The article tells briefly about the first Chechen war (1994-1996), which was waged by Russia on the territory of Chechnya. The conflict led to heavy losses among the Russian military, as well as among the peaceful Chechen population.

1. The course of the first Chechen war
2. The results of the first Chechen war

Causes of the first Chechen war

• As a result of the events of 1991 and the secession of the republics from the USSR, similar processes began in the Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. The nationalist movement in the republic was headed by the former Soviet general D. Dudayev. In 1991, he proclaimed the creation of the independent Chechen Republic of Ichkeria (ChRI). A coup d'état took place, as a result of which representatives of the former government were overthrown. The main government offices were seized by the nationalists. B. Yeltsin's introduction of a state of emergency in the republic could no longer change anything. The withdrawal of Russian troops begins.
  CRI was an unrecognized republic not only in Russia, but throughout the world. Power relied on military force and criminal structures. The sources of income for the new government were the slave trade, robberies, drug trafficking and oil from the Russian pipeline passing through the territory of Chechnya.
• In 1993, D. Dudayev carried out another coup d'etat, dispersing the parliament and the constitutional court. The constitution adopted after this approved the regime of D. Dudayev's personal power.
  On the territory of CRI, opposition to the government arises in the form of the Provisional Council of the Chechen Republic. The Council enjoys the support of the Russian government, it receives material assistance, and employees of Russian special forces are sent to support it. There are military clashes between Dudayev's detachments and representatives of the opposition.

The course of the first Chechen war

• Even before the official declaration of hostilities in early December 1991, Russian aviation inflicted a massive strike on Chechen airfields, destroying all enemy aircraft. B. Yeltsin signs a decree on the start of hostilities. The Russian army begins an invasion of Chechnya. During the first weeks, all the northern Chechen regions passed under the control of Russia, Grozny was practically surrounded.
• From the end of December 1994 to March 1995. stormed Grozny. Despite the significant superiority in numbers and weapons, the Russian army suffered heavy losses, and the assault took a long time. In the conditions of street fighting, the heavy equipment of the Russian army did not pose a serious threat, the militants easily destroyed tanks with grenade launchers. The soldiers in the mass were untrained, there were no maps of the city, there was no established communication between the units. Already during the assault, the Russian command changes tactics. With the support of artillery and aviation, the offensive is carried out by small air assault groups. The widespread use of artillery and bombardment is turning Grozny into ruins. In March, the last detachments of militants leave it. Pro-Russian authorities are being created in the city.
• After a series of battles, the Russian army captures key districts and cities of Chechnya. However, retreating in time, the militants do not suffer serious losses. The war takes on a guerrilla character. The militants carry out terrorist attacks and surprise attacks on the positions of the Russian army throughout Chechnya. In response, airstrikes are launched, during which civilians often die. This causes hatred for the Russian forces, the population provides assistance to the militants. The situation was aggravated by the terrorist acts in Budyonnovsk (1995) and Kizlyar (1996), during which many civilians and soldiers were killed, and the militants suffered almost no losses.
• In April 1996, D. Dudayev was killed as a result of an air strike, but this no longer affected the course of the war.
• On the eve of the presidential elections, B. Yeltsin, for political purposes, decided to agree to a truce in an unpopular war among the people. In June 1996, an agreement was signed on a truce, the disarmament of the separatists and the withdrawal of Russian troops, but neither side fulfilled the terms of the agreement.
• Immediately after winning the election, B. Yeltsin announces the resumption of hostilities. In August, the militants stormed Grozny. Despite superior forces, Russian troops were unable to hold the city. The separatists captured a number of other settlements.
• The fall of Grozny led to the signing of the Khasavyurt agreements. The Russian army was withdrawn from Chechnya, the question of the republic's status was put off for five years.

The results of the first Chechen war

• The Chechen war was supposed to put an end to illegal power on the territory of the republic. In general, successful military operations at the first stage of the war, the capture of Grozny did not lead to victory. Moreover, significant losses among the Russian troops made the war extremely unpopular in Russia. The widespread use of aviation and artillery was accompanied by casualties among the civilian population, as a result of which the war acquired a protracted, partisan character. Russian troops held only large centers and were constantly attacked.
• The goal of the war was not achieved. After the withdrawal of Russian troops, power again fell into the hands of criminal and nationalist groups.

The second Chechen war also had an official name - the counter-terrorist operation in the North Caucasus, or KTO for short. But it is the common name that is more known and widespread. The war affected almost the entire territory of Chechnya and the adjacent regions of the North Caucasus. It began on September 30, 1999 with the entry of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. The most active phase can be called the years of the second Chechen war from 1999 to 2000. This was the peak of the attacks. In subsequent years, the second Chechen war took on the character of local skirmishes between separatists and Russian soldiers. 2009 was marked by the official abolition of the CTO regime.
The second Chechen war brought a lot of destruction. The photographs taken by journalists testify to this in the best possible way.

background

The first and second Chechen wars have a small time gap. After the Khasavyurt agreement was signed in 1996, and Russian troops were withdrawn from the republic, the authorities expected calm to come. However, peace has not been established in Chechnya.
Criminal structures have significantly stepped up their activities. They did an impressive business on such a criminal act as kidnapping for ransom. Their victims were both Russian journalists and official representatives, as well as members of foreign public, political and religious organizations. The bandits did not disdain the kidnapping of people who came to Chechnya for the funeral of loved ones. So, in 1997, two citizens of Ukraine were captured, who arrived in the republic in connection with the death of their mother. Businessmen and workers from Turkey were regularly captured. Terrorists profited from the theft of oil, drug trafficking, production and distribution of counterfeit money. They committed acts of violence and kept the civilian population in fear.

In March 1999, G. Shpigun, an authorized representative of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs for Chechnya, was captured at the Grozny airport. This egregious case showed the complete inconsistency of the President of the CRI, Maskhadov. The federal center decided to strengthen control over the republic. Elite operational units were sent to the North Caucasus, the purpose of which was to fight against bandit formations. From the side of the Stavropol Territory, a number of rocket launchers were put up, designed to deliver pinpoint ground strikes. An economic blockade was also introduced. The flow of cash injections from Russia has sharply decreased. In addition, it has become increasingly difficult for bandits to smuggle drugs abroad and take hostages. Gasoline produced in clandestine factories had nowhere to sell. In mid-1999, the border between Chechnya and Dagestan turned into a militarized zone.

Bandit formations did not abandon attempts to unofficially seize power. Groups under the leadership of Khattab and Basayev made forays into the territory of Stavropol and Dagestan. As a result, dozens of servicemen and police officers were killed.

On September 23, 1999, Russian President Boris Yeltsin officially signed a decree on the creation of the United Group of Forces. Its goal was to conduct a counter-terrorist operation in the North Caucasus. Thus began the second Chechen war.

The nature of the conflict

The Russian Federation acted very skillfully. with the help of tactics (luring the enemy into a minefield, sudden raids on small settlements), significant results were achieved. After the active phase of the war passed, the main goal of the command was to establish a truce and attract former leaders of gangs to their side. The militants, on the contrary, relied on giving the conflict an international character, calling for participation in it of representatives of radical Islam from all over the world.

By 2005, terrorist activity had dropped significantly. Between 2005 and 2008, no major attacks on civilians or clashes with official troops were recorded. However, in 2010 there were a number of tragic terrorist acts (explosions in the Moscow metro, at Domodedovo airport).

Second Chechen War: Beginning

On June 18, CRI carried out two attacks at once on the border in the direction of Dagestan, as well as on a company of Cossacks in Stavropol. After that, most of the checkpoints to Chechnya from Russia were closed.

On June 22, 1999, an attempt was made to blow up the building of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of our country. This fact was noted for the first time in the entire history of the existence of this ministry. The bomb was located and promptly defused.

On June 30, the Russian leadership gave permission to use military weapons against gangs on the border with the CRI.

Attack on the Republic of Dagestan

On August 1, 1999, the armed detachments of the Khasavyurt region, as well as the citizens of Chechnya supporting them, announced that they were introducing Sharia rule in their region.

On August 2, militants from the CRI provoked a violent clash between Wahhabis and riot police. As a result, several people died on both sides.

On August 3, a shootout took place between policemen and Wahhabis in the Tsumadinsky district of the river. Dagestan. There were no losses. Shamil Basayev, one of the leaders of the Chechen opposition, announced the creation of an Islamic shura that had its own troops. They established control over several districts in Dagestan. The local authorities of the republic are asking the center for the issuance of military weapons to protect the civilian population from terrorists.

The next day, the separatists were driven back from the regional center of Aghvali. More than 500 people dug in in positions that had been prepared in advance. They did not put forward any demands and did not enter into negotiations. it became known that they were holding three policemen.

At noon on August 4, on the road of the Botlikh region, a group of armed militants opened fire on a line of police officers who were trying to stop a car for an inspection. As a result, two terrorists were killed, and there were no casualties among the security forces. The settlement of Kekhni was hit by two powerful missile and bomb attacks by Russian attack aircraft. It was there, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, that a detachment of militants stopped.

On August 5, it becomes known that a major terrorist act is being prepared on the territory of Dagestan. 600 militants were going to penetrate the center of the republic through the village of Kekhni. They wanted to seize Makhachkala and sabotage the government. However, representatives of the center of Dagestan denied this information.

The period from August 9 to 25 was remembered by the battle for the Donkey Ear height. The militants fought with paratroopers from Stavropol and Novorossiysk.

Between September 7 and 14, large groups invaded from Chechnya under the leadership of Basayev and Khattab. The devastating battles continued for about a month.

Bombing of Chechnya from the air

On August 25, Russian armed forces attacked terrorist bases in the Vedeno Gorge. More than a hundred militants were destroyed from the air.

In the period from 6 to 18 September, Russian aviation continues a massive bombardment of separatist gathering places. Despite the protest of the Chechen authorities, the security forces say they will act as necessary in the fight against terrorists.

On September 23, Grozny and its environs are bombarded by central aviation forces. As a result, power plants, oil refineries, a mobile communication center, radio and television buildings were destroyed.

On September 27, VV Putin rejected the possibility of a meeting between the presidents of Russia and Chechnya.

Ground operation

Since September 6, martial law has been in effect in Chechnya. Maskhadov calls on his citizens to declare gazavat to Russia.

On October 8, in the village of Mekenskaya, a militant Ibragimov Akhmed shot 34 people of Russian nationality. Of these, three were children. At the gathering of the village of Ibragimov, they beat him to death with sticks. Mulla forbade his body to be buried in the earth.

The next day they occupied a third of the CRI territory and moved on to the second phase of hostilities. The main goal is the destruction of gangs.

On November 25, the President of Chechnya appealed to Russian soldiers to surrender and go into captivity.

In December 1999, Russian combat forces liberated almost all of Chechnya from militants. About 3,000 terrorists dispersed over the mountains, and also hid in Grozny.

Until February 6, 2000, the siege of the capital of Chechnya continued. After the capture of Grozny, massive battles came to naught.

Situation in 2009

Despite the fact that the counter-terrorist operation was officially terminated, the situation in Chechnya did not become calmer, but, on the contrary, became aggravated. Cases of explosions became more frequent, militants became more active again. In the autumn of 2009, a number of operations were carried out aimed at the destruction of gangs. The militants respond with major terrorist acts, including in Moscow. By mid-2010, the conflict was escalating.

Second Chechen War: results

Any hostilities cause damage to both property and people. Despite the compelling reasons for the second Chechen war, the pain of the death of loved ones cannot be eased or forgotten. According to statistics, 3684 people were lost on the Russian side. 2178 representatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation were killed. The FSB lost 202 of its employees. More than 15,000 people were killed among the terrorists. The number of civilians who died during the war is not exactly established. According to official figures, it is about 1000 people.

Movies and books about the war

The fighting did not leave indifferent and artists, writers, directors. Dedicated to such an event as the second Chechen war, photographs. Exhibitions are held regularly, where you can see works that reflect the destruction left after the battles.

The second Chechen war still causes a lot of controversy. The film "Purgatory", based on real events, perfectly reflects the horror of that period. The most famous books were written by A. Karasev. These are "Chechen stories" and "Traitor".

Causes are, on the one hand, objective circumstances, and on the other, subjective. A variety of things are usually cited as reasons and prerequisites: terrible threats from Chechnya, which had to be urgently prevented; a terrible amount of oil, or vice versa - the need to lay an oil pipeline through which a terrible amount of oil from the Caspian had to be pumped; protection of the rights of the Russian-speaking population. And many other things. But upon closer examination, it turns out that none of them worked as an incentive.

The rights of the Russian-speaking population were taken care of only when they got involved in the war in full. Nobody thought about it before. There is practically no oil in Chechnya. It was pumped out over a century of operation of the field, now about 2 million tons are mined there a year, this is complete nonsense. Yes, there was a large oil refinery in Chechnya, powerful factories, but nothing remained of them: something was bombed, and what was left was cut and scrapped by ferrous metallurgists. The pipeline from the Caspian was not particularly popular. As for Chechen crime, this is a myth built from our modern far away. The fact is that the Chechens were incapable of fighting the mafia. Or rather, they are capable to the same extent as they are capable of statehood. The Chechen, anarchist structure of society (from about the 16th century) did not involve building hierarchical systems.

As of 1992-1993, Chechnya suited everyone in Russia in many respects. She arranged the special services as a kind of offshore, where through the Northern Airport it was possible to transport weapons to third world countries; as an offshore, where it was possible to hire militants to perform a variety of tasks. For example, in Abkhazia they fought with Russian weapons with Russian instructors, but the detachments of the Confederation of the Peoples of the Caucasus under the command of Shamil Basayev.

Chechnya, as an offshore, suited large oil (then still state-owned) companies, because it was possible to drive oil through it and lie about the fact that all taxes were paid there, and send it further for export.

It would seem that suits everyone, but what happened? And what happened to us at that time was a completely intra-Moscow event. By the end of 1992, the confrontation between President Boris Yeltsin and the parliament, where Ruslan Khasbulatov was, escalated. At the same time, in November 1992, Yegor Yakovlev, a man with a conscience, was removed from Ostankino. And the main propagandist, as it already happened, was Mikhail Poltoranin (an old party cadre under Yeltsin, known for his biased attitude towards Jews). But here's what to do: there is a parliament, there is a speaker, and he is a Chechen. And then the whole propaganda machine, as part of the confrontation with the Parliament, is being rebuilt on “atu of this Chechen Khasbulatov!”

That is, if we return to the texts of 1993, it will turn out that we do not have a bad parliament there, but Khasbulatov is bad, and under him 70-something objects in Moscow are controlled by the Chechen mafia. It turns out that it was the White House security department that guarded about 70 more objects, but at the same time they had nothing to do with the Chechens. By October 1993, this intensified to such an extent that if you listen to the radio communications on the night air on October 3-4, it turns out that the policemen preparing for the assault were going to take either Grozny or Kabul. They were going to fight either with the Chechens (because Khasbulatov), ​​or with the Afghans (because Rutskoi had the misfortune to be captured in Afghanistan, and for some reason he was charged with this). Somehow, the campaign was raised. And it was then that the talk began about the Chechen mafia. Then a surprise happens: we took a little of the White House and burned it a little on October 4, and on the 12th - bang! - and for some reason there is no majority in the elections. Many seats in parliament were occupied by communists and Zhirinovites. And then the political technologists (who were not called that at that time) had a bright idea: in order to intercept the electorate, it is necessary to intercept the slogans of opponents. We need to do something national and patriotic. For example, to return a fallen province to the bosom of the Empire. Nothing raises the rating.

In the second half of December, Shakhrai's plan for Chechnya, signed a month ago (and shelved) was suddenly taken out of the shed: a plan of negotiations against the backdrop of forceful pressure, which should ensure the solution of the problems of the separatist region. It turned out that it was very bad with negotiations, but very good with forceful pressure. All sorts of political technologists and analysts from this project were cut off after six months. It was controlled by the security forces (which then included the Ministry of Nationalities, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the FSB). This project was partly supervised by Sevastyanov, head of the Moscow department of the FSK (federal counterintelligence service). But something went wrong. We give money to the anti-Dudaev opposition, they take the money, but Dudayev is not overthrown; we give weapons - also Dudayev is not overthrown; we give weapons with crews - on November 26, 1994, Grozny is stormed (supposedly by the opposition, but in fact there were officers hired by the FSK in the Moscow region units in the tanks). Hybrid fight. Tanks enter Grozny. In Grozny they think: “Wow, there was someone who was able to build 40 tanks in a column and reach Grozny! My mother! Yes, power can be granted to him! ”, Because there was no such person in Chechnya at that time. But unexpectedly, non-natives crawled out from under the armor, and everything changed. They were burned and taken prisoner. Further, as always, foxes are hidden in the forest, and small blood can only be washed away with big blood. No one addressed the analysis of errors and return to the previous stage during the year. Then the war starts. What's funny, the war did not raise this rating. By the beginning of 1996, Yeltsin had it at a background level. And the elections were won in part, because it was then that his team said: “Peace!”, “Peace!”. Nazran negotiations, Yandarbiev flies to Moscow to talk, he is taken away at the ABC special facility in Tyoply Stan. At this time, Yeltsin flies to Chechnya, says: "That's it, peace has come." Yeltsin was elected in the second round, but at the same time, he took a third to his team (and Lebed was then the third), appointed him Secretary of the Security Council. And Lebed decided to become the winner. Tikhomirov (who then commanded an army group in Chechnya) gave carte blanche to win his former deputy for Transnistria. And in July 1996, the war resumed as soon as the results of the second round of elections were officially announced. I must say that the victory did not work out, because three days before Yeltsin's inauguration, the Chechens entered Grozny and occupied the city. Not that they were superior in strength, there were about 800 of them. And no one dared to spoil the master's mood with bad news. Therefore, paralysis reigned for three days, during which time the Chechens surprisingly fortified themselves in the city and it was already impossible to knock them out. After that, Lebed, when the fighting resumed, arrived at the place, realized that there was nothing to catch here and concluded the Khasavyurt agreements. That is, here we had one driving force, simple: neither oil, nor money, nor anything else. And power, which is more important than oil, money and much more.

It must be said that after Khasavyurt they tried to forget about Chechnya, as about a nightmare. We did not pull out our prisoners, although in the autumn of 1996 this could well have been done. Hostage-taking began, the situation was in shambles, and they tried to forget about Chechnya. And so we come to 1999. In the winter of that year, a representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs was kidnapped in Chechnya, a year later his remains will be found in the mountains. And that was the last straw. Prime Minister Stepashin said that we would use force. The war machine revved up. For example, the formation of the 77th marine brigade in Dagestan began (this is not funny, at that time the marines were the only units that had at least some mountain training). The transfer of tactical missiles to the south began. And here, even against someone's will, we irresistibly marched towards war, because the car started spinning from the other side. Why? We go over to the other side and notice that in 1997 Maskhadov won in our elections in Chechnya (convincingly won), and Shamil Basayev took the second place. It was terribly unstable there, because Basayev had detachments. Not exactly big ones, but he knew how to unite very restless local comrades under him. At some point, Maskhadov let him steer, for half a year (somewhere at the turn of 97-98, Basayev headed the government). It must be said that he achieved brilliant successes: the budget filling rate fell 20 times. After that, it seemed his career was over. Resigning, as promised, six months later from this post, he immediately spoke at the congress of the congress of the peoples of Chechnya and Dagestan, declaring powerful expansion goals. Preparations began for what eventually resulted in the invasion of Dagestan.

Basayev, having turned out to be a political marginal, found himself on the verge of death, not only political, but also physical. The only thing that saved him from such a prospect was the beginning of a war, which would inevitably lead to the rallying of everyone and save him from death (at least postpone this death). And so it happened.

In 1999, during the summer, Basayev was already building up his forces in the Tsumadinsky district of Dagestan. And the fact that at the turn of July-August 1999 there bang, could bang a little earlier, could a little later. One way or another, a war began, which was declared a counter-terrorist operation (although there were no explosions in cities yet). I do not want to say that these explosions were staged by the special services, apart from the "Ryazan exercises" the role of the special services has not been proven anywhere. But it's different. In that this war was used. If you look at Vladimir Putin's rating for August-November 1999, you will see that it suddenly began to grow from insignificant, background values. Every week, some kind of brutal statement like "wet in the toilet." And the rating of hop - 7% jumped up until it went to sky-high heights. Actually, this is exactly the situation when we can say something like the following: we do not know who arranged all this, but we know exactly who used it.

Ironically, what failed in the first war (using it as an electoral tool) succeeded perfectly in the second. Further war, of course, was not needed by anyone. For example, already before Putin was elected president, they tried in every possible way to declare that “Victory, guys! Everything, already a victory! There - in the Komsomol battles. However, the attacks in every possible way reminded of the opposite. But they were again used to further strengthen power. But attempts to assert that subsequent large-scale terrorist attacks were organized by the special services, they, in my opinion, are also untenable. Nevertheless, we see that here the cause is a thing much more attractive than oil and than money. Power. An uncontrolled power that does not stop at playing with fire in order to maintain this power.

The first Chechen war (1994-1996): briefly about the main events

25 years ago, on December 11, 1994, the First Chechen War began. In the reference, the "Caucasian Knot" briefly recalls the main milestones of this bloody and destructive conflict.

On May 27-28, 1996, at the talks in Moscow, the parties managed to agree on a ceasefire. On May 28, while the Ichkerian delegation was still in Moscow, Boris Yeltsin made a blitz visit to Chechnya, where he congratulated the Russian servicemen on their victory in the war. However, after Yeltsin was re-elected president (July 3), the new Secretary of the Security Council Alexander Lebed announced the resumption of hostilities in Chechnya.

On August 6, 1996, separatist forces under the command of the Chief of the General Staff of Ichkeria Aslan Maskhadov captured Grozny, Gudermes and Argun (Operation Jihad). On August 20, General Pulikovsky delivered an ultimatum to the Chechen side, demanding that they leave the capital of the republic and lay down their arms within 48 hours, promising otherwise to strike at the city. The shelling, however, began on the night of 20 August. By August 22, Alexander Lebed managed to achieve a ceasefire and the disengagement of the warring parties in Grozny.

BACKGROUND The Chechen war, in short, became the most terrible and cruel event for Russia after the collapse of the USSR. Opinion about it is still ambiguous. Some of the historians and analysts support the decision of the authorities to send troops, someone says that this difficult conflict could have been prevented and terrible losses could have been avoided. Be that as it may, when talking about the Chechen war, first of all, you need to find out the reasons for its start. It should be remembered that this war is divided into two stages. First Chechen War d. Second Chechen War d.

Immediately after the collapse of the USSR, in September 1991, an armed coup led by Dzhokhar Dudayev took place in the republic. As a result, the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria emerged, which immediately declared its independence from the RSFSR. This event took place on November 1, 1991. Dudayev introduced martial law in the country and refused to negotiate with the Kremlin until the independence of Ichkeria was officially recognized by him. Also, the forces of the republic seized the military bases of Russian troops on its territory.

FIRST CHECHEN WAR () Date - December 11, 1994 - August 31, 1996 Place - Chechnya Result - Khasavyurt agreements Opponents - UNO-UNSO volunteers (Chechen separatists), Arab separatists

PROGRESS OF THE FIRST CHECHEN WAR Introduction of troops (December 1994) Storming of Grozny (December 1994 - March 1995) Establishment of control over the plain regions of Chechnya (March-April 1995) Establishment of control over the mountainous regions of Chechnya (May - June 1995) Terrorist act in Budennovsk ( June 1995) Terrorist act in Kizlyar (January 9-18, 1996) Attack of militants on Grozny (March 6-8, 1996) Battle near the village of Yaryshmardy (April 16, 1996) Liquidation of Dzhokhar Dudayev (April 21, 1996) Negotiations with separatists (May-July 1996) Operation Jihad (August 6-22, 1996) Khasavyurt Agreement (August 31, 1996)

THE FIRST CHECHEN WAR In September 1991, “The Joint Committee of the Chechen People, headed by Dudayev, seized power in Chechnya, announcing the creation of the Republic of Ichkeria. He formed his own army, began to pursue an anti-federal policy. In November 1994, Yeltsin issued an order to suppress an armed rebellion in Chechnya. The war has begun. The Russian command underestimated the enemy. In winter, bloody battles for Grozny took place. In the summer of 1995, Prime Minister V.S. Chernomyrdin entered into negotiations with the terrorists, as a result, the bandits left the city and went to Chechnya. At the end of 1995, hostilities intensified throughout the republic. The war became protracted. Moscow has finally realized that it is impossible to solve the problem of Chechnya by military confrontation. On August 31, 1996, a peace treaty was signed in Khasavyurt, which ended the first war. The first president of Chechnya, A. Maskhadov, was elected. De facto Chechnya became independent. Both in the center and in Chechnya, they understood that the signed agreement did not resolve the conflict.

LOSSES IN THE FIRST CHECHEN WAR Russia lost: a man killed missing / deserted / captured a man wounded Chechnya lost: a man killed thousands killed civilians Almost all of the non-Chechen population left the Chechen Republic.

Russia 1999 15 combat operations 2000 4 major combat operations 2001 2 major combat operations 2002 1 combat operation 2003 no major combat operations 2004 2 combat operations 2005 4 combat operations 2006 7 combat operations 2007 3 combat operations 2008 2 military operations Chechnya 1999 7 terrorist attacks 2000 - 4 terrorist attacks 2001 - 1 terrorist attack 2002 - 6 terrorist attacks 2003 - 6 terrorist attacks 2004 - 9 terrorist attacks 2005 - 1 terrorist attack 2006 - 2 terrorist attacks 2007 - 1 terrorist attack 2008 - 2 terrorist attacks PROGRESS OF THE SECOND CHECHEN WAR

In 1999, Chechen fighters attacked Dagestan. Russia unilaterally terminated the 1996 peace treaty. During this time, the Chechen leadership established links with international terrorist networks, formed special troops, organized the supply of weapons and the flow of funds. The goal is to capture the North Caucasus. The Russian leadership turned out to be powerless. In fact, Chechnya fell out of the Russian Federation. None of the center's peace initiatives had any effect. On September 23, Yeltsin signed a decree on the start of hostilities in Chechnya, and on October 18, federal troops surrounded Grozny. The civilians left the city. In February 2000, Grozny was taken, but the fighting continued until 2003. In March 2003, the Constitution of Chechnya was adopted, and A. Kadyrov was elected president. Gradually, economic life improved, but the political situation remained difficult: terrorist attacks continued.
UNFINISHED WAR After the end of the first Chechen campaign, the fate of more than 1,200 Russian servicemen remained unknown. Some of them were captured by Chechen fighters, some were lying in a foreign land, and the bodies of more than 500 soldiers were kept in the refrigerators of the 124th forensic laboratory in Rostov before the identification procedure. Thus, politicians and generals actually lost an entire regiment in Chechnya (and this is not counting more than 4 thousand soldiers and officers officially recognized as dead). At one time, Novaya Gazeta launched a campaign to search for the missing, release prisoners and hostages. This action was called "The Forgotten Regiment". As a result, with the help of journalists and readers of the newspaper, more than 150 captured servicemen and hostages were rescued from captivity in Chechnya, and mothers were helped to find and identify the remains of many dead children. In August 1999, after the attacks of the Basayev and Khattab gangs on Dagestan, the second Chechen campaign began. And again there was a problem of prisoners, hostages, missing persons. The authorities, as always, turned out to be unprepared to fully solve these problems.