Declaration of independence In November 1990,
Dzhokhar Dudayev was elected head of the executive committee of the unofficial opposition Chechen National Congress (NCChP), 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). Following this, was proclaimed the Chechen Republic (Nokhchi-cho). A month later, the self-proclaimed republic was declared an independent state. The
Soviet coup d'état attempt on 19 August 1991 became the spark for the so-called
Chechen Revolution. On 6 September 1991, OKChN squads seized the local KGB headquarters, and took over the building of the Supreme Soviet. Following the
revolution, the OKChN declared itself the only legitimate authority in the region. Dudayev, in his new position as president, issued a unilateral declaration of independence on 1 November 1991. Initially, his stated objective was for Checheno-Ingushetia to become a
union republic within Russia. Dudayev released 640 inmates from a prison in Grozny, many of whom became his personal body guards. Among the prisoners was
Ruslan Labazanov, who was serving a sentence for armed robbery and murder, and later headed a pro-Dudayev militia. 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. 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. After being informed that the Russian government would not recognize Chechnya's independence, he declared that he would not recognize Russia. In the same month, armed clashes occurred between pro and anti-Dudayev factions, leading Dudayev to declare a state of emergency. Chechnya and Ingushetia separated on 4 June 1992. Relationship between Dudayev and the parliament deteriorated, and in June 1992 he dissolved the parliament, establishing direct presidential rule. Russian and Chechen forces mutually agreed to a withdrawal, and the incident ended peacefully. 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. The opposition planned a no-confidence referendum against Dudayev for 5 June 1993. The government deployed army and riot police to prevent the vote from taking place, leading to bloodshed. In May 1994, Labazanov changed sides, establishing the anti-Dudayev Niyso Movement. After this incident, the Russian government started to openly support opposition forces in Chechnya. In August 1994, Umar Avturkhanov, leader of the pro-Russian Provisional Council, launched an attack against pro-Dudayev forces. Dudayev ordered the mobilization of the Chechen military, threatening a jihad against Russia as a response to Russian support for his political opponents. In November 1994, Avturkhanov's forces attempted to
storm the city of Grozny, but they were defeated by Dudayev's forces. Dudayev declared his intention to turn Chechnya into an Islamic state, stating that the recognition of sharia was a way to fight Russian aggression. He also vowed to punish the captured Chechen rebels under Islamic law, and threatened to execute Russian prisoners. The
First Chechen War began in December 1994, when Russian troops were sent to Chechnya to fight the separatist forces. During the
Battle of Grozny (1994–95), the city's population dropped from 400,000 to 140,000. 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. The conflict ended after the Russian defeat in the
Battle of Grozny of August 1996. In December 1996, six
Red Cross workers were killed, resulting in most foreign aid workers leaving the country. 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. 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. In May 1997, the
Russia–Chechen Peace Treaty was signed by Maskhadov and Yeltsin. 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. The economy was destroyed. Two Russian brigades were stationed in Chechnya and did not leave. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. After
Vakha Arsanov, the
Chechen Vice-president, defected to the opposition, Maskhadov abolished his post, leading to a power struggle. In February 1999 President Maskhadov removed legislative powers from the parliament and convened an Islamic State Council. At the same time several prominent former warlords established the Mehk-Shura, a rival Islamic government.
Second war and insurgency period In August 1999, rogue Islamist fighters from
Chechnya, along with defected militants from other factions, invaded Russia’s
Dagestan region and declared it an independent state, calling for a jihad against “unbelievers.” These fighters, led by commanders such as
Shamil Basayev and
Ibn al-Khattab, operated outside the formal authority of the
Chechen Republic of Ichkeria government under President
Aslan Maskhadov. Maskhadov condemned the incursion and denied that his government was involved in planning or controlling the attack. Maskhadov appealed to Russian President
Boris Yeltsin for negotiations and offered cooperation against Islamist militants, but these overtures were largely ignored or rejected by the Kremlin. On 14 September 1999, Maskhadov, through his representative
Mairbek Vachagaev, proposed joint action with Russia against terrorism and denied any official Chechen connection to the later apartment bombings, stating that if evidence emerged showing one commander’s involvement, that commander would be expelled from Chechnya. In September 1999, a series of apartment bombings in
Moscow,
Buynaksk, and
Volgodonsk were cited by Russian authorities as the immediate cause for Russia’s renewed military campaign against Chechnya. These bombings killed hundreds of civilians. Although Russian officials blamed Chechen militants, responsibility for the attacks remains contested among analysts and scholars. In 2000, U.S. Secretary of State
Madeleine Albright stated that, at that time, there was no evidence tying the bombings to Chechnya. The
Ryazan incident on 22 September 1999 — when local police discovered and initially treated as a real bomb a device containing a sugar-like substance and arrested three individuals who were later identified as
Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) agents — added to the controversy surrounding the official narrative. The incident was later described by the FSB as a training exercise, which has been cited by independent researchers as raising questions about the official account of the apartment bombings’ origins. Across the
North Caucasus and in many Western analyses, Maskhadov’s government is portrayed as the moderate wing of the Chechen movement, seeking political negotiation and attempting to distance itself from radical Islamist commanders whose actions it could neither authoritatively control nor endorse. Maskhadov continued to express a willingness for political resolution and dialogue with Russian authorities in later years, though such overtures were largely ignored during the escalation of hostilities. Historians note that Maskhadov’s ability to control all armed groups within Chechnya was limited, particularly after the rise of autonomous Islamist factions. The escalation of hostilities following the Dagestan invasion and the apartment bombings marked the beginning of the
Second Chechen War. Although the official Russian narrative linked the bombings directly to Chechen militants, no Chechen field commander publicly accepted responsibility, and Chechen leadership statements denied involvement. The events of late 1999 were used by Russian authorities to justify a large-scale military campaign in Chechnya, which began on 1 October and ultimately brought significant changes to the conflict’s dynamics and to Russian domestic politics. 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. After a hard-fought
battle, Grozny fell in February 2000; much of the city was destroyed. As on 23 January 2000, a diplomatic representation of Ichkeria was based in Kabul during the
Taliban regime in
Afghanistan. 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. 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. 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. 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 and had mostly ceased to exist by 2015. 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.
Russo-Ukrainian War , 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. 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. In May 2022, Ichkeria's government-in-exile leader
Akhmed Zakayev travelled to Kyiv and met with Ukrainian officials for "confidential" talks. 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. At this point, Islamist separatists belonging to
Ajnad al-Kavkaz had also moved to Ukraine to fight Russia there. In November, the Ichkerian exile government recognized the
Holodomor as a genocide against the Ukrainian people. == Military ==