The war in Chechnya is a black page in the history of Russia. War in Chechnya: History, Beginning and Results Chechen War 1995 1996

The first Chechen war 1994-1996: briefly about the reasons, events and results. The Chechen wars claimed many lives.

But what initially caused the conflict? What happened in those years in the troubled southern regions?

Causes of the Chechen conflict

After the collapse of the USSR, General Dudayev came to power in Chechnya. In his hands were large stocks of weapons and property of the Soviet state.

The general's main goal was to create an independent republic of Ichkeria. The funds that were used to achieve this goal were not entirely loyal.

The regime established by Dudayev was declared illegal by the federal authorities. Therefore, they considered it their duty to intervene. The struggle for spheres of influence has become the main cause of the conflict.

Other reasons coming from the main one:

• Chechnya's desire to secede from Russia;
• Dudaev's desire to create a separate Islamic state;
• dissatisfaction of the Chechens with the invasion of Russian troops;
• the source of income for the new government was the slave trade, drug and oil trade from the Russian pipeline passing through Chechnya.

The government sought to regain power over the Caucasus and regain lost control.

Chronicle of the first Chechen war

The first Chechen campaign began on December 11, 1994. It lasted almost 2 years.

It was a confrontation between the federal troops and the forces of the unrecognized state.

1. December 11, 1994 - the entry of Russian troops. The Russian army advanced from 3 sides. One of the groups the very next day approached the settlements located not far from Grozny.
2. December 31, 1994 - the storming of Grozny. The fighting began a few hours before the New Year. But at first, luck was not on the side of the Russians. The first assault failed. There were many reasons: poor preparedness of the Russian army, lack of coordination, lack of coordination, the presence of old maps and photographs of the city. But attempts to take the city continued. Grozny came under full control of the Russians only on March 6.
3. Events from April 1995 to 1996 After the capture of Grozny, it was gradually possible to establish control over most of the flat territories. In mid-June 1995, a decision was made to postpone the hostilities. However, it was violated many times. At the end of 1995, elections were held in Chechnya, which was won by a protege from Moscow. In 1996, the Chechens made attempts to attack Grozny. All attacks were repelled.
4. April 21, 1996 - death of the separatist leader Dudayev.
5. On June 1, 1996, an armistice was declared. Under the terms, prisoner exchanges, the disarmament of the militants and the withdrawal of Russian troops were to take place. But no one wanted to concede, and the fighting began again.
6. August 1996 - Chechen operation "Jihad", during which the Chechens took Grozny and other significant cities. The Russian authorities decide to conclude an armistice and withdraw troops. The first Chechen war ended on August 31, 1996.

Consequences of the first Chechen campaign

Brief results of the war:

1. As a result of the first Chechen war, Chechnya remained independent, but as before no one recognized it as a separate state.
2. Many cities and settlements were destroyed.
3. Earning income by criminal means began to occupy a significant place.
4. Almost the entire civilian population fled their homes.

There was also an increase in Wahhabism.

Table "Losses in the Chechen War"

The exact number of casualties in the first Chechen war cannot be named. Opinions, assumptions and calculations are different.

The approximate losses of the parties look like this:

In the column "Federal forces" the first figure is the calculations immediately after the war, the second is the data contained in the book on the wars of the 20th century, published in 2001.

Heroes of Russia in the Chechen War

According to official data, 175 soldiers who fought in Chechnya received the title of Hero of Russia.

Most of the servicemen, participants in the hostilities, received the title posthumously.

The most famous heroes of the first Russian-Chechen war and their exploits:

1. Victor Ponomarev. During the fighting in Grozny, he covered the sergeant with himself, which saved his life.
2. Igor Akhpashev. In Grozny, he neutralized the main firing points of the Chechen thugs on a tank. Then he was surrounded. The militants blew up the tank, but Akhpashev fought in the burning car to the last. Then there was a detonation and the hero died.
3. Andrey Dneprovsky. In the spring of 1995, Dneprovsky's unit defeated the Chechen militants who were at the height of the fortification. Andrey Dneprovsky was the only one killed in the ensuing battle. All other soldiers of this unit survived all the horrors of the war and returned home.

Federal troops did not achieve the goals set in the first war. This became one of the reasons for the second Chechen war.

War veterans believe that the first war could have been avoided. Opinions differ as to which side started the war. Is it true that there was a possibility of a peaceful settlement of the situation? Here, too, the assumptions are different.

Russia waged numerous wars against the invaders, there were wars as obligations to the allies, but, unfortunately, there were wars, the reasons for which are associated with the illiterate activities of the country's leaders.

History of the conflict

Everything started quite peacefully even under Mikhail Gorbachev, who, 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, received problems within the state as well. First of all, these problems were associated with the awakening of ethnic nationalism. They were most clearly manifested in the territories of the Baltic and the Caucasus.

Already at the end of 1990, a National Congress of the Chechen People was convened. It was headed by Dzhokhar Dudayev, Major General of the Soviet Army. The purpose of the congress was to secede from the USSR and create an independent Chechen Republic. Gradually, this decision began to be implemented.

Back in the summer of 1991, a dual power was observed in Chechnya: the government of the Chechen-Ingush ASSR itself and the government of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria of Dzhokhar Dudayev continued to work there. But in September 1991, after the unsuccessful actions of the State Emergency Committee, the Chechen separatists felt that a favorable moment had come, and Dudayev's armed guards seized the television center, the Supreme Soviet and the House of Radio. In fact, a coup d'etat 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 manage to take out.

For some time the situation in the republic was restrained. An opposition was formed to oppose Dudayev, but the forces were unequal.

At that time, the Yeltsin government had neither the strength nor the political will to take any effective measures, and, in fact, Chechnya in the period from 1991 to 1994 became practically independent from Russia. It has 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 served as the beginning of a full-scale war.

The course of hostilities

	Federal aviation attack on airfields in Chechnya. Destruction of militant aircraft
	The entry of federal troops into the territory of Chechnya
	Federal troops approached Grozny
	The beginning of the storming of Grozny
	Capture of the presidential palace
	Creation of the grouping "South" and the complete blockade of Grozny
	Conclusion of a temporary truce
	Despite the truce, street fighting continues. Militant detachments leave the city
	The last region of Grozny was liberated. Formed pro-Russian administration of Chechnya headed by S. Khadzhiev and U. Avturkhanov
	Taking Arghun
	Shali and Gudermes taken
	Fights near the village of Semashki
April 1995	End of battles in lowland Chechnya
	The beginning of hostilities in mountainous Chechnya
	Taking Vedeno
	The regional centers Shatoi and Nozhai-Yurt were taken
	Terrorist attack in Budyonnovsk
	First round of negotiations. Moratorium on fighting for an indefinite period
	Second round of negotiations. Agreement on the exchange of prisoners "all for all", the disarmament of the CRI units, the withdrawal of federal troops, the holding of free elections
	Militants seize Argun, but after the battle are driven out by federal troops
	Gudermes was captured by militants and a week later it was cleared by federal troops
	Elections were held in Chechnya. Defeated Doku Zavgaev
	Terrorist attack in Kizlyar
	Militants' attack on Grozny
	Liquidation of Dzhokhar Dudayev
	Meeting in Moscow with Z. Yandarbiev. Armistice agreement and prisoner exchange
	Attacks on militant bases resumed after federal ultimatum
	Operation Jihad. Separatist attack on Grozny, assault and capture of Gudermes
	Khasavyurt agreements. Federal troops were withdrawn from Chechnya, and the status of the 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 powers 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 war that ended left behind a ruined economy. Towns and villages were not restored. As a result of the war and ethnic cleansing, all representatives of other nationalities left Chechnya.

The internal social environment has changed critically. Those who previously fought for independence, slipped to a criminal showdown. The heroes of the republic have turned into ordinary bandits. They hunted not only in Chechnya, but also throughout Russia. Kidnapping has become a particularly lucrative business. The neighboring regions especially felt this.

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

1. The course of the first Chechen war
2. 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 led by the former Soviet general D. Dudaev. In 1991 he proclaimed the creation of the independent Chechen Republic of Ichkeria (CRI). A coup d'etat took place, as a result of which representatives of the previous government were overthrown. The main government offices were taken over by the nationalists. The introduction by Boris Yeltsin 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 and oil trade from the Russian pipeline passing through the territory of Chechnya.
• In 1993 D. Dudaev carried out another coup d'etat, dispersed the parliament and the constitutional court. The constitution adopted after this affirmed D. Dudaev's personal power regime.
  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 is provided with 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 was striking a massive strike at Chechen airfields, destroying all enemy aircraft. B. Yeltsin signs a decree on the outbreak of hostilities. The Russian army begins to invade the territory of Chechnya. During the first weeks, all the northern Chechen regions came under Russian control, and Grozny was practically surrounded.
• From late December 1994 to March 1995 the storming of Grozny took place. 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 from grenade launchers. The bulk of the soldiers were untrained, there were no maps of the city, there was no well-established communication between the units. Already during the assault, the Russian command changes its tactics. With the support of artillery and aviation, the offensive is carried out by small airborne assault groups. The widespread use of artillery and bombing 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 regions and cities of Chechnya. However, retreating in time, the militants do not suffer serious losses. The war takes on a partisan character. The militants carry out terrorist attacks and surprise attacks on the positions of the Russian army throughout the territory of Chechnya. In response, air strikes are launched, during which civilians often die. This arouses hatred for the Russian forces, the population is helping the militants. The situation was aggravated by the terrorist acts in Budennovsk (1995) and Kizlyar (1996), during which many civilians and soldiers were killed, and the militants suffered practically no losses.
• In April 1996, D. Dudayev was killed as a result of an air strike, but this did not affect the course of the war in any way.
• On the eve of the presidential elections, Boris Yeltsin, for political purposes, decided to agree to an armistice in a war unpopular among the people. In June 1996, an agreement was signed on an armistice, disarmament of the separatists and the withdrawal of Russian troops, but neither side fulfilled the terms of the agreement.
• Immediately after his victory in the elections, B. Yeltsin announced the resumption of hostilities. In August, militants undertake an assault on Grozny. Despite the superior forces, Russian troops were unable to hold the city. A number of other settlements were seized by the separatists.
• 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 postponed for five years.

Results of the first Chechen war

• The Chechen war was supposed to end the illegal government on the territory of the republic. In general, successful hostilities at the first stage of the war, the capture of Grozny did not lead to victory. Moreover, significant losses among 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.

Many wars have been inscribed in the history of Russia. Most of them were liberating, 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 horrific results because the authorities were solving their own problems, not paying attention to the people.

One of such sad pages in Russian history is the Chechen war. This was not a confrontation between two different peoples. In this war, there was no absolute right. And the most amazing 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 also that, being left without satellites, it faced internal fermentations of a nationalist character. The Caucasus turned out to be especially problematic in this respect.

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

In the summer of 1991, a situation of dual power developed 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 a long time, and in September the same Dzhokhar and his supporters seized the republican television center, the Supreme Soviet and the House of Radio. This was the beginning of the revolution. The situation was extremely fragile, and its development was facilitated by the official collapse of the country, carried out by Yeltsin. After 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. 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 beginning of the bloody Chechen wars.

At that time, there were quite a lot of ammunition and weapons in the republic. Some of these reserves have already been seized by the separatists. Instead of blocking the situation, the leadership of the Russian Federation allowed it to get out of control even more - in 1992, the head of the Ministry of Defense Grachev handed over half of all these reserves to the militants. The authorities explained this decision by the fact that it was no longer possible to withdraw 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 rule. However, after it became clear that these small detachments could not resist the militant formations, the war was practically already on.

Yeltsin and his political supporters could no longer do anything, and from 1991 to 1994 it was actually an independent republic from Russia. Here, its own authorities were formed, there was its own state symbols. In 1994, when Russian troops entered the territory of the republic, a full-scale war broke out. Even after the resistance of Dudayev's militants was suppressed, the problem was never finally resolved.

Speaking about the war in Chechnya, it should be borne in mind that the blame for its unleashing, first of all, was the illiterate leadership, first of the USSR, and then of Russia. It was the weakening of the internal political situation in the country that led to the shattering of the outskirts and the strengthening of nationalist elements.

As for the essence of the Chechen war, there is a conflict of interests and the inability to govern a huge territory on the part of first Gorbachev and then Yeltsin. In the future, people who came to power at the very end of the twentieth century had 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 the whole of Russia. However, it should be borne in mind that the nature of the two campaigns was quite different.

During the Yeltsin era, when the first Chechen campaign of 1994-1996 was unleashed, Russian troops could not act smoothly and smoothly enough. The country's leadership was solving its own problems, moreover, according to some information, many profited from this war - arms were supplied to the territory of the republic from the Russian Federation, and the militants often earned 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 bandit formations 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, air strikes were carried out on airfields located in Khankala and Kalinovskaya. And already on December 11, Russian units were brought into the territory of the republic. This fact marked the beginning of the First Campaign. The entrance was carried out from three directions at once - through Mozdok to, through Ingushetia and through Dagestan.

By the way, at that time, Eduard Vorobyov was in charge of the Ground Forces, but he immediately resigned, considering it unreasonable to lead the operation, since the troops were completely unprepared for full-scale hostilities.

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

Russian Defense Minister Grachev hoped to take the city very quickly and therefore did not spare human and technical resources. Researchers estimate that more than 1,500 Russian soldiers and many civilians in the republic have died or gone missing near Grozny. Armored vehicles also suffered serious damage - almost 150 units were out of order.

Nevertheless, after two months of fierce fighting, federal troops nevertheless took Grozny. The participants in the hostilities later recalled that the city was destroyed almost to the ground, this is also 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. During the operation in Grozny, the militants lost more than 7,000 people and, under the leadership of Shamil Basayev, were forced to leave the city on March 6, which came under the control of the Russian Armed Forces.

However, the war, which brought deaths to thousands of not only armed, but also civilians, did not end there. 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, Gudermes were sequentially taken.

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

Second Chechen campaign 1999-2009

If the country's authorities hoped that by reaching an agreement with the militants, they had solved the problem and the battles of the Chechen war were a thing of the past, then everything turned out to be wrong. For several years of a dubious truce, the bandit formations have only accumulated strength. In addition, more and more Islamists from Arab countries penetrated into the territory of the republic.

As a result, on August 7, 1999, Khattab and Basayev's militants 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 side with them, but they put up serious resistance to the bandit groups.

The reluctance to let Islamists into their territory and the help of federal troops forced the Islamists to retreat. True, this took a month - the militants were knocked 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 it was not possible to break Dagestan, that the Islamist groups proceeded to carry out terrorist acts on the territory of Russia. In Volgodonsk, Moscow and Buinaksk, terrible terrorist acts were committed, which claimed dozens of lives. Therefore, among those killed in the Chechen war, it is necessary to include those civilians who never thought that it would come to their families.

In September 1999, a decree was issued "On measures to improve the effectiveness of counterterrorist operations in the North Caucasus region of the Russian Federation" 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 of the painful and terrible pages of the war. The Argun Gorge was otherwise called the "Wolf Gate" - one of the largest in length in the Caucasus gorges. Here, the landing and border troops carried out a 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 path of supplying weapons from the Pankisi Gorge. The operation was completed in February 2000.

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

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

Putin, realizing that such a war could go on indefinitely, decided to use internal political fluctuations and persuade the authorities to cooperate. Now we can already say that he succeeded. The fact that on May 9, 2004 the Islamists committed a terrorist attack in Grozny, aimed at intimidating the population, also played a role. The explosion thundered 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 controversial act of terrorism brought very 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 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. Residents of Chechnya were very tired of the war, so they already voluntarily sided with the pro-Russian forces.

The counterterrorist operation, introduced by Yeltsin on September 23, 1999, was canceled by President Dmitry Medvedev in 2009. Thus, the campaign was officially ended, since it was not called a war, but a WHO. However, can it be considered that veterans of the Chechen war can sleep peacefully if local battles are still taking place and terrorist attacks are carried out from time to time?

Results and consequences for the history of Russia

Hardly anyone can today give a concrete answer to the question of how many people died in the Chechen war. The problem is that any calculations will only be approximate. During the aggravation 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 died on both sides, and these losses also defy accurate calculation.

If the military losses can still be more or less calculated, then no one was involved in clarifying the losses on the part of the civilian population, except perhaps human rights activists. Thus, according to the official data available today, the 1st war claimed the following number of lives:

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

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

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

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

The result of the war can be called not only the impressive numbers of casualties among the killed, wounded, and missing people. It is also a destroyed republic - after all, many cities, first of all, Grozny, were subjected to artillery shelling and bombing. The entire infrastructure was practically destroyed in them, 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. Other settlements of the republic were also rebuilt.

Anyone who is 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 and health - these people hardly want to immerse themselves in what they have already experienced. The country was able to withstand this most difficult period of its history, and once again proved that it is more important for them - dubious calls for independence or unity with Russia.

The history of the Chechen war has not yet been fully understood. Researchers will be looking for documents on casualties among the military and civilians for a long time, and will double-check the statistics. 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 Chechen war went down in history as one of the most large-scale military operations. This war was a serious test for Russian soldiers. She did not leave indifferent any heart, for anyone she did not remain without a trace. The Chechen war shed not only the tears of the relatives of the victims, but also those who felt compassion for them. (Appendix 3)

The path of the Russian soldiers was long and difficult. A lot of time has passed since those tragic events, but the memory lives in everyone's heart and the pain of loss is given to the heart.

The further the years of the Chechen war go into history, the more vividly and fully the majesty of the exploits of Soviet and Russian soldiers is manifested. They proved that solidarity and faith in victory overcome injustice and impunity. Since the time when these bloody wars have passed, the objective and indisputable fact - Victory - has become even more visible and distinct. A victory that has been achieved at great cost and that defies measurement by existing metric measures. Here the dimension is unconventional - human lives. Millions of dead, dead from wounds, missing and burned in the flames of war. They died, died from wounds and diseases, disappeared without a trace, perished in captivity ... - such concepts are an indispensable companion of the statistics of military losses.

The Chechen War is a large-scale military action between the federal troops of the Russian Federation and the Chechen armed formations.

Russia's attempts to settle the protracted Chechen crisis by peaceful means, which arose after Chechnya declared its independence in 1991 and seceded from Russia, were unsuccessful.

The storming of Grozny by the anti-Dudaev opposition, supported by the federal center with the aim of overthrowing the regime of D.M. Dudaev, ended in failure. On November 30, 1994, President Yeltsin signed a decree "On measures to restore constitutionality and law and order on the territory of the Chechen Republic." It was decided to use a regular army. The generals expected to easily capture the rebellious republic, however, the war dragged on for several years.

On December 11, 1994, Russian troops crossed the Chechen border, and bloody battles for Grozny began. Only by March 1995 did Russian troops manage to oust the Chechen militias from it. The Russian army, using aviation, artillery, armored vehicles, gradually expanded the radius of its control, the position of the Chechen formations, which switched to the tactics of guerrilla warfare, was getting worse every day.

In June 1995, a detachment of militants under the command of Sh. Basayev raided the city of Budennovsk and took hostage everyone in the city hospital and other residents of the city. To save the lives of the hostages, the Russian government complied with all the militants' demands and agreed to start peace talks with Dudayev's representatives. But the complex negotiation process was disrupted in October 1995 as a result of an attempt on the life of the commander of the Russian troops, General A.S. Romanov. The hostilities continued. The war revealed the insufficient combat capability of the Russian army and demanded more and more budgetary investments. In the eyes of the world community, Russia's authority was declining. After the failure of the operation of federal troops in January 1996 to neutralize S. Raduev's militants in Kizlyar and Pervomayskiy in Russia itself, demands for an end to hostilities intensified. The pro-Moscow authorities in Chechnya failed to win the confidence of the population and were forced to seek protection from the federal authorities.

The death of Dudaev in April 1996 did not change the situation. In August 1996, Chechen formations actually captured Grozny. In these conditions, Yeltsin decided to hold peace talks, which he instructed to conduct the Secretary of the Security Council A.I. Swan.

On August 30, 1996, peace agreements were signed in Khasavyurt, which provided for the complete withdrawal of Russian troops from the territory of Chechnya, the holding of general democratic elections, and the decision on the status of Chechnya was postponed for five years.

After the end of the first Chechen campaign in 1994-1996, the fate of more than 1,200 Russian servicemen remained unknown.

Chechnya, 1999 Renewal of the war

In 1999, the Chechen war resumed after Chechen militants invaded Dagestan, attempted to seize the highlands and proclaim the creation of an Islamic state. Federal troops again entered Chechnya and in a short time took control of the most important settlements.

In a referendum, residents of Chechnya spoke in favor of keeping the republic within the Russian Federation.

The war in Chechnya has become the largest military clash since the Second World War, and has claimed the lives of tens of thousands of people. This war was a serious warning to the authorities about the grave consequences of the civil conflict.

In total, according to official data, in Chechnya over the entire period of the conflict, about 6,000 Russian servicemen, border guards, police officers and security personnel have died and gone missing. Today we do not have any summary data on the irrecoverable losses of the Chechen army. It can only be assumed that due to the smaller numbers and higher level of combat training, the Chechen troops suffered significantly less losses than the federal troops. The total number of people killed in Chechnya is most often estimated at 70 - 80 thousand people, the overwhelming majority - civilians. They became victims of shelling and bombing by federal troops, as well as so-called “clean-up operations” - Russian soldiers and Interior Ministry officers inspected towns and villages abandoned by Chechen formations, when civilians were often killed by bullets and grenades from federal forces. The bloodiest "cleansing operations" were carried out in the village of Samashki near the border with Ingushetia.

The cause of the war

How did this war actually begin, which turned the lives of people of the two nations? There were several reasons for its beginning. First, Chechnya was not allowed to secede. Secondly, the oppression of the Caucasian peoples has been going on since ancient times, that is, the roots of this conflict go very far. First, they humiliated the Chechens, and then they humiliated the Russians. In Chechnya, after the outbreak of the conflict, the life of Russians could be compared to hell.

Did this war affect the fate of those guys who participated in it? Unambiguously influenced, but in different ways: she took life from someone, from others the opportunity to live fully, someone, on the contrary, was able to become a person with a capital letter. The surviving guys, from what they saw and experienced, sometimes went crazy. Some of them committed suicide, perhaps because they felt guilty about those who were gone. Their fates developed differently, some are happy and found themselves in life, others on the contrary. Of course, to a greater extent, war cannot positively affect the future fate of a person, it can only teach people to appreciate life and everything that is in it.