The First Chechen War

 The First Chechen War

I need to start off with a disclaimer, this war took place from 1994 until 1996, 3 years after the fall of the Soviet Union. This blog is supposed to mostly look into Soviet era conflicts however I feel it fair to discuss this war as the down fall of the Soviet Union is one of the main catalysts of the war.

(Russian soldiers being deployed to Chechnya: image take from The Betrayed 1995)

In the dying days of the Soviet Union as more and more SSRs and satellite states declared their independence, the future of the Caucasus area republics was still unknown. 30th of August, 1991 would see the first of the Caucasus republics gain independence, that being Azerbaijan. Armenia would follow suit 22 days 21 of September, 1991. The last of the republics to gain independence would be Georgia on December 26, 1991. There is however a fourth country who put in a bid for independence, Chechnya, on January 10th, 1993.

Relations between Chechens and Russians have always been rocky to put it lightly, dating as far back as 1774. but before we can look at the conflict between then, lets take a deeper look at the geography and ethic groups of the area. Chechnya is situated right on the northern flank of the Caucasus Mountain range, to its north it boarders Russia proper, to its south Georgia, to the east lays the Russian republic of Dagestan, and finally to its west the Russian republic of Ingushetia. Chechnya is landlocked however the closest body of water is the Caspian Sea. 

The Chechens are the largest ethnic group of Chechnya with making up for roughly 96% of the population, ethnic minorities include Russians and Kumyks. The dominate religion of the region is Muslim with the two major schools of jurisprudence being Shafi'i and Hanafi. This makes them a minority in both religion and ethnic background throughout Russia proper. The largest natural resource of the region is oil and gas, other resources include minerals and natural building supplies. However the most imporant resource Chechnya supplies to Russia is its geographical location. 

(Chechnya is outlined in red)

The placement of Chechnya makes it ideal for communication lines and trades route through the Middle East. The close placement is ideal in helping Russian relations through the region with their allies including, Iraq, Iran, Armenia, and Syria. Also notable is its proximity to Turkey. All of these factors were key when Russia decided to intervene in the region in 1994.

At the start of the Russian invasion, Chechnya had around 10,000 men, multiple small arms, several armored vehicles, as well as artillery pieces. Many of the Chechnya fighters had prior experience in the military from their days serving in the Soviet Armed Forces. Many could speak fluent Russian and understood Russia war strategies and maneuvers, with a handful of the Chechen fighters also having experience fighting in the Soviet-Afghan war. 

Although exact numbers are hard to come by we can safely say the Russian army out numbered and out gunned the Chechens. With Russia fielding some of their newest tanks, the T-72, as well as older models tanks including T-62s. It is also safe to say that Russia had totally air superiority, however over the course of the war Russia would lose multiple air assists including  5 SU-25s and multiple Mig helicopters. The Russians however had serval very crucial flaws, including a lack of motivated men and the vast majority of their army being made up of under experienced conscripts. Besides these factories, communication between units and tanks was practically non-existent as many of the tanks lack any communications equipment.   

Chechnya would use the mountainous terrain to their advantage, organizing their units into 20 man teams would would carry out quick hit and run missions on Russian convoys. The muddy mountainous terrain would bog down Russian heavy support leaving it easy pickings for quick moving infantry with RPGs. 

The invasion began on December 11th, 1994, the night of December 1st would see the Russian Air Force carry out aerial bombardments of Chechnya. When the invasion began it happened in three columns advancing from the west, north, and east. The ultimate target of this advance was the capital city of Grozny. Right from the start things started to go wrong with all three columns being slowed down, while the northern column saw resistance from the Chechen fighters. On the 29th of December, 1994 Russian forces would reach the outskirts of Grozny capture the nearby airfield.  

(Grozny Airport distance from the location of the Presidential Palace)

As Russian soldiers entered the city they ambushes from every corner. As some might know, urban environments are one of the most deadly locations for tanks to be. Tight city streets can make maneuvering hard and the abundance of buildings give good vantage points above the weakest part of the tank, the turret. When the columns rolled into the city their goal was to capture the Presidential Palace by sundown, this goal would not be achieved. By the end of the day the Russia forces had all but retreated from the city or been destroyed by the Chechen defenders, around 400 tanks were destroyed by sundown.

Russian forces withdrew from the city and regrouped for another assault this time using special forces to lead the way. This time an armored assault wouldn't be carried out, instead the Russian forces would use artillery and air power to bombard the city block by block and then engage in bloody urban combat. On the 19th of January, 1995 Russian forces would finally secure the ruins of the Presidential Palace after heavy Chechen resistance; however the Russian forces failed at capturing the Chechen leadership who fled the city. By the 6th of March, 1995 Grozny was firmly under Russian control.

The loss of Grozny wouldn't be enough to stop the Chechens as they retreated to the mountainous country side to continue and wage gorilla war on the Russians. And on the 6th of August, 1996 Chechen forces numbering 1,500 would enter into Grozny. They would then divide and cut up the city, forming smaller pockets of resistance and trapping in the Russian soldiers. Russian armored columns attempted and failed to enter the city under heavy antitank fire from the Chechen forces. On the 19th of August, 1996 the commander of the Russian forces, Konstantin Pulikovsky, gave the Chechen forces an ultimatum to leave the city within 48 hours or the city would be leveled by massive air bombardments. 

The Chechens did not comply and soon the threat was followed through with parts of the city being hit, set ablaze, and leveled. However the bombardment would be sort lived as on the 22nd of August, 1996 general Alexander Lebed brokered a ceasefire with the Chechen forces. The Khasavyurt Accord was signed on the 30th of August, 1996. It laid ground work for demilitarization of Grozny and the withdrawal of all Russian forces from Chechnya by the 30th of December, 1996.

The First Chechen war saw thousands killed on both sides along with countless civilian deaths. Neither side can agree with how many civilians were killed in the bombings on Grozny, the human rights advior to Boris Yeltsin, Sergei Kovalev stated 27,000 civilian deaths within the first 5 weeks of fighting while  Russian general Dmitri Volkogonov stated 35,000. The war condemned by members of the European community, with even the former president of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev speaking out against it.

However peace in Chechnya would not last, as a weak government and hundreds of different paramilitary groups would continue a bloody fight among themselves what would soon spill over into the neighboring Russian Republic of Dagestan, kicking off the Second Chechen War.

Below is a link to an amazing documentary about the first Chechen War.

The Betrayed (1995)