Russian-Chechen conflict in the 1990s. has deep historical roots dating back to the Caucasian War of the 19th century. It was then, expanding its territories and strengthening its positions in the south, that the Russian Empire first encountered fierce resistance from the mountain peoples inhabiting these areas. The highlanders lost the war, a fragile peace reigned in the Caucasus for many years, but the Russian government was not finally recognized by the proud highlanders.
Almost all the time that Chechnya is part of Russia, there have been mass uprisings on its territory, bandit formations have been operating and military and political punitive operations have been carried out. Russian-Chechen conflict in 1990 originated as a national conflict in the struggle for the independence of Chechnya on the territory of the USSR, during the so-called perestroika, in the second half of the 1980s.
Collapse of the USSR
It was with the beginning of this period of changes in the political and economic structure of the USSR that nationalist and separatist movements became more active in many republics of the Union. Radically-minded nationalists appeared in Chechnya, who managed to unite around themselves an uneducated ordinary people living a patriarchal life. A typical representative of the Chechen nationalist movement of that time is Zelimkhan Yandarbiev, an ethnic Chechen, a poet "from the people", an educated figure of the Writers' Union. It was Yandarbiev who convinced General Dzhokhar Dudayev to return to Chechnya from Estonia and lead the growing nationalist movement.
The main driving force and organization of the separatists was the National Congress of the Chechen People (ACCN), created in 1990, of which Dudayev became the head in 1991. The main goal of the OKChN was the withdrawal of the republic from the USSR and the creation of an independent Chechen state. All these events were accompanied by the appearance of well-organized armed gangs, mass genocide of the Russian population of the republic and a huge number of victims among military law enforcement officers and civilians.
Seizure of power by separatists
Throughout 1991, the leadership and nationalist leaders deliberately and purposefully destabilized the situation in the republic, fostering extremist sentiments. Almost immediately after General Dudayev became head of the OKChN, in the early summer of 1991, he proclaimed the independence of the Chechen Republic Nokhchi-cho, creating a dual power in Chechnya, torn by political contradictions. The current situation did not last long; on September 6, a military coup was carried out in Chechnya under the leadership of Dudayev. At the end of October 1991, Dzhokhar Dudayev, as a result of elections held under the control of separatists, became President of the republic.
According to the data released by the UGV headquarters after the end of hostilities, the losses of Russian troops amounted to 4103 people killed, 1231 missing / deserted / prisoners, 19 794 wounded.
All this led to the fact that in early November, Russian President Boris Yeltsin signed a decree on the introduction of a state of emergency on the territory of the republic. After the issuance and signing of this decree, the situation in Chechnya escalated to the limit, the decree was canceled, literally a few days after it was signed. After that, the Russian leadership decided to withdraw military units and units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs from the territory of the republic, during which the separatists actively seized and plundered military warehouses.
The de facto independence of Chechnya and the beginning of the war
In the subsequent period from 1991 to 1994. Chechnya, being in a state of de facto independence, was gradually plunging into the chaos of banditry, the slave trade, ethnic cleansing and a socio-economic crisis. The criminal lawlessness in the republic caused discontent among the people with the new government, on the wave of which an anti-Dudaev opposition was formed and a civil war began.
After the conclusion of the ceasefire agreement on August 23, 1996, the troops were withdrawn from the territory of Chechnya in the shortest possible time from September 21 to December 31, 1996. This is how the First Chechen Campaign ended.
On December 1, 1994, Russian aviation completely destroyed the planes in the hands of the separatists. 10 days after the massive airstrike, President Yeltsin signed decree No. 2169 "On measures to ensure legality, law and order and public safety on the territory of the Chechen Republic." On the same day, December 11, 1994, Russian troops entered the territory of Chechnya, the first Chechen war began.
