Second Chechen War
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{{Infobox War
|image=[[Image:Chechnya9268.jpg|300px]]
|caption=Russian artillery shells separatist positions near the village of Duba-Yurt, January 2000.
|conflict=Second Chechen War
|date= August 1999 – Present{{Fact|date=July 2008}}
|place=[[North Caucasus]], [[Russia]]
|casus=[[War in Dagestan]], [[Russian apartment bombings|1999 bombings]]
|status=Conflict ongoing (see [[Second Chechen War#Status|Status]])
*Separatist government ousted
*[[Guerrilla phase of the Second Chechen War|Insurgency in Chechnya]]
*Installment of a loyalist government
*Separatist movement largely disabled
*[[Caucasian Front (Chechen War)|Caucasian Front]] established
*[[Ingushetia]] government largely disabled<ref>[http://www.jamestown.org/chechnya_weekly/article.php?articleid=2374000 Why Are Ingushetia's Rebels so Successful?]</ref>
|combatant1=[[Image:Flag of Russia.svg|21px]] [[Russian Federation]]<br />[[Image:Flag of Chechen Republic since 2004.svg|21px]] [[Republic of Chechnya|Chechen loyalists]]
|combatant2=[[Image:Flag of Chechen Republic of Ichkeria.svg|22px]] [[Chechen Republic of Ichkeria|Republic of Ichkeria]]<br />[[Image:Flag of the Caucasian Front.png|22px]] [[Caucasian Front (Chechen War)|Caucasian separatists]]<br />[[Image:Flag of Jihad.svg|22px]] [[Arab Mujahideen in Chechnya|Foreign Mujahideen]]<br />|commander1=[[Image:Flag of Russia.svg|21px]] [[Vladimir Putin]]<hr>[[Image:Flag of Russia.svg|21px]] [[Gennady Troshev]]<br />[[Image:Flag of Russia.svg|21px]] [[Alexander Baranov (general)|Alexander Baranov]]<br />[[Image:Flag of Russia.svg|21px]] [[Valentin Korabelnikov]]<br />[[Image:Flag of Chechen Republic since 2004.svg|21px]] [[Akhmad Kadyrov]]{{KIA}}<br />[[Image:Flag of Chechen Republic since 2004.svg|21px]] [[Ramzan Kadyrov]]<br />[[Image:Flag of Chechen Republic since 2004.svg|21px]] [[Dzhabrail Yamadayev|Dzabrail Yamadayev]]{{KIA}}<br />[[Image:Flag of Chechen Republic since 2004.svg|21px]] [[Sulim Yamadayev]]<br />[[Image:Flag of Chechen Republic since 2004.svg|21px]] [[Said-Magomed Kakiyev]]|commander2=[[Image:Flag of Chechen Republic of Ichkeria.svg|22px]] [[Aslan Maskhadov]]{{KIA}}<br />[[Image:Flag of Chechen Republic of Ichkeria.svg|22px]] [[Sheikh Abdul Halim]]{{KIA}}<br />[[Image:Flag of the Caucasian Emirate2.png|22px]] [[Dokka Umarov]]<hr>[[Image:Flag of Chechen Republic of Ichkeria.svg|22px]] [[Hamzat Gelayev]]{{KIA}}<br />[[Image:Flag of Chechen Republic of Ichkeria.svg|22px]] [[Shamil Basayev]]{{KIA}}<br />[[Image:Flag of the Caucasian Emirate2.png|22px]] [[Akhmed Yevloyev]]<br />[[Image:Flag of Jihad.svg|22px]] [[Ibn al-Khattab|Khattab]]{{KIA}}<br />[[Image:Flag of Jihad.svg|22px]] [[Abu al-Walid]]{{KIA}}<br />[[Image:Flag of Jihad.svg|22px]] [[Abu Hafs al-Urduni|Abu Hafs]]{{KIA}}<br />[[Image:Flag of Jihad.svg|22px]] [[Muhannad]]
|strength1=At least 93,000 in Chechnya in 1999.<ref>[http://www.bu.edu/iscip/vol10/Felgenhauer.html Russia's Forces Unreconstructed] by [[Pavel Felgenhauer]]</ref> <hr>About 50,000 to over 60,000 federal and republican forces in Chechnya in 2006.<ref>[http://www.axisglobe.com/article.asp?article=983 New Chechen Army Threatens Moscow] AIA 12.07.2006</ref><br />More in neighbouring regions.
|strength2=22,000 in 1999 (Russian estimate).<ref>[http://old.cry.ru/text.shtml?199911/19991104131700.inc Федеральным силам в Чечне противостоят 22 тыс. боевиков.] Russian Ministry of Defense</ref>
|casualties1= over 5,000 (official figures)<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/russian/news/newsid_2773000/2773997.stm] 4,572 servicemen of all security agencies killed by December 2002, 680 [[Russian Armed Forces]] soldiers killed in 2003-2007 [http://gzt.ru/society/2006/02/26/113846.html]</ref> - <ref name="Reuters"> [[Memorial (society)]] estimate, [http://www.alertnet.org/db/crisisprofiles/RU_WAR.htm?v=in_detail FIGHT FOR INDEPENDENCE FROM RUSSIA], [[Reuters]], 11-04-2007</ref>
|casualties2= Over 15,000 killed (Russian estimate){{Fact|date=June 2008}}
|casualties3='''[[Casualties of the Second Chechen War|Civilian casualties]]''':<br />Est. up to '''25,000''' killed and up to '''5,000''' "disappeared" in Chechnya ([[Amnesty International|AI]] estimate)<ref>[http://asiapacific.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGEUR460152007 What justice for Chechnya's disappeared?]</ref><br />Est. '''50,000''' killed in Chechnya ([[Society for Threatened Peoples|GfbV]] estimate<ref>[http://www.gfbv.de/inhaltsDok.php?id=394&PHPSESSID=0aa4cee618e675e3d00e8bfe9c1a3fbe Effective human rights work is the best weapon against terrorism]</ref>)<br />More in neighbouring regions<br />More than '''600''' killed during terrorist attacks in Russia
}}
{{Campaignbox Post-Soviet Conflicts}}
The '''Second Chechen War''', in a later phase better known as the '''War in the North Caucasus''',<ref>{{cite news|title=War in the north Caucasus |publisher=The Economist |date=June 2004 |url =http://www.economist.com/world/europe/displaystory.cfm?story_id=2794465}}</ref> was launched by the [[Russian Federation]] starting [[August 26]] [[1999]], in which Russian federal forces largely re-took control of the [[separatist]] region of [[Chechnya]].
The Second Chechen War was started in response to the [[Invasion of Dagestan (1999)|Invasion of Dagestan]] by the [[Islamic International Peacekeeping Brigade|IIPB]], and the [[Russian apartment bombings]] which [[Russia]] blamed on [[Chechen people|Chechen]] separatists, although no evidence linking [[Chechen Republic of Ichkeria|Chechens]] with the bombings has been released to the public. The campaign largely reversed the outcome of the [[First Chechen War]], in which the region gained ''[[de facto]]'' [[independence]] as the [[Chechen Republic of Ichkeria]]. Although it is regarded by many as an internal conflict within the Russian Federation, the war attracted a large number of [[Jihad]]ist foreign fighters.
During the initial campaign, [[Russians|Russian]] [[military]] and pro-Russian [[Chechens|Chechen]] [[paramilitary]] faced Chechen separatists in open combat, and seized the Chechen [[capital]] [[Grozny]] after a winter [[siege]] that lasted from late 1999 to the following February. Russia established direct rule of Chechnya in May 2000 and after the full-scale [[offensive]], Chechen [[guerrilla warfare|guerrilla]] [[Resistance movement|resistance]] throughout the [[North Caucasus]] region continued to inflict heavy Russian casualties and challenge Russian political control over Chechnya for several more years. Some Chechen rebels also carried out [[terrorist attacks]] against [[civilians]] in Russia. These [[terrorism|terrorist attacks]], as well as widespread [[human rights]] violations by Russian and rebel forces, drew international condemnation.
Russia has severely disabled the Chechen rebel movement, although violence still occurs throughout the North Caucasus.<ref>[https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/rs.html CIA - The World Factbook - Russia<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Large-scale fighting has been replaced by [[guerrilla warfare]] and bombings targeting federal troops and forces of the regional government, with the violence more often spilling over into adjacent regions since 2005. The exact [[death toll]] from this conflict is unknown. Unofficial estimates range from 25,000 - 50,000 dead or missing, mostly civilians in Chechnya. No clear figures for Russian losses are known to the public. In spite of the large amount of casualties, both Chechen wars remain largely unpublicized abroad.
==Historical basis of the conflict==
{{main|History of Chechnya}}
===Russian Empire===
{{main|Russian Invasion of the Caucasus}}
[[Image:Chechnya and Caucasus.png|thumb|right|300px|Chechnya and the Caucasus region]]
Chechnya is a region in the Northern Caucasus which has constantly fought against foreign rule, including the [[Ottoman Turks]] in the 15th century. The Russian [[Terek Cossack Host]] was established in [[lowland]] [[Chechnya]] in 1577 by free [[Cossacks]] who were resettled from the [[Volga]] to the [[Terek River]]. In 1783 Russia and the [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]]n kingdom of [[Kartl-Kakheti]] signed the [[Treaty of Georgievsk]], under which Kartl-Kakheti became a Russian protectorate. To secure communications with Georgia and other regions of the [[Transcaucasia]], the [[Russian Empire]] began spreading its influence into the Caucasus region, starting the [[Russian Invasion of the Caucasus]] in 1817. Russian forces first moved into [[Highland (geography)|highland]] Chechnya in 1830, and the conflict in the area lasted until 1859, when a 250,000 strong army under [[Aleksandr Baryatinsky|General Baryatinsky]] broke down the mountaineers' resistance. However, many troops from the [[annexed]] states of the Caucasus also fought unsuccessfully against Russia in the [[Russo-Turkish War, 1877-78]].
===Soviet Union===
Following the [[Russian Revolution of 1917]], Chechens established a short-lived [[Caucasian Imamate]]{{Fact|date=January 2008}} which included parts of Chechnya, [[Dagestan]] and [[Ingushetia]]; there was also secular pan-Caucasian [[Mountainous Republic of the Northern Caucasus]]. The Chechen states were opposed by both sides of the [[Russian Civil War]] and most of the resistance was crushed by [[Bolshevik]] troops by 1922. Then, months before the creation of the [[Soviet Union]], the Chechen [[Autonomous Oblast]] of [[RSFSR]] was established. It annexed a part of territory of the former [[Terek Cossack Host]]. Chechnya and neighbouring Ingushetia formed the [[Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic]] in 1936. In 1941, during [[World War II]], a Chechen [[1940-1944 Chechnya insurgency|revolt]] broke out, led by [[Khasan Israilov]]. Chechens were accused by [[Stalin]] of aiding [[Nazism|Nazi]] forces. In February 1944 Stalin [[Operation Lentil|deported nearly all]] the Chechens and [[Ingush people|Ingushs]] to [[Kazakh SSR]] and [[Kirghiz SSR]], and [[Siberia]]. Up to a quarter of these people died during the "resettlement."{{Fact|date=April 2008}}<ref>Robert Conquest, ''Nation Killers'', Macmillan, 1970.</ref> The [[European Parliament]] has recognized this as an act of [[genocide]].{{Fact|date=April 2008}} In 1953, after the death of Stalin, [[Khrushchev]] allowed the Chechens to return and the Chechen republic was reinstated. Although the population of the republic experienced widespread political and religious repression, the authority of the Soviet government gradually eroded.
===The First Chechen War===
[[Image:Evstafiev-helicopter-shot-down.jpg|thumb|200px|A Russian helicopter downed by Chechen fighters near the capital [[Grozny]], during the [[First Chechen War]]]]
{{main|First Chechen War}}
During the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, [[Chechnya]] [[declaration of independence|declared independence]]. In 1992, Chechen and Ingush leaders signed an agreement splitting the joint Chechen-Ingush republic in two, with Ingushetia joining the Russian Federation and Chechnya remaining independent. The debate over independence ultimately led to a small-scale [[civil war]] since 1992, in which the Russians supported the opposition forces against [[Dzhokhar Dudayev]]. Thousands of people of non-Chechen ethnicity (mostly Russians) fled the Chechen Republic and Chechnya's industrial production began failing after Russian engineers and workers fled or were expelled. The [[First Chechen War]] began in 1994, when Russian forces entered Chechnya to "restore constitutional order". Following nearly two years of brutal fighting, in which an estimated tens of thousands to more than 100,000 people died, and the 1996 [[Khasav-Yurt Accord|Khasavyurt ceasefire]] agreement, the defeated Russian troops were withdrawn from the devastated republic.
==Prelude to the Second Chechen War==
===Chaos in Chechnya===
Following the first war, the separatist government's grip on the chaotic republic was weak, especially outside the ruined capital Grozny. The areas controlled by extremist groups grew larger and the country became increasingly lawless.<ref name="global">{{cite web|title=Second Chechnya War - 1999-???|publisher=GlobalSecurity.org|url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/chechnya2.htm|accessdate=2008-04-15}}</ref> The war ravages and lack of economic opportunities left large numbers of heavily armed and brutalized former [[guerrilla]]s with no occupation but further violence. The authority of the government in Grozny was opposed by the unruly [[warlord]]s like [[Arbi Barayev]] and [[Salman Raduyev]]. Abductions and raids into other parts of the Northern Caucasus by various Chechen warlords had been steadily increasing.{{Fact|date=February 2008}} In lieu of the devastated economic structure, [[kidnapping]] emerged as the principal source of income countrywide, procuring over $200 million during the three year independence of the chaotic fledgling state.<ref>Tishkov, Valery. ''Chechnya: Life in a War-Torn Society.'' Berkeley: University of California Press, 2004. Page 114.</ref> It has been estimated that up to 1,300 people were kidnapped in Chechnya between 1996 and 1999,<ref name="global"/> and in 1998 [[1998 abduction of foreign engineers in Chechnya|a group of four Western hostages were executed]]. Political violence and religious extremism, blamed on "[[Wahhabism]]", was rife as well. In 1998, a [[state of emergency]] was declared by the authorities in Grozny. Tensions led to the open clashes like the July 1998 confrontation in Gudermes in which some 50 people died in the fight between Chechen National Guard and Islamist militants.
===Russian-Chechen relations 1996–1999===
The 1997 election brought to power the separatist president [[Aslan Maskhadov]]. In 1998 and 1999 President Maskhadov survived several [[assassination]] attempts,{{Fact|date=April 2008}} blamed on the Russian intelligence services. In March of 1999, [[General]] [[Gennady Shpigun]], the [[Kremlin]]'s envoy to Chechnya, was kidnapped at the airport in Grozny, and ultimately found dead in 2000 during the war.
Within the Russian government, there was a concern that allowing Chechnya substantial autonomy might lead to a [[domino effect]] — other regions within the already-fragmented former Soviet Union might choose to follow suit. The political tensions were fueled in part by allegedly Chechen or pro-Chechen [[terrorism|terrorist]] activity in Russia, as well as border clashes. Former Russian Prime Minister [[Sergei Stepashin]] claimed in an interview in January 2000 that the autumn [[invasion]] in Chechnya had been planned since March 1999: ''"As to Chechnya, I can say the following. A plan for active operations has been shaped since March. And we were going to reach [[Terek]] in August or September."''<ref>[http://www.ng.ru/politics/2000-01-14/1_ovr.html Sergey Pravosudov. Interview with Sergei Stepashin.] [[Nezavisimaya Gazeta]], [[January 14]][[2000]](in Russian)</ref>
===Terrorist incidents and border clashes===
On [[November 16]] [[1996]], in [[Kaspiysk]] (Dagestan) a bomb destroyed an apartment building housing Russian border guards; 68 people died. The cause of the blast was never determined, but many in Russia blamed it on Chechen rebels.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1976776.stm BBC News | EUROPE | Deadly blast hits Russian parade<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> <!--(Note: There has never been any proof of who exactly committed this [[bombing]]. Some claim it was Chechen [[nationalists]], others feel members of the Dagestani "caviar mafia" were involved; some even suspect the Russian government of this (and other) bombings as attempts to create violence and disorder and then blame the Chechens. This latter claim is of course highly controversial and no substantial proof has surfaced to support it. (See "Bombings in Russia" section below for more on this.) This note is list of hearings.--> Three people died on [[April 23]] [[1997]], when a bomb exploded in the Russian [[railway station]] of [[Armavir]] ([[Krasnodar Krai]]), and two on [[May 28]] [[1997]], when another bomb exploded in the Russian railway station of [[Pyatigorsk]] ([[Stavropol Krai]]).
On [[December 22]] [[1997]], forces of [[Dagestan]]i militants and Chechnya-based [[Arab]] warlord [[Ibn al-Khattab]] raided the base of the 136th Motor Rifle [[Brigade]] of the [[Russian Army]] in [[Buynaksk]], Dagestan, inflicting severe losses on the men<ref>[http://www.jamestown.org/publications_details.php?volume_id=2&issue_id=328&article_id=3598 The Jamestown Foundation; CHECHEN GUNMEN ATTACK RUSSIAN ARMY UNIT IN DAGESTAN.]</ref> and equipment of the unit. On [[April 16]] [[1998]], a Russian army convoy was ambushed in Ingushetia near the Chechen border; among the dead was a general and two [[colonel]]s, and the local Ingush [[militants]] were blamed.{{Fact|date=January 2008}} On [[April 7]] [[1999]], four Russian [[policemen]] patrolling the border were killed near [[Stavropol]].{{Fact|date=January 2008}} In late May Russia announced that it was closing the Russian-Chechnya border in an attempt to combat terrorist and criminal activity; border guards were ordered to shoot suspects on sight. On [[June 18]] [[1999]], seven [[servicemen]] were killed when Russian border guard posts were attacked in Dagestan. On [[July 29]] [[1999]], the Russian Interior Ministry troops destroyed a Chechen border post and captured a 800 meter-section of strategic road. On [[August 22]] [[1999]], 10 Russian policemen were killed by an [[anti-tank mine]] blast in [[North Ossetia]], and on [[August 9]] [[1999]] six servicemen were kidnapped in the Ossetian capital [[Vladikavkaz]]. On several occasions, Russian [[special forces]] raided deep inside the Chechen territory.{{Fact|date=January 2008}}
===Planning of the war by Russian government===
Former FSB director and prime minister of Russia [[Sergei Stepashin]] said in an interview to [[Novaya gazeta]] that "the decision to invade Chechnya was made in March 1999... I was prepared for an active intervention. We were planning to be on the north side of the [[Terek River]] by August-September of 1999". <ref name="Assassins">[[Yuri Felshtinsky]] and [[Vladimir Pribylovsky]] ''The Age of Assassins. The Rise and Rise of Vladimir Putin'', Gibson Square Books, London, 2008, ISBN 190-614207-6, page 105. The interview was given on 14 January, 2000 </ref> But the operation was apparently accomplished later.
===Conflict in Dagestan===
:''See: [[Dagestan War]]''
In August and September of 1999, [[Shamil Basayev]] (in association with the [[Saudi]] born Khattab, Commander of the Mujahedeen) led two armies of up to 1,400 Chechen, Dagestani, Arab and [[Kazakhs|Kazakh]] militants from Chechnya into the neighbouring Republic of Dagestan. The purpose was to help local separatist rebels who were attacking [[Russian Federation]] forces in the villages of [[Kadar]], [[Karamakhi]], and [[Chabanmakhi]]{{Fact|date=January 2008}}. This conflict saw the first use of aerial-delivered [[fuel air explosive]]s (FAE) in populated areas, notably in the village of [[Tando]]. By mid-September 1999, the militants were routed from the villages and pushed back into Chechnya. At least several hundred people were killed in the fighting; the Federal side reported 279 servicemen killed and approximately 900 wounded.
===Bombings in Russia===
{{main|Russian apartment bombings}}
Before the wake of the Dagestani invasion had settled, a series of bombings took place in Russia (in [[Moscow]] and in [[Volgodonsk]]) and in the Dagestani town of Buynaksk. On [[September 4]], [[1999]], 62 people died in an [[apartment building]] housing members of families of Russian soldiers. Over the next two weeks, the bombs targeted three other apartment buildings and a [[mall]]; in total nearly 300 people were killed. The [[Government of Russia|Russian government]], including then-President Boris Yeltsin, blamed Chechen separatists for the attacks; accused Khattab and Basayev however denied involvement in the bombings. Some high-profile individuals, including the self-exiled Russian [[oligarch|tycoon]] [[Boris Berezovsky]]<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://eng.terror99.ru/publications/#berezovsky
|title=Boris Berezovsky vs. the FSB
|date=
|accessdate=2006-06-10
}}</ref> and [[U.S. Senator]] [[John McCain]],<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://mccain.senate.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=Newscenter.ViewPressRelease&Content_id=1173
|title= MCCAIN DECRIES "NEW AUTHORITARIANISM IN RUSSIA"
|date=
|accessdate=2006-06-10
}}</ref> as well as [[Federalnaya Sluzhba Bezopasnosti|FSB]] officer turn defector [[Alexander Litvinenko]], have suggested that the FSB staged the bombings to provide a pretext for an [[invasion]] of Chechnya.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://eng.terror99.ru/
|title= Terror 99: A Bloody September
|date=
|accessdate=2006-06-10
}}</ref> On [[September 29]], Russia demanded that Chechnya [[extradition|extradite]] the criminals responsible for the bombings in Russia; a day later, Russian troops began their ground offensive.
On [[January 12]] [[2004]], in a hearing at Moscow City Court closed to the public and the press, [[Adam Dekushev]] and [[Jusuf Krymshankhalov]] were sentenced to [[life sentence]]s for delivering explosives to the residential buildings. Both were the members of [[Karachay]]-based pro-Chechen Wahhabi group, trained by [[emir]] Khattab in Chechnya. The alleged mastermind of the bombings, [[Achemez Gochiyaev]], has never been apprehended.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://eng.terror99.ru/publications/076.htm
|title=Agence France-Presse [[September 8]] [[2002]] Alleged suspect for 1999 bombings hiding in Georgia: Russian FSB CORRECTION:
|date=
|accessdate=2006-06-10
}}</ref> The bombing trial, however, has raised questions by observers.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://eng.terror99.ru/publications/125.htm
|title=Human rights activist says Moscow blasts verdict "sheds no light"
|date=
|accessdate=2006-06-10
}}</ref><ref name="rights">{{cite web
|url=http://eng.terror99.ru/publications/138.htm
|title=Rights activists say the true guilty parties of 1999 bombings have not been found
|date=
|accessdate=2006-06-10
}}</ref>
==1999–2000 Russian offensive==
===Air war===
{{Campaignbox Second Chechen War}}
{{main|1999 Russian bombing of Chechnya}}
:''See also: [[List of Russian aircraft losses in the Second Chechen War]]''
In late August and September 1999, Russia mounted a massive [[air war|air campaign]] over Chechnya, with the stated aim of wiping out militants who invaded Dagestan the previous month. On [[August 26]] [[1999]] Russia acknowledged bombing raids in Chechnya.<ref>[http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/europe/9908/26/russia.chechnya/ Russia acknowledges bombing raids in Chechnya], CNN, [[August 26]] [[1999]]</ref> The Russian air strikes were reported to have killed hundreds of civilians {{Fact|date=January 2008}} and forced at least 100,000 Chechens to flee their homes to the safety; the neighbouring region of Ingushetia was reported to have appealed for [[United Nations]] aid to deal with tens of thousands of refugees.<ref>[http://www.rte.ie/news/1999/0927/russia.html Russia launches more air strikes against Chechnya], RTÉ news, 27 September 1999</ref> On [[October 2]] [[1999]], Russia's [[Ministry of Extraordinary Situations (Russian Federation)|Ministry of Emergency Situations]] admitted that 78,000 people have fled the air strikes in Chechnya; most of them were heading for [[Ingushetia]], where they were arriving at a rate of 5,000 to 6,000 a day.
As of [[September 22]] [[1999]] Deputy [[Interior Minister]] [[Igor Zubov]] said that Russian troops had surrounded Chechnya and were prepared to retake the region, but the military planners were advising against a ground invasion because of the likelihood of heavy Russian casualties. By the end of September Russian forces made repeated incursions onto Chechen soil, and had captured some territory.{{Fact|date=February 2008}}
===Land war===
The Chechen conflict entered a new phase on [[October 1]] [[1999]], when Russia's new [[Prime Minister]] [[Vladimir Putin]] declared the authority of Chechen President [[Aslan Maskhadov]] and his [[parliament]] illegitimate. At this time, [[Vladimir Putin]] announced that Russian troops would initiate a land invasion but progress only as far as the [[Terek River]], which cuts the northern third of Chechnya off from the rest of the republic. Putin's stated intention was to take control of Chechnya's northern plain and establish a ''[[cordon sanitaire]]'' against further Chechen aggression; however, later recalled that the cordon alone was "pointless and technically impossible," apparently because of Chechnya's rugged terrain. According to Russian accounts, Putin accelerated a plan for a major crackdown against Chechnya that had been drawn up months earlier.<ref>David Hoffman [http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/63/251.html Miscalculations Paved Path to Chechen War] ''[[Washington Post]]'', 20 [[March 20]] [[2000]]</ref>
The Russian army moved with ease in the wide open spaces of northern Chechnya and on [[October 5]] [[1999]], reached the [[Terek]] River. On this day, a bus filled with [[refugee]]s was reportedly hit by a Russian [[Shell (projectile)|tank shell]], killing at least 11 civilians;<ref>[http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/europe/9910/07/chechnya.bus/ Refugee bus reportedly shelled by Russian tank] CNN, [[October 7]] [[1999]]</ref> two days later, Russian [[Su-24]] [[fighter bomber]]s dropped [[cluster bomb]]s on the village of [[Elistanzhi]], [[Elistanzhi cluster bomb attack|killing some 35 people]].<ref name="villagers">[http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_19991011/ai_n14278495 Russian warplanes kill dozens of villagers] [[The Independent]], Oct 11, 1999</ref> On [[October 10]], [[1999]], Maskhadov outlined a peace plan offering a crackdown on renegade warlords;<ref name="villagers" /> the offer was rejected by the Russian side. He also appealed to [[NATO]] to help end fighting between his forces and Russian troops, without effect.<ref>[http://www.indianexpress.com/res/web/pIe/ie/daily/19991009/ige09005.html Russia to 'display' truth on Chechnya], Reuters, [[October 9]] [[1999]]</ref>
On [[October 12]] [[1999]], the Russian forces crossed the Terek and began a two-pronged advance on the capital Grozny to the south. Hoping to avoid the significant casualties which plagued the first Chechen War, the Russians advanced slowly and in force, making extensive use of [[artillery]] and [[air power]] in an attempt to soften Chechen defences. Many thousands of civilians fled the Russian advance, leaving Chechnya for neighbouring Russian republics. Their numbers were later estimated to reach 200,000 to 350,000, out of the approximately 800,000 residents of the Chechen Republic. The Russians appeared to be taking no chances with the Chechen population in its rear areas, setting up "[[filtration camps]]" in October in northern Chechnya for detaining suspected members of ''bandformirovaniya'' ("bandit formations").
On [[October 15]] [[1999]], Russian forces took control of a strategic ridge within artillery range of the Chechen capital Grozny after mounting an intense tank and artillery barrage against Chechen fighters. In response, President Maskhadov declared a ''gazavat'' ([[holy war]]) to confront the approaching Russian army. [[Martial law]] was declared in Ichkeria and [[Military reserves|reservists]] were called; but no martial law or [[state of emergency]] had been declared in Chechnya or Russia by the Russian government.<ref>[http://www.echr.coe.int/Eng/Press/2005/Feb/ChamberjudgmentsChechencases2422005.htm CHAMBER JUDGMENTS IN SIX APPLICATIONS AGAINST RUSSIA] [[European Court of Human Rights]], 24.2.2005</ref> The next day, Russian forces captured strategic [[Tersky heights]] within sight of Grozny, dislodging 200 entrenched Chechen fighters. After heavy fighting, Russia seized the Chechen base in the village of [[Goragorsky]], west of the city.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/475791.stm Europe: Russians 'within sight' of Grozny] BBC News, [[October 16]] [[1999]]</ref>
On [[October 21]], [[1999]], a Russian [[short-range ballistic missile]] strike on the central Grozny [[Grozny marketplace attack|killed more than 140 people]], including many women and children, and left hundreds more wounded. A Russian spokesman said the busy market place was targeted because it was used by rebels as an arms [[bazaar]].<ref>[http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/chechnya2-5.htm Phase Two - The Ground Campaign - October-November 1999] Globalsecurity.org</ref> Eight days later Russian aircraft carried out a rocket attack on a large convoy of refugees heading into Ingushetia, [[Baku-Rostov highway bombing|killing at least 25 civilians]] including [[Red Cross]] workers and journalists.<ref>[http://www.crimesofwar.org/expert/chech-lohman.html Crimes Of War Project > Expert Analysis<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Two days later the Russian forces conducted a heavy artillery and rocket attack on [[Samashki]]. Some claimed that civilians were killed in Samashki in revenge for the heavy casualties suffered there by Russian forces during the first war.<ref>http://www.parliament.uk/commons/lib/research/rp2000/rp00-014.pdf</ref>
On [[November 12]] [[1999]], the [[Russian flag]] was raised over Chechnya's second largest city, [[Gudermes]], when the local Chechen commanders, the Yamadayev brothers, defected to the federal side; the Russians also entered the bombed-out former Cossack village of [[Asinovskaya]]. Two days later, 30 Russian solders were killed during a Chechen [[counterattack]] on the outskirts of the village of [[Kulary]];{{Fact|date=January 2008}} the fighting in and around Kulary continued until January 2000. On [[November 17]] [[1999]], Russian soldiers dislodged [[rebel]]s in [[Bamut]], the symbolic rebel [[stronghold]] in the first war; dozens of Chechen fighters and many civilians were reported killed, and the village was leveled in the [[FAE]] bombing. Two days later, after a failed attempt five days earlier, Russian forces managed to capture the village of [[Achkhoy-Martan]].
On [[November 26]] [[1999]], Deputy Army [[Chief of staff (military)|Chief of Staff]] [[Valery Manilov]] said that phase two of the Chechnya campaign was just about complete, and a final third phase was about to begin. According to Manilov, the aim of the third phase was to destroy "bandit groups" in the mountains. A few days later Russia's Defense Minister Igor Sergeyev said Russian forces might need up to three more months to complete their military campaign in Chechnya, while some generals said the offensive could be over by [[New Year's Day]]. The next day the Chechens briefly recaptured the town of [[Novogroznensky]].<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/597594.stm Can Russia win the Chechen war?] BBC News, 10 January, 2000</ref>
On [[December 1]] [[1999]], after weeks of heavy fighting, Russian forces under [[Major General]] [[Vladimir Shamanov]] took control of [[Alkhan-Yurt]], a village just south of Grozny. The Chechen and foreign fighters inflicted heavy losses on the Russian forces, reportedly killing more than 70 Russian soldiers before retreating<ref>[http://www.hrw.org/reports/2000/russia_chechnya2/index.htm#TopOfPage RUSSIA/CHECHNYA: "NO HAPPINESS REMAINS": CIVILIAN KILLINGS, PILLAGE, AND RAPE IN ALKHAN-YURT, CHECHNYA]</ref>, suffering heavy losses of their own.<ref>[http://www.army.lv/?s=79&id=658 A letter of Sgt. S.Durov]</ref> During the two weeks that followed, Russian forces [[Alkhan-Yurt killings|went on a rampage]], [[looting]] and burning the village and executing at least 17 civilians.{{Fact|date=April 2008}} On the same day, Chechen separatist forces began carrying out a series of counterattacks against federal troops in several villages as well as in the outskirts of Gudermes. Chechen fighters in [[Argun]], a small town five kilometers east of Grozny, put up some of the strongest resistance to federal troops since the start of Moscow's military offensive.{{Fact|date=April 2008}} The rebels in the town of [[Urus-Martan]] also offered fierce resistance, employing [[guerrilla tactics]] Russia had been anxious to avoid; by [[December 9]] [[1999]], Russian forces were still bombarding Urus-Martan, although Chechen commanders said their fighters had already pulled out. {{Fact|date=April 2008}}
On [[December 4]] [[1999]], the commander of Russian forces in the North Caucasus, General [[Viktor Kazantsev]], claimed that Grozny was fully blockaded by Russian troops. The Russian military's next task was the seizure of the town of [[Shali, Chechen Republic|Shali]], 20 kilometers southeast of the capital, one of the last remaining separatist-held towns apart from Grozny. Russian troops started by capturing two bridges that link Shali to the capital, and by [[December 11]] [[1999]], Russian troops had encircled Shali and were slowly forcing rebel forces out. On [[December 13]] [[1999]], two Russian helicopters were destroyed while searching for an [[Su-25]] attack plane that crashed near the village of [[Bachi-Yurt]] earlier.{{Fact|date=January 2008}} An [[ultimatum]] issued by General [[Gennady Troshev]] ordered Shali to [[surrender]] or face "destruction".{{Fact|date=January 2008}} By mid-December the Russian military was concentrating attacks in southern parts of Chechnya and preparing to launch another offensive from Dagestan.
===Siege of Grozny===
{{Main|1999-2000 battle of Grozny}}
Meanwhile, the assault on Grozny started in early December. The battle accompanied by the struggle for the neighbouring settlements ended when the Russian army seized the city on [[February 2]] [[2000]].
According to the official Russian figures, at least 368 federal troops and an unknown number of pro-Russian militiamen died in Grozny. The rebel forces too suffered heavy losses, including losing several top commanders. Russian Defense Minister [[Igor Sergeyev]] said that 1,500 rebels were killed trying to leave Grozny. The rebels said they lost at least 400 fighters in the [[mine field]] at [[Alkhan-Kala]].<ref>[http://archives.cnn.com/2000/WORLD/europe/02/04/russia.chechnya.01/index.html Russia may withdraw some troops from Chechnya]</ref>
The siege and fighting left the capital devastated like no other European city since [[World War II]]; in 2003 the [[United Nations]] called Grozny the most destroyed city on Earth.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/6414603.stm Scars remain amid Chechen revival] BBC News, 3 March 2007</ref>
The Russians suffered heavy losses also as they advanced elsewhere, and from the series of Chechen counter attacks and convoy ambushes. On [[January 26]], [[2000]], the Russian government announced that 1,173 [[servicemen]] had been killed in Chechnya since October<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/618971.stm
|title= Russia admits heavy casualties
|date=
|accessdate=2006-06-10
}}</ref>
- a more than double rise from 544 killed reported just 19 days earlier.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/592919.stm
|title= Russian army battered in Grozny
|date=
|accessdate=2006-06-10
}}</ref> On [[February 4]] [[2000]], in an attempt to stop the Chechen retreat, Russian forces [[Bombing of Katyr-Yurt|bombed the village of Katyr-Yurt]] and then a civilian convoy under [[white flag]]s, killing at least 170 civilians in the action later proven in the court to be a war crime.
===Battle for the mountains===
[[Image:Chechen rebels.jpg|thumb|200px|[[Ibn al-Khattab]] with Chechens armed with anti-aircraft missiles]]
Heavy fighting accompanied by a massive shelling and bombing continued through the winter of 2000 in the mountainous south of Chechnya, particularly in the areas around Argun, [[Vedeno]] and [[Shatoy]], where the fighting involving Russian [[paratroopers]] raged since the late 1999.
On [[February 9]] [[2000]] a Russian tactical missile hit a crowd of people who had came to the local administration building in Shali, a town previously declared as one of the "safe areas", to collect their pensions. The attack was a response to a report that a group of fighters had entered the town. The missile is estimated to have killed some 150 civilians, and was followed by an attack by combat helicopters causing further casualties.<ref>Oleg Orlov [http://www.crimesofwar.org/expert/chech-oleg.html War Crimes and Human Rights Violations in Chechnya] [[May 26]] [[2000]]</ref> [[Human Rights Watch]] has called on the Russian military to stop using FAE, known in Russia as "[[vacuum bombs]]", in Chechnya, concerned about the large number of civilian casualties caused by what it calls "''the widespread and often indiscriminate bombing and shelling by Russian forces''".<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/644087.stm Russians urged to stop 'vacuum' bombings] BBC News, 15 February, 2000</ref> On [[February 18]] [[2000]], a Russian army transport helicopter was shot down in the south, killing 15 men aboard, Russian Interior Minister [[Vladimir Rushailo]] said in a rare admission by Moscow of losses in the war.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/648895.stm Chechens down Russian helicopter] BBC News, 19 February, 2000</ref>
On [[February 29]] [[2000]], United Army Group commander [[Gennady Troshev]] said that ''"the counter-terrorism operation in Chechnya is over. It will take a couple of weeks longer to pick up splinter groups now."'' Russia's Defense Minister, [[Marshal of the Russian Federation]] [[Igor Sergeyev]], evaluated numerical strength of the rebels at between 2,000 and 2,500 men, "scattered all over Chechnya." On the same day, a Russian [[VDV]] paratroop company from [[Pskov]] was [[Battle of Hill 776|attacked by Chechen and Arab fighters]] near the village of [[Ulus-Kert]] in Chechnya's southern lowlands; at least 84 Russian soldiers were killed in the especially heavy fighting. The official newspaper of the [[Russian Ministry of Defense]] reported that at least 400 rebels were killed, figures which they said were based on radio-intercept data, intelligence reports, eyewittnesses, local residents and captured Chechens.<ref>[http://usacac.army.mil/CAC/milreview/English/JulAug01/JulAug01/bobja01.pdf Reassessing Strategy: A Historical Examination]</ref> On [[March 2]] [[2000]], a unit of [[OMON]] from [[Podolsk]] [[Grozny OMON fratercide incident|opened fire in Grozny]] on another OMON unit from [[Sergiyev Posad]]; at least 24 servicemen were killed in the incident.
In March a large group of more than 1,000 Chechen fighters led by field commander [[Ruslan Gelayev]], pursued since their withdrawal from Grozny, [[Battle of Komsomolskoye|entered the village of Komsomolskoye]] in the Chechen foothills; they held off a full-scale Russian attack on the town for over two weeks, but suffered hundreds of casualties in the process;{{Fact|date=April 2008}} the Russians also admitted more than 50 killed. On [[March 29]] [[2000]], a total of about 52 Russian soldiers were killed as a result of the [[Vedeno ambush|rebel ambush on the OMON convoy]] from [[Perm]].{{Fact|date=April 2008}}
On [[April 23]] [[2000]], a 22-vehicle convoy carrying ammunition and other supplies to the [[Airborne forces|airborne]] unit was ambushed near [[Serzhen-Yurt]] in the Vedeno Gorge, by an estimated 80 to 100 "bandits" according to General Troshev; in the ensuing 4-hour battle the federal side lost 15 government soldiers, according to the Russian defense minister. General Troshev told the press that the bodies of four rebel fighters were found. The Russian Airborne Troops headquarters later stated that 20 rebels were killed and 2 taken prisoner.<ref>Captain Adam Geibel [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FDF/is_1_31/ai_78974282 Ambush at Serzhen Yurt: Command-Detonated Mines in the Second Chechen War] Engineer: The Professional Bulletin for Army Engineers, Feb, 2001</ref> Soon, the Russian forces seized last populated centres of the organized resistance. (Another offensive against the remaining mountain strongholds was launch by the Russian forces in December 2000.)
===Restoration of federal government===
{{main|Federal government in Chechnya}}
Russian President Vladimir Putin established [[direct rule]] of Chechnya in May 2000. The following month, Putin appointed [[Akhmad Kadyrov]] interim head of the pro-Moscow government. This development met with early approval in the rest of Russia, but the continued deaths of Russian troops dampened public enthusiasm. On [[March 23]] [[2003]], a new Chechen [[constitution]] was passed in a controversial [[referendum]] which international observers described as deeply flawed. The 2003 Constitution granted the Chechen Republic a significant degree of [[autonomy]], but still tied it firmly to Russia and Moscow's rule, and went into force on [[April 2]] [[2003]]. The referendum was strongly supported by the Russian government but met a harsh critical response from Chechen separatists; many citizens chose to boycott the ballot. {{Fact|date=January 2008}} Since December 2005, [[Ramzan Kadyrov]], leader of the pro-Moscow militia leader known as ''[[kadyrovites]]'', had been functioning as the Chechnya's ''de-facto'' ruler. Kadyrov, whose [[irregular]] forces are accused of carrying out many of the abductions and atrocities, has become Chechnya's most powerful leader and on February 2007, with support from Putin, Ramzan Kadyrov replaced [[Alu Alkhanov]] as president.
==Insurgency==
{{Campaignbox Second Chechen War (guerrilla phase)}}
===Guerrilla war in Chechnya===
{{main|Guerrilla phase of the Second Chechen War}}
:''Guerrilla phase by year: [[Guerrilla phase of the Second Chechen War (2000)|2000]], [[Guerrilla phase of the Second Chechen War (2001)|2001]], [[Guerrilla phase of the Second Chechen War (2002)|2002]], [[Guerrilla phase of the Second Chechen War (2003)|2003]], [[Guerrilla phase of the Second Chechen War (2004)|2004]], [[Guerrilla phase of the Second Chechen War (2005)|2005]], [[Guerrilla phase of the Second Chechen War (2006)|2006]], [[Guerrilla phase of the Second Chechen War (2007)|2007]], [[Guerrilla phase of the Second Chechen War (2008)|2008]]''
Although large-scale fighting within Chechnya had ceased, daily attacks continued particularly in the southern portions of Chechnya, spilling into nearby territories of the caucasus as well, especially since the [[Caucasus Front|Caucasian Front (Chechen War)]] was established. Typically small rebel units target Russian and pro-Russian [[officials]], [[security force]]s, and military and police convoys and vehicles. The rebel units employ [[Improvised explosive device|IED]]s and sometimes group up for larger raids. Russian forces then retaliate with artillery and air strikes, as well as [[counter-insurgency]] operations. Most soldiers in Chechnya are now ''[[Russian Ground Forces#Kontraktniki|kontraktniki]]'' (contract soldiers) as opposed to the earlier [[conscription|conscripts]]. While Russia continues to maintain military presence within Chechnya, Russia's federal forces play less of a direct role in Chechnya. Pro-Kremlin Chechen forces under the command of the local strongman Ramzan Kadyrov, known as the ''[[kadyrovtsy]]'' now dominate law enforcement and security operations, with many members (including Kadyrov himself) being former Chechen rebels who have defected since 1999. Since 2004, the Kadyrovtsy were partly incorporated into two Interior Ministry units ''North'' and ''South'' (''Sever'' and ''Yug''). Two other units of the Chechen pro-Moscow forces, ''East'' and ''West'' (''Vostok'' and ''Zapad''), are commanded by [[Sulim Yamadayev]] (''Vostok'') and [[Said-Magomed Kakiyev]] (''Zapad'') and their men.<ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/elsewhere/journalist/story/0,,1796576,00.html Land of the warlords | World news | guardian.co.uk<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
===Suicide attacks===
{{main|Chechen suicide attacks}}
[[Image:Photo09.jpg|thumb|200px|[[2002 Grozny suicide bombing|2002 Grozny truck bombing]] of the republican government complex]]
Between June 2000 and September 2004 Chechen insurgents added [[suicide attack]]s to their tactics. During this period there have been 23 Chechen related suicide attacks in and outside Chechnya. The profiles of the Chechen suicide bombers have varied just as much as the circumstances surrounding the bombings, most of which targeted military or government-related targets.
===Assassinations===
{{main|List of Second Chechen War assassinations}}
Both sides of the war carried out multiple [[assassination]]s. The most prominent of these included the [[February 13]] [[2004]], killing of [[exile]]d former separatist Chechen President [[Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev]] in [[Qatar]], and the [[May 9]] [[2004]], killing of pro-Russian Chechen President Akhmad Kadyrov during the parade in Grozny.
===Caucasus Front===
{{main|Caucasian Front (Chechen War)}}
While the anti-Russian local insurgencies in the North Caucasus started even before the war, in May 2005, two months after Maskahdov's death, the Chechen separatists officially announced that they had formed a [[Caucasus Front]] within the framework of "reforming the system of military-political power." Along with the Chechen, Dagestani and Ingush "sectors," the [[Stavropol]], [[Kabardin]]-[[Balkar]], [[Krasnodar]], [[Karachai]]-[[Circassian]], [[Ossetian]] and [[Adyghe]] ''jamaats'' were included in it. This, in essence, means that practically all the regions of the Russia's south are involved in the hostilities.
The Chechen separatist movement has taken on a new role as the official ideological, [[logistical]] and, probably, financial hub of the new insurgency in the North Caucasus.<ref>[http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/05/30/opinion/edaslan.php Beslan's unanswered questions] [[International Herald Tribune]], [[May 30]] [[2006]]</ref> Increasingly frequent clashes between federal forces and local militants continue in Dagestan, while sporadic fighting erupts in the other southern Russia regions, most notably in Ingushetia, but also elsewhere, [[October 2005 Nalchik attack|notably in Nalchik]] on [[October 13]] [[2005]].
==Human rights and terrorism==
{{main|Second Chechen War crimes and terrorism}}
===Human rights and war crimes===
{{POV-section|date=April 2008}}
{{Campaignbox Second Chechen War civilian attacks}}
[[Image:Massgrave chechnya.jpg|thumb|200px|One of many [[Mass graves of the Second Chechen War|mass graves in Chechnya]]]]
Russian officials and Chechen rebels have regularly and repeatedly accused the opposing side of committing various [[war crimes]] including kidnapping, [[murder]], [[hostage taking]], [[looting]], [[rape]], and assorted other breaches of the [[laws of war]]. International and humanitarian organizations, including the [[Council of Europe]] and [[Amnesty International]], have criticized both sides of the conflict for "blatant and sustained" violations of [[international humanitarian law]].
Russian rights groups estimate there have been about 5,000 [[forced disappearance]]s in Chechnya since 1999.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5219254.stm Russia censured over Chechen man] [[BBC]]</ref> They say Russian troops have
used [[abduction]], rape and [[torture]] as weapons there and that the government has done too little to punish those responsible.{{Fact|date=April 2008}}
[[United States Secretary of State|Secretary of State]] [[Madeleine Albright]] noted in her [[March 24]] [[2000]], speech to the [[United Nations Commission on Human Rights]]:
:We cannot ignore the fact that thousands of Chechen civilians have died and more than 200,000 have been driven from their homes. Together with other delegations, we have expressed our alarm at the persistent, credible reports of [[human rights]] violations by Russian forces in Chechnya, including [[Extrajudicial punishment|extrajudicial killings]]. There are also reports that Chechen separatists have committed abuses, including the killing of civilians and prisoners. ... The war in Chechnya has greatly damaged Russia's international standing and is isolating Russia from the international community. Russia's work to repair that damage, both at home and abroad, or its choice to risk further isolating itself, is the most immediate and momentous challenge that Russia faces.<ref>[http://geneva.usmission.gov/press2000/0427chechnya.html U.S. Response to Human Rights Commission Resolution on Chechnya] U.S. Mission Geneva</ref>
According to the 2001 annual report by Amnesty International:
:There were frequent reports that Russian forces indiscriminately bombed and shelled civilian areas. Chechen civilians, including medical personnel, continued to be the target of military attacks by Russian forces. Hundreds of Chechen civilians and prisoners of war were extra judicially executed. Journalists and independent monitors continued to be refused access to Chechnya. According to reports, Chechen fighters frequently threatened, and in some cases killed, members of the Russian-appointed civilian administration and executed Russian captured soldiers.<ref>[http://web.amnesty.org/web/ar2001.nsf/webeurcountries/RUSSIAN+Federation?OpenDocument Russian Federation 2001 Report] [[Amnesty International]]</ref>
In 2001 the [[United States Holocaust Memorial Museum]] has placed Chechnya on its [[Genocide]] Watch List:
:Chechnya was devastated, including the almost complete destruction of Grozny, the Chechen capital. Russian artillery and air indiscriminately pounded populated areas. Human rights organizations also documented several massacres of civilians by Russian units. Russian President Vladimir Putin proclaimed Chechnya pacified by Spring 2000. But peace has been elusive for Chechen civilians, victims of a continuing [[Attrition warfare|war of attrition]]. They are plagued by abuses committed by Russian forces - arbitrary arrest, [[extortion]], torture, murder. Chechen civilians also suffer because there have been no sustained efforts to rebuild basic social services, such as [[Public utility|utilities]] or [[education]]. Chechen fighters also commit abuses against civilians, but neither on the same scale nor with the same intensity as Russian forces.<ref>[http://www.ushmm.org/conscience/alert/chechnya/ Chechnya Overview] [[Holocaust Memorial Museum]]</ref>
The Russian government failed to pursue any accountability process for [[human rights abuses]] committed during the course of the conflict in Chechnya. Unable to secure justice domestically, hundreds of victims of abuse have filed applications with the [[European Court of Human Rights]] (ECHR). In March 2005 the court issued the first rulings on Chechnya, finding the Russian government guilty of violating the right to life and the prohibition of torture with respect to civilians who had died or forcibly disappeared at the hands of Russia's federal troops.<ref>[http://iwpr.net/?p=crs&s=f&o=239843&apc_state=henicrs2005 European Court Rules Against Moscow] [[Institute for War and Peace Reporting]], March 2, 2005M</ref> Many similar claims were ruled since against Russia.
[[Image:Beslan school no 1 victim photos.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Photos of the victims of the [[Beslan school hostage crisis|2004 Beslan school hostage crisis]]]]
===Terrorist attacks===
{{Campaignbox Second Chechen War terrorism}}
Between May 2002 and September 2004, the Chechen and Chechen-led militants, mostly answering to Shamil Basayev, lauched a campaign of [[terrorism]] directed against civilian targets in Russia. About 200 people were killed in a series of bombings (most of them suicide attacks), most of them in the [[2003 Stavropol train bombing]] (46), the [[February 2004 Moscow metro bombing|2004 Moscow metro bombing]] (40), and the [[Russian aircraft bombings of August 2004|2004 Russian aircraft bombings]] (89).
Two large-scale hostage takings, the 2002 [[Moscow theater hostage crisis]] (850 hostages) and the [[Beslan school hostage crisis|2004 Beslan school siege]] (about 1,200), resulted in the deaths of more than 386 civilians when the FSB [[OSNAZ]] forces stormed the buildings on the third day of each standoff, using a [[Moscow hostage crisis chemical agent|lethal chemical agent]] in Moscow and indiscriminate firepower in Beslan. Some 20 Beslan hostages were also executed by their captors.
==Other issues==
===Pankisi crisis===
{{main|Georgian-Russian relations|2001 Kodori crisis}}
Russian officials have accused the bordering republic of [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]] of allowing Chechen rebels to operate on Georgian territory and permitting the flow of guerrillas and [[materiel]] across the Georgian border with Russia. In February 2002, the United States began offering assistance to Georgia in combating "criminal elements" as well as alleged Arab [[mujahideen]] activity in [[Pankisi Gorge]] as [[War on Terrorism: Pankisi Gorge|part of the War on Terrorism]]. Without resistance, Georgian troops have detained an Arab man and six criminals, and declared the region under control.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2231955.stm Georgia says gorge 'under control'] BBC News, 2 September, 2002</ref> In August 2002, Georgia accused Russia of a series of secret [[air strike]]s on purported rebel havens in the Pankisi Gorge in which a Georgian civilian was reported killed.
On [[October 8]] [[2001]], a [[United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia|UNOMIG]] helicopter was shot down in Georgia in [[Kodori Valley]] gorge near Abkhazia, amid [[2001 Kodori crisis|fighting between Chechens and Abkhazians]], killing nine including five UN observers.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1586098.stm UN helicopter shot down in Georgia] BBC News, 8 October, 2001</ref> Georgia denied having troops in the area, and the suspicion fell on the armed group headed by Chechen warlord [[Ruslan Gelayev]], who was speculated to have been hired by the Georgian government to wage [[proxy war]] against separatist [[Abkhazia]]. On [[March 2]] [[2004]], following a number of cross-border raids from Georgia into Chechnya, Ingushetia, and Dagestan, Gelayev was killed in a clash with Russian border guards while trying to get back from Dagestan into Georgia.
===Unilateral ceasefire of 2005===
On [[February 2]] [[2005]], Chechen rebel president Aslan Maskhadov issued a call for a [[ceasefire]] lasting until at least [[February 22]] (the day preceding the anniversary of Stalin's deportation of the Chechen population). The call was issued through a separatist website and addressed to President Putin, described as a gesture of [[goodwill]]. On [[March 8]] [[2005]], Maskhadov was killed in an operation by Russian security forces in the Chechen community of [[Tolstoy-Yurt]], northeast of Grozny.
Shortly following Maskhadov's death, the Chechen rebel council announced that [[Abdul-Khalim Sadulayev]] had assumed the leadership, a move that was quickly endorsed by Shamil Basayev (Basayev himself died in July 2006). On [[February 2]] [[2006]], Sadulayev made large-scale changes in his government, ordering all its members to move into Chechen territory. Among other things, he removed First Vice-Premier [[Akhmed Zakayev]] from his post (although later Zakayev was appointed a Foreign Minister<ref>[http://chechenpress.net/events/2006/05/27/06.shtml Указы Президента ЧРИ А-Х. Садулаева], Chechenpress, 27.05.06</ref>). Sadulayev was killed in June 2006, after which he was succeeded as the rebel leader by the veteran guerrilla commander Doku Umarov.
===Amnesties===
As of November 2007, there were at least seven [[amnesty|amnesties]] for separatist guerrillas, as well as federal servicemen who committed crimes, declared in Chechnya by Moscow since the start of the second war. The first one was announced in 1999 when about 400 Chechen switched sides. (However, according to Putin's advisor and aide [[Aslambek Aslakhanov]] most of them were since killed, both by their former comrades and by the Russians, who by then perceived them as a potential "[[fifth column]]ists".<ref>[http://www.kommersant.ru/k-vlast/get_page.asp?DocID=695544 "Убивал -- не убивал, попал -- не попал"], Kommersant, 07.08.2006</ref> Some of the other amnesties included one during September 2003 in connection with the adoption of the republic's new [[constitution]], and then another between mid-2006 and January 2007. According to Ramzan Kadyrov, himself former rebel, more than 7,000 separatist fighters [[defection|defected]] to the federal side ("returned to the peaceful life") by 2005. In 2006 more than 600 militants in Chechnya and adjacent provinces reportedly surrendered their arms in response to a six-month amnesty "for those not involved in any serious crimes".<ref>[http://en.rian.ru/russia/20080116/97117813.html Law enforcers killed 72 militants in Chechnya in 2007], RIA Novosti, 16/ 01/ 2008</ref> In 2007, the [[International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights]] published a report entitled [http://www.ihf-hr.org/documents/doc_summary.php?sec_id=&d_id=4402 Amnestied People as Targets for Persecution in Chechnya], which documents the fate of several persons who have been amnestied and subsequently abducted, tortured and killed.
===Government censorship of the media coverage===
{{main|Russian censorship of Chechnya coverage}}
{{Disputed-section|date=April 2008}}
The first war, with its extensive and largely unrestricted [[coverage]] (despite deaths of many journalists), convinced the Kremlin more than any other event that it needed to control national television channels, which most Russians rely on for news, to successfully undertake any major national policy. By the time the second war began, federal authorities had designed and introduced a comprehensive system to limit the access of journalists to Chechnya and shape their coverage.<ref>[http://www.worldpress.org/Europe/2048.cfm Smokescreen Around Chechnya] The Moscow Times, [[March 18]] [[2005]]</ref>
The Russian government's control of all Russian television stations and its use of repressive rules, harassment, [[censorship]], [[intimidation]]<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/monitoring/media_reports/615937.stm Russian TV accuses military of censorship], BBC News, 23 January, 2000</ref> and attacks on journalists almost completely deprived the Russian public of the independent information on the conflict. Practically all the local Chechen media are under total control of the pro-Moscow government, Russian journalists in Chechnya face intense harassment and obstruction<ref>[http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/68793/ KREMLIN STIFLES CRITICAL COVERAGE OF CHECHNYA]</ref> leading to widespread [[self-censorship]], while foreign journalists and media outlets too are pressured into censoring their reports on the conflict.<ref>[http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/01/27/005.html Silencing Chechnya] Moscow Times, [[January 27]] [[2005]]</ref> In some cases Russian journalists reporting on Chechnya were jailed ([[Boris Stomakhin]]) or kidnapped by the federal forces ([[Andrei Babitsky]]), and foreign media outlets ([[American Broadcasting Company]]) banned from Russia.<ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/02/international/europe/02cnd-russia.html?pagewanted=all Russia Bars ABC News for Interview With Rebel], The New York Times, [[August 2]] [[2005]]</ref> The [[Russian-Chechen Friendship Society]] was shut down on "extremism and national hatred" charges. According to a 2007 poll only 11 percent of Russians said they were happy with media coverage of Chechnya.<ref name="poll" />
==Effects==
===Civilian losses===
{{main|Casualties of the Second Chechen War}}
Civilian casualty estimates vary widely. According to the pro-Moscow government, 160,000 combatants and non-combatants died or have gone missing in the two wars, including 30,000–40,000 Chechens and about 100,000 Russians;<ref>[http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/08/15/news/chech.php Chechen official puts death toll for 2 wars at up to 160,000] International Herald Tribune, [[August 16]] [[2005]]</ref><ref>[http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2005/08/b23f8d99-f15d-4b40-882c-975598c29ae3.html Russia: Chechen Official Puts War Death Toll At 160,000] RFE/RL, [[August 16]] [[2005]]</ref> while rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov (deceased) repeatedly claimed about 200,000 ethnic Chechens died as a consequence of the two conflicts.<ref>[http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/08/16/011.html Death Toll Put at 160,000 in Chechnya] [[The Moscow Times]], [[August 16]] [[2005]]</ref> As in the case of military losses, these claims can not be independently verified. According to a count by the Russian human rights group [[Memorial (society)|Memorial]] in 2007, up to 25,000 civilians have died or disappeared since 1999.<ref name="alert">[http://www.alertnet.org/db/crisisprofiles/RU_WAR.htm?v=in_detail Chechnya war], Reuters AlertNet, 11-04-2007</ref> According to Amnesty International in 2007, the second war killed up to 25,000 civilians since 1999, with up to another 5,000 people missing.<ref>[http://www.jamestown.org/chechnya_weekly/article.php?articleid=2373419 Amnesty International Issues Reports on Disappearances] Jamestown Foundation, [[May 24]] [[2007]]</ref> However, the [[Russian-Chechen Friendship Society]] set their estimate of the total [[death toll]] in two wars at about 150,000 to 200,000 civilians.<ref name="casualties" />
===Environmental damage===
Environmental agencies warn that the Russian republic of Chechnya, devastated by war, now faces [[ecological disaster]]. A former aide to Boris Yeltsin believes Russian bombing has rendered Chechnya an "environmental wasteland."<ref>[http://www.american.edu/TED/ice/chechnya.htm Chechnya Conflict and Environmental Implications]</ref> There is a special concern over widespread [[oil spill]]s and [[pollution]] from [[sewers]] damaged by war (the water is polluted to a depth of 250 m<ref>[http://www.kommersant.com/p-92/r_436/Chechen_Republic/ Chechen Republic // GENERAL INFORMATION], Kommersant, Mar. 10, 2004</ref>), and [[chemical]] and [[radioactive pollution]], as a result of the bombardment of chemical facalities and storages during the conflict.<ref name="ravaged" /> Chechnya's [[wildlife]] also substained heavy damage during the hostilities, as animals that had once populated the Chechen forests have moved off to seek safer havens.<ref>[http://www.watchdog.cz/index.php?show=000000-000002-000001-000110-000048&lang=1 Military operations greatly alter Chechen mountain life], Prague Watchdog, [[May 4]] [[2003]]</ref> In 2004, Russian government has designated one-third of Chechnya a "zone of ecological disaster" and another 40% "a zone of extreme environmental distress".<ref>[http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2004/723/sc211.htm 'In the Caucasus, you can buy anything'], Al-Ahram Weekly, 2004</ref>
===Land mines===
{{main|Land mine situation in Chechnya}}
Chechnya is the most [[land mine]]-affected region worldwide.<ref>[http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2004/10/8f24150a-e534-42a8-80d9-198ae5453f89.html Chechnya: Land Mines Seen As Continuing Scourge] RFE/RL, [[October 19]] [[2004]]</ref> Since 1999 there have been widespread use of mines, by both sides (Russia is a party to the 1980 [[Convention on Conventional Weapons]] but not the 1996 protocol on land mines and other devices). The most heavily mined areas of Chechnya are those in which rebels continue to put up resistance, namely the southern regions, as well as the borders of the republic.<ref>[http://www.icbl.org/lm/2004/chechnya Chechnya], LM Report 2004, 8 Feb 2005</ref> No humanitarian mine clearance has taken place since the [[HALO Trust]] was evicted by Russia in December 1999. In June 2002, [[Olara Otunnu]], the UN official, estimated that there were 500,000 land mines placed in the region. [[UNICEF]] has recorded 2,340 civilian land mine and [[unexploded ordnance]] casualties occurring in Chechnya between 1999 and the end of 2003.
===Military losses===
{{main|Casualties of the Second Chechen War}}
Military casualty figures from both sides are impossible to verify and are generally believed to be higher. In September 2000, the [[National Endowment for Democracy]] compiled [http://www.watchdog.cz/index.php?show=000000-000005-000003-000001&lang=1 the list of casualties officially announced in the first year of the conflict], which, although incomplete and with little factual value, provide a minimum insight in the information war. According to the figures released by the [[Russian Ministry of Defence]] on in August 2005, at least 3,450 [[Russian Armed Forces]] soldiers have been [[killed in action]] 1999-2005.<ref>[http://www.watchdog.cz/index.php?show=000000-000005-000001-000182-000001-000005&lang=1 May 2001: Summary of main news related to the conflict in Chechnya.]</ref> This [[death toll]] did not include losses of [[Internal Troops]], the FSB, police and local paramilitaries, all of whom at least 4,720 were killed by October 2003.<ref name="casualties">[http://www.hrvc.net/htmls/references.htm Civil and military casualties of the wars in Chechnya] [[Russian-Chechen Friendship Society]]</ref> The independent Russian and Western estimates are much higher; the [[Union of the Committees of Soldiers' Mothers of Russia]] for instance estimated about 11,000 Russian Army servicemen have been killed between 1999 and 2003. In 2007, Memorial estimated about 15,000 Russian soldiers have died in two wars, while others estimate up to 40,000.<ref name="alert"/>
===Political radicalization of the rebel movement===
The Chechens had become increasingly radicalized. Former [[Soviet Army]] officers Dzhokhar Dudayev and Aslan Maskhadov have been succeeded by people who rely more on religious ideology, rather than the [[nationalism|nationalistic]] feelings of the population. While Dudayev and Maskhadov were seeking from Moscow recognition of the independence of the Chechen Republic Ichkeria, other leaders spoke out more about the need to expel Russia from the territory of the whole [[North Caucasus]], an impoverished mountain region inhabited mostly by [[Muslim]], non-Russian [[ethnic group]]s.{{Fact|date=April 2008}}
In April 2006, asked whether negotiations with Russians are possible, the top rebel commander and future president [[Doku Umarov]] answered: ''"We offered them many times. But it turned out that we constantly press for [[negotiations]] and it's as if we are always standing with an extended hand and this is taken as a sign of our weakness. Therefore we don't plan to do this any more."'' In the same month, the new rebel spokesman [[Movladi Udugov]] said that attacks should be expected anywhere in Russia: ''"Today, we have a different task on our hands -- [[total war]], war everywhere our enemy can be reached. (...) And this means mounting attacks at any place, not just in the Caucasus but in all Russia."'' Reflecting growing radicalization of the Chechen-led guerrillas, Udugov said their goal was no longer Western-style [[democracy]] and independence, but the [[Islamist]] "North Caucasian [[Emirate]]".{{Fact|date=April 2008}}
This trend ultimately resulted in the October 2007 declaration of [[Caucasus Emirate]] by [[Doku Umarov]] where he also urged for a global Jihad, and the political [[schism]] between the moderates, and the radical Islamists fighting in Chechnya and the neighbouring regions with ties in the [[Middle East]].<ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/chechnya/Story/0,,2214769,00.html The battle for the soul of Chechnya], The Guardian, [[November 22]] [[2007]]</ref> Some commanders, still fighting along with Doku Umarov, like [[Anzor Astemirov]], have publicly denounced the idea of a global Jihad, but keep fighting for the independence of Caucasus states.<ref>[http://www.jamestown.org/chechnya_weekly/article.php?articleid=2373840 Chechnya Weekly from the Jamestown Foundation<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
The struggle has garnered support from Muslim sympathizers around the world nonetheless, and some of them have been willing to take up arms. Many commentators think it is likely that Chechen fighters have links with international Islamist rebel groups. The [[BBC]] said in an online Q&A on the conflict: "It has been known for years that Muslim volunteers have traveled to Chechnya to join the fight, reportedly after attending training camps in [[Afghan training camp|Afghanistan]] or [[Pakistan]]."<ref name="alert"/>
===Impact on the Chechen population===
According to a 2006 report by [[Doctors Without Borders]], "the majority of Chechens still struggle through lives burdened by fear, uncertainty and [[poverty]]." A survey conducted by MSF in September 2005 showed that 77% of the respondents were suffering from "discernible symptoms of psychological distress".<ref>[MSF Activity Reports on The Russian Federation: 2006 http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/news/russianfederation.cfm], Doctors Without Borders</ref>
As of 2005, [[infant mortality]] may have been as high as 50 per 1,000, more than double that of the rest of Russia; <ref>[http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/EVIU-6A9CEG?OpenDocument Feature - Health crisis brews in Russia's Chechnya], Reuters, 06 Mar 2005</ref> as of 2004, WHO said it was 29.4 per 1,000.<ref>http://www.who.int/hac/about/donorinfo/chechnya.pdf</ref> There are reports of growing a number of [[genetic disorder]]s in babies and unexplained illnesses among [[schoolchildren]].<ref name="ravaged">[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5108416.stm Chechnya habitat 'ravaged by war'], BBC News, 22 June 2006</ref> One child in 10 is born with some kind of [[anomaly]] that requires treatment. Some children whose parents can afford it are sent to the neighbouring republic of Dagestan, where treatment is better; Chechnya lacks sufficient medical equipment in most of its medical facilities.<ref>[http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2007/11/14/a_determined_spirit_guides_grozny/?page=2 A determined spirit guides Grozny], The Boston Globe, [[November 14]] [[2007]]</ref> According to the [[United Nations Children's Fund]] (UNICEF), since 1994 to 2008 about 25,000 children in Chechnya have lost one or both parents.<ref>[http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/groznys-lost-boys/2008/03/21/1205602658064.html Grozny's lost boys], ''Sydney Morning Herald'', [[March 22]] [[2008]]</ref> A whole generation of Chechen children is showing symptoms of [[psychological trauma]]. In 2006, Chechnya's pro-Moscow deputy health minister, said the Chechen children had become "living specimens" of what it means to grow up with the constant threat of [[violence]] and chronic poverty.<ref>[http://www.genocidewatch.org/Chechnyarussiaamysterymaladyinchechnyamar06.htm A Mystery Malady in Chechnya], Los Angeles Times, [[March 10]] [[2006]]</ref> In 2007, the Chechen interior ministry has identified 1,000 [[street children]] involved in [[Vagrancy (people)|vagrancy]]; the number was increasing.<ref>[http://www.watchdog.cz/?show=000000-000002-000001-000186&lang=1 Large numbers of street children discovered in Chechnya], Prague Watchdog, [[March 23]] [[2007]]</ref>[http://www.macaudailytimesnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=7314&Itemid=33]
According to official statistics Chechnya's [[unemployment rate]] in 2007 was 61.5%, the highest percentage among Russian regions.<ref>[http://www.rosbaltsouth.ru/2007/12/05/437738.html Чечня — лидер по уровню безработицы среди регионов России], 5.12.2007</ref> Many people remain [[Homelessness|homeless]] because so much of Chechnya's housing was destroyed by the Russian federal forces and many people have not yet been given [[compensation]].<ref>[http://www.smu.edu/humanrights/aiurgent.html Amnesty International Urgent Action], Amnesty International, 25 January 2008</ref> Not only the [[social]] (such as housing and [[hospital]]s) and [[economy|economic]] [[infrastructure]] but also the foundations of [[culture]] and education, including most of [[education]]al and [[cultural institution]]s, were destroyed over the course of the two wars in Chechnya.<ref>[http://www.idee.org/lreport2.html The Consequences of War for Education and Culture in Chechnya]</ref> However ongoing reconstruction efforts have been rebuilding the region at a quick pace over the past few years, including new housing, facilities, paved roads and traffic lights, a new mosque and restoration of electricity to much of the region.<ref>[http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/05/03/news/chech.php Spring rebuilding in Chechnya]</ref> Governmental, social and [[commercial]] life remain hobbled by [[bribery]], kidnapping, [[extortion]] and other criminal activity; reports by the Russian government estimate that the [[organized crime]] sector is twice the Russian average and the government is widely perceived to be [[Political corruption|corrupt]] and unresponsive.<ref>[http://www.theirc.org/news/the_crisis_in_chechnya_and_the_northern_caucasus_at_a_glance.html The Crisis in Chechnya and the Northern Caucasus at a Glance], IRC, 31 Jan 2006</ref>
Hundreds of thousands of Chechens [[Chechen refugees|were displaced by the conflict]], including 300,000 at the height of the conflict in 2000.<ref name="alert"/> Most of them were displaced internally in Chechnya and in neighbouring republic of Ingushetia, but thousands of refugees also went into [[exile]], as of 2008 most of them residing in the [[European Union]] countries.
===Impact on the Russian population===
{{seealso|Human rights in Russia|Anti-national sentiment in Russia}}
The start of the war bolstered the domestic popularity of Vladimir Putin as the campaign was started one month after he had become [[Prime Minister of Russia|Russian prime minister]]. However, the war eventually became less popular; according to a March 2007 [[poll]] 70% of Russians believe there should be negotiations with the separatists, and only 16% believe the military campaign should continue.<ref name="poll">[http://www.jamestown.org/publications_details.php?volume_id=421&issue_id=4037&article_id=2372009 POLL FINDS A PLURALITY OF RUSSIANS DISTRUST RAMZAN] [[The Jamestown Foundation]], [[March 27]] [[2007]]</ref> The conflict greatly contributed to the deep changes in the Russian politics and society.<ref name="warlord">[http://economist.com/world/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9254176 The warlord and the spook] [[The Economist]], [[March 31]] [[2007]]</ref>
Since the Chechen conflict began in 1994, cases of young [[veteran]]s returning embittered and traumatized to their home towns have been reported all across Russia. Psychiatrists, law-enforcement officials and journalists have started calling the condition of [[psychology|psychologically]] scarred soldiers "Chechen [[syndrome]]" (CS), drawing a parallel with the [[post-traumatic stress disorder]]s suffered by Soviet soldiers who fought in [[Afghanistan]]. According to Yuri Alexandrovsky, deputy director of the [[Moscow Serbsky Institute]] in 2003, at least 70% of the estimated 1.5 million Chechnya veterans suffered CS.<ref>[http://205.188.238.181/time/printout/0,8816,901031006-490663,00.html Chechnya's Walking Wounded] [[TIME]]/CNN, Sep. 28, 2003</ref> Many of the veterans came back [[alcoholism|alcoholic]], unemployable and [[Antisocial personality disorder|antisocial]].<ref name="warlord" /> Thousands were also physically [[disability|disabled]] for life and left with very limited help from the government <ref>[http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4176/is_20030430/ai_n14548271 Island lessons for Russian war vet], Oakland Tribune, Apr 30, 2003 </ref>.
According to the 2007 study by [[Memorial (society)|Memorial]] and [[Demos (human rights center)|Demos]] human rights organisations, Russian policemen lose their qualifications and professional skills during their [[tour of duty|duty tours]] in Chechnya.<ref name="omon">[http://jamestown.org/chechnya_weekly/article.php?articleid=2374082 The Geography of OMON Deployments in the North Caucasus], [[The Jamestown Foundation]], [[April 3]] [[2008]]</ref> This conflict was linked to the rising brutality and general [[criminalisation]] of the Russian police forces. According to human rights activists and journalists, tens of thousands of police and security forces have been to Chechnya learned patterns of brutality and impunity and brought them to their home regions, often returning with [[discipline|disciplinary]] and psychological problems. Reliable numbers on [[police brutality]] are hard to come by, but in a statement released in 2006, the internal affairs department of Russia's Interior Ministry said that the number of recorded crimes committed by police officers rose 46.8% in 2005. In one nationwide poll in 2005, 71% of respondents said they didn't trust their police at all; in another, 41% Russians said they lived in fear of police violence.<ref>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A4009-2005Mar26.html For Russians, Police Rampage Fuels Fear] ''[[Washington Post]]'', [[March 27]] [[2005]]</ref><ref>[http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2005/06/da84eb4b-5f23-4876-8d61-bc4d6f4f6260.html Russia: Police Brutality Shows Traces Of Chechnya] RFE/RL, [[June 20]] [[2005]]</ref> According to Amnesty International, torture of detainees in Russia is now [[Endemism|endemic]].<ref name="warlord" /> Since 2007, police officers from outside Caucasus are now not only being sent to Chechnya, but to all the region's republics.<ref name="omon"/>
The wars in Chechnya, and the associated Caucasian terrorism in Russia, were a major factors in the grow of [[intolerance]], [[xenophobia]] and [[racism|racist]] violence in Russia, directed in a great part against the people from Caucasus.<ref name="warlord" /> A 2004 poll found 33% of Russians would support [[ban]]ning all Chechens from entering Russian cities.{{Fact|date=April 2008}}<ref>{{ru icon}} {{cite news|date=[[September 16]], [[2004]] |title=How to end terrorism in Russia? |accessdate=2006-07-29}}</ref> The Russian authorities were unlikely to label random attacks on people of non-Russian ethnicity as racist, preferring calling it "[[hooliganism]]". The number of murders officially classified as racist more than doubled in Russia between 2003 and 2004. The violence included an acts of terrorism such as the [[2006 Moscow market bombing]] which killed 13 people.<ref>[http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/11/02/news/briefs.php Political turmoil erupts again in deadly protests] IHT, [[November 2]] [[2005]]</ref><ref>[http://english.people.com.cn/200609/14/eng20060914_302534.html Migrants flee town after racial violence] [[People's Daily]], [[September 14]] [[2006]]</ref> In 2007, 18-year old [[Artur Ryno]] claimed responsibility for over 30 racially-motivated murders in the course of one year, saying that "since school [he] hated people from the Caucasus."<ref>[http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2007/05/29/011.html Teenager Admits to Over 30 Murders] [[The Moscow Times]], [[May 29]] [[2007]]</ref> On [[June 5]], [[2007]], an anti-Chechen riot involving hundreds of people took place in the town of [[Stavropol]] in southern Russia. Rioters demanded the eviction of ethnic Chechens following the murder of two young Russians who locals believed were killed by Chechens. The event revived memories of a recent clash between Chechens and local Russians in [[Kondopoga]] over an unpaid bill, when two Russians were killed.<ref>[http://www.reuters.com/article/homepageCrisis/idUSL05224442._CH_.2400 Nationalists rally in Russian town near Chechnya] [[Reuters]], Jun 5, 2007</ref> The Caucasians also face ethnic-related violence in the ranks of Russian Army.<ref>[http://iwpr.net/?p=crs&s=f&o=159879&apc_state=henicrs2000 Racist Violence Plagues Russian Army] IWPR, 15-Sep-00</ref>
== Status ==
In 2005 there were about 60,000 Russian troops in Chechnya, but that number has since decreased significantly. Tony Wood, a journalist and author who's written extensively about Chechnya, estimated there were about 8,000 pro-Moscow security forces remaining in the region [[as of 2007]]. Independent analysts say there are no more than 2,000 armed separatist combatants still fighting, while Russia says only a few hundred remain. There is still some sporadic fighting in the mountains and south of the republic, but Russia has scaled down its presence significantly leaving the pro-Moscow government to stabilize things further.<ref name="alert"/> In February 2008 the President of the separatist [[Chechen Republic of Ichkeria]], [[Dokka Umarov]], spoke of "thousands of fighters" when he addressed a speech to all his fighters in the mountains.<ref>[http://blip.tv/file/get/Kavkazcenter-873.wmv Dokka Umarov speech]</ref>
Most of the more prominent past Chechen separatist leaders have died or have been killed, including former [[president]] [[Aslan Maskhadov]] and leading [[warlord]] and terrorist attack mastermind [[Shamil Basayev]]. Meanwhile, the fortunes of the Chechen independence movement sagged, plagued by the internal disunity between Chechen moderates and [[Islamist]] radicals and the changing global political climate after [[September 11]] [[2001]], as well as the general war weariness of the Chechen population. Large-scale fighting has been replaced by [[guerrilla warfare]] and bombings targeting federal troops and forces of the regional government, with the violence often spilling over into adjacent regions. Since 2005, the insurgency has largely shifted out of Chechnya proper and into the nearby Russian territories, such as [[Ingushetia]] and [[Dagestan]]; the [[Russian government]], for its part, has focused on the stabilization of the [[North Caucasus]].
Throughout the years Russian officials have often announced that the war is over. In April 2002 President Vladimir Putin's declared that the war in Chechnya was over.<ref name="David">{{cite news |first=David |last=Johnson |title=Rebels kill 18 pro-Russians in Chechnya, Putin says war is over |url=http://www.cdi.org/Russia/202-3.cfm |work=Russia Weekly |publisher=Center for Defense Information |location=Washington, D.C. |date= [[April 19]] [[2002]] |accessdate=2007-12-19 }}</ref>
The Russian government maintains the conflict officially ended in April 2002,<ref>{{cite news |title=Chechen peace amid gunfire |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/europe/12/21/chechnya.life.otsc/index.html |work=CNN.com |publisher=Cable News Network |date=[[December 21]], [[2002]] |accessdate=2007-12-19 }}</ref><ref name="David">{{cite news |first=David |last=Johnson |title=Rebels kill 18 pro-Russians in Chechnya, Putin says war is over |url=http://www.cdi.org/Russia/202-3.cfm |work=Russia Weekly |publisher=Center for Defense Information |location=Washington, D.C. |date= [[April 19]] [[2002]] |accessdate=2007-12-19 }}</ref> and since then has continued largely as a peacekeeping operation.
In a [[July 10]], [[2006]], interview with the [[BBC]], [[Sergei Ivanov]], Russia's then-prime minister and former [[Defence Ministry of the Russian Federation|minister of defense]], said that the "the war is over," and that "the military campaign lasted only 2 years,"<ref>{{cite news |first=Stephen |last=Sakker |title=Sergey Ivanov: "The war in Chechnya is over" |url=http://www.inosmi.ru/translation/228674.html |location=London |publisher=British Broadcasting Corp. |date=[[July 10]], [[2006]] |accessdate=2007-12-19 |language=Russian }}</ref>
[[Ramzan Kadyrov]], the current [[President of the Chechen Republic|president of the Chechnya]], has also stated the war is over.<ref>{{cite news |first=Tim |last=Borisov |title=Ramzan Kadyrov: Since the war ended forever |url=http://www.rg.ru/2007/07/10/reg-kavkaz/kadirov.html |location=Moscow |publisher=Rossiiskaya Gazeta |language=Russian |date=[[July 10]], [[2007]] |accessdate=2007-12-19 }}</ref> Others believe the war ended in 2003 with the passage of a Moscow-backed constitutional referendum and the election of pro-Moscow president Akhmad Kadyrov, while some consider the conflict on-going.<ref>{{cite news |title=The Situation in Chechnya |url=http://www.soma.on.ca/XXXV/Background%20Guides/Security%20Council%20--%20Topic%202%20--%20Situation%20in%20Chechnya.pdf |format=PDF |publisher=Southern Ontario Model United Nations Assembly |location=Ontario |page=5 |date=2007 |accessdate=2007-12-19 }}</ref> Some independent observers, including [[Álvaro Gil-Robles]], the human rights envoy for the [[Council of Europe]], and [[Louise Arbour]], the [[UN High Commissioner for Human Rights]], have said that the war has largely concluded as of 2006.<ref>{{cite news |first=Adrian |last=Blomfield |title= Chechnya's new leader: a boxer with his own army |url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/03/06/wchech06.xml |work=telegraph.co.uk |publisher=Telegraph Media Group |location=London |date=[[July 6]], [[2006]] |accessdate=2007-12-19 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Pyotr |last=Romanov |title=Outside View: End of Caucasian war |url=http://wpherald.com/articles/243/1/Outside-View-End-of-Causasian-war/Demise-of-Shamil-Basayev.html |work=World Peace Herald |publisher=News World Communications |location=Washington, D.C. |date=[[July 11]], [[2006]] |accessdate=2007-12-19 }}</ref>
The separatists, however, deny that the war is over, and [[Guerrilla phase of the Second Chechen War|guerrilla warfare]] continues throughout the entire North Caucasus. Colonel [[Sulim Yamadayev]], Chechnya's second most powerful loyalist warlord after Kadyrov, also denies that the war is over. In March 2007, Yamadayev claimed there were well over 1,000 separatist rebels and foreign Islamic militants entrenched in the mountains of Chechnya alone: "''The war is not over, the war is far from being over. What we are facing now is basically a classic [[Partisan (military)|partisan]] war and my prognosis is that it will last two, three, maybe even five more years.''"<ref>http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/03/27/wchech27.xml</ref> According to the [[CIA]]'s factbook, Russia has severely disabled the Chechen rebel movement, although sporadic violence still occurs throughout the North Caucasus.<ref>[https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/rs.html Russia Factbook] [[Central Intelligence Agency]]</ref> The overall security situation in Chechnya remains exceedingly difficult to accurately report due to the near monopoly the Russian government has on media covering the issue.<ref>[http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/chechnya2.htm Second Chechnya War<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> In May 2007 [[Amnesty International]] refuted claims by the government that the conflict has ended, stating "while large-scale military operations have been reduced, the conflict continues."<ref>[http://asiapacific.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGEUR460152007 Russian Federation
What justice for Chechnya's disappeared?]</ref> The strength of the rebels has for many years been unknown. Although Russia has killed a lot of rebels throughout the war, many young fighters have joined the rebels.<ref>[http://www.jamestown.org/chechnya_weekly/article.php?articleid=2374081 The Alkhazurovo Operation: Are Chechnya's Rebels on the Rebound?]</ref>
An estimation, based on [[Guerrilla phase of the Second Chechen War|the war reports]], shows that in the past three years Federal casualties are higher than the amount of coalition casualties of the [[War in Afghanistan (2001–present)]].<ref>[http://www.icasualties.org/oef/ iCasualties | Operation Enduring Freedom<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>[http://kavkaz-uzel.ru/newstext/chronics/id/1196026.html Ингушетия: хроника терактов, обстрелов, похищений]</ref><ref>[http://kavkaz-uzel.ru/newstext/chronics/id/790621.html Дагестан: хроника террора (1996-2007 гг.)]</ref>
With the abolition of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria and the proclamation of the [[Caucasus Emirate]] by the president of the rebel movement [[Dokka Umarov]], the conflict in Chechnya and the rest of the [[North Caucasus]] is often referred to as the "War in the North Caucasus". The Russian government has has given no new name to the conflict while most international observers still refer to it as a continuation of the Second Chechen War.<ref>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2007/04/containing_russia.html]]</ref>
In late April, 2008, the Human Rights Commissioner for the [[Council of Europe]], [[Thomas Hammarberg]], visited Russia's Caucasian republics. After wrapping up the week long visit, he said he observed a number of positive developments in Chechnya, and that there was "obvious progress". He also noted that the [[judicial system]] in Chechnya was functioning properly. According to Hammarberg, missing people and the identification of missing bodies were still the two biggest human rights issues in the region, and he expressed his wish that further efforts be done to clarify the issue. [[President Putin]] responded to his comments, saying that the visit was of "great significance", and that Russia will take into account what the council had to say.<ref>[http://www.coe.int/t/commissioner/Activities/news2008/080425Putin_en.asp Commissioner Hammarberg meets Putin and Medvedev]Retrieved: 8-26-08</ref><ref>[http://russiatoday.ru/news/news/23950 Russian Caucasus 'stabilising': EU Commissioner]Retrieved: 8-26-08</ref><ref>[http://russiatoday.ru/news/news/23832 Thousands still missing in Chechnya]Retrieved: 8-26-08</ref>
==People of the Second Chechen War==
===Russian political leaders and commanders===
:;President of Russia: (in chronological order) [[Boris Yeltsin]] (died 2007), [[Vladimir Putin]]
:;Chiefs of the FSB, the GRU, and the General Staff of the Armed Forces: [[Nikolai Patrushev]] - [[Valentin Korabelnikov]] - [[Anatoly Kvashnin]], [[Yuri Baluyevsky]]
:;Commander of the Joint Group of Forces in the North Caucasus: (in chronological order) Vladimir Moltenskoy, [[Sergey Makarov]], [[Valery Baranov]] (maimed 2004), Yakov Nedobitko
:;Commander of the North Caucasus Military District: (in chronological order) [[Viktor Kazantsev]], [[Gennady Troshev]], Vladimir Boldyrev, [[Alexander Baranov (general)|Alexander Baranov]]
:;Defence Minister of the Russian Federation: (in chronological order) [[Igor Sergeyev]], [[Sergei Ivanov]], [[Anatoliy Serdyukov]]
:;Interior Minister of Russia: (in chronological order) [[Vladimir Rushailo]], [[Boris Gryzlov]], [[Rashid Nurgaliyev]]
:;Military commandant of Chechnya: Yevgeniy Abrashin, Ivan Babichev, Grigory Fomenko, Leonid Krivonos
:;President of the Chechen Republic: (in chronological order) [[Akhmad Kadyrov]] (assassinated 2004), [[Alu Alkhanov]], [[Ramzan Kadyrov]]
:;Pro-Russian Chechen commanders and politicians: Salman Abuyev (assassinated 2001), Artur Akhmadov, Ruslan Alkhanov, Abu Arsanukayev, [[Aslambek Aslakhanov]], [[Movladi Baisarov]] (assassinated 2006), Shamil Burayev, Zina Batyzheva, Odes Baysultanov, Alimbek Delimkhanov, Adam Demilkhanov, Adam Deniyev (assassinated 2000), Rudnik Dudayev †, Taus Dzhabrailov, Bislan Gantamirov, Musa Gazimagomadov (died 2003), Hussein Isayev (assassinated 2004), [[Idris Gaibov]], Muslim Ilyasov, Zelimkhan Kadyrov (died 2004), [[Said-Magomed Kakiyev]], Nusreda Khabuseyeva †, Magomed Khambiyev, [[Ibragim Khultygov]], Rezvan Kutsuyev, Supyan Makhchayev, [[Malik Saidullayev]], Sultan Satuyev, Movsar Temirbayev, Raybek Tovzayev (killed 2001), Ruslan Tsakayev (died 2003), Said-Selim Tsuyev, [[Dzhabrail Yamadayev]] (assassinated 2003), Khalid Yamadayev, [[Ruslan Yamadayev]], [[Sulim Yamadayev]], Alambek Yasayev, Aud Yusupov †, Akhmad Zavgayev (assassinated 2002), and others
:;Russian commanders and politicans: [[Sergei Abramov]], [[Mukhu Aliyev]], [[Aslambek Aslakhanov]], Mikhail Babich, Viktor Barsukov, Aleksandr Bespalov, [[Yuri Budanov]] (imprisoned 2003), Boris Fadeyev, Gaidar Gadzhiyev (assassinated 2001), Magomed Gazimagomedov, Nikolai Goridov (assassinated 2002), Aleksandr Kayak (assassinated 2005), Oleg Khotin, Alexander Kolmakov, Dzhabrail Kostoyev (assassinated 2006), Abukar Kostoyev (killed 2004), [[Anatoly Kyarov]] (assassinated 2008), Alexander Lentsov, Adilgerei Magomedtagirov, [[Magomedali Magomedov]], Ibragim Malsagov, [[Mikhail Malofayev]] (killed 2000), Valery Manilov, Mark Metsayev †, [[Magomed Omarov]] (assassinated 2005), Boris Podoprigora, Aleksandr Potapov, Anatoly Pozdnyakov (assassinated 2001), Mikhail Rudchenko (assassinated 2002), Yan Sergunin (assassinated 2004), [[Vladimir Shamanov]], Igor Shifrin (assassinated 2002), [[Georgy Shpak]], [[German Ugryumov]] (died 2001), Pavel Varfolomeyev (assassinated 2001), [[Sergei Yastrzhembsky]], Sergei Zveryev (assassinated 2000), [[Murat Zyazikov]], and others
===Separatist political leaders and commanders===
:;President of Ichkeria: (in chronological order) [[Aslan Maskhadov]] (killed 2005), [[Sheikh Abdul Halim]] (killed 2006), [[Dokka Umarov]]
:;Chechen separatist commanders and politicians: Salman Abuyev (defected), [[Aslambek Abdulkhadzhiev]] (killed 2002), Artur Akhmadov (defected), [[Ilyas Akhmadov]], Uvais Akhmadov, [[Ruslan Alikhadzhyev]] (forcibly disappeared 2000), Ruslan Alkhanov (defected), [[Vakha Arsanov]] (killed or murdered in captivity 2005), [[Turpal-Ali Atgeriev]] (died or murdered in captivity 2002), [[Akhmed Avtorkhanov]] (killed 2005), [[Arbi Barayev]] (killed 2001), [[Movsar Barayev]] (killed 2002), [[Shamil Basayev]] (killed 2006), [[Rizvan Chitigov]] (killed 2005), Lecha Dudayev (killed 2000), Suleiman Elmurzayev (killed 2007), [[Idris Gaibov]] (defected), [[Ruslan Gelayev]] (killed 2004), [[Sultan Geliskhanov]] (captured 2006), Lecha Islamov (died or murdered in capitivity 2005), Aslambek Ismailov (killed 2000), Khunkarpasha Israpilov (killed 2000), Magomed Khambiyev (defected), Umar Khambiyev, [[Ibragim Khultygov]] (defected), Isa Munayev, Isa Muskiyev (killed 2006), Abu Movsayev (killed 2000), [[Khozh-Ahmed Noukhayev]] (unknown fate), [[Salman Raduyev]] (died or murdered in captivity 2002), Salautdin Temirbulatov (imprisoned), [[Movladi Udugov]], Yamadayev brothers (defected), [[Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev]] (assassinated 2004), [[Akhmed Zakayev]], and others
:;North Caucasian and foreign militant leaders: [[Anzor Astemirov]], [[Muslim Atayev]] (killed 2005), [[Alan Digorsky]], [[Ilias Gorchkhanov]] (killed 2005), [[Rappani Khalilov]] (killed 2007), [[Ibn al-Khattab]] (assassinated 2002), [[Abdul Madzhid]], [[Rasul Makasharipov]] (killed 2005), [[Muhannad]], [[Abu Hafs al-Urduni]] (killed 2006), [[Abu al-Walid]] (killed 2004), [[Akhmed Yevloyev]], and others
===Other associated people===
:;Journalists: [[Andrei Babitsky]], [[Supian Ependiyev]] (killed 1999), [[Adlan Khasanov]] (killed 2004), [[Ramzan Mezhidov]] (killed 1999), [[Robert Young Pelton]], [[Anna Politkovskaya]] (assassinated 2006), [[Roddy Scott]] (killed 2002), [[Fatima Tlisova]], and others
:;Victims of human rights abuses: [[Ruslan Alikhadzhyev]] (kidnapped 2000, presumed dead), [[Shakhid Baysayev]] (kidnapped 2000, presumed dead), [[Zura Bitiyeva]] (murdered with her family 2003), [[Elza Kungayeva]] (kidnapped, raped and murdered 2000), [[Nura Luluyeva]] (kidnapped and murdered 2000), [[Zelimkhan Murdalov]] (forcibly disappeared 2001, presumed dead), [[Malika Umazheva]] (murdered 2002), [[Khadzhi-Murat Yandiyev]] (forcibly disappeared 2000, presumed dead), and others
:;Various: [[Ruslan Aushev]], Shamil Beno, [[Aleksey Galkin]], [[Nur-Pashi Kulayev]] (imprisoned 2006, unknown fate), [[Sergei Lapin]] (imprisoned 2005), [[Timur Mucuraev]], [[Lidia Yusupova]], and others
==See also==
*[[First Chechen War]]
*[[Chechen people]]
*[[Command responsibility]]
*[[International response to the Second Chechen War]]
*[[Islam in Russia]]
*[[List of wars]]
*[[Peoples of the Caucasus]]
==References==
{{reflist|2}}
==Bibliography==
*[http://www.amazon.com/Three-Worlds-Gone-Mad-Dangerous/dp/1592281001] "Three Worlds Gone Mad" Author: [[Robert Young Pelton]]
*[http://books.google.com/books?id=8T31JQAACAAJ&dq ''A Dirty War: A Russian Reporter in Chechnya''] Author: [[Anna Politkovskaya]]
*[http://books.google.com/books?id=DbR62llvLh0C&printsec=frontcover ''A Military History of Russia: From Ivan the Terrible to the War in Chechnya''] Author: David R. Stone (preview available)
*[http://books.google.com/books?id=M0NgDHDnpqgC&printsec=frontcover ''A Small Corner of Hell: Dispatches from Chechnya''] Author: [[Anna Politkovskaya]] (preview available)
*[http://books.google.com/books?id=NPkH-7BCB6AC&printsec=frontcover ''Allah's Mountains: The Battle for Chechnya''] Author: Sebastian Smith (preview available)
*[http://books.google.com/books?id=VhtNIDj6evUC&printsec=frontcover ''Chechnya: From Nationalism to Jihad''] Author: [[James Hughes]] (preview available)
*[http://books.google.com/books?id=mPZeN5Wh1e4C&printsec=frontcover ''Chechnya: From Past To Future''] Author: [[Richard Sakwa]] and others (preview available)
*[http://books.google.com/books?id=BbYP8pOVv-AC&printsec=frontcover ''Chechnya: Life in a War-Torn Society''] Author: [[Valery Tishkov]] (preview available)
*[http://books.google.com/books?id=5z4hAAAACAAJ ''Chechnya: The Case for Independence''] Author: [[Tony Wood]]
*[http://books.google.com/books?id=MvQyHQAACAAJ ''Chechnya: To the Heart of a Conflict''] Author: Andrew Meier
*[http://books.google.com/books?id=90Q2GdifewwC ''Chienne de Guerre: A Woman Reporter Behind the Lines of the War in Chechnya''] Author: Anne Nivat
*[http://books.google.com/books?id=FDb-GwAACAAJ ''Crying Wolf: The Return of War to Chechnya''] Author: Vanora Bennett
*[http://books.google.com/books?id=NukGAAAACAAJ ''My Jihad''] Author: [[Aukai Collins]]
*[http://books.google.com/books?id=QDvJGAAACAAJ ''One Soldier's War''] Author: Arkady Babchenko
*[http://books.google.com/books?id=taoIAAAACAAJ ''Open Wound: Chechnya 1994-2003''] Author: Stanley Greene
*[http://books.google.com/books?id=gQMOAAAACAAJ ''Putin's Russia''] Author: [[Anna Politkovskaya]]
*[http://books.google.com/books?id=coTg0jV7rLIC&printsec=frontcover ''Russia's Chechen Wars 1994-2000: Lessons from Urban Combat''] Author: Olga Oliker (preview available)
*[http://books.google.com/books?id=cSGFhTEP49IC&printsec=frontcover ''Russia's Islamic Threat''] Author: Gordon M. Hahn
*[http://books.google.com/books?id=Tcab0VXTqnQC&printsec=frontcover ''Russia's Restless Frontier: The Chechnya Factor in Post-Soviet Russia''] Author: Dmitri Trenin, [[Anatol Lieven]] {preview available)
*[http://books.google.com/books?id=zPgeAQAACAAJ ''Russia's Wars with Chechnya 1994-2003''] Author: Michael Orr
*[http://books.google.com/books?id=7JLYiPmzD5oC&pg=PA160&dq ''Russian Military Reform, 1992-2002''] Author: Anne Aldis, Roger N. McDermott
*[http://books.google.com/books?id=qSZa6_wnSiIC&printsec=frontcover ''Russo-Chechen Conflict, 1800-2000: A Deadly Embrace''] Author: Robert Seely (preview available)
*[http://books.google.com/books?id=iljEKQAACAAJ ''The Angel of Grozny: Orphans of a Forgotten War''] Author: [[Asne Seierstad]]
*[http://books.google.com/books?id=inc4KfEHymYC&printsec=frontcover ''The Chechen Wars: Will Russia Go the Way of the Soviet Union?''] Author: Matthew Evangelista (preview available)
*[http://books.google.com/books?id=OuzqrrzVspEC&printsec=frontcover ''The Lone Wolf and the Bear: Three Centuries of Chechen Defiance of Russian Rule''] Author: Moshe Gammer (preview available)
*[http://books.google.com/books?id=vcMMAAAACAAJ ''The Oath: A Surgeon Under Fire''] Author: [[Khassan Baiev]]
*[http://books.google.com/books?id=_LXfR7wNWTUC&printsec=frontcover ''The Wolves of Islam: Russia and the Faces of Chechen Terror''] Author: Paul J. Murphy (preview available)
*[http://books.google.com/books?id=uNHy6VQXGhYC&printsec=frontcover ''"Welcome to Hell": Arbitrary Detention, Torture, and Extortion in Chechnya''] Author: [[Human Rights Watch]] (preview available)
==External links==
{{Expand|date=March 2008}}
;Timelines and chronologies
*[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/country_profiles/2357267.stm BBC Timeline: Chechnya]
;Summaries
*[http://www.da.mod.uk/colleges/csrc/document-listings/caucasus/P29 CHECHNYA: TWO FEDERAL INTERVENTIONS] [[Conflict Studies Research Centre]]
*[http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/chechnya2.htm Second Chechnya War - 1999-???] [[GlobalSecurity.Org]]
;Human rights issues
*[http://russiatoday.ru/news/news/23746/video Video: Is it safe in Chechnya? A European human rights body has described the situation in Russia's Chechen republic as critical ([[April 21]] [[2008]])]
*[[Council of Europe]] resolutions on 'The human rights situation in the Chechen Republic':
**[http://assembly.coe.int/Mainf.asp?link=http://assembly.coe.int/Documents/AdoptedText/TA03/ERES1323.htm Resolution 1323 (2003)]
**[http://assembly.coe.int/Mainf.asp?link=http://assembly.coe.int/Documents/AdoptedText/ta04/ERES1403.htm Resolution 1403 (2004)]
*[http://www.hrvc.net/main.htm Human Rights Violations in Chechnya] Society for the Russian-Chechen Friendship
*[http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org%2Fpublications%2Freports%2F2004%2Fchechnya_report_9-9-04.pdf The Trauma of ongoing War in Chechnya] [[Doctors Without Borders]]
;Articles
*[http://www.isn.ethz.ch/pubs/ph/details.cfm?lng=en&id=31618 "The North Caucasus," Russian Analytical Digest No. 22 (5 June 2007)]
*[http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/68793/ Critical media coverage of Chechnya stifled]
*[http://www.jamestown.org/publications_details.php?volume_id=416&issue_id=3697&article_id=2371008 Shifting Battlefields of the Chechen War (April 2006)]
*[http://www.jamestown.org/publications_details.php?volume_id=421&issue_id=3971&article_id=2371800 The Chechen resistance movement: 2006 in review] [[Jamestown Foundation]]
*[http://www.isn.ch/pubs/ph/details.cfm?id=22365 ISN Case Study: The North Caucasus on the Brink (August 2006)]
;Advocacy groups and mailing lists
*[http://eng.terror99.ru/explosions/ The Terror of 9/99: Fact Sheet]
*[http://groups.yahoo.com/group/chechnya-sl/ Chechnya-sl mailing list]
{{Chechen wars}}
{{USSR-Russia conflicts}}
[[Category:Second Chechen War| ]]
[[cs:Druhá čečenská válka]]
[[de:Zweiter Tschetschenienkrieg]]
[[et:Teine Tšetšeenia sõda]]
[[es:Segunda Guerra Chechena]]
[[fr:Seconde guerre de Tchétchénie]]
[[ko:2차 체첸 내전]]
[[id:Perang Chechnya II]]
[[he:מלחמת צ'צ'ניה השנייה]]
[[hu:Második csecsen háború]]
[[nl:Tweede Tsjetsjeense Oorlog]]
[[ja:第二次チェチェン紛争]]
[[pl:II wojna czeczeńska]]
[[ru:Вторая чеченская война]]
[[sr:Други чеченски рат]]
[[fi:Toinen Tšetšenian sota]]
[[sv:Andra Tjetjenienkriget]]