The First Chechen War was a vicious armed struggle between Russia and the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria that took place in Chechnya, the Caucasus region. It was fought from December 11, 1994, to August 31, 1996. The main cause of the war was the declaration of independence of Chechnya, which had been part of the Soviet Union, from the Russian Federation. Since Ukraine, Estonia, Lithuania, and Georgia had already broken away from Russia as independent countries, right after the fall of the Soviet Union, the Kremlin could no longer remain passive to another secession movement and territorial loss. Thus, Boris Yeltsin sent the army to quell the rebellion. However, the result of the conflict would be a temporary victory of the seceding faction.
The economic situation and social malaise had been deteriorating in Chechnya since 1991, with the local authorities demanding more political autonomy and tax collection rights to improve and increase revenue for the local government, which sat in Grozny, the capital. As a result, after a series of political turmoils, the Chechen parliament had declared the full independence from Moscow in 1993 as the 'Chechen Republic of Ichkeria', with the full support of foreign intelligence agencies, such as CIA and MI6 that had infiltrated the country. Although Russia also stirred up revolts and armed opposition to Dzhokhar Dudayev, the first President of the Chechen Republic, the new independent government was able to remain in power and gain stability and popular support. As a result, Moscow sent the Russian Army, led by General Vladimir Shamanov. Meanwhile, the local opposition to Dudayev was headed by Ruslan Labazanov.
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| This filtered photo of a street in Grozny bears testimony that the First Chechen War was basically an urban war. |
With the support of armored units, the Russian federal troops forced their way into Grozny in December 1994. The Russian soldiers who entered the Chechen capital city on December 11, 1994, were convinced they would not encounter real stiff opposition. They were confident that their enemy, a rebel force seeking independence for Chechnya from Russian rule, was untrained and unorganized. They thought the sight of tanks on the streets would be enough to make them back down. The Russian soldiers had no reason to think otherwise. Their commanding officers had told them there was nothing to worry about. But they were wrong.
Although the forces achieved some initial successes, the separatists, led by General Aslan Maskhadov, carried out a series of successful guerrilla operations from the mountainous nearby region. By March 1995, Aslan Maskhadov had become leader of the Chechen resistance. At the beginning of the war, the Russians had the upper hand despite stiff local Chechen civilian resistance. However, halfway through the war, the separatist Chechen government released a statement calling for help. Therefore, thousands of guerrilla fighters from the Islamic former Soviet states and satellites, with Baltic peoples, Estonians, Romanians, Georgians, Poles, and Ukrainians, began to pour in to help the Chechens.
Urban warfare on the streets of Grozny would become extremely violent, with Russian tanks falling into traps as they were destroyed with anti-tank grenade launchers and guns fired from nearby building windows and from behind trees. Great number of T-80 tanks were destroyed. This would later lead to the reconfiguration and upgrade of these main battle tanks. Separatist President Dudayev was killed in a Russian missile attack on April 21, 1996, and the Vice-president Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev became the new president. Negotiations on Chechen independence continued in August 1996, leading to the end of the war and withdrawal of Russian federal forces.
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| Map of Chechnya in the Caucuses. It is surrounded by Russian Federation regions and by Georgia and Azerbaijan on the south. |
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| Map of Grozny, showing the Russian plan of attack in December 1994. |
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