There were 2 wars in Chechnya. Chechnya as an official entity didnt exist in the USSR, it was part of the Checheno Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (ASSR), which was part of the Russian Republic of the USSR. In this ASSR both chechen and ingush language were official languages and protected by state law, along with russian, so there is 0 argument for any “oppression”. Now fast forward to perestroika and the collapse of soviet socialism, nationalism, chauvinism and separatism are growing, both because of the economic crisis and because of US funding of separatist groups.
The Checheno Ingush ASSR was no exception. There, separatism and radical islamism, inspired by Osama Bin Laden and the mujahideen in Afghanistan, grew massively. However, while the chechens favoured more separatism, the ingush preferred staying in USSR/Russia. Thus, when the USSR dissolved in 1991, the Checheno Ingush ASSR, led by chechens, declared independence. The ingush, who were a minority, disagreed and split from it, rejoining Russia. Thus, the Checheno Ingush ASSR split in 2 republics, Ingush and Chechen Republic, creating modern day Chechnya.
While the new neoliberal russian government led by Boris Yeltsin was opposed to Chechnya and other ASSRs seceding, he couldnt do much, Russia was in chaos and he had too many insurgencies to fight. So he ignored Chechnya, which became de facto independent, proclaiming the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria. This government was originally led by secular proUS liberals. However, as the economic situation deteriorated, US money and weapons continued pouring in and Chechnya collapsed into chaos, international jihadism, based in Afghanistan under the mujahideen/taliban regime at the time, began to notice, and started pouring in.
Suddenly, Chechnya was the hip place to be for international jihadist terrorism, Osama Bin Laden himself visited very often. Thus, the situation escalated. Al Qaeda and similar groups set up shop in Chechnya, which began to be ruled by warlords. Civil wars between warlords erupted, and the liberal government lost control to the jihadist warlords. These warlords also began ethnically cleansing nonmuslims and imposing sharia law. This also spilled over into other neighbouring regions, such as Ingushetia or Dagestan. As 1994 began and Yeltsins government was more stable, he had to stop this.
So he issued an ultimatum to Chechnya to surrender to Russia, and after they refused launched an all out assault. This was the First Chechen War. He took Chechnya very quickly, but was then faced with constant guerilla warfare by jihadists. Now did Yeltsin commit atrocities? Possibly, you know we dont love Yeltsin over here, but between Yeltsin and literal Al Qaeda nutbags, its clear Yeltsin was better, he didnt literally genocide other ethnicities you know. In the end Yeltsin sent thousands of young conscripts to die in Chechnya, since the russian military was weak and disorganized at the time, which proved very unpopular.
So in 1996 he was forced to sign a peace treaty recognizing Chechnyas independence and withdrawing all forces, ending the First Chechen War. Chechnya collapsed into total anarchy, becoming a warlord feudal society ruled by Al Qaeda. The few nonmuslims who remained were either expelled or murdered. This peace lasted until 1999, when Al Qaeda militants in Chechnya, out of the blue, decided to invade the neighbouring russian region of Dagestan, to spread their jihadism there too, starting the Second Chechen War. The militants also carried out several brutal bombings and kidnappings of civilians in Russia.
At the time, Vladimir Putin had just become President of Russia under the promise of fixing the mess in Chechnya after the bombings and the invasion of Dagestan. So he again went into Chechnya, taking it very quickly, and restoring the central government by allying with Akhmat Kadyrov and his son Ramzan (current President of Chechnya), 2 chechen warlords who were less radical and decided to switch sides. The jihadist insurgency still continued for many years, killing thousands of civilians.
However, through economic development, Chechnya is now safer than ever, with little to no terrorism there. All of this is thanks to Vladimir Putin. Anyone who says that the russians were the bad guys here is delusional.
There’s this film that Putin liked about the second Chechen war, is not that good as recount of the historical events but it has good action and it’s fun.
There were 2 wars in Chechnya. Chechnya as an official entity didnt exist in the USSR, it was part of the Checheno Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (ASSR), which was part of the Russian Republic of the USSR. In this ASSR both chechen and ingush language were official languages and protected by state law, along with russian, so there is 0 argument for any “oppression”. Now fast forward to perestroika and the collapse of soviet socialism, nationalism, chauvinism and separatism are growing, both because of the economic crisis and because of US funding of separatist groups.
The Checheno Ingush ASSR was no exception. There, separatism and radical islamism, inspired by Osama Bin Laden and the mujahideen in Afghanistan, grew massively. However, while the chechens favoured more separatism, the ingush preferred staying in USSR/Russia. Thus, when the USSR dissolved in 1991, the Checheno Ingush ASSR, led by chechens, declared independence. The ingush, who were a minority, disagreed and split from it, rejoining Russia. Thus, the Checheno Ingush ASSR split in 2 republics, Ingush and Chechen Republic, creating modern day Chechnya.
While the new neoliberal russian government led by Boris Yeltsin was opposed to Chechnya and other ASSRs seceding, he couldnt do much, Russia was in chaos and he had too many insurgencies to fight. So he ignored Chechnya, which became de facto independent, proclaiming the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria. This government was originally led by secular proUS liberals. However, as the economic situation deteriorated, US money and weapons continued pouring in and Chechnya collapsed into chaos, international jihadism, based in Afghanistan under the mujahideen/taliban regime at the time, began to notice, and started pouring in.
Suddenly, Chechnya was the hip place to be for international jihadist terrorism, Osama Bin Laden himself visited very often. Thus, the situation escalated. Al Qaeda and similar groups set up shop in Chechnya, which began to be ruled by warlords. Civil wars between warlords erupted, and the liberal government lost control to the jihadist warlords. These warlords also began ethnically cleansing nonmuslims and imposing sharia law. This also spilled over into other neighbouring regions, such as Ingushetia or Dagestan. As 1994 began and Yeltsins government was more stable, he had to stop this.
So he issued an ultimatum to Chechnya to surrender to Russia, and after they refused launched an all out assault. This was the First Chechen War. He took Chechnya very quickly, but was then faced with constant guerilla warfare by jihadists. Now did Yeltsin commit atrocities? Possibly, you know we dont love Yeltsin over here, but between Yeltsin and literal Al Qaeda nutbags, its clear Yeltsin was better, he didnt literally genocide other ethnicities you know. In the end Yeltsin sent thousands of young conscripts to die in Chechnya, since the russian military was weak and disorganized at the time, which proved very unpopular.
So in 1996 he was forced to sign a peace treaty recognizing Chechnyas independence and withdrawing all forces, ending the First Chechen War. Chechnya collapsed into total anarchy, becoming a warlord feudal society ruled by Al Qaeda. The few nonmuslims who remained were either expelled or murdered. This peace lasted until 1999, when Al Qaeda militants in Chechnya, out of the blue, decided to invade the neighbouring russian region of Dagestan, to spread their jihadism there too, starting the Second Chechen War. The militants also carried out several brutal bombings and kidnappings of civilians in Russia.
At the time, Vladimir Putin had just become President of Russia under the promise of fixing the mess in Chechnya after the bombings and the invasion of Dagestan. So he again went into Chechnya, taking it very quickly, and restoring the central government by allying with Akhmat Kadyrov and his son Ramzan (current President of Chechnya), 2 chechen warlords who were less radical and decided to switch sides. The jihadist insurgency still continued for many years, killing thousands of civilians.
However, through economic development, Chechnya is now safer than ever, with little to no terrorism there. All of this is thanks to Vladimir Putin. Anyone who says that the russians were the bad guys here is delusional.
There’s this film that Putin liked about the second Chechen war, is not that good as recount of the historical events but it has good action and it’s fun.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_(2002_film)
Such an informative response, thank you.