First Chechen War

First Chechen War
Part of The Chechen–Russian
conflict and post-Soviet conflicts

A Russian Mil Mi-8 helicopter brought down by Chechen fighters near the Chechen capital of Grozny in 1994.
Date11 December 1994 – 31 August 1996 (1 year, 8 months, 2 weeks and 6 days)
Location
Chechnya and parts of Ingushetia, Stavropol Krai and Dagestan, Russia
Belligerents

 Chechen Republic of Ichkeria

Foreign volunteers:

 Russia

  • Loyalist opposition
Commanders and leaders
Chechen Republic of Ichkeria Dzhokhar Dudayev X
Chechen Republic of Ichkeria Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev
Chechen Republic of Ichkeria Aslan Maskhadov
Chechen Republic of Ichkeria Ruslan Gelayev
Chechen Republic of Ichkeria Shamil Basayev
Chechen Republic of Ichkeria Aslambek Abdulkhadzhiev
Chechen Republic of Ichkeria Ruslan Alikhadzhiyev
Chechen Republic of Ichkeria Vakha Arsanov
Chechen Republic of Ichkeria Salman Raduyev
Chechen Republic of Ichkeria Lecha Khultygov
Chechen Republic of Ichkeria Turpal-Ali Atgeriyev
Chechen Republic of Ichkeria Akhmed Zakayev
Chechen Republic of Ichkeria Dokka Umarov
Chechen Republic of Ichkeria Khunkar-Pasha Israpilov
Chechen Republic of Ichkeria Ramzan Akhmadov
Chechen Republic of Ichkeria Akhmad Kadyrov
Ibn Al-Khattab
Oleksandr Muzychko
 Russia Boris Yeltsin
Russia Pavel Grachev
Russia Anatoly Kulikov
Russia Vladimir Shamanov[10]
Anatoly Shkirko [ru]
Russia Anatoly Kvashnin
Russia Anatoly Romanov
Russia Konstantin Pulikovsky
Russia Nikolay-Skrypnik [ru] †
Russia Viktor Vorobyov [ru] †
Doku Zavgayev
Ruslan Labazanov
Strength
Chechen Republic of Ichkeria 1,000 (1994)[11]
Chechen Republic of Ichkeria Approx. 6,000 (late 1994)[12]
Chechen Republic of Ichkeria 200[13]		 Russia 23,800 (1994)[14]
Russia 70,509 (1995)[15]
Casualties and losses
Official estimates:
3,000 (Chechen estimate)
3,000+ (Russian military data)[16]
Independent estimates: Approx. 3,000+ killed[a] (Nezavisimaya Gazeta)[17]
3,000 killed (Memorial)[18]
4 [b] [citation needed]		 Russian estimate:
5,552 soldiers killed or missing
16,098-18,000 wounded[19]
Independent estimates:
14,000 killed (CSMR)
9,000+ killed or missing. Up to 52,000 wounded (Time)[20]
100,000–130,000 civilians killed (Bonner)[21]
80,000–100,000 civilians killed (Human rights groups estimate)[22][23]
30,000–40,000+ civilians killed (RFSSS data)[24]
At least 161 civilians killed outside Chechnya[c]
500,000+ civilians displaced[citation needed]

The First Chechen War, also referred to as the First Russo-Chechen War, was a struggle for independence waged by the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria against the Russian Federation from 11 December 1994 to 31 August 1996. This conflict was preceded by the battle of Grozny in November 1994, during which Russia covertly sought to overthrow the new Chechen government. Following the intense Battle of Grozny in 1994–1995, which concluded with a victory for the Russian federal forces, Russia's subsequent efforts to establish control over the remaining lowlands and mountainous regions of Chechnya were met with fierce resistance and frequent surprise raids by Chechen guerrillas. The recapture of Grozny in 1996 played a part in the Khasavyurt Accord (ceasefire), and the signing of the 1997 Russia–Chechnya Peace Treaty.

The official Russian estimate of Russian military deaths was 6,000, but according to other estimates, the number of Russian military deaths was as high as 14,000.[25] According to various estimates, the number of Chechen military deaths was approximately 3,000–10,000,[17] the number of Chechen civilian deaths was between 30,000 and 100,000. Over 200,000 Chechen civilians may have been injured, more than 500,000 people were displaced, and cities and villages were reduced to rubble across the republic.[26]

  1. ^ "TURKISH VOLUNTEERS IN CHECHNYA". Jamestown. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2015-02-14.
  2. ^ Amjad M. Jaimoukha (2005). The Chechens: A Handbook. Psychology Press. p. 237. ISBN 978-0-415-32328-4. Archived from the original on 2024-09-06. Retrieved 2017-12-04.
  3. ^ Politics of Conflict: A Survey, p. 68, at Google Books
  4. ^ Energy and Security in the Caucasus, p. 66, at Google Books
  5. ^ "Radical Ukrainian Nationalism and the War in Chechnya". Jamestown. Archived from the original on 2019-04-12. Retrieved 2019-04-12. -UNSO's "Argo" squad -Viking Brigade
  6. ^ Cooley, John K. (2002). Unholy Wars: Afghanistan, America and International Terrorism (3rd ed.). London: Pluto Press. p. 195. ISBN 978-0-7453-1917-9. A Turkish Fascist youth group, the "Grey Wolves," was recruited to fight with the Chechens.
  7. ^ Goltz, Thomas (2003). Chechnya Diary: A War Correspondent's Story of Surviving the War in Chechnya. New York: Thomas Dunne Books. p. 22. ISBN 978-0-312-26874-9. I called a well-informed diplomat pal and arranged to meet him at a bar favored by the pan-Turkic crowd known as the Gray Wolves, who were said to be actively supporting the Chechens with men and arms.
    ...the Azerbaijani Gray Wolf leader, Iskander, Hamidov...
  8. ^ Isingor, Ali (6 September 2000). "Istanbul: Gateway to a holy war". CNN. Archived from the original on 17 October 2014.
  9. ^ "Grey Wolves in Syria". Egypt Today. 11 May 2017. Archived from the original on 21 July 2023. Retrieved 21 July 2023.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  10. ^ Galeotti, Mark (2014). Russia's War in Chechnya 1994–2009. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-78200-279-6.
  11. ^ "Breaking the Conflict Trap: Civil War and Development Policy" (PDF). World Bank Document. Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 April 2022. Retrieved 29 September 2022.
  12. ^ Lutz, Raymond R. (April 1997). "Russian Strategy In Chechnya: a Case Study in Failure". Archived from the original on 27 October 2016. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
  13. ^ "Radical Ukrainian Nationalism and the War in Chechnya". Jamestown. The Jamestown Foundation. Archived from the original on 2019-04-12. Retrieved 2019-04-12.
  14. ^ Кривошеев, Г. Ф., ed. (2001). Россия и СССР в войнах XX века. Потери вооруженных сил (in Russian). Олма-Пресс. p. 581. ISBN 5-224-01515-4.
  15. ^ Кривошеев, Г. Ф., ed. (2001). Россия и СССР в войнах XX века. Потери вооруженных сил (in Russian). Олма-Пресс. p. 582. ISBN 5-224-01515-4.
  16. ^ Кривошеев, Г. Ф., ed. (2001). Россия и СССР в войнах XX века. Потери вооруженных сил (in Russian). Олма-Пресс. p. 584. ISBN 5-224-01515-4.
  17. ^ a b "Война, проигранная по собственному желанию". Archived from the original on 2023-02-13. Retrieved 2023-11-15.
  18. ^ "Первая чеченская война – 20 лет назад". 11 December 2014. Archived from the original on 6 June 2023. Retrieved 20 May 2022.
  19. ^ "The War in Chechnya". MN-Files. Mosnews.com. 2007-02-07. Archived from the original on March 2, 2008.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  20. ^ Saradzhyan, Simon (2005-03-09). "Army Learned Few Lessons From Chechnya". Moscow Times. Archived from the original on 2020-04-27. Retrieved 2006-09-07.
  21. ^ Andrei, Sakharov (4 November 1999). "The Second Chechen War". Reliefweb. Archived from the original on 6 September 2024. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
  22. ^ Gordon, Michael R. (4 September 1996). "Human Rights Violations in Chechnya". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2002-12-28. Retrieved 2013-11-23.
  23. ^ Felgenhauer, Pavel. "The Russian Army in Chechnya". Crimes of War. Archived from the original on 9 February 2011. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
  24. ^ Cherkasov, Alexander. "Book of Numbers, Book of Losses, Book of the Final Judgment". Polit.ru. Archived from the original on 2 January 2016. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  25. ^ Cite error: The named reference jamestown was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  26. ^ "The War That Continues to Shape Russia, 25 Years Later". The New York Times. 2019-12-10. Archived from the original on 2019-12-10. Retrieved 2020-09-08.


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