Chechen Republic of Ichkeria
The Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, known simply as Ichkeria and colloquially as Chechnya, was a de facto state in Eastern Europe. It controlled most of the former Checheno-Ingush ASSR from 1991 to 2000 and has been a government-in-exile since.
In September–October 1991, supporters of Dzhokhar Dudayev seized power in Chechnya during the Chechen Revolution. Dudayev was subsequently elected president of Chechnya and, in this new position, he proclaimed Chechnya's independence from Russia. The move was welcomed by Georgia's president, Zviad Gamsakhurdia, who was one of the first to congratulate Dudayev on his victory and attended his inauguration as president in Grozny. While Chechnya did not receive backing from the international community, it received support and attention from Georgia, which became its only gateway to the outside world that was not controlled by Moscow. Close ties between Gamsakhurdia and Dudayev led to Russian officials, including Alexander Rutskoy, accusing Georgia of "fomenting unrest in the republic".
The First Chechen War of 1994–1996 resulted in the victory of the separatist forces. Despite achieving de facto independence from Russia in 1996, Chechnya’s institutions were in ruin. Following the war it experienced an economic collapse and a societal breakdown which it was not able to recover from. The government no longer had the strength to control the armed gangs that plagued the country, freely engaging in kidnappings, violence, and slavery. In November 1997, Chechnya was proclaimed an Islamic republic. The Second Chechen War began in August 1999, with Ichkeria falling and subsequently being forcibly subsumed back under the control of the Russian central government in 2000. An insurgency followed soon thereafter, officially ending in April 2009 after several years of conflict. Since 2000, the Ichkerian government has continued its activities in exile. In October 2022, the Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada voted to recognize the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria as "temporarily occupied" by Russia.
Etymology
The name "Ichkeria" comes from the river Iskark in South-Eastern Chechnya, which is a small stream flowing into Belka, a tributary to Sunzha. The term was mentioned first as "Iskeria" in a Russian document by Colonel Konstantin Belevich from 1836. The term was originally used as an exonym for the Chechens, who instead referred to the landscape as "Noxçi-moxk". In the 19th century, the Russians began to use it as a toponym.History
Declaration of independence
In November 1990, Dzhokhar Dudayev was elected head of the executive committee of the unofficial opposition Chechen National Congress, 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. Following this, was proclaimed the Chechen Republic. 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 21 August, the OKChN called for the overthrow of the Supreme Soviet of the Chechen-Ingush ASSR. 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. On 27 October 1991, Dudayev was elected president of the Chechen Republic. 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. An early attempt by Russian authorities to confront the pro-independence forces in November 1991 ended after just three days.
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. Grozny became an organized crime haven, as the government proved unable or unwilling to curb criminal activities.
Dudayev's government created the constitution of the Chechen Republic, which was introduced in March 1992. 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.
In late October 1992, federal forces were dispatched to end the Ossetian-Ingush conflict. As Russian troops sealed the border between Chechnya and Ingushetia to prevent arms shipments, Dudayev threatened to take action unless the Russians withdrew. 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.
After staging another coup attempt in December 1993, the opposition organized a Provisional Council as a potential alternative government for Chechnya, calling on Moscow for assistance.
On 14 January 1994, by Dudayev's decree, the Chechen Republic was renamed the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria.
First war
The intensity of Chechen-sponsored terrorism increased during the first seven months in 1994, when four hijacking accidents occurred, involving people trying to flee Russia for the country. In May 1994, Labazanov changed sides, establishing the anti-Dudayev Niyso Movement. In July 1994, 41 passengers aboard a bus near Mineralniye Vody were held by kidnappers demanding $15 million and helicopters. 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, 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.
Former minister of the chemical and oil refining industry of the USSR Salambek Khadzhiyev was appointed leader of the officially recognized Chechen government in November 1994. The conflict ended after the Russian defeat in the Battle of Grozny of August 1996.
Interwar period (1996–1999)
According to Russian sources, after the Russian withdrawal, crime became rampant, with kidnappings and murders multiplying as rival rebel factions fought for territory. In December 1996, six Red Cross workers were killed, resulting in most foreign aid workers leaving the country.Parliamentary and presidential elections took place in January 1997 in Chechnya and brought to power Aslan Maskhadov. The elections were deemed free and fair, but no government recognized Chechnya's independence, except for the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. 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. Nearly half a million people have been internally displaced and lived in refugee camps or overcrowded villages. The economy was destroyed. Two Russian brigades were stationed in Chechnya and did not leave.
Chechnya had been badly damaged by Russia's war against the newly formed republic's independence, and the economy was in shambles. 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 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.
In December 1998, the Supreme Islamic court of Chechnya suspended the Chechen Parliament, asserting that it did not conform to the standards of sharia. 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. The Shura advocated the creation of an Islamic confederation in the North Caucasus, including the Chechen, Dagestani and Ingush peoples.