The Ghosts of Chechnya Continue to hound Vladimir Putin. They have even followed him to Ukraine. While the leader of the Chechen Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov is a staunch supporter of Putin, as was his father before him, there is a large number of Chechen’s that have dedicated their lives to removing Putin and finally seeing a truly free and independent Chechen state. The history of the Chechen people and their contact with the Russians goes all the way back to 1859 when Tsar Nicholas I was the overseer of a long and drawn-out campaign to bring the caucus region under the control of the Russian empire.
The first in a long line of atrocities was the Circassian genocide. This little talked about in the west genocide was one of brutality where the Russian-Cossack forces committed unspeakable war crimes against the whole entirety of the ethnic population. The numbers estimate that at the start of the genocide that the populace of the Circassian region was around 1,661,000 people. By the end of the genocide, only 71,155 people remained. The Russian leadership denigrated the ethnic people of the region as subhuman and went as far as allowing their soldiers to rape women with no repercussions. One of their favorite things to do was to wait until nighttime and then to attack a village where they would kill and rape all of the inhabitants.
It would take until 1940 for the Chechens to rise up once again after the brutality suffered at the hands of the Tsar and his forces, but they have been a proverbial thorn in the side of Russia ever since. The rebellion started to really pick up steam during the German invasion of the caucus region. The Rebels were led by a man called Khasan Israilov. It was short lived, however. After the Germans began to pull back their forces and consolidate them elsewhere as the war started to turn against them, there were a lot of rebels who defected over to the USSR, seeing that their cause was bleak. The rebellion then to Josef Stalin making the decision to deport a huge amount of ethnic Chechen’s, breaking them up into groups and sprinkling throughout other provinces of the Soviet Union such as Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Once again, the flames of rebellion were extinguished at the hands of the Russians.
If you know anything about the Chechen people, you know that they are not the kind of people to give up and accept their fate to be subjects under the heel of the Russian’s. In 1994, the embers of the centuries old fire once again ignited, and the Chechen people took up arms against Russia in search of freedom. As with every engagement Russia enters either at home or abroad, brutality followed. The first Chechen war lasted from 1994 to 1996 and it culminated with the battle of Grozny.
After Russia took Grozny from the Chechen forces in 1995 and fortified it with over 12k troops, the Chechen rebels formulated a plan to take it back. They initiated this plan in 1996 and with a force about four times smaller than the Russian forces based in the city, they were able to take control of Grozny back from the Russians and force Boris Yeltsin to come to the table and sue for peace. That peace, however, wouldn’t last long.
By 1999 Russia’s hold on the Chechnya was tenuous at best and they were dealing with an active insurgency not only in Chechnya, but also in Dagestan. With this in mind, Vladimir Putin decided that it was time to bring the ever-rebellious Chechen’s to heel. After a spate of violence against Russian forces throughout the region and in especially in Dagestan, the Russian forces chased a group of insurgents led by Shamil Basayev into the mountains of Dagestan where vicious fighting left at several hundred rebel fighters dead and over 275 Russian federation troops killed during the operation.
It didn’t take long for the insurgency to respond when a spate of bombings began across Russia, including in the capital and seat of power of the Kremlin, Moscow. There were a lot of questions about these bombings however, and these questions came from some in the Duma itself. Especially after it came to light those agents of the FSB (Russian Intelligence) were caught by local police planting one of the bombs. Vladmir Putin would ride the wave of support that came after these bombings and use them as justification for the all-out destruction of Grozny that would come in response.
The Aerial bombardment that began raining down on Grozny in retaliation for the bombings and for the attacks in Dagestan were merciless. It is reported that over 100k Chechen’s were forced out of their homes during this time. Russian SU-24 bombers also shelled the village of Elistahnzi, using cluster bombs and where reports have the number of killed at 35. The indiscriminate bombing of civilians and villages was well underway. The Air campaign would last from August to October when the Russian campaign began the ground portion of their operation. They moved with ease and quickness and before long had the city of Grozny within their sites. It didn’t take long for Russia to push into the outskirts of Grozny and take up strategic positions along the Tersky Heights.
Once a proper front was established by the Russians, they wasted no time in shelling Grozny. A short-range scud missile was launched by the Russians, and it landed in the city center killing a reported 140 people, with many of those casualties said to be women and children. A week later, Putin and his forces would then target a refugee convoy in a rocket attack by a jet that killed 25 civilians including workers for the red cross and journalists as well.
After besieging Grozny for months, the assault began in earnest in early December. The destruction that came in the wake of this ground assault left the world stunned. In the year 2003, the United Nations declared Grozny to be the most destroyed city on earth. It didn’t come without losses for the Russians, however. The casualties that the Federation forces suffered were severe with the government announcing that 1,173 service members had been killed in the operation since October. After a huge cost in blood and resources, Putin had taken Grozny. That fight was far from over, however.
Now the raging battle moved to the more mountainous region of the province. After brutal exchanges and more strikes by the Russians, the insurgents responded with counter strikes. It wasn’t enough however, as the Russians continued to set the tone on the battlefield.
Putin and the Russian command had finally taken over all of the population centers that harbored the resistance. Grozny and Chechnya were back under the rule of the Russian federation by May of 2000, with Putin establishing direct control of the province. The next month, Putin installed Akhmad Kadyrov as head of the government that would set off a bifurcation amongst Chechen’s with some falling into line behind Kadyrov while others would end up fleeing the nation to continue to bring the fight to the Russians and Putin wherever they could. In the year 2022, just like in 2014, that place is Ukraine.
The Ghosts of Grozny
The Ghosts of Grozny
The Ghosts of Grozny
Part 1: The Ghosts of Grozny:
The Ghosts of Chechnya Continue to hound Vladimir Putin. They have even followed him to Ukraine. While the leader of the Chechen Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov is a staunch supporter of Putin, as was his father before him, there is a large number of Chechen’s that have dedicated their lives to removing Putin and finally seeing a truly free and independent Chechen state. The history of the Chechen people and their contact with the Russians goes all the way back to 1859 when Tsar Nicholas I was the overseer of a long and drawn-out campaign to bring the caucus region under the control of the Russian empire.
The first in a long line of atrocities was the Circassian genocide. This little talked about in the west genocide was one of brutality where the Russian-Cossack forces committed unspeakable war crimes against the whole entirety of the ethnic population. The numbers estimate that at the start of the genocide that the populace of the Circassian region was around 1,661,000 people. By the end of the genocide, only 71,155 people remained. The Russian leadership denigrated the ethnic people of the region as subhuman and went as far as allowing their soldiers to rape women with no repercussions. One of their favorite things to do was to wait until nighttime and then to attack a village where they would kill and rape all of the inhabitants.
It would take until 1940 for the Chechens to rise up once again after the brutality suffered at the hands of the Tsar and his forces, but they have been a proverbial thorn in the side of Russia ever since. The rebellion started to really pick up steam during the German invasion of the caucus region. The Rebels were led by a man called Khasan Israilov. It was short lived, however. After the Germans began to pull back their forces and consolidate them elsewhere as the war started to turn against them, there were a lot of rebels who defected over to the USSR, seeing that their cause was bleak. The rebellion then to Josef Stalin making the decision to deport a huge amount of ethnic Chechen’s, breaking them up into groups and sprinkling throughout other provinces of the Soviet Union such as Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Once again, the flames of rebellion were extinguished at the hands of the Russians.
If you know anything about the Chechen people, you know that they are not the kind of people to give up and accept their fate to be subjects under the heel of the Russian’s. In 1994, the embers of the centuries old fire once again ignited, and the Chechen people took up arms against Russia in search of freedom. As with every engagement Russia enters either at home or abroad, brutality followed. The first Chechen war lasted from 1994 to 1996 and it culminated with the battle of Grozny.
After Russia took Grozny from the Chechen forces in 1995 and fortified it with over 12k troops, the Chechen rebels formulated a plan to take it back. They initiated this plan in 1996 and with a force about four times smaller than the Russian forces based in the city, they were able to take control of Grozny back from the Russians and force Boris Yeltsin to come to the table and sue for peace. That peace, however, wouldn’t last long.
By 1999 Russia’s hold on the Chechnya was tenuous at best and they were dealing with an active insurgency not only in Chechnya, but also in Dagestan. With this in mind, Vladimir Putin decided that it was time to bring the ever-rebellious Chechen’s to heel. After a spate of violence against Russian forces throughout the region and in especially in Dagestan, the Russian forces chased a group of insurgents led by Shamil Basayev into the mountains of Dagestan where vicious fighting left at several hundred rebel fighters dead and over 275 Russian federation troops killed during the operation.
It didn’t take long for the insurgency to respond when a spate of bombings began across Russia, including in the capital and seat of power of the Kremlin, Moscow. There were a lot of questions about these bombings however, and these questions came from some in the Duma itself. Especially after it came to light those agents of the FSB (Russian Intelligence) were caught by local police planting one of the bombs. Vladmir Putin would ride the wave of support that came after these bombings and use them as justification for the all-out destruction of Grozny that would come in response.
The Aerial bombardment that began raining down on Grozny in retaliation for the bombings and for the attacks in Dagestan were merciless. It is reported that over 100k Chechen’s were forced out of their homes during this time. Russian SU-24 bombers also shelled the village of Elistahnzi, using cluster bombs and where reports have the number of killed at 35. The indiscriminate bombing of civilians and villages was well underway. The Air campaign would last from August to October when the Russian campaign began the ground portion of their operation. They moved with ease and quickness and before long had the city of Grozny within their sites. It didn’t take long for Russia to push into the outskirts of Grozny and take up strategic positions along the Tersky Heights.
Once a proper front was established by the Russians, they wasted no time in shelling Grozny. A short-range scud missile was launched by the Russians, and it landed in the city center killing a reported 140 people, with many of those casualties said to be women and children. A week later, Putin and his forces would then target a refugee convoy in a rocket attack by a jet that killed 25 civilians including workers for the red cross and journalists as well.
After besieging Grozny for months, the assault began in earnest in early December. The destruction that came in the wake of this ground assault left the world stunned. In the year 2003, the United Nations declared Grozny to be the most destroyed city on earth. It didn’t come without losses for the Russians, however. The casualties that the Federation forces suffered were severe with the government announcing that 1,173 service members had been killed in the operation since October. After a huge cost in blood and resources, Putin had taken Grozny. That fight was far from over, however.
Now the raging battle moved to the more mountainous region of the province. After brutal exchanges and more strikes by the Russians, the insurgents responded with counter strikes. It wasn’t enough however, as the Russians continued to set the tone on the battlefield.
Putin and the Russian command had finally taken over all of the population centers that harbored the resistance. Grozny and Chechnya were back under the rule of the Russian federation by May of 2000, with Putin establishing direct control of the province. The next month, Putin installed Akhmad Kadyrov as head of the government that would set off a bifurcation amongst Chechen’s with some falling into line behind Kadyrov while others would end up fleeing the nation to continue to bring the fight to the Russians and Putin wherever they could. In the year 2022, just like in 2014, that place is Ukraine.