page_title: Chechen–Russian conflict
section_title: Chechen Wars
hierarchical_section_title: Chechen–Russian conflict / Post-Soviet era / Chechen Wars
caption_attribution_description: English: THE KREMLIN, MOSCOW. President Putin meeting with Akhmat Kadyrov, the head of the Chechen administration.Русский: МОСКВА, КРЕМЛЬ. С Главой администрации Чечни Ахматом Кадыровым.
context_page_description: The Chechen–Russian conflict is the centuries-long conflict, often armed, between the Russian government and various Chechen forces. Formal hostilities date back to 1785, though elements of the conflict can be traced back considerably further.
  The Russian Empire initially had little interest in the North Caucasus itself other than as a communication route to its ally the Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti and its enemies, the Persian and Ottoman Empires, but growing tensions triggered by Russian activities in the region resulted in an uprising of Chechens against the Russian presence in 1785, followed by further clashes and the outbreak of the Caucasian War in 1817. Russia officially won against the imamate in 1864 but only succeeded in defeating the Chechen forces in 1877.
  During the Russian Civil War, Chechens and other Caucasian nations lived in independence for a few years before being Sovietized in 1921. In 1944 on the grounds of dubious allegations of widespread collaboration with the advancing German forces, the Chechen nation as a collective were forcefully transferred to Central Asia in an act of ethnic cleansing.
context_section_description: In 1991, Chechnya declared independence and was named the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria. According to some sources, from 1991 to 1994, tens of thousands of people of non-Chechen ethnicity (mostly Russians, Ukrainians and Armenians) left the republic amidst reports of violence and discrimination against the non-Chechen population. Other sources do not identify displacement as a significant factor in the events of the period, instead focussing on the deteriorating domestic situation within Chechnya, the aggressive politics of the Chechyen President, Dzhokhar Dudayev, and the domestic political ambitions of Russian President Boris Yeltsin. Russian Army forces were commanded into Grozny in 1994 but, after two years of intense fighting, the Russian troops eventually withdrew from Chechnya under the Khasavyurt Accord. Chechnya preserved its de facto independence until the second war broke out in 1999.
  In 1999, the Russian government forces started an anti-terrorist campaign in Chechnya, in response to the invasion of Dagestan by Chechen-based Islamic forces. By early 2000 Russia almost completely destroyed the city of Grozny and succeeded in putting Chechnya under direct control of Moscow by late April.
caption: Akhmad Kadyrov (right), formerly a leading separatist mufti, had switched sides in 2000
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