Regions and territories: Chechnya

The southern Russian republic of Chechnya is surrounded on nearly all sides by Russian territory but also shares with neighbouring Georgia a remote border high in the Caucasus mountains.


Rich in oil, its economy and infrastructure were reduced to ruins by years of war between local separatists and Russian forces, combined with armed banditry and organised crime.

OVERVIEW



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Chechnya has been a thorn in Russia's mountainous southern border for nearly two centuries. The Russians finally overcame the resistance of Imam Shamil in 1859, claiming the Caucasus region for the empire after a long and bloody campaign that caught the imagination of many 19th Century Russian writers from Lermontov to Tolstoy.


Thousands of Russian soldiers remain in Chechnya
The Chechens had to wait for more than 60 years before they briefly escaped Russian dominion again in the chaos following the October revolution.

However, that period of independence was short-lived and by 1922 the republic had been forced back into the Russian fold.

World War II and the Nazi invasion presented another glimpse of freedom from Moscow's rule. When the war ended, Stalin sought vengeance. He accused the Chechens of collaborating. Their punishment was mass deportation to Siberia and Central Asia. They were allowed to return only in 1957 when Khrushchev was in power in the Kremlin.

Post-Soviet years

When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, Dzhokhar Dudayev, a former senior officer in the Soviet air force, declared independence from Russia. Yeltsin responded by sending a few hundred Interior Ministry servicemen to the republic. They were met at the airport by Chechen fighters and sent back home on buses, the first in a series of humiliations for Moscow.

This was followed by three years during which armed groups gained an increasing hold on Chechnya and Dudayev became more outspoken in his defiance of Moscow where the leadership argued over how to handle the situation.

In 1994 Russia sent its forces in a very poorly planned bid to bring the rebellious region back to heel. Early promises of a quick victory were soon silent as the Chechens put up fierce resistance to the Russian assault and the death toll mounted.

Amid growing public outcry over rising losses in the Russian army, Moscow withdrew its forces under a 1996 peace agreement. The deal gave Chechnya substantial autonomy but not full independence. The Chechen chief of staff, Aslan Maskhadov, was elected president.

However, Russia failed to invest in reconstruction. Maskhadov could not control brutal warlords who grew rich by organised crime and kidnapping. Many victims were murdered by their captors.

In August 1999, Chechen fighters crossed into the neighbouring Russian Republic of Dagestan to support a declaration by an Islamic body based there of an independent Islamic state in parts of Dagestan and Chechnya. This body also called on all Muslims to take up arms against Russia in a holy war. By now Vladimir Putin was Russian prime minister and Moscow was fast and firm in its reaction. Within a couple of weeks the rebellion was over.

KEY DATES
1991 USSR collapses, Dzhokhar Dudayev elected president, declares independence
1994 Russia sends forces to crush independence movement
1996 Khasavyurt accords bring ceasefire but not independence
1997 Aslan Maskhadov elected president
1999 Russia blames Chechnya for wave of bombings, sends troops back
2000 Islamic cleric Akhmad Kadyrov appointed by Kremlin to head administration
2003 New constitution gives Chechnya more autonomy but enshrines its position within Russian Federation. Akhmad Kadyrov elected president
2004 President Kadyrov killed by bomb. Kremlin-backed Alu Alkhanov elected to succeed him.
2005 March - Separatist leader Aslan Maskhadov killed by Russian forces. He is succeeded by Abdul-Khalim Saydullayev
2006 March - Ramzan Kadyrov, son of assassinated president Akhmad Kadyrov, becomes PM
2006 June - Government forces kill separatist leader Abdul-Khalim Saydullayev. Warlord Dokka Umarov takes over.
2006 July - Warlord Shamil Basayev, Russia's most wanted man, dies in explosion in neighbouring Ingushetia
The late summer of the same year saw several explosions in Russia in which hundreds died. The Russian authorities did not hesitate to blame the Chechens.

Mr Putin sent the army back to subdue the republic by force in a second brutal campaign which, despite Russian claims of victory, has yet to reach a conclusion.

Western criticism of Russian tactics and human rights violations in Chechnya was all but silenced following the 11 September attacks on the US. Russia has since portrayed Chechen rebel forces as part of the global terror network and uses this to vindicate its methods.

A controversial referendum in March 2003 approved a new constitution, giving Chechnya more autonomy but stipulating that it remained firmly part of Russia. Moscow ruled out participation by the armed opposition and there were widespread concerns that the republic was far too unstable to ensure a valid outcome.

Parliamentary elections in November 2005 saw the pro-Kremlin United Russia party win over half the seats. Separatist rebels dismissed the election as a charade but President Putin said that the legal process of restoring constitutional order had been completed. Observers highlighted that the vote had taken place in an atmosphere of fear against a background of continuing violence in the region.

FACTS



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Status: Republic within Russian Federation
Population: Approximately 1 million
Capital: Grozny
Major languages: Chechen, Russian
Major religions: Islam, Christianity
Natural resources: Oil
LEADERS



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President: Alu Alkhanov

Alu Alkhanov was sworn in as president amid tight security in October 2004 following the assassination of his predecessor, Akhmad Kadyrov.


President Alu Alkhanov: Kremlin-backed candidate

The Kremlin had made clear its backing for Mr Alkhanov who took nearly three quarters of the vote. Mr Alkhanov's main rival had been barred from standing on a technicality. Only a handful of observers monitored the elections whose authenticity was queried by human rights activists amongst others. Chechen separatists declared the vote to have been a farce.

Mr Alkhanov, 47 at the time of his election, became Chechen interior minister in April 2003 after a long career in the police. Regarded as loyal to Moscow throughout, he was decorated for his courage in resisting separatist forces storming Groznyy in 1996.

He left Chechnya when Aslan Maskhadov became president, returning only after the Russian army had done so in 1999.

He calls on Chechens to resist extremism and pledges to encourage the values of peaceful democracy. He promises to accelerate economic restoration, insisting that oil revenue should remain in Chechnya, an idea controversial in Russian oil circles. He also wants tax concessions for the republic, backing the creation of a free economic zone.

Mr Alkhanov is married with three children. He works in the knowledge that his life is in danger. All four of his predecessors in the job have died violent deaths.

Prime minister: Ramzan Kadyrov


Prime Minister Kadyrov says iron rule will foster stability

Son of assassinated President Akhmad Kadyrov and a dominant figure in Chechen politics, Ramzan Kadyrov became prime minister in March 2006 after his predecessor, Sergey Abramov, was severely injured in a car crash.

Too young to run for president after the death of his father - he was then 27 and the required age under the Chechen constitution is 30 - he backed Alu Alkhanov in the 2004 election and took the job of deputy prime minister.

Mr Kadyrov has sworn to avenge his father. Following criticism of the violent activities of a powerful militia known as the "Kadyrovtsy" and consisting of thousands of paramilitaries with the avowed mission of wiping out rebel forces, he said he would place the militia under the command of Russian forces. Some observers suggested that that this would make little real difference as they would remain under Mr Kadyrov's control.

Mr Kadyrov denies accusations that the force is behind many of Chechnya's killings, abductions and worst crimes, although he has admitted that there are some "rogue elements" among them.

With close ties to Moscow, Mr Kadyrov is the local leader of Kremlin-backed United Russia which topped the polls in Chechnya's parliamentary elections in November 2005. He insists that iron rule is required to bring stability.

Mr Kadyrov describes himself as a believer in traditional Islam.

Separatist leader: Dokka Umarov

Dokka Umarov succeeded Abdul-Khalim Saydullayev as Chechen rebel president when the latter was killed in a police operation in June 2006.

Unlike his predecessor, a Muslim cleric little-known outside Chechnya before he succeeded Aslan Maskhadov in March 2005, Mr Umarov has often been mentioned in reports on Chechen rebel activity. He has been active in operations since the mid-1990s.

In his first public statement after becoming leader, he vowed to step up attacks against police and military targets across Russia. He said he would seek to avoid civilian casualties.

His deputy, the warlord Shamil Basayev, Russia's most wanted man, died in an explosion in neighbouring Ingushetia in July 2006 just weeks after Mr Umarov became rebel leader.

Mr Umarov was born in 1964.


MEDIA



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Chechnya presents a formidable challenge to the media outlets operating there and journalists attempting to cover events on the ground.

Media freedom groups have accused Moscow of trying to muzzle independent coverage of the Chechen conflict. They say journalists who investigate alleged abuses by federal forces in Chechnya are persecuted.

One highly-publicised case was that of Andrei Babitsky, a reporter working for the US-backed Radio Free Europe, whose reporting of the Chechen war was said to have angered the Kremlin. Mr Babitsky was arrested in Grozny in 2000 and later convicted by a Russian court for using false travel documents.

Russian TV and radio stations are said to be available across much of the republic. Russia's Itar-Tass news agency reported in 2004 that these included Channel One, RTV, NTV, Ren TV and Centre TV. Chechnya's own state-run radio service resumed broadcasts in November 2001.

Several pro-rebel websites spread a different view of events in the republic to the world. They include Kavkaz Tsentr, which has had a nomadic presence on the internet as its various hosts have been urged by Moscow to close the site.

Reports on the extent and influence of rebel-run media vary. In late 2002 Kavkaz Tsentr noted that several newspapers and magazines were being published and that a radio station was on the air with daily broadcasts. Russian forces say they have closed hundreds of "underground" printing houses in the republic and destroyed "militant" broadcasting facilities.

Foreign broadcasters also target Chechnya. The US government-funded station Radio Liberty beams programmes in the Chechen and Russian languages into the republic. Moscow has expressed concerns about the broadcasts and has accused Radio Liberty of editorial "one-sidedness".

Russian TV reported in 2003 that Chechnya had eight official newspapers, three of them with republic-wide circulation.

The press

Vesti Respubliki - Chechen government newspaper, launched in July 2001
Groznenskiy Rabochiy - private weekly
Stolitsa Plyus - Grozny local government daily
TV/Radio

Chechen Republic State TV and Radio Broadcasting Company (GTRK) - state-run
Grozny TV and Radio Company - state-run
Radio Free Chechnya - federal government-backed
News agency/Internet

Grozny-Inform - run by Chechen government
Kavkazskiy Vestnik - pro-rebel web site of Council of Caucasus Journalists


Timeline: Russia
A chronology of key events



THE CHECHNYA CONFLICT

SEE ALSO
Dark shadows in 'normal' Chechnya
27 Feb 06 | Europe
Foreign NGOs banned near Chechnya
17 Jan 06 | Europe
Conflict diaries: Grozny afternoon
08 Jun 05 | Europe


RELATED INTERNET LINKS
Republic of Chechnya (in Russian)
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