Chechnya is located in the mountainous Caucasus region between the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea, a land-locked area bordered by the Russian republics of Dagestan and Georgia. Formerly a part of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), Chechen separatists have waged a war for independence since the break-up of the Soviet Union, although the Chechen struggle against the Russians dates back to the late 1700’s. The current war has similarities to Russia’s misadventures in Afghanistan, including near total destruction, conflicts between local factions, the rise of Islamist terrorism and corresponding state terror by Russia, with deadly and continuing consequences for all parties. Chechnya holds a strategic geographic position linking Russia by pipeline and rail to the rich Caspian Sea oilfields

Between 1824 and 1859, Russians and Chechen Muslims fought a protracted war that ultimately resulted in Russian victory. Following the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, Stalin’s policies provoked a new uprising in the 1930’s that was put down with characteristic Russian firmness as thousands of Chechens were executed or imprisoned. During World War II, some Chechens once again saw an opportunity to throw off the yoke of Russian domination and sided with the Germans. In 1944 Stalin’s forces emulating Nazi ideas of ethnic cleansing, herded-up virtually the entire Chechen population and shipped them by train to Siberia.

In 1957, during Russian Premier Khrushchev’s de-Stalinization program, those Chechens that hadn’t perished during their harsh 13-year exile were permitted back to their homeland, with a renewed hatred of their Russian oppressors who now dominated the republic of Chechnya.

With the break-up of the USSR, the Chechen Assembly adopted a resolution of sovereignty and elected Jokhar Dudayev president in October 1991 and Dudayev declared Chechnya’s independence. In response Russia imposed an economic blockade and threatened further action. As Dudayev consolidated personal, criminal elements surfaced, and local clans fought for power. Russia attempted to de-stabilize the Dudayev regime by supporting armed rebels.

Chechnya languished in discord and dissention until 1994, when Russia proposed autonomy agreements with the breakaway republics of Chechnya and Tatarstan. The latter agreed, but Dudayev maintained his claim of independence and in December, Yeltsin ordered Russian troops to invade Chechnya.

In the ensuing war, the Russian air force and artillery destroyed the Chechen cities, including the capital of Grozny, (as they did in Afghanistan), while various, often competing rebel forces retreated to mountain sanctuaries resorting to guerrilla warfare and terrorism attacks. Using tactics similar to those developed in Afghanistan the mujadideen, rebels wore down the Russian troops with guns, alcohol, drugs and terror. As Russian casualties mounted, public opinion turned against the war and Russia agreed to a ceasefire in 1995, but without settlement of political issues violence soon resumed. After Dudayev was killed a new ceasefire agreement was agreed to in 1996, calling for withdrawal of Russian forces and a political resolution in 2001.

In 1997, Aslan Maskhadov, a moderate, was elected president of the Chechen republic. Former rebel leaders turned against him and took control of large portions of the country. Chechen guerrillas began incursions into neighboring Dagestan, seeking to unify Dagestan and Chechnya as an Islamic state and provoking intervention by Russian troops. Terrorist bombings in Moscow and other Russian cities were blamed on Chechen rebels. Russia escalated their response, once again invading Chechnya and launching massive and indiscriminate air strikes, forcing as many as 400,000 to flee to refuge. President Maskhadov fled Grozny in 1999 and after a prolonged and bitter resistance, the Russians finally recaptured Grozny in early 2000.

As Russian troops moved attempted to expand the areas under their control, guerrillas continued their own deadly assaults and Moscow again became mired in an Afghan-style quagmire, while international condemnation mounted.

In June 2001, Russian President Putin installed a new Chechen administration answering to Moscow and led by a Muslim cleric, Akhmed Kadyrov. This choice pleased neither the separatists, nor Russian loyalists. After the September 11 attacks in the U.S., Putin eagerly jumped on President Bush’s war on terror bandwagon, characterizing the Chechen separatists as Islamist terrorists and vowing to track them down. However, the Chechen terrorist campaign again reappeared on Moscow’s doorstep. In October 2002, Chechen terrorists seized a Moscow theater, taking over 800 hostages. Russian Special Forces stormed the theater killing all 41 terrorists and 129 hostages in the rescue attempt.