Russian-Chechen conflict of the 1990s. It has deep historical roots dating back to the Caucasian War of the 19th century. It was then that, expanding its territories and strengthening its position in the south, 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 as proud highlanders.
Almost all the time that Chechnya is part of Russia, mass uprisings took place on its territory, gangs operated and military and political punitive operations were carried out. Russian-Chechen conflict of 1990 It arose as a national conflict in the struggle for independence of Chechnya on the territory of the USSR, during the so-called perestroika period, in the second half of 1980.
The 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 intensified in many republics of the Union. Radically-minded nationalists appeared in Chechnya who were able to unite around them a poorly educated, simple-minded, 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 in the Writers' Union. It was Yandarbiev who persuaded General Dzhokhar Dudaev to return to Chechnya from Estonia and head the growing nationalist movement.
The main driving force and organization of the separatists was the 1990 National Chechen People’s Congress (OKCHN), which was headed by Dudayev in 1991. The main goal of the OKCHN was the republic’s secession from the USSR and the creation of an independent Chechen state. All these events were accompanied by the appearance of organized, well-armed gangs, the mass genocide of the Russian population of the republic and a huge number of victims among military law enforcement officers and civilians.
The seizure of power by the separatists
Throughout 1991, the leadership and nationalist leaders deliberately and deliberately destabilized the situation in the republic, fostering extremist sentiments. Almost immediately after General Dudayev headed the OKCHN, in the early summer of 1991, he proclaimed the independence of the Chechen Republic Nokhchi-cho, creating 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 Dudaev. At the end of October 1991, Dzhokhar Dudayev, as a result of elections held under the control of separatists, became the President of the republic.
According to information released by the headquarters of the UGV after the end of hostilities, the loss of Russian troops amounted to 4, 103 people killed, 1231 missing, deserted / captured, 19, 794 wounded.
All this led to the fact that in early November, Russian President B. Yeltsin signed a decree on the introduction of a state of emergency in the republic. After the publication and signing of this decree, the situation in Chechnya escalated to the limit, the decree was canceled, literally a few days after its signing. After that, the Russian leadership decided to withdraw from the territory of the republic military units and units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, during which the separatists actively seized and robbed military depots.
