A brief history of the Second Chechen War (1999-2017), Putin's first war. A broken peace treaty, FSB false flags, and politics of fear.

In August of 1996, the Chechens achieved the unthinkable. They won a war against the Russians securing their independence. Kind of.

Though the Russian troops pulled out of Chechnya, the Kremlin still did not recognize Chechen independence. However, as the 1996 ceasefire agreement was to expire in 2001, back then it seemed like there was enough time to sort out the details.

And indeed, things were off to a good start. The first war, which took up to 100,000 lives was over. Aslan Maskhadov was elected president of Chechnya, after a short rule of Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev as acting president following the assassination of Dzhokhar Dudayev.

In May of 1997 Maskhadov signed a formal peace treaty with the Russian president, Boris Yeltsin. However, that’s where the good things ended. The first Chechen War left the country in ruins.

The Chechen economy was devastated and their access to the world was limited by the Russian blockade. Some of those who fought in the war decided not to lay down their arms and turned to a life of crime.

Kidnappings for ransom or slavery became a viable source of income in the country. Many of the foreign volunteers from the Middle East and Afghanistan who answered the First War’s call to Jihad remained in the country after the war.

The continued funding from the Middle East maintained pressure on the Caspian oil field operations by disrupting oil pipelines going through Chechnya. And with the influx of foreign money, the radicalization of the impoverished local population remained as well.

The funding also empowered Chechen warlords with more radical inclinations. The ranks of their private militias swelled and their aspirations for power grew. Maskhadov’s secular government’s grip over the country started to loosen, culminating in armed clashes between Chechen government forces and the radicals in Gudermes, at the time the country’s second-largest city. Vice-president Arsanov and prime-minister Basayev urged president Maskhadov to show some leniency.

Maskhadov feared that the situation could unravel into a full-blown civil war and leave the country vulnerable to another Russian invasion. And in February of 1999 Sharia law was introduced in Chechnya to appease the radical opposition.

The situation in Russia was not all that rosy either. The Russian economy continued to stumble in the new, unknown realms of capitalism. The First Chechen War directly contributed to the economic strains of the country.

By the end of the conflict, it is estimated that the first war in Chechnya cost Russia nearly $5.5 billion or 1.4% of its annual GDP. The 1997 Asian financial crisis and tumbling oil prices were the final straw that broke the camel’s back.

The Chechen War in the Context of Contemporary Russian Politics (Chapter 4) - Chechnya

In the summer of 1998, Russia defaulted on its debt and devalued its national currency, making its population even poorer. The situation was serious. Yeltsin had to cancel his summer vacation and go back to Moscow, where he was expected to reshuffle his Cabinet.

But the only change he made was appointing a new head of the Federal Security Service, Vladimir Putin. The faltering economy did no favors to Yeltsin’s public approval ratings.

The collapse of the USSR left many people fending for themselves in the new Russia, something they were not used to as for decades the state decided for them how they’d make their living. In the new Russia, many failed to find a legal way to earn.

Some prospered, becoming powerful oligarchs. Most lived from paycheck to no paycheck. The new economic divide left many disenfranchised with the democratic process, which partially explains the current state of Russia.