Chechen Republic of Ichkeria#Foreign relations

The name "Ichkeria" comes from the river Iskark in South-Eastern Chechnya, which is a small stream flowing into Belka, a tributary to Sunzha.{{Cite web|last=Bakaev|first=Hasan|title=About the name of Ichkeria|url=https://www.proza.ru/2018/10/05/1864|access-date=14 May 2023|archive-date=14 May 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230514224639/https://proza.ru/2018/10/05/1864|url-status=live}} The term was mentioned first as "Iskeria" in a Russian document by Colonel Konstantin Belevich from 1836.{{Cite web|url=http://elib.shpl.ru/ru/nodes/4915-belevich-k-p-neskolko-kartin-iz-kavkazskoy-voyny-i-nravov-gortsev-spb-1910?view=list|title=ГПИБ {{!}} Белевич К. П. Несколько картин из кавказской войны и нравов горцев. – СПб., 1910.|first=Н. П.|last=ИнфоРост|website=elib.shpl.ru|access-date=2023-11-28|archive-date=30 March 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240330160008/http://elib.shpl.ru/ru/nodes/4915-belevich-k-p-neskolko-kartin-iz-kavkazskoy-voyny-i-nravov-gortsev-spb-1910?view=list|url-status=live}} The term was originally used as an exonym for the Chechens, who instead referred to the landscape as "Noxçi-moxk" (Chechen lands).{{lang|ru|Ошаев, Х. Д.}}, cited in :ru:Кушева, Екатерина Николаевна, [http://apsnyteka.org/file/kusheva_e_narody_severnogo_kavkaza_i_ikh_svjazi_s_rossiei.pdf]{{lang|ru|Народы Северного Кавказа и их связи с Россией (вторая половина XVI — 30-е годы XVII века)}} [Peoples of the North Caucasus and their contacts with Russia], Moscow: 1963, p. 74 In the 19th century, the Russians began to use it as a toponym.{{cite-web |last=Bakaev |first=Hasan |year=2018 |title=названии Ичкерия |trans-title=On the name Ichkeria |url=https://www.proza.ru/2018/10/05/1864 |work=proza.ru}}

{{Further|List of wars involving the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria}}

In November 1990, Dzhokhar Dudayev was elected head of the Executive Committee of the unofficial opposition Chechen National Congress (NCChP),[http://www.igpi.ru/monitoring/1047645476/oct_97/chechen.html Чеченская Республика Ичкерия. Общий обзор] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210304035623/http://igpi.ru/monitoring/1047645476/oct_97/chechen.html |date=4 March 2021 }} // IGPI.RU which advocated sovereignty for Chechnya as a separate republic within the Soviet Union.

On 8 June 1991, at the initiative of Dzhokhar Dudayev, a part of the delegates of the First Chechen National Congress gathered in Grozny, which proclaimed itself the All-National Congress of the Chechen People (OKChN).{{Cite web |url=https://versia.ru/v-1991-godu-usmirit-chechnyu-mozhno-bylo-silami-specnaza |title=Десять дней, которые отменили мир |access-date=31 October 2020 |archive-date=5 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210705144211/https://versia.ru/v-1991-godu-usmirit-chechnyu-mozhno-bylo-silami-specnaza |url-status=live }} Following this, was proclaimed the Chechen Republic (Nokhchi-cho).{{Cite web |url=https://chechenlaw.ru/?p=749 |title=Решение Общенационального Конгресса (Съезда) Чеченского Народа (г. Грозный, 8 июня 1991 г.) |date=14 February 2015 |access-date=31 October 2020 |archive-date=4 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210304114043/https://chechenlaw.ru/?p=749 |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |url=http://www.knowbysight.info/1_RSFSR/09176.asp |title=Чеченская Республика Нохчи-чо |access-date=31 October 2020 |archive-date=11 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190511030959/http://www.knowbysight.info/1_RSFSR/09176.asp |url-status=live }} A month later, the self-proclaimed republic was declared an independent state.Черкасов А. В., Орлов О. П. [https://web.archive.org/web/20170206112200/http://memo.ru/hr/hotpoints/chechen/itogi Россия-Чечня: цепь ошибок и преступлений]

The Soviet coup d'état attempt on 19 August 1991 became the spark for the so-called Chechen Revolution. On 21 August, the OKChN called for the overthrow of the Supreme Soviet of the Chechen-Ingush ASSR.{{cite web|last1=Yevsyukova|first1=Mariya|title=The Conflict Between Russia And Chechnya – Working Paper #95-5(1)|url=https://www.colorado.edu/conflict/full_text_search/AllCRCDocs/95-5.htm|website=University of Colorado, Boulder|access-date=10 December 2017|date=1995|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161204120910/http://www.colorado.edu/conflict/full_text_search/AllCRCDocs/95-5.htm|archive-date=4 December 2016}} On 6 September 1991, OKChN squads seized the local KGB headquarters, and took over the building of the Supreme Soviet.{{cite news|title=Первая война|url=https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/2630476|access-date=11 December 2017|work=Коммерсантъ|date=13 December 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170507230240/http://www.kommersant.ru/doc/2630476|archive-date=7 May 2017}} Following the revolution, the OKChN declared itself the only legitimate authority in the region. On 27 October 1991, Dudayev was elected president of the Chechen Republic.{{cite news|last1=Dobbs|first1=Michael|title=Ethnic Strife Splintering Core of Russian Republic|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1991/10/29/ethnic-strife-splintering-core-of-russian-republic/6928cbef-a2b4-400c-b71b-6db380988f14/|newspaper=Washington Post|date=29 October 1991|access-date=10 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171210124051/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1991/10/29/ethnic-strife-splintering-core-of-russian-republic/6928cbef-a2b4-400c-b71b-6db380988f14/|archive-date=10 December 2017|url-status=live}} Dudayev, in his new position as president, issued a unilateral declaration of independence on 1 November 1991.{{Cite web |url=https://chechenlaw.ru/?p=447 |title=Указ Президента Чеченской Республики от 1 ноября 1991 года «О государственном суверенитете Чеченской Республики» |date=21 July 2010 |access-date=31 October 2020 |archive-date=6 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201106092233/https://chechenlaw.ru/?p=447 |url-status=live }}{{cite news|title=Defiance of the wolf baying at Yeltsin's door|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/1994/sep/08/chechnya|work=The Guardian|date=8 September 1994|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130823162000/http://www.theguardian.com/world/1994/sep/08/chechnya|archive-date=23 August 2013}} Initially, his stated objective was for Checheno-Ingushetia to become a union republic within Russia.{{cite news|last1=Trevelyan|first1=Mark|title=Breakaway leader challenges Russia|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/1991/nov/13/chechnya|access-date=9 December 2017|work=The Guardian|date=13 November 1991|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130823161344/http://www.theguardian.com/world/1991/nov/13/chechnya|archive-date=23 August 2013}}

Dudayev released 640 inmates from a prison in Grozny, many of whom became his personal body guards.{{cite book |last1=Meyers |first1=Jeff |title=The Criminal–Terror Nexus in Chechnya |date=2017 |publisher=Lexington Books |isbn=9781498539319 |page=89}}{{cite news|last1=Bohlen|first1=Celestine|title=Legislators Block Yeltsin Rule of Breakaway Area|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/11/12/world/legislators-block-yeltsin-rule-of-breakaway-area.html|access-date=9 December 2017|work=The New York Times|date=12 November 1991|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150525225454/http://www.nytimes.com/1991/11/12/world/legislators-block-yeltsin-rule-of-breakaway-area.html|archive-date=25 May 2015}} Among the prisoners was Ruslan Labazanov, who was serving a sentence for armed robbery and murder, and later headed a pro-Dudayev militia.{{cite web|title=Forces of Rusland Labazanov|url=http://ucdp.uu.se/#/actor/841|website=Uppsala Conflict Data Program|access-date=10 December 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171001172908/http://ucdp.uu.se/#/actor/841|archive-date=1 October 2017}} As crowds of armed separatists gathered in Grozny, Russian President Boris Yeltsin sought to declare a state of emergency in the region, but his efforts were thwarted by the Russian parliament. An early attempt by Russian authorities to confront the pro-independence forces in November 1991 ended after just three days.{{cite news|last1=Hockstader|first1=Lee|title=Russia Pours Troops Into Breakaway Region|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/longterm/russiagov/stories/chechnya121294.htm|access-date=9 December 2017|newspaper=Washington Post|date=12 December 1994|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000903092110/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/longterm/russiagov/stories/chechnya121294.htm|archive-date=3 September 2000}}{{cite news|last1=Steele|first1=Jonathan|title=Yeltsin fails to bring rebels to heel|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/1991/nov/11/chechnya.jonathansteele|access-date=9 December 2017|work=The Guardian|date=11 November 1991|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130823161342/http://www.theguardian.com/world/1991/nov/11/chechnya.jonathansteele|archive-date=23 August 2013}}

According to an article originally published by a Kremlin-backed publication, Komsomolskaya Pravda, and reprinted in early 1992 by The Guardian, Dudayev allegedly signed a decree outlawing the extradition of criminals to any country which did not recognize Chechnya.{{cite web|last1=Baranovski|first1=I.|title=Mob Rule in Moscow|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/1992/jun/12/chechnya|website=The Guardian|access-date=9 December 2017|date=12 June 1992|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130823161428/http://www.theguardian.com/world/1992/jun/12/chechnya|archive-date=23 August 2013}} After being informed that the Russian government would not recognize Chechnya's independence, he declared that he would not recognize Russia. Grozny became an organized crime haven, as the government proved unable or unwilling to curb criminal activities.

Dudayev's government created the constitution of the Chechen Republic, which was introduced in March 1992.{{Cite web |url=https://chechenlaw.ru/?p=94 |title=Постановление Парламента Чеченской Республики от 2 марта 1992 г. О порядке вступления в силу Конституции Чеченской Республики |date=30 April 2010 |access-date=6 November 2020 |archive-date=16 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210516054032/https://chechenlaw.ru/?p=94 |url-status=live }}{{cite web |last1=Fuller |first1=Liz |title=Chechen Leadership In Exile Seeks To Salvage Legitimacy |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/1079136.html |website=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |access-date=5 October 2023 |language=en |date=2 February 2012 |archive-date=9 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171009044505/https://www.rferl.org/a/1079136.html |url-status=live }} In the same month, armed clashes occurred between pro and anti-Dudayev factions, leading Dudayev to declare a state of emergency.{{cite news|title=1992–1994: Independence in all but name|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1399563/1992-1994-Independence-in-all-but-name.html|access-date=10 December 2017|work=The Telegraph|date=1 January 2001|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160228065340/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1399563/1992-1994-Independence-in-all-but-name.html|archive-date=28 February 2016}} Chechnya and Ingushetia separated on 4 June 1992.{{cite news|title=Bombers threaten Ingush Duma hopeful|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/2000/07/01/Bombers-threaten-Ingush-Duma-hopeful/4539962424000/?spt=su|access-date=10 December 2017|work=UPI|date=1 July 2000|language=en|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171210233025/https://www.upi.com/Archives/2000/07/01/Bombers-threaten-Ingush-Duma-hopeful/4539962424000/?spt=su|archive-date=10 December 2017}} Relationship between Dudayev and the parliament deteriorated, and in June 1992 he dissolved the parliament, establishing direct presidential rule.

In late October 1992, federal forces were dispatched to end the Ossetian-Ingush conflict. As Russian troops sealed the border between Chechnya and Ingushetia to prevent arms shipments, Dudayev threatened to take action unless the Russians withdrew.{{cite news|last1=Schmemann|first1=Serge|title=Russian Troops Arrive As Caucasus Flares Up|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/11/11/world/russian-troops-arrive-as-caucasus-flares-up.html?n=Top/Reference/Times%20Topics/Subjects/M/Minorities%20(US)|access-date=10 December 2017|work=The New York Times|date=11 November 1992|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171210073959/http://www.nytimes.com/1992/11/11/world/russian-troops-arrive-as-caucasus-flares-up.html?n=Top%2FReference%2FTimes%20Topics%2FSubjects%2FM%2FMinorities%20%28US%29|archive-date=10 December 2017}} Russian and Chechen forces mutually agreed to a withdrawal, and the incident ended peacefully.{{cite web|last1=Jenkinson|first1=Brett C.|title=Tactical Observations From The Grozny Combat Experience|url=http://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a407003.pdf|publisher=United States Military Academy, West Point|access-date=10 December 2017|date=2002|page=29|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170430025147/http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a407003.pdf|archive-date=30 April 2017}}

Clashes between supporters and opponents of Dudayev occurred in April 1993. The President fired Interior Minister Sharpudin Larsanov after he refused to disperse the protesters.{{cite news|title=Chechens in bloody protest|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/chechens-in-bloody-protest-1457489.html|access-date=10 December 2017|work=The Independent|date=26 April 1993|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171210073959/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/chechens-in-bloody-protest-1457489.html|archive-date=10 December 2017}} The opposition planned a no-confidence referendum against Dudayev for 5 June 1993.{{cite news|title=Armed standoff in breakaway Russian province|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1993/06/17/Armed-standoff-in-breakaway-Russian-province/3762740289600/|access-date=10 December 2017|work=UPI|date=17 June 1993|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171210175926/https://www.upi.com/Archives/1993/06/17/Armed-standoff-in-breakaway-Russian-province/3762740289600/|archive-date=10 December 2017|url-status=live}} The government deployed army and riot police to prevent the vote from taking place, leading to bloodshed.

After staging another coup attempt in December 1993, the opposition organized a Provisional Council as a potential alternative government for Chechnya, calling on Moscow for assistance.

On 14 January 1994, by Dudayev's decree, the Chechen Republic (Nokhchi-cho) was renamed the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria.

{{Main|First Chechen War}}

The general feeling of lawlessness in Chechnya increased during the first seven months in 1994, when four hijacking accidents occurred, involving people trying to flee the country.{{cite web|last1=Smith|first1=Duane "Mike"|last2=Hodges|first2=Frederick "Ben"|title=War as a Continuation of Policy|url=http://www.dtic.mil/get-tr-doc/pdf?AD=ADA442412|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171210073959/http://www.dtic.mil/get-tr-doc/pdf?AD=ADA442412|archive-date=10 December 2017}} In May 1994, Labazanov changed sides, establishing the anti-Dudayev Niyso Movement. In July 1994, 41 passengers aboard a bus near Mineralniye Vody were held by kidnappers demanding $15 million and helicopters.{{cite news|title=Russians show photos that 'prove Chechen beheadings'|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/russians-show-photos-that-prove-chechen-beheadings-1373733.html|access-date=10 December 2017|work=The Independent|date=2 August 1994|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130104010657/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/russians-show-photos-that-prove-chechen-beheadings-1373733.html|archive-date=4 January 2013}} After this incident, the Russian government started to openly support opposition forces in Chechnya.{{cite news|title=Russia loses patience with Chechen rebels|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/russia-loses-patience-with-chechen-rebels-1373559.html|access-date=10 December 2017|work=The Independent|date=1 August 1994|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171210233025/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/russia-loses-patience-with-chechen-rebels-1373559.html|archive-date=10 December 2017}}

In August 1994, Umar Avturkhanov, leader of the pro-Russian Provisional Council, launched an attack against pro-Dudayev forces.{{cite news|last1=Efron|first1=Sonni|title=Opposition Reports Toppling Chief of Breakaway Russian Republic|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-08-03-mn-23004-story.html|work=Los Angeles Times|date=3 August 1994|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151204070341/http://articles.latimes.com/1994-08-03/news/mn-23004_1_russian-government|archive-date=4 December 2015}} Dudayev ordered the mobilization of the Chechen military, threatening a jihad against Russia as a response to Russian support for his political opponents.{{cite news|last1=Meek|first1=James|title=Dudayev threatens holy war|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/1994/aug/12/chechnya.jamesmeek|access-date=9 December 2017|work=The Guardian|date=12 August 1994|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130823161801/http://www.theguardian.com/world/1994/aug/12/chechnya.jamesmeek|archive-date=23 August 2013}}

In November 1994, Avturkhanov's forces attempted to storm the city of Grozny, but they were defeated by Dudayev's forces.{{cite news|title=The savagery of war: A soldier looks back at Chechnya|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/the-savagery-of-war-a-soldier-looks-back-at-chechnya-5329021.html|access-date=10 December 2017|work=The Independent|date=10 November 2007|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171211053314/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/the-savagery-of-war-a-soldier-looks-back-at-chechnya-5329021.html|archive-date=11 December 2017}} Dudayev declared his intention to turn Chechnya into an Islamic state, stating that the recognition of sharia was a way to fight Russian aggression.{{cite news|title=President of Chechnya Backs Islamic State|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/11/21/world/president-of-chechnya-backs-islamic-state.html|access-date=9 December 2017|work=The New York Times|date=21 November 1994|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110221153448/http://www.nytimes.com/1994/11/21/world/president-of-chechnya-backs-islamic-state.html|archive-date=21 February 2011}} He also vowed to punish the captured Chechen rebels under Islamic law, and threatened to execute Russian prisoners.{{cite news|title=Airstrike hits Chechen separatist region|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1994/11/29/Airstrike-hits-Chechen-separatist-region/9176786085200/|access-date=10 December 2017|work=UPI|date=29 November 1994|language=en|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171211005041/https://www.upi.com/Archives/1994/11/29/Airstrike-hits-Chechen-separatist-region/9176786085200/|archive-date=11 December 2017}}

The First Chechen War began in December 1994, when Russian troops were sent to Chechnya to fight the separatist forces.{{cite news|title=Russian troops begin pullout in Chechnya|url=http://edition.cnn.com/WORLD/9608/25/chechnya/index.html|work=CNN|date=25 August 1996|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050429212740/http://edition.cnn.com/WORLD/9608/25/chechnya/index.html|archive-date=29 April 2005}} During the Battle of Grozny (1994–95), the city's population dropped from 400,000 to 140,000.{{cite news|last1=Erlanger|first1=Steven|title=In Fallen Chechen Capital, Medical Care Is in Ruins|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/04/09/world/in-fallen-chechen-capital-medical-care-is-in-ruins.html|access-date=9 December 2017|work=The New York Times|date=9 April 1995|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150526142830/http://www.nytimes.com/1995/04/09/world/in-fallen-chechen-capital-medical-care-is-in-ruins.html|archive-date=26 May 2015}} Most of the civilians stranded in the city were elderly ethnic Russians, as many Chechens had support networks of relatives living in villages who took them in.

Former Minister of the Chemical and Oil Refining Industry of the USSR Salambek Khadzhiyev was appointed leader of the officially recognized Chechen government in November 1994.{{cite news|last1=Erlanger|first1=Steven|title=Grozny Journal; Picking Up, After Guns Have Done Their Worst|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/03/29/world/grozny-journal-picking-up-after-guns-have-done-their-worst.html|access-date=9 December 2017|work=The New York Times|date=29 March 1995|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150526150559/http://www.nytimes.com/1995/03/29/world/grozny-journal-picking-up-after-guns-have-done-their-worst.html|archive-date=26 May 2015}} The conflict ended after the Russian defeat in the Battle of Grozny of August 1996.

According to Russian sources, after the Russian withdrawal, crime became rampant, with kidnappings and murders multiplying as rival rebel factions fought for territory.{{cite news|last1=Stanley|first1=Alessandra|title=Chechen Voters' Key Concerns: Order and Stability|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/01/24/world/chechen-voters-key-concerns-order-and-stability.html|access-date=9 December 2017|work=The New York Times|date=24 January 1997|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150527065609/http://www.nytimes.com/1997/01/24/world/chechen-voters-key-concerns-order-and-stability.html|archive-date=27 May 2015}} In December 1996, six Red Cross workers were killed, resulting in most foreign aid workers leaving the country.

Parliamentary and presidential elections took place in January 1997 in Chechnya and brought to power Aslan Maskhadov. The elections were deemed free and fair, but no government recognized Chechnya's independence, except for the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.{{cite news|last1=Reynolds|first1=Maura|title=Envoys of Russia, Chechnya Discuss Options for Peace|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-sep-28-mn-50972-story.html|access-date=9 December 2017|work=Los Angeles Times|date=28 September 2001|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171209171851/http://articles.latimes.com/2001/sep/28/news/mn-50972|archive-date=9 December 2017}} According to a 1997 Moscow Times article, ethnic Russian refugees were prevented from returning to vote by threats and intimidation, and Chechen authorities refused to set up polling booths outside the republic.{{cite news|title=Little Hope in Poll for Ethnic Russians|url=http://old.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/tmt/313054.html|access-date=9 December 2017|work=The Moscow Times|date=23 January 1997|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171210074000/http://old.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/tmt/313054.html|archive-date=10 December 2017}}

Maskhadov sought to maintain Chechen sovereignty while pressing Moscow to help rebuild the republic, whose formal economy and infrastructure were virtually destroyed in Russia's war against Chechen independence from Moscow.{{cite web|url=http://www.freedomhouse.org/modules/mod_call_dsp_country-fiw.cfm?year=2003&country=2593|title=Freedomhouse.org|url-status=bot: unknown|archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20110208191204/http://www.freedomhouse.org/modules/mod_call_dsp_country-fiw.cfm?year=2003&country=2593|archive-date=8 February 2011}}

In May 1997, the Russia–Chechen Peace Treaty was signed by Maskhadov and Yeltsin.{{cite news|last1=Stanley|first1=Alessandra|title=Yeltsin Signs Peace Treaty With Chechnya|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/05/13/world/yeltsin-signs-peace-treaty-with-chechnya.html|work=The New York Times|date=13 May 1997|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101120112625/http://www.nytimes.com/1997/05/13/world/yeltsin-signs-peace-treaty-with-chechnya.html|archive-date=20 November 2010}} Russia continued to transfer funds for schools and hospitals in Chechnya and paid pensions to its residents. Some of this money was stolen by the Chechen authorities and divided between the warlords. Nearly half a million people (40% of Chechnya's prewar population) have been internally displaced and lived in refugee camps or overcrowded villages.Alex Goldfarb and Marina Litvinenko. [https://www.amazon.com/dp/1416551654/ "Death of a Dissident: The Poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko and the Return of the KGB"]. Free Press, New York, 2007. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170129143706/https://www.amazon.com/dp/1416551654/ |date=29 January 2017 }} {{ISBN|978-1-4165-5165-2}}. The economy was destroyed. Two Russian brigades were stationed in Chechnya and did not leave. Maskhadov made efforts to rebuild the country and its devastated capital Grozny by trading oil in countries such as the United Kingdom.{{cn|date=January 2023}}

Chechnya had been badly damaged by Russia's war against the newly formed republic's independence, and the economy was in shambles.Peter Brownfeld (March 2003). [http://www.iai.it/pdf/articles/brownfeld.pdf "The Afghanisation of Chechnya"]. The International Spectator. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080911094730/http://www.iai.it/pdf/articles/brownfeld.pdf|date=11 September 2008}} According to Russian sources, Aslan Maskhadov tried to concentrate power in his hands to establish authority, but had trouble creating an effective state or a functioning economy. Maskhadov requested $260 billion in war reparations from Russia to rebuild infrastructure destroyed in heavy Russian fighting, an amount equivalent to 60% of the Russian GDP.{{cite news|title=Habeas corpus|url=http://www.economist.com/node/154670?zid=307&ah=5e80419d1bc9821ebe173f4f0f060a07|access-date=9 December 2017|newspaper=The Economist|date=21 August 1997|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171209152217/http://www.economist.com/node/154670?zid=307&ah=5e80419d1bc9821ebe173f4f0f060a07|archive-date=9 December 2017|url-status=live}}

The war ravages and lack of economic opportunities left numbers of armed former guerrillas with no occupation. Machine guns and grenades were sold openly and legally in Grozny's central bazaar.{{cite news|title=War racketeers plague Chechnya|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4091635.stm|access-date=9 December 2017|work=BBC News|date=14 December 2004|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170426001307/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4091635.stm|archive-date=26 April 2017}} The years of independence had some political violence as well. On 10 December 1998, Mansur Tagirov, Chechnya's top prosecutor, disappeared while returning to Grozny. On 21 June, the Chechen security chief and a guerrilla commander fatally shot each other in an argument. The internal violence in Chechnya peaked on 16 July 1998, when fighting broke out between Maskhadov's National Guard force led by Sulim Yamadayev (who joined pro-Moscow forces in the second war) and militants in the town of Gudermes; over 50 people were reported killed and the state of emergency was declared in Chechnya.[http://www.nupi.no/cgi-win/Russland/krono.exe?2487 "Further emergency measures in Chechnya"]. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930160142/http://www.nupi.no/cgi-win/Russland/krono.exe?2487 |date=30 September 2007 }}{{fcn|date=January 2023}}

Maskhadov proved unable to guarantee the security of the oil pipeline running across Chechnya from the Caspian Sea, and illegal oil tapping and acts of sabotage deprived his regime of crucial revenues and agitated his allies in Moscow. In 1998 and 1999, Maskhadov survived several assassination attempts, which he blamed on foreign intelligence services.{{cite news|title=Chechen leader survives assassination attempt |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/137943.stm |access-date=9 December 2017 |work=BBC News |date=23 July 1998 |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171210074000/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/137943.stm |archive-date=10 December 2017}} Russian sources maintain that the attacks were likely to originate from within Chechnya, despite the Kremlin's difficult negotiations with Maskhadov and difference of opinion regarding the Chechen conflict.

In December 1998, the Supreme Islamic court of Chechnya suspended the Chechen Parliament, asserting that it did not conform to the standards of sharia.{{cite news|author=Agence France-Presse |title=A Chechen Islamic Ruling |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/12/25/world/a-chechen-islamic-ruling.html |access-date=9 December 2017 |work=The New York Times |date=25 December 1998 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150527084326/http://www.nytimes.com/1998/12/25/world/a-chechen-islamic-ruling.html |archive-date=27 May 2015}} After Vakha Arsanov, the Chechen Vice-President, defected to the opposition, Maskhadov abolished his post, leading to a power struggle.{{cite news|title=Islamist vice-president defies Chechen leader |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/274288.stm |access-date=9 December 2017 |work=BBC News |date=7 February 1999 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121114051326/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/274288.stm |archive-date=14 November 2012}} In February 1999 President Maskhadov removed legislative powers from the parliament and convened an Islamic State Council.{{cite news|title=Chechnya power struggle |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/276075.stm |access-date=9 December 2017 |work=BBC News |date=9 February 1999 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171210020342/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/276075.stm |archive-date=10 December 2017 |url-status=live}} At the same time several prominent former warlords established the Mehk-Shura, a rival Islamic government. The Shura advocated the creation of an Islamic confederation in the North Caucasus, including the Chechen, Dagestani and Ingush peoples.{{cite news|title=Russia's violent southern rim |url=http://www.economist.com/node/193646?zid=307&ah=5e80419d1bc9821ebe173f4f0f060a07 |access-date=9 December 2017 |newspaper=The Economist |date=25 March 1999 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171210015532/http://www.economist.com/node/193646?zid=307&ah=5e80419d1bc9821ebe173f4f0f060a07 |archive-date=10 December 2017 |url-status=live}}

{{Main|Second Chechen War|Insurgency in the North Caucasus}}

On 9 August 1999, Islamist fighters from Chechnya infiltrated Russia's Dagestan region, declaring it an independent state and calling for a jihad until "all unbelievers had been driven out".{{cite news|title=Dagestan moves to state of holy war |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/dagestan-moves-to-state-of-holy-war-1112053.html |access-date=9 December 2017 |work=The Independent |date=11 August 1999 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171210020058/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/dagestan-moves-to-state-of-holy-war-1112053.html |archive-date=10 December 2017}} This event prompted Russian intervention, and the beginning of the Second Chechen War. As more people escaped the war zones of Chechnya, President Maskhadov threatened to impose Sharia punishment on all civil servants who moved their families out of the republic.{{cite news|last1=Uzelac|first1=Ana|title=In ruins of one war, Grozny prepares for the second |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/1999/oct/07/russia.chechnya |access-date=9 December 2017 |work=The Guardian |date=7 October 1999 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140508065727/http://www.theguardian.com/world/1999/oct/07/russia.chechnya |archive-date=8 May 2014}} This time, however, the Russian invasion met much less resistance as during the First Chechen War. The infighting among the rival factions within Chechnya as well as the rise of radical jihadists convinced several former separatist leaders and their militias to switch sides. Aided by these defectors, the Russians took the minor cities and countryside around Grozny in the period from October to December 1999, encircling Grozny.{{sfn|Galeotti|2014|pp=55–57}}

After a hard-fought battle, Grozny fell in February 2000; much of the city was destroyed.{{sfn|Galeotti|2014|pp=57–60}} Some of the Ichkerian government subsequently moved into exile, including in Poland and the United Kingdom.{{Citation needed|date=January 2023}} As on 23 January 2000, a diplomatic representation of Ichkeria was based in Kabul during the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.{{cite news|title=Russia appoints Chechen leader |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/787811.stm |access-date=9 December 2017 |work=BBC News |date=12 June 2000 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305022005/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/787811.stm |archive-date=5 March 2016}} Other remnants of the government and the armed forces retreated into Chechnya's south which was dominated by mountains and not yet under Russian control. From these bases, they waged a guerrilla campaign, even as Russia cemented its control by establishing a loyal administration in the region.{{sfn|Galeotti|2014|pp=60–63}} In June 2000, Kremlin appointee, supreme mufti and head of the Spiritual Administration of the Muslims of the Chechen Republic Akhmad Kadyrov became the new controversial head of the official administration of Chechnya. Kadyrov, who has been criticised as the object of a cult of personality, was not democratically elected by either Russian or Chechen constituents. The separatists continued to fight, but were gradually whittled down.{{sfn|Galeotti|2014|pp=63–65}}

On 31 October 2007, the separatist news agency Chechenpress reported that Dokka Umarov had announced the Caucasus Emirate and declared himself its Emir.{{sfn|Galeotti|2014|p=79}} He integrated the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria as Vilayat Nokhchicho.{{citation needed|date=June 2022}} This change of status was rejected by some Chechen politicians and military leaders who continue to support the existence of the republic. Since November 2007, Akhmed Zakayev was proclaimed to be the Prime Minister of Ichkeria's government-in-exile.{{Cite web |title=Leader of unrecognised Ichkeria met with officials in Ukraine |url=https://caucasuswatch.de/news/5435.html |website=Caucasus Watch |date=30 May 2022 |access-date=18 October 2022 |archive-date=18 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221018153633/https://caucasuswatch.de/news/5435.html |url-status=live }} However, the influence of Zakayev's government was described as "marginal" by political scientist Mark Galeotti who argued that the Caucasus Emirate proved more influential both among the militants as well as within the Chechen diaspora.{{sfn|Galeotti|2014|p=74}}

From 2007 until 2017, the remaining insurgency in the North Caucasus was mainly waged by Islamist factions, most importantly the Caucasus Emirate. In course of several years; however, the Caucasus Emirate gradually declined{{sfn|Galeotti|2014|p=79}}{{cite web|url=http://www.rferl.org/content/insurgency-north-caucasus-terrorism-isis/26840778.html|work=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty|title=Why Is The Death Toll Tumbling In The North Caucasus?|date=10 February 2015|access-date=17 February 2015|archive-date=23 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150423194324/http://www.rferl.org/content/insurgency-north-caucasus-terrorism-isis/26840778.html|url-status=live}} and had mostly ceased to exist by 2015.{{cite news|url=http://www.jamestown.org/single/?tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=44597&tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=7&cHash=b1c5cc5471d4941280b025889df6c210#.VklVaHYrLIV|title=Islamic State Apparently Wins Its Competition With Caucasus Emirate|newspaper=Jamestown|date=2015-11-13|publisher=Jamestown Foundation|access-date=2015-11-16|archive-date=16 November 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151116141144/http://www.jamestown.org/single/?tx_ttnews[tt_news]=44597&tx_ttnews[backPid]=7&cHash=b1c5cc5471d4941280b025889df6c210#.VklVaHYrLIV|url-status=live}} Other Chechen groups continued to operate in Ukraine where they fought against Russia in the war in Donbas. The early pro-Ukrainian Chechen volunteer units included the Dzhokhar Dudayev Battalion and Sheikh Mansur Battalion.{{sfn|Galeotti|2019|p=55}}

{{see also|Chechen involvement in the Russian invasion of Ukraine}}

File:Obon chehen.png, a unit organized and managed by the Chechen government in exile fighting alongside Ukraine in its defense against Russia]]

The Dzhokhar Dudayev Battalion fought on the side of Ukraine since its formation during the War in Donbas in 2014.{{Cite news |date=2014-08-30 |title=Chechens Now Fighting On Both Sides In Ukraine |language=en |work=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/caucasus-report-chechens-fighting-for-ukraine/26558104.html |access-date=2023-08-08 |archive-date=8 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230808013720/https://www.rferl.org/a/caucasus-report-chechens-fighting-for-ukraine/26558104.html |url-status=live }} In 2022, Russia launched a full invasion of Ukraine. Anti-Kadyrov Chechens like the Dzhokhar Dudayev Battalion and Sheikh Mansur Battalion continued to fight in this conflict.{{cite web |date=2 March 2022 |title='My MMA Gym Will Be Empty': Chechens Head to Ukraine to Fight Kadyrov |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/chechnya-fighters-ukraine-russia-ramzan-kadyrov/ |author-last=Prothero |author-first=Mitchell |access-date=7 March 2022 |work=Vice Media |archive-date=2 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220302183210/https://www.vice.com/en/article/5dgjn8/chechnya-fighters-ukraine-russia-ramzan-kadyrov |url-status=live }}{{cite news|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/article-chechens-and-georgians-in-ukraine-preparing-to-continue-fight-against/|title=Chechens and Georgians in Ukraine preparing to continue fight against Putin on a new front|website=The Globe and Mail|date=13 February 2022|access-date=7 March 2022|last1=MacKinnon|first1=Mark|archive-date=7 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220307145713/https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/article-chechens-and-georgians-in-ukraine-preparing-to-continue-fight-against/|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2022/03/jihadis-idlib-bash-chechen-leader-ramzan-kadyrov-role-ukraine-war|title=Jihadis in Idlib bash Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov for role in Ukraine war|work=Al-Monitor|date=6 March 2022|accessdate=27 March 2022|archive-date=6 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220306150635/https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2022/03/jihadis-idlib-bash-chechen-leader-ramzan-kadyrov-role-ukraine-war|url-status=live}} In May 2022, Ichkeria's government-in-exile leader Akhmed Zakayev travelled to Kyiv and met with Ukrainian officials for "confidential" talks. Later, the creation of the "Separate Special Purpose Battalion of the Chechen Republic's Armed Forces" was announced by Zakayev; this unit officially styled itself as the continuation of Armed Forces of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria. A fourth separatist unit, called "Khamzat Gelayev Joint Task Detachment" (named after Ruslan Gelayev) was also founded. As the Russo-Ukrainian War continued to escalate, the pro-Ukrainian Chechen separatists increasingly framed the war as a chance to restore the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria.{{cite news |title=Chechen Fighters in Ukraine Set Sights on Homeland |url=https://jamestown.org/program/chechen-fighters-in-ukraine-set-sights-on-homeland/ |newspaper=Jamestown |access-date=25 September 2022 |archive-date=13 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220913141808/https://jamestown.org/program/chechen-fighters-in-ukraine-set-sights-on-homeland/ |url-status=live }}{{cite news|url=https://uacrisis.org/en/ukraine-in-flames-162|title=Chechen batallions in Ukraine: Common fight against Russia|publisher=Ukraine Сrisis Media Center|date=19 August 2022|archive-date=28 October 2022|access-date=18 October 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221028071852/https://uacrisis.org/en/ukraine-in-flames-162|url-status=live}}

On October 15 2022, the Armed Forces of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria was officially resurrected in Ukraine by the Government of Ichkeria in exile. On 18 October 2022, Ukraine's parliament recognized the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria as a temporarily occupied state.{{Cite web|url=https://news.yahoo.com/ukraine-recognizes-chechen-republic-ichkeria-154900042.html|title=Ukraine recognizes the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria|website=news.yahoo.com|date=18 October 2022|access-date=18 October 2022|archive-date=19 October 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221019154120/https://news.yahoo.com/ukraine-recognizes-chechen-republic-ichkeria-154900042.html|url-status=live}}{{Cite web |title=Ukraine lawmakers brand Chechnya 'Russian-occupied' in dig at Kremlin |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukraine-lawmakers-brand-chechnya-russian-occupied-dig-kremlin-2022-10-18/ |website=Reuters |date=18 October 2022 |access-date=18 October 2022 |archive-date=11 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221211224426/https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukraine-lawmakers-brand-chechnya-russian-occupied-dig-kremlin-2022-10-18/ |url-status=live }} At this point, Islamist separatists belonging to Ajnad al-Kavkaz had also moved to Ukraine to fight Russia there.{{cite web|url=https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2022/10/chechen-fighters-leave-syria-battle-russians-ukraine|title=Chechen fighters leave Syria to battle Russians in Ukraine|work=Al-Monitor|author=Sultan al-Kanj|date=22 October 2022|access-date=25 October 2022|archive-date=27 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230327103829/https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2022/10/chechen-fighters-leave-syria-battle-russians-ukraine|url-status=live}} In November, the Ichkerian exile government recognized the Holodomor as a genocide against the Ukrainian people.{{cite web|url=https://chechen-government.com/%D0%BF%D0%BE%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%B5-%D0%BF%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%B7%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B8%D1%83%D0%BC%D0%B0-%D0%BF%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%82%D0%B5%D0%BB%D1%8C-3/|language=ru|title=On the Recognition of the Holodomor|website=chechen-government.com|access-date=19 April 2023}}

{{Main|Armed Forces of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria}}

File:Cadets of the Ichkeria Chechen national guard 1999.jpg

Dudayev spent the years from 1991 to 1994 preparing for war, mobilizing men aged 15–55 and seizing Russian weapons depots. The Chechen National Guard counted 10,000 troops in December 1994, rising to 40,000 soldiers by early 1996.{{cite web|author-last1=Lutz |author-first1=Raymond R. |title=Russian Strategy In Chechnya: a Case Study in Failure |url=http://www.dtic.mil/get-tr-doc/pdf?AD=ADA399031 |access-date=9 December 2017 |date=April 1997 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161027183615/http://www.dtic.mil/get-tr-doc/pdf?AD=ADA399031 |archive-date=27 October 2016}}

Major weapons systems were seized from the Russian military in 1992, and on the eve of the First Chechen War, they included 23 air defense guns, 108 APC/tanks, 24 artillery pieces, 5 MiG-17/15, 2 Mi-8 helicopters, 24 multiple rocket launchers, 17 surface-to-air missile launchers, 94 L-29 trainer aircraft, 52 L-39 trainer aircraft, 6 An-22 transport aircraft, 5 Tupolev Tu-134 transport aircraft.

{{Main articles|1997 Chechen presidential election}}

Since the Declaration of Independence in 1991, there has been an ongoing battle between secessionist officials and federally appointed officials. Both claim authority over the same territory.

In late 2007, the President of Ichkeria, Dokka Umarov, declared that he had renamed the republic to Noxçiyc̈ó and converted it into a province of the much larger Caucasus Emirate, with himself as Emir.{{citation needed|date=October 2023}} This change was rejected by some members of the former Chechen government-in-exile.{{citation needed|date=October 2023}}

The Chechen Republic of Ichkeria was officially a secular state, with its constitution stating, "The Chechen Republic is a secular state. No religion may be established as a state or compulsory religion."{{Cite web |date=21 January 2003 |title=Draft Constitution of the Chechen Republic |url=https://www.venice.coe.int/webforms/documents/default.aspx?pdffile=CDL(2003)007-e |access-date=14 July 2022 |website=Council of Europe |archive-date=11 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220211130305/https://www.venice.coe.int/webforms/documents/default.aspx?pdffile=CDL(2003)007-e |url-status=live }} The Spiritual Administration of the Muslims of the Chechen Republic—the Chechen muftiate—was a non-governmental organisation. Despite this, the criminal code of Chechnya legally established Sharia courts and included Islamic hudud punishments of decapitation, stoning and other punishments for crimes such as alcohol drinking, sodomy, and apostasy from Islam.{{Cite web |title=RUSSIA / CHECHNYA |url=https://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/1997/russia2/Russia-07.htm |access-date=2022-07-14 |website=www.hrw.org}}

File:Akhmed Zakaev. Inna Kurochkina. Brussel 26.02.2022.png in 2022]]

After being injured in a car accident in 2000, the Chechen deputy prime minister and foreign minister Akhmed Zakayev had been in the United Kingdom for medical treatment, remaining there as the Second Chechen war turned into an insurgency and denouncing the efforts of Umarov to Islamify Chechen politics and resigning from his government in 2007 before going on to found the Chechen government in exile on 25 November 2007.[http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2007/11/3b1b6b92-be6a-4358-afdb-faafd3dd64a4.html Foreign Minister Of Chechen Separatist Government Resigns] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071211214410/http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2007/11/3b1b6b92-be6a-4358-afdb-faafd3dd64a4.html |date=11 December 2007 }}, RFE/RL, 20 November 2007[http://www.chechenpress.co.uk/english/news/2007/10/31/05.shtml Statement by the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728061523/http://www.chechenpress.co.uk/english/news/2007/10/31/05.shtml |date=28 July 2011 }}, Chechenpress, 31 October 2007 Since the creation of this government Zakayev has served as its Prime Minister.{{Cite web |title=Leader of unrecognised Ichkeria met with officials in Ukraine |url=https://caucasuswatch.de/news/5435.html |website=Caucasus Watch |date=30 May 2022 |access-date=18 October 2022}}

In his role as self-proclaimed prime minister in exile, Zakayev has extensively lobbied European governments from his headquarters in London to peruse more stringent sanctions on Russia, and for support for the Chechen cause. However, Zakayev's actions proclaiming himself as the prime minister are in violation of the Constitution of Chechnya, as there was no parliamentary session nor vote held to transfer power from Dokka Umarov to Zakayev, and with the dissolution of the Chechen parliament it is impossible for such a vote to take place. As such, Zakayev has continued to struggle to unify the Chechen diaspora around him as a dissident group of Chechen exiles led by Dzhambulat Suleymanov compete for legitimacy. The divide in the two groups is that Suleymanov's faction wishes to institute Sharia law should they take power in Chechnya, while Zakayev and his government in exile are stringent secularists, all while Umarov's supporters seeking a restoration of the Emirate are still a powerful voice in the diaspora with hundreds, if not thousands, coming to Ukraine to join various Chechen militant groups after fighting alongside Islamist rebels in Syria.{{cite web |last1=Hussein |first1=Tam |title=A Chechen Separatist Aims to Unseat Putin’s Man |url=https://newlinesmag.com/reportage/a-chechen-separatist-aims-to-unseat-putins-man/ |website=New Lines Magazine |access-date=18 January 2025}}

Ichkeria was a member of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization. Former president of Georgia, Zviad Gamsakhurdia, deposed in a military coup of 1991 and a leading participant in the Georgian Civil War, recognized the independence of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria in 1993.{{cite web|url=http://pirweli.com.ge/eng/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3399&Itemid=45 |title=in 1993, ex-President of Georgia Zviad Gamsakhurdia recognized Chechnya's independence.. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130821134007/http://pirweli.com.ge/eng/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3399&Itemid=45 |archive-date=21 August 2013}}

Diplomatic relations with Ichkeria were also established by the partially recognized Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan under the Taliban government on 16 January 2000. This recognition ceased with the fall of the Taliban in December 2001.{{cite news|url=http://www.cdi.org/russia/johnson/5597-11.cfm |title=Are Chechens in Afghanistan? |author-first=Nabi |author-last=Abdullaev |date=14 December 2001 |work=The Moscow Times |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090807172345/http://www.cdi.org/russia/johnson/5597-11.cfm |archive-date=7 August 2009 }} However, despite Taliban recognition, there were no friendly relations between the Taliban and Ichkeria—Maskhadov rejected their recognition, stating that the Taliban were illegitimate.Kullberg, Anssi. "The Background of Chechen Independence Movement III: The Secular Movement". The Eurasian politician. 1 October 2003 In June 2000, the Russian government claimed that Maskhadov had met with Osama bin Laden, and that the Taliban supported the Chechens with arms and troops.{{cite news|title=What Moscow wants from 'summit' |url=https://www.csmonitor.com/2000/0602/p11s1.html |access-date=9 December 2017 |work=Christian Science Monitor |date=2 June 2000 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151004034708/http://www.csmonitor.com/2000/0602/p11s1.html |archive-date=4 October 2015}} In the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, the Bush administration called on Maskhadov to cut all links with the Taliban.{{cite news|title=Chechens in talks as deadline passes |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1567091.stm |access-date=9 December 2017 |date=27 September 2001 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160801122209/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1567091.stm |archive-date=1 August 2016 |work=BBC News}} After the 2021 Taliban offensive and the Fall of Kabul (2021) the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan was restored. It is unknown if the Taliban still recognizes the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria.

Ichkeria also received limited support from certain political factions in Poland, the Baltic countries and Ukrainian nationalists. Estonia once voted to recognize, but the act never was consummated due to pressure from both Russia and pro-Russian elements within the European Union.Kari Takamaa and Martti Koskenneimi. The Finnish Yearbook of International Law. p147Kuzio, Taras. "The Chechen crisis and the 'near abroad'". Central Asian Survey, Volume 14, Issue 4 1995, pages 553–572 Dudayev also had contacts with Islamist movements and guerrillas in the United Arab Emirates, Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia.{{cite news|author-last1=Boudreaux |author-first1=Richard |title=Faith Fuels Chechen Fighters |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-02-09-mn-30041-story.html|access-date=9 December 2017 |work=Los Angeles Times |date=9 February 1995 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171210233025/http://articles.latimes.com/1995-02-09/news/mn-30041_1_chechen-fighters/3 |archive-date=10 December 2017 |url-status=live}}

During the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Verkhovna Rada passed a resolution in October recognizing the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria as "temporarily occupied" by Russia.{{Cite web |title=Ukraine recognizes the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria |url=https://english.nv.ua/nation/ukraine-recognizes-chechen-republic-of-ichkeria-ukraine-news-50277623.html |website=english.nv.ua |access-date=13 January 2023 |archive-date=2 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230102002911/https://english.nv.ua/nation/ukraine-recognizes-chechen-republic-of-ichkeria-ukraine-news-50277623.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |date=2022-10-18 |title=Ukraine's parliament recognizes Chechen Republic of Ichkeria as temporarily occupied by Russia |url=https://kyivindependent.com/news-feed/ukraines-parliament-recognizes-chechen-republic-of-ichkeria-as-temporarily-occupied-by-russia |website=The Kyiv Independent}}

The human rights situation in Chechnya during the hostility phases had long been a concern among several human rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch, who, after several years of investigation and gathering evidence, referred to the situation as disturbing.{{cite web |title=War crimes in Chechnya and the response of the West |url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2000/02/29/war-crimes-chechnya-and-response-west |website=Human Rights Watch |date=29 February 2000 |access-date=14 May 2022 |archive-date=2 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190102073333/https://www.hrw.org/news/2000/02/29/war-crimes-chechnya-and-response-west |url-status=live }} Throughout the span of the first Chechen war, Russian forces have been accused by Human Rights organizations of starting a brutal war with total disregard for humanitarian law, causing tens of thousands of unnecessary civilian casualties among the Chechen population. The main strategy in the Russian war effort had been to use heavy artillery and air strikes leading to numerous indiscriminate attacks on civilians. This has led to Western and Chechen sources calling the Russian strategy deliberate terror bombing on parts of Russia.{{cite web|url=http://www.dtic.mil/doctrine/jel/research_pubs/chechna.pdf |title=Russia's invasion of Chechnya: a preliminary assessment |last=Blank |first=Stephen J. |website=dtic.mil |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080308081654/http://www.dtic.mil/doctrine/jel/research_pubs/chechna.pdf |archive-date=8 March 2008}} According to Human Rights Watch, the campaign was "unparalleled in the area since World War II for its scope and destructiveness, followed by months of indiscriminate and targeted fire against civilians". Russian forces attacked civilians many times throughout the war.{{cite web |title=Human Rights Developments |url=https://www.hrw.org/reports/1996/WR96/Helsinki-16.htm |website=Human Rights Watch |access-date=14 May 2022 |archive-date=25 May 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130525150038/http://www.hrw.org/reports/1996/WR96/Helsinki-16.htm |url-status=live }} One of the most notable war crimes committed by the Russian army during the First Chechen War is the Samashki massacre, in which it is estimated that up to 300 civilians died during the attack.{{cite web |title=Mothers' March to Grozny |url=https://wri-irg.org/en/story/1995/mothers-march-grozny |website=War Resisters' International |access-date=14 May 2022 |date=1 June 1995}} Russian forces conducted an operation of zachistka, house-by-house searches throughout the entire village. Federal soldiers deliberately and arbitrarily attacked civilians and civilian dwellings in Samashki by shooting residents and burning houses with flame-throwers. They wantonly opened fire or threw grenades into basements where residents, mostly women, elderly persons, and children, had been hiding.[http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/commission/country52/1996_13.htm The situation of human rights in the Republic of Chechnya of the Russian Federation – Report of the Secretary-General] UNCHR {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120211102551/http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/commission/country52/1996_13.htm |date=11 February 2012 }} Russian troops intentionally burned many bodies, either by throwing the bodies into burning houses or by setting them on fire.[http://www.jamestown.org/publications_details.php?volume_id=14&issue_id=564&article_id=4076 DETAILS OF SAMASHKI MASSACRE EMERGE.], The Jamestown Foundation, 5 May 1995 {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070625152714/http://www.jamestown.org/publications_details.php?volume_id=14&issue_id=564&article_id=4076 |date=25 June 2007 }} A Chechen surgeon, Khassan Baiev, treated wounded in Samashki immediately after the operation and described the scene in his book:{{cite book| last = Baiev| first = Khassan| title = The Oath A Surgeon Under Fire| year = 2003| publisher = Bloomsbury Publishing USA| isbn = 0-8027-1404-8| pages = [https://archive.org/details/oathsurgeonunder00baie/page/130 130–131]| url-access = registration| url = https://archive.org/details/oathsurgeonunder00baie/page/130}}

Dozens of charred corpses of women and children lay in the courtyard of the mosque, which had been destroyed. The first thing my eye fell on was the burned body of a baby, lying in the fetal position... A wild-eyed woman emerged from a burned-out house holding a dead baby. Trucks with bodies piled in the back rolled through the streets on the way to the cemetery.

While treating the wounded, I heard stories of young men – gagged and trussed up – dragged with chains behind personnel carriers. I heard of Russian aviators who threw Chechen prisoners, screaming, out of their helicopters. There were rapes, but it was hard to know how many because women were too ashamed to report them. One girl was raped in front of her father. I heard of one case in which the mercenary grabbed a newborn baby, threw it among each other like a ball, then shot it dead in the air.

Leaving the village for the hospital in Grozny, I passed a Russian armored personnel carrier with the word SAMASHKI written on its side in bold, black letters. I looked in my rearview mirror and to my horror saw a human skull mounted on the front of the vehicle. The bones were white; someone must have boiled the skull to remove the flesh.

Chechen forces have admitted to the execution of captured Russian pilots throughout the First Chechen War, and of at least eight Russian detainees. In probably the most notorious violation of humanitarian law committed by Chechen Forces, a Chechen unit led by Shamil Basayev captured a hospital and held it as hostage in the Russian city of Budyonnovsk. At least seven hostages were killed by the captors, and the rest were denied water, food, and medicine. According to official figures, 129 civilians were killed during the siege,[http://www.gazeta.ru/2002/10/24/HistoryofChe.shtml History of Chechen rebels' hostage taking] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160911035328/http://www.gazeta.ru/2002/10/24/HistoryofChe.shtml |date=11 September 2016 }} Gazeta.Ru, 24 October 2002 most by the numerous attempts of the Russian army to retake the hospital. The United Nations Commission on Human Rights had this to report on the incident:

Although the conduct of Chechen fighters has scarcely been documented in non-governmental reports, information indicates that they indiscriminately fired on, and killed, civilians. For example, on 14 June 1995, Chechen commandos took some 2,000 people hostage in the town of Budennovsk in the Stavropol region and barricaded themselves in the town's hospital. The hostage-takers were allegedly shot to death in the hospital by four civilian men. In this incident, over 100 hostages were reportedly killed when Federal forces attempted to take over the hospital.

Kidnappings, robberies, and killings of fellow Chechens and outsiders weakened the possibilities of outside investment and Maskhadov's efforts to gain international recognition of its independence effort. Kidnappings became common in Chechnya, procuring over $200 million during the three-year independence of the chaotic fledgling state,Tishkov, Valery. Chechnya: Life in a War-Torn Society. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2004. Page 114. but victims were rarely killed.[http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/europe/9812/08/chechnya.01/ Four Western hostages beheaded in Chechnya] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021203141902/http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/europe/9812/08/chechnya.01/ |date=3 December 2002 }} In a Los Angeles Times interview with a Russian woman, she states that kidnappers would at times mutilate their captives and send video recordings to their families, to encourage the payment of ransoms. According to her, there was a slave market in Minutka Square, downtown Grozny.{{cite news|author-last1=Dixon |author-first1=Robyn |author-link=Robyn Dixon (journalist) |date=18 September 2000 |title=Chechnya's Grimmest Industry |work=Los Angeles Times |location=Nalchik |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-sep-18-mn-23005-story.html |url-status=live |access-date=9 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170320003317/http://articles.latimes.com/2000/sep/18/news/mn-23005 |archive-date=20 March 2017}} Some of the kidnapped were supposedly sold into indentured servitude to Chechen families. They were openly called slaves and had to endure starvation, beating, and often maiming according to Russian sources.Leon Aron. [http://www.aei.org/publications/pubID.15848/pub_detail.asp Chechnya, New Dimensions of the Old Crisis] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080312184427/http://www.aei.org/publications/pubID.15848/pub_detail.asp |date=12 March 2008 }} . AEI, 1 February 2003RFERL, [http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2005/07/c7fd0ff2-647f-42ea-827b-42812c1e8a0a.html Russia: RFE/RL Interviews Chechen Field Commander Umarov] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080314071300/http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2005/07/c7fd0ff2-647f-42ea-827b-42812c1e8a0a.html |date=14 March 2008 }}, 27 July 2005; Doku Umarov who was the head of the Security Council of Ichkeria in 1997–1999 accused Movladi Baisarov and one of Yamadayev brothers of engaging in slave trade in the inter-war period In 1998, 176 people had been kidnapped, and 90 of them had been released during the same year according to official accounts. There were several public executions of criminals.[http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGEUR460251997?open&of=ENG-373 Document Information | Amnesty International] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041121235259/http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGEUR460251997?open&of=ENG-373 |date=21 November 2004 }}{{cite web|url=http://www.mfa.gov.lv/en/news/press-releases/1997/sep/2089/|title=Latest News – MFA of Latvia|access-date=6 February 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150112075238/http://www.mfa.gov.lv/en/news/press-releases/1997/sep/2089|archive-date=12 January 2015}}

After the First Chechen War, the country won de facto independence from Russia, and Islamic courts were established. In September 1996, a Sharia-based criminal code was adopted, which included provisions for banning alcohol and punishing adultery with death by stoning.{{cite news|author-last1=Stanley |author-first1=Alessandra |title=Islam Gets the Law and Order Vote |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/01/26/weekinreview/islam-gets-the-law-and-order-vote.html |access-date=9 December 2017 |work=The New York Times |date=1997 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170706093746/http://www.nytimes.com/1997/01/26/weekinreview/islam-gets-the-law-and-order-vote.html |archive-date=6 July 2017}} Sharia was supposed to apply to Muslims only, but in fact, it was also applied to ethnic Russians who violated Sharia provisions. In one of the first rulings under Sharia law, in January 1997 an Islamic court ordered the payment of blood money to the family of a man who was killed in a traffic accident.{{cite news|title=Chechen court applies Islamic law |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/chechen-court-applies-islamic-law-1281404.html |access-date=9 December 2017 |work=The Independent |date=3 January 1997 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171209171851/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/chechen-court-applies-islamic-law-1281404.html |archive-date=9 December 2017}} In November 1997, the Islamic dress code was imposed on all female students and civil servants in the country.{{cite news|title=Islamic dress code for Chechnya |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/despatches/europe/30017.stm |access-date=9 December 2017 |work=BBC News |date=12 November 1997 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171210020442/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/despatches/europe/30017.stm |archive-date=10 December 2017 |url-status=live}} In December 1997, the Supreme Sharia Court banned New Year celebrations, considering them "an act of apostasy and falsity".{{cite news|title=Chechen Islamic court bans all New Year celebrations |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/monitoring/38938.stm |access-date=9 December 2017 |work=BBC News |date=11 December 1997 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171210072509/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/monitoring/38938.stm |archive-date=10 December 2017 |url-status=live}} Conceding to an armed and vocal minority movement in the opposition led by Movladi Udugov, in February 1999, Maskhadov declared The Islamic Republic of Ichkeria, and the Sharia system of justice was introduced. Maskhadov hoped that this would discredit the opposition, putting stability before his own ideological affinities. However, according to former Foreign Minister Ilyas Akhmadov, the public primarily supported Maskhadov, his Independence Party, and their secularism. This was exemplified by the much greater numbers in political rallies supporting the government than those supporting the Islamist opposition.Akhmadov, Ilyas. The Chechen Struggle: Independence Won and Lost. Page 144. "The size of the rallies indicated that the public was behind Maskhadov and the secular state... and, in autumn, that they [the opposition] could not summon public support either on the street or in the parliament." Akhmadov notes that the parliament, which was dominated by Maskhadov's own Independence Party, issued a public statement that President Maskhadov did not have the constitutional authority to proclaim sharia law, and also condemning the opposition for "undermining the foundations of the state".Akhmadov, Ilyas. The Chechen Struggle: Independence Won and Lost. Page 143.

In 1998, four western engineers working for Granger Telecom were abducted and beheaded after a failed rescue attempt.{{cite news|title=Hostages 'beheaded at roadside' |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/230994.stm |work=BBC News |date=9 December 1998 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150301183100/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/230994.stm |archive-date=1 March 2015}} Gennady Shpigun, the Interior Ministry liaison to Chechen officials, was kidnapped in March 1999 as he was leaving Grozny Airport; his remains were found in Chechnya in March 2000.{{cite news|author-last1=Wines |author-first1=Michael |title=Russia Says Remains Are Those Of Envoy Abducted in Chechnya |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/06/15/world/russia-says-remains-are-those-of-envoy-abducted-in-chechnya.html |access-date=9 December 2017 |work=The New York Times |date=15 June 2000 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150527140438/http://www.nytimes.com/2000/06/15/world/russia-says-remains-are-those-of-envoy-abducted-in-chechnya.html |archive-date=27 May 2015}} President Maskhadov started a major campaign against hostage-takers, and on 25 October 1998, Shadid Bargishev, Chechnya's top anti-kidnapping official, was killed in a remote controlled car bombing. Bargishev's colleagues then insisted they would not be intimidated by the attack and would go ahead with their offensive. Other anti-kidnapping officials blamed the attack on Bargishev's recent success in securing the release of several hostages, including 24 Russian soldiers and an English couple.[http://www.pub.umich.edu/daily/1998/oct/10-26-98/news/news8.html The Michigan Daily Online] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070630181656/http://www.pub.umich.edu/daily/1998/oct/10-26-98/news/news8.html |date=30 June 2007 }} Maskhadov blamed the rash of abductions in Chechnya on unidentified "outside forces" and their Chechen henchmen, allegedly those who joined Pro-Moscow forces during the second war.[http://www.gfbv.de/pressemit.php?id=688&PHPSESSID=460043a9ad74cade2aa4777e6c4c5248 Police tried to silence GfbV – Critical banner against Putin's Chechnya policies wars] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141112062315/http://www.gfbv.de/pressemit.php?id=688&PHPSESSID=460043a9ad74cade2aa4777e6c4c5248 |date=12 November 2014 }}

According to the Chechen government at least part of the kidnappings were orchestrated by the Federal Security Service, which was behind the kidnappings and financed them.{{cite news|title=Chechnya's hard path to statehood |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/460399.stm |access-date=9 December 2017 |work=BBC News |date=1 October 1999 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160405164854/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/460399.stm |archive-date=5 April 2016}}{{cite web |title=J. Littell – The Security Organs of the Russian Federation. A Brief History 1991–2005 |url=https://psan.hypotheses.org/psan-publishing-house/j-littell-the-security-organs-of-the-russian-federation-a-brief-history-1991-2005-full-text-without-graphs |access-date=7 July 2020 |website=Post-Soviet Armies Newsletter |language=en-US |archive-date=8 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200708025049/https://psan.hypotheses.org/psan-publishing-house/j-littell-the-security-organs-of-the-russian-federation-a-brief-history-1991-2005-full-text-without-graphs |url-status=live }}

The Second Chechen War saw a new wave of war crimes and violation of International humanitarian law. Both sides have been criticised by international organizations of violating the Geneva Conventions. Russian forces have since the beginning of the conflict indiscriminately and disproportionately bombed and shelled civilian objects, resulting in heavy civilian casualties. In October 1999, powerful ballistic missiles were fired on the Grozny central market, resulting in hundreds of casualties.[https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-nov-07-mn-31029-story.html Chechens Believe Russia's Aim Is to Obliterate Nation] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240113191024/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-nov-07-mn-31029-story.html |date=13 January 2024 }}, Los Angeles Times, 7 November 1999{{cite web |title=Russian rockets hit Grozny market |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/1999/oct/22/chechnya.ameliagentleman |website=The Guardian |date=22 October 1999 |access-date=15 May 2022 |archive-date=15 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220515164432/https://www.theguardian.com/world/1999/oct/22/chechnya.ameliagentleman |url-status=live }} Russian forces have throughout the campaign ignored to follow their Geneva convention obligations, and has taken little responsibility of protecting the civilian population. Russian media reports state that Russian soldiers were sometimes sold into slavery by their commanders.{{cite web |title=Russian soldiers being sold into slave labour – report |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/russian-soldiers-being-sold-into-slave-labour-report-1.190939 |website=CBC |access-date=15 May 2022 |archive-date=17 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220517230844/https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/russian-soldiers-being-sold-into-slave-labour-report-1.190939 |url-status=live }} According to Amnesty International, Chechen civilians have been purposely targeted by Russian forces, in apparent disregard of humanitarian law. The situation has been described by Amnesty International as a Russian campaign to punish an entire ethnic group, on the pretext of "fighting crime and terrorism".{{cite web |title=Reported grave breaches of international humanitarian law. |website=Amnesty International |url=http://www.amnesty.org/ailib/intcam/chechnya/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010619210713/http://www.amnesty.org/ailib/intcam/chechnya/|archive-date=19 June 2001 }} In one such occasion, Thermobaric weapons were fired on the village of Katyr-Yurt, in what is known as the bombing of Katyr-Yurt. Hundreds of civilians died as a result of the Russian bombardment and the following sweep after.{{cite web |title=Revealed: Russia's worst war crime in Chechnya |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2000/mar/05/russia.chechnya |website=The Guardian |date=5 March 2000 |access-date=15 May 2022 |archive-date=10 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221210184132/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2000/mar/05/russia.chechnya |url-status=live }}{{cite web |title=Eyewitness: Chechnya's war goes on |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/673114.stm |website=BBC News |access-date=15 May 2022 |archive-date=7 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201007001636/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/673114.stm |url-status=live }} Thermobaric weapons have been used by the Russian army on several occasions according to Human Rights Watch.{{cite web |title=Chechnya Conflict: Use of Vacuum Bombs by Russian Forces |url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2000/02/01/chechnya-conflict-use-vacuum-bombs-russian-forces |website=Human Rights Watch |date=February 2000 |access-date=15 May 2022 |archive-date=1 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220301040606/https://www.hrw.org/news/2000/02/01/chechnya-conflict-use-vacuum-bombs-russian-forces |url-status=live }} In what is regarded as one of gravest war crimes in the war, Russian federal forces went on a village-sweep (zachistka), summarily executing dozens of people and committing crimes in what is known as the Novye Aldi massacre.{{cite web |title=February 5: A Day of Slaughter in Novye Aldi |url=https://www.hrw.org/reports/2000/russia_chechnya3/chech-summary.htm |website=Human Rights Watch |access-date=15 May 2022 |archive-date=11 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220611023400/https://www.hrw.org/reports/2000/russia_chechnya3/chech-summary.htm |url-status=live }}[http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/07/26/news/russia.php European court assails Russia over killings in Chechnya] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070906215807/http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/07/26/news/russia.php |date=6 September 2007 }}, International Herald Tribune, 26 July 2007

During the Second Chechen War, Chechen and Chechen-led militants have on several occasions used terrorism against civilian targets. In one such occasion, three suicide bombers ran a truck filled with explosives into the Grozny governmental headquarters, resulting in at least 35 deaths.{{cite web |title=Truck bombs kill at least 35 in Grozny |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/dec/27/chechnya |website=The Guardian |date=27 December 2002 |access-date=15 May 2022}} Chechen fighters have shown little regard for the safety of the civilian population, often placing their military positions in densely populated areas and refusing to leave civilian areas. Two large-scale hostage-takings have been documented, the Moscow theater hostage crisis and Beslan school siege, resulting in the deaths of multiple civilians. In the Moscow stand-off, FSB Spetsnaz forces stormed the building on the third day using an unknown incapacitating chemical agent that proved to be lethal without sufficient medical care, resulting in the deaths of 133 out of 916 hostages. In Beslan, some 20 hostages had been executed by their captors before the assault, and the ill-prepared assault itself resulted in 294 more casualties. A report by Human Rights Watch states that without minimizing the abuses committed by Chechen fighters, the main reason for civilian suffering in the Second Chechen War came as a result of the abuses committed by the Russian forces on the civilian population.

{{See also|Anti-Russian violence in Chechnya}}

Ethnic Russians made up 29% of the Chechen population before the war,{{cite news|author-last1=Bristol |author-first1=Lela |author-last2=Gutterman |author-first2=Steve |title=Soviet Union: Mother Russia |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-11-22-mn-233-story.html |access-date=9 December 2017 |work=Los Angeles Times |date=22 November 1991 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151017094832/http://articles.latimes.com/1991-11-22/news/mn-233_1_russian-federation |archive-date=17 October 2015}} and they generally opposed independence. Due to the mounting anti-Russian sentiment following the declaration of independence and the fear of an upcoming war, by 1994 over 200,000 ethnic Russians decided to leave the independence-striving republic.{{cite news|author-last1=Goldberg |author-first1=Carey |author-last2=Efron |author-first2=Sonni |title=Russia Bombs Chechen Oil Plant; Dudayev Seeks Talks|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-12-30-mn-14636-story.html |work=Los Angeles Times |date=30 December 1994 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171210073959/http://articles.latimes.com/1994-12-30/news/mn-14636_1_russian-bombing/2 |archive-date=10 December 2017 |quote=200,000 ethnic Russians have also fled Chechnya in the three years since it declared a unilateral independence [...] These people, propelled from their homes by growing anti-Russian sentiment, will probably never go back and will require resettlement}}{{cite news|author-last1=Smith |author-first1=Sebastian |title=Little Hope in Poll for Ethnic Russians |url=http://old.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/tmt/313054.html |access-date=28 April 2018 |work=The Moscow Times |date=23 January 1997 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171210074000/http://old.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/tmt/313054.html |archive-date=10 December 2017}} Ethnic Russians left behind faced constant harassment and violence.{{cite book|author-last1=Smith |author-first1=Sebastian |title=Allah's Mountains: The Battle for Chechnya, New Edition |date=2006 |publisher=Tauris Parke Paperbacks |isbn=9781850439790 |pages=133–134 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NPkH-7BCB6AC&pg=PA133 |language=en}} The separatist government acknowledged the violence but did nothing to address it, blaming it on Russian provocateurs. Russians became a soft target for criminals, as they knew the Chechen police would not intervene in their defence. The start of the First Chechen War in 1994 and the first bombing of Grozny created a second wave of ethnic Russian refugees. By the end of the conflict in 1996, the Russian community had nearly vanished.

No states currently recognize the independence of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria.

• Russia–Chechnya Peace Treaty
• Ukrainian recognition of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria
• History of Chechnya

{{notelist}}

{{reflist}}

• {{cite book| last = Galeotti| first = Mark| title = Armies of Russia's War in Ukraine| publisher = Osprey Publishing | date = 2019| location = Oxford| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=3B6QDwAAQBAJ| isbn = 9781472833440}}
• {{cite book| last = Galeotti| first = Mark| title = Russia's Wars in Chechnya 1994-2009| publisher = Osprey Publishing | date = 2014| location = Oxford| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=iarvCwAAQBAJ| isbn = 9781782002772}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20000621202618/http://www.chechengovernment.com/ Official website of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria], archived June 2000

{{Ethnic nationalism}}

{{Stateless nationalism in Europe}}

{{Stateless nationalism in Asia}}

{{Leaders of Chechnya}}

{{Chechen wars}}

{{Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict}}

{{UNPO}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ichkeria, Chechen Republic of}}

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