War LanguagesWars in Chechnya

Vesa Matteo Piludu

University of Helsinki

Department of Art Research

Chechnya

Chechnya

The Caucasian Wars 1817–1864

Wars in Chechnya and Dagestan

Resistence led by Ghazi Mollah, Gamzat-bek and Hadji Murad Imam Shamil

The Russian poet Alexander Pushkin referred to the war in his poem The Prisoner of the Caucasus (1821)

Leo Tolstoy gained much of his knowledge and experience of war for his book War and Peace from these encounters

He wrote the short novel Hadji Murat 1896-1904, published after his death

Franz Roubaud (1856-1928). Surrender of Shamil

Stalin’s deportations

In 1944, more than 1 million Chechens, Ingush, and several other North Caucasian peoples were deported to Siberia

1991 - 1993

Dzhokhar Dudayev: declaration of independence of Chechen-Ingush territories (1991)

the Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Republic split in two in June 1992

The newly-created republic of Ingushetia joined the Russian Federation

Chechnya declared full independence from Moscow in 1993 as the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria

Confusion in 1993-4: unofficial civil war between supporters of Dudayev and opposition, Russia entered in the conflict

The First Chechen War 1994 - 1996

From December 1994 to August 1996

On December 11, 1994, Russian forces launched a ground attack towards Grozny

Deputy Minister of Defense Gen. Boris Gromov stated: It will be a bloodbath, another Afghanistan

More than 800 professional soldiers and officers refused to take part in the operation

Boris Yeltsin's Propaganda: “easy” blitzkrieg war

Battle of Grozny 1994-1995

heaviest bombing campaign in Europe since Dresden 35,000 civilians killed, including 5.000 children vast majority of killed were ethnic Russians

Mikhail Gorbachev: ”disgraceful, bloody adventure”

A hard guerrilla begun on the mountains

Chechnya's Chief Mufti Akhmad Kadyrov's called a jihad Presence of radical Islamic groups The separatist begun to took hostages

Budyonnovsk hospital’s facts

June 1995 The separatist islamic group Abkhaz Battalion of Shamil Basayev

(batlle name: Emir Abdallah Shamil Abu-Idris, killed in 2006) took more than 1,500 hostages in southern Russia in the Budyonnovsk hospital

about 120-160 Russian civilians died before the ceasefire signed after by Basayev and Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin

Opposition to the war

Relevance of media Demoralization of the Russian forces successful campaign on Grozny by by Aslan Maskhadov

opposition of the Russian public to the conflict led Boris Yeltsin's government to declare a ceasefire in 2006,

Humanitarian disaster: 80.000 killed

Chechen Republic of Ichkeria:the internal struggles (1997-1999)

Unofficial independence President Aslan Maskhadov Corruption: reconstruction founds divided between warlords Kidnapping as source of income Political divisions: Chechen National Guard versus Islamist groups Maskhadov versus Basayev

The background to the second war

The Chechnya-based Islamic International Brigade of Shamil Basayev and Ibn al-Khattab (killed in 2002) invaded the neighboring Russian republic of Dagestan, in 1999, in support of the Shura of Dagestan separatist rebels

Terrorist bombing in various cities of Russia, including Moscow were connected with Chechen terrorists: three hundred Russian civilians died

killed. The only person who claimed responsibility for bombings was an anonymous caller who said he belongs to a group called the Liberation army of Dagestan. However, the Russian government blamed Chechen separatists for the attack

Two theories: warlords’ theory and conspiracy theory

Second Chechen War (1999-2009)

Putin era First air bombing On 1th October 1999 land war begun

Siege of Grozny 1999-2000

Akhmad Kadyrov, at first a supported of Dudayev, changed side in the second war and became the head of the pro-Moskow goverment and became Presindent of the Chechen Repubblic in 2003

He has been killed in 2004 in Grozny

His son Ramzan Kadyrov, whose militia has been accused of any kind of atrocity, became the real ruler in 2005

In 2007 he has been nominated President, with the support of Putin

The Nord-Ost Theatre massacre

Chechen rebel forces seized the Nord-Ost theatre in Moscow in April 2002

Anna Politovskaya was trying to open a negotiation

Russian forces refused to negotiate and gassed the entire building, killing one hundred and thirty of the Russian hostages and all the terrorist

Beslan school

A group of terrorist, supporters of Basayev, took more than 1000 people in hostage in a school in North Ossetia

Russian security forces stormed the building using tanks and rockets Chaotic gun battle

334 hostage killed, 186 children

A violent ”pacification” or a

All the prominent separatist were killed, including al-Kattab (2002) Maskhadov (2005) and Basayev (2006)

Maskhadov was killed just after he issued a call for a ceasefire in 2005

In 2007, the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights published the report Amnestied People as Targets for Persecution in Chechnya, about several rebels who have been amnestied and subsequently abducted, tortured and killed

In April 2009, Russia “officially” ended its counter-terrorism operation and pulled out the bulk of its army

Violence are still present in the neighbouring republics

In the two wars died 150.000 – 200.000 civilians

Media under control

Control of the national and local TV

The access of journalist in on Chechnya was limited

Censorship Intimidation

Assassinations of jounalists: Supian Ependiyev (killed in 1999) Roddy Scott (killed in 2002) Adlan Khasanov (killed in 2004) Ramzan Mezhidov (killed in 1999) Anna Politkovskaya (assassinated in 2006)

Ramzan Kadyrov

Separatist

Leader of a militia supported by Russia's FSB state security service, the Kadyrovites

Prime Minister President Nominated Hero of Russia

Accused of several violation of human rights and killing political opponents

Lyudmila Alexeyeva, the head of the Moscow Helsinki Group organisation, stated "Kadyrov is to blame for kidnappings of many innocent people. Their bodies were found later with signs of torture.”

The bloodline in 2009

On January 13 former Kadyrov bodyguard Umar Israilov was assassinated in Vienna. He was cooperating with the The New York Times, extensively detailing abuses committed by Kadyrov and his associates

On January 19 was shot the advocate Stanislav Markov, working for tortured people in Chechnya. With him was also killed the young journalist Anastasija Baburova

Kadyrov is fighting rebels in Ingushetia after the car-bomb attack on President Yunus-bek Yevkurov in June 22

Kadyrov is exending his power and influence on the other repubblics

On July 15 Memorial’s Natalia Estemirova, who investigated the alleged abuses by government-backed militias in Chechnya, was assasinated

An assassination attempt on Kadyrov was averted on October 23