled that the city was destroyed almost to the ground, and this is confirmed by numerous photographs and video documents.

During the assault, not only armored vehicles were used, but also aviation and artillery. There were bloody battles on almost every street. The militants lost more than 7,000 people during the operation in Grozny and, under the leadership of Shamil Basayev, on March 6 they were forced to finally leave the city, which came under the control of the Russian Armed Forces.

However, the war, which brought death to thousands of not only armed but also civilians, did not end there. The fighting continued first on the plains (from March to April), and then in the mountainous regions of the republic (from May to June 1995). Argun, Shali, and Gudermes were taken successively.

The militants responded with terrorist attacks carried out in Budennovsk and Kizlyar. After varying successes on both sides, a decision was made to negotiate. And as a result, on August 31, 1996, agreements were concluded. According to them, federal troops were leaving Chechnya, the republic's infrastructure was to be restored, and the question of independent status was postponed.

Second Chechen campaign 1999–2009

If the country's authorities hoped that by reaching an agreement with the militants, they would solve the problem and the battles of the Chechen war would become a thing of the past, then everything turned out to be wrong. Over several years of a dubious truce, the gangs have only accumulated strength. In addition, more and more Islamists from Arab countries entered the territory of the republic.

As a result, on August 7, 1999, the militants of Khattab and Basayev invaded Dagestan. Their calculation was based on the fact that the Russian government at that time looked very weak. Yeltsin practically did not lead the country, the Russian economy was in deep decline. The militants hoped that they would take their side, but they put up serious resistance to the bandit groups.

The reluctance to allow Islamists into their territory and the help of federal troops forced the Islamists to retreat. True, this took a month - the militants were driven out only in September 1999. At that time, Chechnya was led by Aslan Maskhadov, and, unfortunately, he was not able to exercise full control over the republic.

It was at this time, angry that they failed to break Dagestan, that Islamist groups began carrying out terrorist attacks on Russian territory. Horrible terrorist attacks were committed in Volgodonsk, Moscow and Buynaksk, which claimed dozens of lives. Therefore, the number of those killed in the Chechen war must include those civilians who never thought that it would come to their families.

In September 1999, a decree “On measures to increase the effectiveness of counter-terrorism operations in the North Caucasus region of the Russian Federation” was issued, signed by Yeltsin. And on December 31, he announced his resignation from the presidency.

As a result of the presidential elections, power in the country passed to a new leader, Vladimir Putin, whose tactical abilities the militants did not take into account. But at that time, Russian troops were already on the territory of Chechnya, again bombed Grozny and acted much more competently. The experience of the previous campaign was taken into account.

December 1999 is another painful and terrible chapter of the war. The Argun Gorge was otherwise called “Wolf Gate” - one of the largest Caucasian gorges. Here, the landing and border troops carried out the special operation "Argun", the purpose of which was to recapture a section of the Russian-Georgian border from Khattab's troops, and also to deprive the militants of the weapons supply route from the Pankisi Gorge. The operation was completed in February 2000.

Many people also remember the feat of the 6th company of the 104th parachute regiment of the Pskov Airborne Division. These fighters became real heroes of the Chechen war. They withstood a terrible battle on the 776th height, when they, numbering only 90 people, managed to hold back over 2,000 militants for 24 hours. Most of the paratroopers died, and the militants themselves lost almost a quarter of their strength.

Despite such cases, the second war, unlike the first, can be called sluggish. Perhaps that is why it lasted longer - a lot happened over the years of these battles. The new Russian authorities decided to act differently. They refused to conduct active combat operations carried out by federal troops. It was decided to exploit the internal split in Chechnya itself. Thus, Mufti Akhmat Kadyrov went over to the side of the federals, and situations were increasingly observed when ordinary militants laid down their arms.

Putin, realizing that such a war could last indefinitely, decided to take advantage of internal political fluctuations and persuade the authorities to cooperate. Now we can say that he succeeded. It also played a role that on May 9, 2004, Islamists carried out a terrorist attack in Grozny, aimed at intimidating the population. An explosion occurred at the Dynamo stadium during a concert dedicated to Victory Day. More than 50 people were injured, and Akhmat Kadyrov died from his injuries.

This odious terrorist attack brought completely different results. The population of the republic was finally disappointed in the militants and rallied around the legitimate government. A young man was appointed to replace his father, who understood the futility of the Islamist resistance. Thus, the situation began to change for the better. If the militants relied on attracting foreign mercenaries from abroad, the Kremlin decided to use national interests. The residents of Chechnya were very tired of the war, so they already voluntarily went over to the side of the pro-Russian forces.

The counterterrorism operation regime, introduced by Yeltsin on September 23, 1999, was abolished by President Dmitry Medvedev in 2009. Thus, the campaign was officially over, since it was not called a war, but a CTO. However, can we assume that veterans of the Chechen war can sleep peacefully if local battles are still taking place and terrorist acts are carried out from time to time?

Results and consequences for the history of Russia

It is unlikely that anyone today can specifically answer the question of how many died in the Chechen war. The problem is that any calculations will only be approximate. During the period of intensification of the conflict before the First Campaign, many people of Slavic origin were repressed or forced to leave the republic. During the years of the First Campaign, many fighters from both sides died, and these losses also cannot be accurately calculated.

While military losses can still be more or less calculated, no one has been involved in ascertaining losses among the civilian population, except perhaps human rights activists. Thus, according to the current official data, the 1st war claimed the following number of lives:

• Russian soldiers - 14,000 people;
• militants - 3,800 people;
• civilian population - from 30,000 to 40,000 people.

If we talk about the Second Campaign, the results of the death toll are as follows:

• federal troops - about 3,000 people;
• militants - from 13,000 to 15,000 people;
• civilian population - 1000 people.

It should be borne in mind that these figures vary greatly depending on which organizations provide them. For example, when discussing the results of the second Chechen war, official Russian sources talk about a thousand civilian deaths. At the same time, Amnesty International (an international non-governmental organization) gives completely different figures - about 25,000 people. The difference in these data, as you can see, is huge.

The result of the war is not only the impressive numbers of casualties among killed, wounded, and missing people. This is also a destroyed republic - after all, many cities, primarily Grozny, were subjected to artillery shelling and bombing. Their entire infrastructure was practically destroyed, so Russia had to rebuild the capital of the republic from scratch.

As a result, today Grozny is one of the most beautiful and modern cities. Other settlements of the republic were also rebuilt.

Anyone interested in this information can find out what happened in the territory from 1994 to 2009. There are many films about the Chechen war, books and various materials on the Internet.

However, those who were forced to leave the republic, lost their relatives, their health - these people hardly want to immerse themselves again in what they have already experienced. The country was able to withstand this most difficult period of its history, and once again proved that dubious calls for independence or unity with Russia are more important for them.

The history of the Chechen war has not yet been fully studied. Researchers will spend a long time looking for documents about losses among military and civilians and rechecking statistical data. But today we can say: the weakening of the top and the desire for disunity always lead to dire consequences. Only the strengthening of state power and the unity of people can end any confrontation so that the country can live in peace again.

The first Chechen war lasted exactly one year and nine months. The war began on December 1, 1994, with the bombing of all three Chechen air bases - Kalinovskaya, Khankala and Grozny-Severny, which destroyed all Chechen aviation, including several "corn bombers" and a couple of antediluvian Czechoslovak fighters. The war ended on August 31, 1996 with the signing of the Khasavyurt Agreements, after which the federals left Chechnya.

Military losses are depressing: 4,100 Russian troops were killed and 1,200 missing. 15 thousand militants were killed, although Aslan Maskhadov, who led the military operations, claimed that the militants lost 2,700 people. According to Memorial human rights activists, 30 thousand civilians in Chechnya were killed.

There were no winners in this war. The federals were unable to take control of the territory of the republic, and the separatists did not receive a truly independent state. Both sides lost.

An unrecognized state and prerequisites for war

The only Chechen whom the whole country knew before the start of the war was Dzhokhar Dudayev. The commander of a bomber division, a combat pilot, at the age of 45 he became a major general of aviation, at 47 he left the army and entered politics. He moved to Grozny, quickly rose to leadership positions and became president in 1991. True, the president is just the unrecognized Chechen Republic of Ichkeria. But the President! He was known to have a tough temperament and determination. During the riots in Grozny, Dudayev and his supporters threw the chairman of the Grozny City Council, Vitaly Kutsenko, out of the window. He crashed and was taken to the hospital, where Dudayev’s men finished him off. Kutsenko died, and Dudayev became a national leader.

Now it has somehow been forgotten, but Dudayev’s criminal reputation was known back in that period in 1993. Let me remind you how much noise the “Chechen advice notes” caused at the federal level. After all, it was a real disaster of the national payment system. Fraudsters, through shell companies and Grozny banks, stole 4 trillion rubles from the Central Bank of Russia. Exactly a trillion! Let me say for comparison that the Russian budget in that very year 1993 was 10 trillion rubles. That is, almost half of the national budget was stolen using Chechen advice notes. Half the annual salary of doctors, teachers, military personnel, officials, miners, half of all government income. Huge damage! Subsequently, Dudayev recalled how money was brought to Grozny by trucks.

These are the marketers, democrats and supporters of national self-determination that Russia had to fight in 1994.

Beginning of the conflict

When did the first Chechen war begin? December 11, 1994. This is what many historians and publicists believe out of habit. They think that the first Chechen war of 1994-1996 began on the day when the President of the Russian Federation Boris Yeltsin signed a decree on the need to restore constitutional order in Chechnya. They forget that ten days earlier there was an air strike on airfields in Chechnya. They forget about the burnt corn fields, after which no one either in Chechnya or in the Russian armed forces doubted that there was a war going on.

But the ground operation really began on December 11. On this day, the so-called “Joint Group of Forces” (OGV), which then consisted of three parts, began to move:

• western;
• northwestern;
• eastern.

The Western group entered Chechnya from North Ossetia and Ingushetia. Northwestern - from the Mozdok region of North Ossetia. Eastern - from Dagestan.

All three groups moved straight to Grozny.

The OGV was supposed to clear the city of separatists, and then destroy the militant bases: first in the northern, flat part of the republic; then in the southern, mountainous part.

In a short time, the OGV had to clear the entire territory of the republic from Dudayev’s formations.

The North-Western group was the first to reach the outskirts of Grozny, on December 12, and got involved in battle near the village of Dolinsky. In this battle, the militants used the Grad multiple launch rocket system, and that day they did not allow Russian troops to reach Grozny.

Gradually two other groups joined in. By the end of December, the army approached the capital from three sides:

• from the west;
• from North;
• from the east.

The assault was scheduled for December 31st. On New Year's Eve. And the eve of the birthday of Pavel Grachev, the then Minister of Defense. I won’t say that they wanted to predict victory for the holiday, but this opinion is widespread.

Storm of Grozny

The assault has begun. The assault groups immediately encountered difficulties. The fact is that the commanders made two serious mistakes:

• Firstly. The encirclement of Grozny was not completed. The problem was that Dudayev’s formations actively took advantage of the gap in the open encirclement ring. In the south, in the mountains, militant bases were located. The militants brought in ammunition and weapons from the south. The wounded were evacuated to the south. Reinforcements were approaching from the south;
• Secondly. We decided to use tanks on a massive scale. 250 combat vehicles entered Grozny. Moreover, without proper intelligence support and without infantry support. The tanks turned out to be helpless in the narrow streets of urban areas. The tanks were burning. The 131st separate Maykop motorized rifle brigade was surrounded and 85 people were killed.

Parts of the Western and Eastern groups were unable to penetrate deep into the city and retreated. Only part of the North-Eastern group under the command of General Lev Rokhlin gained a foothold in the city and took up defensive positions. Some units were surrounded and suffered losses. Street fighting broke out in various areas of Grozny.

The command quickly learned lessons from what happened. The commanders changed tactics. They abandoned the massive use of armored vehicles. The battles were fought by small, mobile units of assault groups. Soldiers and officers quickly gained experience and improved their combat skills. On January 9, the federals took the building of the Petroleum Institute, and the airport came under the control of the OGV. By January 19, the militants left the presidential palace and organized a defense on Minutka Square. At the end of January, the federals controlled 30% of the territory of Grozny. At this moment, the federal group was increased to 70 thousand people, it was headed by Anatoly Kulikov.

The next important change occurred on February 3rd. To blockade the city from the south, the command formed the “South” group. Already on February 9, it blocked the Rostov-Baku highway. The blockade is closed.

Half the city turned into ruins, but victory was won. On March 6, the last militant left Grozny under pressure from the United Forces. It was Shamil Basayev.

Major fighting in 1995

By April 1995, federal forces had established control over almost the entire flat part of the republic. Argun, Shali and Gudermes were taken under control relatively easily. The settlement of Bamut remained outside the control zone. The fighting there continued intermittently until the end of the year, and even into the next year 1996.

The operation of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Samashki received quite a public response. The propaganda campaign against Russia, professionally carried out by Dudayev's Chechen Press agency, seriously influenced world public opinion about Russia and its actions in Chechnya. Many still believe that civilian casualties in Samashki were prohibitively high. There are unverified rumors about thousands of deaths, while the human rights society Memorial, for example, believes that the number of civilians killed during the cleansing of Samashki is in the dozens.

What is true here and what is an exaggeration is now impossible to discern. One thing is certain: war is cruel and unfair. Especially when civilians are dying.

Advancement in mountainous regions was more difficult for federal forces than marching across the plains. The reason was that troops often got bogged down in the defense of militants, and even such unpleasant incidents occurred as, for example, the capture of 40 paratroopers of the Aksai special forces. In June, the federals took control of the regional centers of Vedeno, Shatoy and Nozhai-Yurt.

The most socially significant and resonant episode of the first Chechen war of 1995 was the episode associated with events going beyond the borders of Chechnya. The main negative character of the episode was Shamil Basayev. At the head of a gang of 195 people, he carried out a raid on trucks in the Stavropol Territory. The militants entered the Russian city of Budennovsk, opened fire in the city center, broke into the building of the city department of internal affairs, and shot several police officers and civilians.

The terrorists took about two thousand hostages and herded them into a complex of city hospital buildings. Basayev demanded the withdrawal of troops from Chechnya and the start of negotiations with Dudayev with the participation of the UN. Russian authorities decided to storm the hospital. Unfortunately, there was a leak of information, and the bandits managed to prepare. The assault was not unexpected and was unsuccessful. The special forces captured a number of auxiliary buildings, but did not break into the main building. On the same day they made a second assault attempt, and it also failed.

In short, the situation began to become critical and the Russian authorities were forced to enter into negotiations. The then Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin was on the phone line. The whole country tensely watched the television report when Chernomyrdin spoke into the phone: “Shamil Basayev, Shamil Basayev, I am listening to your demands.” As a result of negotiations, Basayev received a vehicle and left for Chechnya. There he released the 120 remaining hostages. In total, 143 people died during the events, 46 of them were security forces.

Military clashes of varying intensity took place in the republic until the end of the year. On October 6, militants made an attempt on the life of the commander of the United Armed Forces, General Anatoly Romanov. In Grozny, on Minutka Square, in a tunnel under the railway, the Dudayevites detonated a bomb. The helmet and body armor saved the life of General Romanov, who was passing through the tunnel at that moment. As a result of his injury, the general fell into a coma and subsequently became deeply disabled. After this incident, “retaliation strikes” were carried out on militant bases, which, however, did not lead to a serious change in the balance of power in the confrontation.

Fighting in 1996

The New Year began with another hostage-taking episode. And again outside of Chechnya. This is the story. On January 9, 250 militants carried out a bandit raid in the Dagestan city of Kizlyar. First, they attacked a Russian helicopter base, where they destroyed 2 non-combat-ready MI-8 helicopters. Then they captured the Kizlyar hospital and maternity hospital. The militants drove up to three thousand townspeople from neighboring buildings.

The bandits locked people on the second floor, mined it, and barricaded themselves on the first floor, and put forward demands: the withdrawal of troops from the Caucasus, the provision of buses and a corridor to Grozny. Negotiations with the militants were conducted by the authorities of Dagestan. Representatives of the federal forces command did not participate in these negotiations. On January 10, the Chechens were provided with buses, and the militants with a group of hostages began moving towards Chechnya. They were going to cross the border near the village of Pervomaiskoye, but did not get there. Federal security forces, who were not going to put up with the fact that the hostages were taken to Chechnya, opened warning fire, and the convoy had to stop. Unfortunately, as a result of insufficiently organized actions, confusion occurred. This allowed the militants to disarm a checkpoint of 40 Novosibirsk policemen and capture the village of Pervomaiskoye.

The militants fortified themselves in Pervomaisky. The confrontation continued for several days. On the 15th, after the Chechens shot six captured policemen and two negotiators - Dagestan elders, the security forces launched an assault.

The assault failed. The confrontation continued. On the night of January 19, the Chechens broke through the encirclement and fled to Chechnya. They took with them captured police officers, who were later released.

During the raid, 78 people died.

Fighting in Chechnya continued throughout the winter. In March, the militants tried to retake Grozny, but the attempt ended in failure. In April, a bloody clash occurred near the village of Yaryshmardy.

A new turn in the development of events was brought about by the liquidation of Chechen President Dzhokhar Dudayev by federal forces. Dudayev often used the Inmarsat satellite phone. On April 21, from an aircraft equipped with a radar station, the Russian military located Dudayev. 2 SU-25 attack aircraft were lifted into the sky. They fired two air-to-ground missiles along the bearing. One of them hit the target exactly. Dudayev died.

Contrary to the expectations of the federals, the removal of Dudayev did not lead to decisive changes in the course of hostilities. But the situation in Russia has changed. The presidential election campaign was approaching. Boris Yeltsin was keenly interested in freezing the conflict. Negotiations continued until July, and the activity of both the Chechens and the federals noticeably decreased.

After Yeltsin was elected president, hostilities intensified again.

The final battle chord of the first Chechen war sounded in August 1996. The separatists again attacked Grozny. The units of General Pulikovsky had a numerical superiority, but they could not hold Grozny. At the same time, militants captured Gudermes and Argun.

Russia was forced to enter into negotiations.

The first and second Chechen wars, otherwise called the “First Chechen Conflict” and the “counter-terrorist operation in the North Caucasus” became, perhaps, the bloodiest pages in the modern history of Russia. These military conflicts are striking in their cruelty. They brought terror and explosions of houses with sleeping people to Russian territory. But in the history of these wars there were people who, perhaps, can be considered criminals no less terrible than terrorists. These are traitors.

Sergey Orel

He fought in the North Caucasus under a contract. In December 1995, he was captured by militants. He was released a year later and the rescued “Caucasian prisoner” was sent to Grozny. And then the incredible happened: a Russian soldier, languishing in cruel captivity and happily freed, stole a Kalashnikov assault rifle, uniform and personal belongings from the military prosecutor’s office, stole a Ural truck and sped off towards the militants. Here, in fact, it became clear that Orel was by no means in poverty in captivity, but allowed himself to be recruited without much trouble. He converted to Islam, studied engineering in one of Khattab’s camps, and took part in hostilities. In 1998, with a fake passport in the name of Alexander Kozlov, he showed up in Moscow, where he controlled the construction markets. He transferred the proceeds through special messengers to the Caucasus to support his “brothers in arms.” This business stopped only when the intelligence services got on the trail of Orel-Kozlov. The defector was tried and received a serious sentence.

Limonov and Klochkov

Privates Konstantin Limonov and Ruslan Klochkov in the fall of 1995 decided to somehow go for vodka. They left their checkpoint and went to the village of Katyr-Yurt, where the militants tied them up without any problems. Once captured, Limonov and Klochkov did not think long and almost immediately agreed to become guards in a federal prisoner-of-war camp. Limonov even took the name Kazbek. They performed their duties very diligently, surpassing even the Chechens themselves in cruelty. One of the prisoners, for example, had his head broken with a rifle butt. Another was thrown onto a hot stove. The third was beaten to death. Both participated in the execution of sixteen Russian soldiers condemned to death by Islamists. One of the militants personally set an example for them by cutting the throat of the first convict, and then handed the knife to the traitors. They carried out the order and then finished off the agonizing soldiers with a machine gun. All this was recorded on video. When in 1997, federal troops cleared the area where their gang was operating, Limonov and Klochkov tried to pass themselves off as freed hostages and hoped that the most serious thing they would face was a sentence for desertion. However, the investigation made their “exploits” known to Russian justice.

Alexander Ardyshev – Seradzhi Dudayev

In 1995, the unit in which Ardyshev served was transferred to Chechnya. Alexander had very little time left to serve, literally a few weeks. However, he decided to radically change his life and deserted from the unit. It was in the village of Vedeno. By the way, it cannot be said about Ardyshev that he betrayed his comrades, since he had no comrades. During his service, he noted that he periodically stole things and money from his fellow soldiers, and there was not a single soldier among the soldiers of his unit who treated Ardyshev as a friend. First, he ended up in the detachment of the field commander Mavladi Khusain, then he fought under the command of Isa Madayev, then in the detachment of Khamzat Musaev. Ardyshev converted to Islam and became Seraji Dudayev. Seraji's new job was to guard prisoners. The stories about how yesterday’s Russian soldier Alexander, and now the warrior of Islam Seraji, subjected his former colleagues to bullying and torture are simply scary to read. He beat prisoners and shot those he disliked on the orders of his superiors. One wounded and exhausted soldier was forced to learn the Koran by heart, and when he made a mistake, he was beaten. Once, for the amusement of the militants, he set fire to gunpowder on the back of the unfortunate man. He was so confident in his impunity that he did not even hesitate to announce himself to the Russian side in his new guise. One day he arrived in Vedeno with his commander Mavladi to resolve a conflict between local residents and federal troops. Among the federals was his former boss, Colonel Kukharchuk. Ardyshev approached him to show off his new status and threatened him with violence.

When the military conflict ended, Seradzhi acquired his own home in Chechnya and began serving in the border and customs service. And then in Moscow they convicted one of the Chechen bandits, Sadulayev. His comrades and associates in Chechnya decided that the respected person should be exchanged. And they exchanged it for... Alexander-Sieradzhi. The new owners were not at all interested in the deserter and traitor. To avoid unnecessary trouble, Seraji was given tea and sleeping pills, and when he passed out, he was handed over to the authorities of the Russian Federation. Surprisingly, once outside of Chechnya, Seradzhi immediately remembered that he was Alexander and began to ask to return to the Russians and Orthodox Christians. He was sentenced to 9 years of strict regime.

Yuri Rybakov

This man, too, was by no means captured by the militants, wounded and unconscious. He defected to them voluntarily in September 1999. After undergoing special training, he became a sniper. It must be said that Rybakov was an accurate sniper. In just one month, he made 26 notches on the butt of his rifle - one for each “shot” fighter. Rybakov was captured in the village of Ulus-Kert, where federal troops surrounded the militants.

Vasily Kalinkin – Vahid

This man served as an ensign in one of the units of Nizhny Tagil, and he stole on a grand scale. And when he smelled something fried, he ran away and enlisted in the army of “free Ichkeria.” Here he was sent to study at an intelligence school in one of the Arab countries. Kalinkin converted to Islam and began to be called Vahid. They took him in Volgograd, where the newly minted spy came for reconnaissance and preparation of acts of sabotage.

After the collapse of the USSR, relations between the Central Government and Chechnya became especially tense. At the end of 1991, General Dzhokhar Dudayev came to power in Chechnya. Expressing the will of the National Congress of the Chechen People (NCCHN), Dudayev dissolved the Supreme Council of Checheno-Ingushetia and announced the creation of the independent Chechen Republic of Ichkeria.

In connection with the reorganization of the former Soviet Army, Dudayev managed to take control of a significant part of the property and weapons of the Soviet troops in Chechnya, including aviation. Russia declared the “Dudaev regime” illegal.

Soon, a struggle for spheres of influence began among the Chechens themselves, which, with the intervention of federal authorities and security forces, resulted in a kind of civil war in 1994. On December 11, 1994, the operation of federal troops to capture Grozny began. The assault on Grozny on New Year's Eve, which killed hundreds of Russian troops, was a disaster.

The development and material support of the operation were extremely unsatisfactory. 20% of the military equipment of the federal troops in Chechnya was completely faulty, 40% was partially faulty. What came as a surprise to Russian politicians and military officers was that Dudayev had a well-trained army. But most importantly, Dudayev skillfully played on national feelings and portrayed Russia as the enemy of the Chechen people. He managed to win over the population of Chechnya to his side. Dudayev turned into a national hero. Most Chechens perceived the entry of federal troops as an invasion by an enemy army seeking to take away their freedom and independence.

As a result, the operation to restore the rule of law, preserve the integrity of Russia, and disarm the bandits turned into a protracted, bloody war for Russian society. In the Chechen issue, the Russian government did not show statesmanship, patience, diplomatic skill, or understanding of the historical, cultural and everyday traditions of the mountain peoples.

1. The Russian government sought to eliminate the “independence” of General Dudayev and wanted to preserve the territorial integrity of Russia.

2. With the loss of Chechnya, Chechen oil was lost and the supply of oil from Baku to Novorossiysk was disrupted. Oil exports decreased.

3. The outbreak of the war was facilitated by criminal financial structures interested in this war for “money laundering”.

Thus, oil and money became the real cause of the war.

First Chechen War (December 1994 - June 1996) was not supported by Russian society, which considered it unnecessary, and its main culprit was the Kremlin government. Negative attitudes rose sharply after a major defeat of Russian troops on New Year's Eve from 1994 to 1995. In January 1995, only 23% of respondents supported the use of the army in Chechnya, with 55% against. Most considered this action unworthy of a great power. 43% were in favor of an immediate cessation of hostilities.

A year later, the protest against the war reached an extremely large level: at the beginning of 1996, 80-90% of Russians surveyed had a purely negative attitude towards it. For the first time in the history of Russia, a significant part of the media systematically took an anti-war position, showed the monstrous destruction, disasters and grief of the population of Chechnya, and criticized the authorities and law enforcement agencies. Many socio-political movements and parties openly opposed the war. The mood of society played a role in ending the war.

Realizing the futility of a military solution to the Chechen problem, the Russian government began to look for options for a political settlement of the contradictions. In March 1996, B. Yeltsin decided to create a working group to end hostilities and resolve the situation in Chechnya. In April 1996, the withdrawal of federal troops to the administrative borders of Chechnya began. It is believed that Dudayev died in April 1996.

Negotiations began between the Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in the Chechen Republic A. Lebed(he was the secretary of the Security Council) and the head of the headquarters of the armed formations A. Maskhadov. On August 31, in Khasavyurt (Dagestan), Lebed and Maskhadov signed a joint statement “On the cessation of hostilities in Chechnya” and “Principles for determining the foundations of relations between the Russian Federation and the Chechen Republic.” An agreement was reached to hold presidential elections in Chechnya. The final decision on the issue of the political status of Chechnya was postponed for five years (until December 2001). In August, federal troops began to withdraw from Grozny, which was immediately captured by militants.

In January 1997, Colonel Aslan Maskhadov was elected President of the Chechen Republic- former chief of staff of the Chechen armed forces. He proclaimed a course for the national independence of Chechnya.

Russia lost the first Chechen war, suffering significant human losses and enormous material damage. The national economy of Chechnya was completely destroyed. The problem of refugees has arisen. Among those leaving were a lot of educated, qualified workers, including teachers.

After the signing of the Khasavyurt agreements and A. Maskhadov coming to power, a real catastrophe began in Chechnya. For the second time in a short period of time, the Chechen Republic was handed over to criminal elements and extremists. The Constitution of the Russian Federation on the territory of Chechnya ceased to be in force, legal proceedings were eliminated and replaced by Sharia rule. The Russian population of Chechnya was subjected to discrimination and persecution. In the fall of 1996, the majority of the population of Chechnya lost hope for a better future and hundreds of thousands of Chechens left the republic along with the Russians.

After the end of the war in Chechnya, Russia was faced with the problem of terrorism in the North Caucasus. From the end of 1996 to 1999, criminal terror was accompanied by political terror in Chechnya. The Ichkerian parliament hastily adopted the so-called law, on the basis of which not only those who actually collaborated with federal authorities were persecuted, but also those who were suspected of sympathizing with Russia. All educational institutions found themselves under the strict control of self-appointed Sharia courts and all kinds of Islamic movements, which dictated not only the content of educational programs, but also determined personnel policies.

Under the banner of Islamization, the teaching of a number of disciplines was stopped both in schools and in universities, but the basics of Islam, the basics of Sharia, etc. were introduced. Separate education for boys and girls was introduced in schools, and wearing a burqa was required in high schools. The study of the Arabic language was introduced, and this was not provided with personnel, teaching aids and developed programs. The militants considered secular education to be harmful. There has been a noticeable degradation of an entire generation. Most Chechen children did not study during the war years. Uneducated youth can only join criminal groups. Illiterate people are always easy to manipulate by playing on their national and religious feelings.

Chechen gangs pursued a policy of intimidation of the Russian authorities: taking hostages, bombing houses in Moscow, Volgodonsk, Buinaksk, and attacks on Dagestan. As a response, the Russian government led by V.V. Putin decided to use force in the fight against terrorists.

The Second Chechen War began in September 1999.

She appeared completely different in all major indicators:

By nature and method of conduct;

In relation to it, the population, citizens of the Russian Federation, including the civilian population of Chechnya itself;

In relation to citizens towards the army;

By the number of victims on both sides, including the civilian population;

Media behavior, etc.

The war was caused by the need to ensure security and tranquility in the Caucasus.

60% of the Russian population was for the war. It was a war in the name of protecting the integrity of the country. The Second Chechen War caused a mixed reaction in the world. Public opinion in Western countries regarding the second Chechen war was at odds with all-Russian opinion. It is typical for Westerners to perceive the events in Chechnya as Russia’s suppression of an uprising of a small people, and not as the destruction of terrorists. It was widely believed that Russia was guilty of human rights violations and that there was “ethnic cleansing” in Chechnya.

At the same time, the Western media hid the criminal actions of Chechen extremists, kidnapping and trafficking in people, the cultivation of slavery, medieval morals and laws. The Russian government made it clear to world public opinion that the actions of the federal troops are aimed, first of all, at carrying out a counter-terrorist operation in the North Caucasus. When entering the second Chechen war, Russia also took into account the fact that Turkey, the United States and NATO are pursuing their own interests in this region.

The group of federal forces in Chechnya numbered 90 thousand people, of which about 70 thousand were in military service, the rest served under contract. According to press reports, the number of militants was 20-25 thousand, the basis of which was 10-15 thousand professional mercenaries. A. Maskhadov was on their side.

By March 2000, the active phase of the Chechen war was over. But now the militants were actively carrying out terrorist attacks and sabotage on the territory of Chechnya, and launched partisan actions. Federal forces began to pay special attention to intelligence. Cooperation between the army and the Ministry of Internal Affairs was established.

By mid-2000, federal troops defeated most of the organized combat forces of the separatists and took control of almost all the cities and villages of Chechnya. Then the bulk of the military units were withdrawn from the territory of the republic, and power there passed from the military commandant’s offices to the Chechen Administration created by decree of the President of the Russian Federation and its local bodies. They were led by Chechens. A huge work has begun to revive the economy and culture of the republic from the ruins and ashes.

However, this creative work began to be hampered by the remnants of militant gangs who had taken refuge in the inaccessible mountainous areas of Chechnya. They adopted the tactics of sabotage and terrorism, systematically organizing explosions on roads from around the corner, killing employees of the Chechen Administration and Russian military personnel. Only in the first half of 2001. More than 230 terrorist attacks were carried out, resulting in the death of hundreds of people.

At the beginning of the 21st century, the Russian leadership continued its policy of establishing peaceful life on Chechen soil. The task was set to solve the problem of restoring socio-economic life and constitutional authorities in Chechnya in the shortest possible time. And in general, this task is being successfully accomplished.

Russia waged numerous wars against invaders, there were wars as obligations to allies, but, unfortunately, there were wars, the causes of which were related to the illiterate activities of the country's leaders.

History of the conflict

It all started quite peacefully even under Mikhail Gorbachev, who, by announcing the beginning of perestroika, actually opened the way for the collapse of a huge country. It was at this time that the USSR, which was actively losing its foreign policy allies, began to have problems within the state. First of all, these problems were associated with the awakening of ethnic nationalism. They manifested themselves most clearly in the Baltic and Caucasus territories.

Already at the end of 1990, the National Congress of the Chechen People was convened. It was headed by Dzhokhar Dudayev, a major general of the Soviet Army. The goal of the congress was secession from the USSR and the creation of an independent Chechen Republic. Gradually this decision began to come true.

Back in the summer of 1991, dual power was observed in Chechnya: the government of the Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic itself and the government of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria under Dzhokhar Dudayev continued to work there. But in September 1991, after the unsuccessful actions of the Emergency Committee, the Chechen separatists felt that a favorable moment had arrived, and Dudayev’s armed guards seized the television center, the Supreme Council and the Radio House. In fact, a coup d'état took place.

Power passed into the hands of the separatists, and on October 27 parliamentary and presidential elections were held in the republic. All power was concentrated in the hands of Dudayev.

Nevertheless, on November 7, Boris Yeltsin considered it necessary to introduce a state of emergency in the Chechen-Ingush Republic and thereby created the reason for the start of a bloody war. The situation was aggravated by the fact that there was a large amount of Soviet weapons in the republic, which they did not have time to remove.

For some time the situation in the republic was contained. An opposition was created against Dudayev, but the forces were unequal.

The Yeltsin government at that time had neither the strength nor the political will to take any effective measures, and, in fact, Chechnya became practically independent from Russia in the period from 1991 to 1994. It formed its own authorities, its own state symbols. However, in 1994, the Yeltsin administration decided to restore constitutional order in Chechnya. Russian troops were brought into its territory, which marked the beginning of a full-scale war.

Progress of hostilities

	Federal aviation attack on Chechen airfields. Destroying militant aircraft
	Entry of federal troops into the territory of Chechnya
	Federal troops approached Grozny
	The beginning of the assault on Grozny
	Capture of the Presidential Palace
	Creation of the "South" group and the complete blockade of Grozny
	Conclusion of a temporary truce
	Despite the truce, street fighting continues. Militant groups retreat from the city
	The last district of Grozny has been liberated. The pro-Russian administration of Chechnya was formed, headed by S. Khadzhiev and U. Avturkhanov
	Capture of Arghun
	Shali and Gudermes taken
	Fighting near the village of Semashki
April 1995	End of fighting in lowland Chechnya
	The beginning of hostilities in mountainous Chechnya
	Capture of Vedeno
	The regional centers of Shatoi and Nozhai-Yurt were taken
	Terrorist attack in Budennovsk
	First round of negotiations. Moratorium on hostilities for an indefinite period
	Second round of negotiations. Agreement on the exchange of prisoners “all for all”, disarmament of ChRI detachments, withdrawal of federal troops, holding free elections
	The militants capture Argun, but after the battle they are driven out by federal troops
	Gudermes was captured by militants and a week later cleared by federal troops
	Elections were held in Chechnya. Defeated Doku Zavgaev
	Terrorist attack in Kizlyar
	Militant attack on Grozny
	Liquidation of Dzhokhar Dudayev
	Meeting in Moscow with Z. Yandarbiev. Armistice agreement and prisoner exchange
	After the federal ultimatum, attacks on militant bases resumed
	Operation Jihad. Separatist attack on Grozny, assault and capture of Gudermes
	Khasavyurt agreements. Federal troops were withdrawn from Chechnya, and the status of a republic was postponed until December 31, 2001

Results of the war

Chechen separatists perceived the Khasavyurt agreements as a victory. Federal troops were forced to leave Chechnya. All power remained in the hands of the self-proclaimed Republic of Ichkeria. Instead of Dzhokhar Dudayev, Aslan Maskhadov took power, who was not much different from his predecessor, but had less authority and was forced to constantly make compromises with the militants.

The end of the war left behind a devastated economy. Cities and villages were not restored. As a result of the war and ethnic cleansing, all representatives of other nationalities left Chechnya.

The internal social situation has changed critically. Those who previously fought for independence have descended into criminal squabbles. The heroes of the republic turned into ordinary bandits. They hunted not only in Chechnya, but also throughout Russia. Kidnapping has become a particularly profitable business. Neighboring regions especially felt this.