Timeline Chechnya
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Chechnya: Oil-rich region in northern Caucasus
Mountains of southern
Russia, 7,720 square miles, or about size of New Jersey. Moscow
considers area vital to maintaining influence in Caucasus region.
Population mostly Muslim with strong religious beliefs. Clan-type
groups with influential elders.
1722
Russian troops fought against Chechen tribes for the
1st time.
(SSFC, 11/10/02, p.A11)
1785 Chechen people launched an
armed struggle for freedom and independence under the leadership of
Sheikh Mansur.
(www.chechnyafree.ru)
1791 Sheikh Mansur, Chechen
leader, was captured and died in the Schlusselburg Fortress.
(www.chechnyafree.ru)
1816 General A.P.Yermolov served
as Commander of the Russian army in the Caucasus. Military pressure
intensifies as Russian troops continue to advance deep into Chechnya.
Chechnya responded by stepping up its resistance movement, which, for
more than 30 years, was headed by Beibulat Teimiev.
(www.chechnyafree.ru)
1818 Grozny was established in the
northern Caucasus as a Russian fortress.
(SFEC, 4/30/00, p.C14)
1834-1858 Imam Shamil (1797-1871) ruled over a
self-proclaimed imamat (Chechnya). He united part of the North
Caucasian highlanders in their struggle against tsarist Russia and set
up a theocratic sharia state known as imamat that resisted Tsarist
Russia for 27 years.
(www.chechnyafree.ru)
1852-1853 Leo Tolstoy served as a young artillery
officer in Chechnya. He wrote his short story “The Raid” in 1853 based
on his experiences there.
(WSJ, 5/10/00, p.A1)
1859 Imam Shamil (1797-1871),
Caucasian (Chechen) warrior, surrendered and became an honorary captive
of Alexander II.
(SFC, 8/13/99, p.A14)
1859 The Muslim North Caucasus
region of Chechnya was incorporated into the Russian empire after
hundreds of years of fighting. Czarist armies conquered Chechnya after
decades of fighting.
(SFC, 5/13/97, p.A12)(SFC, 10/26/02, p.A10)
1912 The novella “Hadji Murad” by
Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) was published. Murad (d.1852) was an important
Chechen leader during the resistance of the Caucasian peoples in
1711-1864 against the Russian Empire's seizure of the region.
(http://tinyurl.com/js9od)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hadji_Murad)
1915 Ingush and Chechen regiments
led "the Brusilov breakthrough" on the Russian-German front. Their
horse cavalry attacked an enemy force armed with heavy artillery.
(www.chechnyafree.ru)
1917 May 1, Caucasian unity was
proclaimed at the first Mountain People's Congress in Vladikavkaz. The
idea of a Caucasus Confederation had its origins in the spring of 1917
and was developed further in 1918. At the Congress the "Alliance of
United Mountain People of the North Caucasus and Dagestan", headed by
T. Chermoev, a Chechen, R. Kaplanov, a Kumyk, P. Kotsev, a Kabardian,
V. Dzhabagiev, an Ingush, and others, was officially established. The
Abkhazian people also became full members of this alliance. A Mountain
Peoples' Government was formed in November 1917.
(www.ciaonet.org/olj/crs/crs_1998sp/crs98sp_las01.html)
1917 Chechens formed their 1st
independent state, the Confederation of North Caucasian Peoples,
following the Bolshevik Revolution. [see May 1]
(SSFC, 11/10/02, p.A11)
1920 Nov, Chechens joined with
other Caucasian peoples to form the Republic of the Mountain Peoples.
Chechens had rebelled during the civil war that followed the Russian
Revolution of 1917, clashing with local Cossacks and the anti-Communist
White forces as well as with the Communists' Red Army. With the
establishment of Soviet authority in the region.
(www.chechnyawar.com/history)
1921 The Red Army forced the
Chechen government into exile and took nominal control. Armed
resistance continued. The "Mountain Peoples' Government" was forced to
emigrate as Soviet power became established in the Caucasus.
(SSFC, 11/10/02,
p.A11)(www.ciaonet.org/olj/crs/crs_1998sp/crs98sp_las01.html)
1922 The Soviet government divided
the North Caucasus along ethnic lines, separating the Chechen
Autonomous Oblast from the Republic of the Mountain Peoples and
abolishing the republic itself in 1924.
(www.chechnyawar.com/history)(USAT, 9/2/04, p.13A)
1934 The Chechen-Ingush Autonomous
Soviet Socialist Republic was established.
(USAT, 9/2/04, p.13A)
1944 Feb 23, Stalin ordered the
mass deportation of Chechens and Ingushi to Kazakhstan for resisting
Soviet rule and abetting the Germans. "478,479 persons were evicted and
loaded onto special railway cars, including 91,250 Ingush." More than a
third of the population died before the rest were allowed to go home.
(SFEC, 2/20/00, p.A32)(WSJ, 9/12/02,
p.A8)(WSJ, 2/23/04, p.A16)
1953 After Stalin’s death the
Chechens were allowed to return home.
(SFC, 2/25/97, p.a14)
1957 Khrushchev allowed the
Chechens back to the Caucasus and the Checheno-Ingush republic was set
up.
(SFC, 5/13/97, p.A12)
1991 Sep 6, Dzhokhar Dudayev, a
retired Soviet air force general, led an ouster of Chechnya’s
government. He was then elected president and declared independence.
(SFC, 9/5/96, p.A10)
1991 Oct, Communist ruler Doku
Zavgayev was overthrown and Gen’l. Dudayev won a disputed local
election and declared independence.
(SFC, 5/13/97, p.A12)
1991 Nov 2, Chechnya proclaimed
independence following the collapse of the Soviet Union.
(SSFC, 11/10/02, p.A11)
1992 Mar, Chechnya adopted a
constitution that defined it as a secular state. Pres. Dzhokhar Dudayev
led the independence movement.
(SSFC, 11/10/02, p.A11)
1993 Dec 12, Russia adopted a new
democratic constitution and began the war with Chechnya.
(SFC, 12/27/96, p.B2)
1994 Mar, Sergei Stepashin was
appointed as head of the new KGB. He later played a central role in
sending troops into Chechnya.
(SFC, 5/13/99, p.A16)
1994 Nov 26, A major offensive by
the Russian-backed opposition failed to wrest Grozny, the capital of
Chechnya from its government.
(AP, 11/26/02)
1994 Nov 29, Fighter jets attacked
the capital of Chechnya and its airport hours after Russian President
Boris Yeltsin demanded the breakaway republic end its civil war.
(AP, 11/29/99)
1994 Nov, Beslan Gantamirov took
part in a failed Kremlin-backed attempt to overthrow Dzhokhar Dudayev.
(SFC, 11/30/99, p.D1)
1994 Dec 11, Thousands of Russian
troops backed by armored columns and jets rolled into breakaway
republic of Chechnya in a bid to restore Moscow's control over the
region. Russia under Yeltsin sent in troops to put down the Chechnya
rebellion but met strong resistance and suffered heavy casualties.
There was no attempt by Pres. Yeltsin to legitimize the military action
in parliament.
(SFC, 9/5/96, p.A10)(SFC, 12/26/96, p.B1)(SFC,
5/13/97, p.A12)(SFC, 9/9/98, p.A10) (AP, 12/11/99)
1994 Dec 31, Russian ground forces
launched a ferocious assault on the Chechen capital of Grozny.
(AP, 12/31/99)
1995 Jan 2, Chechen defenders
drove Russian troops out of the capital of Grozny.
(AP, 1/2/00)
1995 Jan 7, Major General Viktor
Vorobyov, a senior commander leading Russian troops in their advance on
the secessionist capital of Chechnya, was killed by a mortar shell.
(AP, 1/7/00)
1995 Jan 8, Russian forces in
Chechnya pounded the capital of Grozny with rocket and mortar fire in
an attempt to scatter Chechen fighters defending the presidential
palace.
(AP, 1/8/00)
1995 Jan 10, Russia announced a
48-hour truce in breakaway Chechnya, but the cease-fire fell apart
after a few hours.
(AP, 1/10/00)
1995 Jan 14, Russian troops in the
breakaway republic of Chechnya captured the Council of Ministers
building, a key rebel position in the capital Grozny.
(AP, 1/14/00)
1995 Jan 19, Russian troops
regained control of the presidential palace in Grozny, the capital of
the breakaway republic of Chechnya.
(AP, 1/19/00)
1995 Mar 31, Fred Cuny (b.1944),
American disaster relief specialist, disappeared in Chechnya and was
never found. He used his training in engineering to do humanitarian
work and worked in countries such as Biafra, Guatemala, Ethiopia, Iraq,
Somalia, and Bosnia. Cuny (50), an envoy for George Soros' Open Society
Institute, was shot and killed by Chechen gunmen. In 1999 Scott
Anderson published "The Man Who Tried to Save the World: The Dangerous
Life and Mysterious Disappearance of Fred Cuny."
(http://www.onlineethics.org/cms/14193.aspx)(SFEC,
6/6/99, BR p.1)
1995 Jun 14, Shamil Basayev,
Chechen commander, led a hostage raid on the a Russian hospital in
Budyonnovsk [Budennovsk]. Chechen rebels took some 1,500 people hostage
in a hospital in Russia. After a 4-day standoff Sergei Stepashin
ordered troops to storm the hospital and the rebels escaped with some
100 hostages. Some 100-150 people were killed in the fighting.
(SFC, 1/25/97, p.A8)(HN, 6/14/98)(SFC, 5/13/99,
p.A16)(SSFC, 11/10/02, p.A11)
1995 Jun 17, Russian commandos
stormed a hospital where Chechen rebels were holding more than 1,000
hostages, but the Chechens beat the Russians back.
(AP, 6/17/00)
1995 Jun 19, Chechen rebels and
more than 100 human shields rode a convoy of buses back to Chechnya
following the end of a hostage drama at a Russian hospital.
(AP, 6/19/00)
1995 Jul 30, Russia and Chechen
rebels signed an agreement calling for a gradual withdrawal of Russian
troops and the disarmament of rebel fighters.
(AP, 7/30/00)
1995 Nov, The Kremlin appointed
leader of the breakaway region, Doku Zavgayev, and several bodyguards
were wounded by a bomb in the capital city of Grozny.
(WSJ, 11/21/95, p.A-1)
1995 Dec 14, Heavy fighting erupts
in Gudermes, Chechnya, when rebels disrupted Kremlin-imposed elections.
At least 267 Chechen civilians were reported killed in the following 10
days.
(AP, 12/14/02)
1995 Dec 31, Russian ground forces
launched a ferocious assault on the Chechen capital of Grozny.
(AP, 12/31/00)
1995 Dec, Another bomb exploded in
Grozny outside the Russian Admin. Bldg. and killed 11 people and
wounded more than 60.
(WSJ, 12/5/95, p.A-1)
1995 Dec, Chechen separatists seek
to block a vote called by the Moscow-installed government and seize
parts of the Gudermes, the second-largest city. As many as 44 rebels
are said to have been killed this week.
(WSJ, 12/15/95, p.A-1) (WSJ, 12/19/95, p.A-1)
1995 Dec, Fighting in Chechnya
killed 600, half civilians, during a heavy Russian assault on Gudermes.
(WSJ, 12/26/95, p. A-1)
1995 Russian troops occupied
Grozny and a puppet government was installed.
(SFC, 11/30/99, p.D1)
1995 Arab guerrilla Khattab
(d.2002) arrived in Chechnya.
(SFC, 4/27/02, p.A10)
1996 Jan 9, Chechen rebels under
Salman Raduyev seized hostages from a hospital in Kizlyar, Dagestan, a
neighboring Russian republic. At least 40 people were killed.
(WSJ, 1/10/96, p. A-12)(SFC, 7/17/99, p.A14)(WSJ,
3/13/00, p.A1)
1996 Jan 10, Chechen rebels seized
as many as 3,000 hostages in the Russian Republic of Dagestan.
(WSJ, 1/2/97, p.R2)
1996 Jan 10, Russian troops
allowed a convoy of Chechen rebels and 160 hostages to head for
Chechnya, then surrounded them in the village of Pervomayskaya. After a
five-day standoff, Russian troops launched a massive military assault
that resulted in the deaths of most of the rebels and some of the
hostages.
(AP, 1/10/01)
1996 Jan 12, Chechen fighters
holding more than 100 hostages in the Russian village of Pervomayskaya
freed about a dozen of their captives and pledged to release the rest
if four top Russian officials took their place.
(AP, 1/12/01)
1996 Jan 15, Risking the lives of
more than 100 hostages in an effort to wipe out their Chechen rebel
captors, the Russian military hurled rockets and shells at the tiny
village of Pervomayskaya, at the border of Dagestan and Chechnya.
(WSJ, 1/16/96, p. A-1)(AP, 1/15/01)
1996 Jan 16, Chechens hijacked a
ferry with 165 passengers and crew from the Turkish port of Trabzon
bound for the Russian city of Sochi. Gunmen in Trabzon, Turkey,
hijacked a Black Sea ferry with more than 200 people on board, and
demanded that Russian troops stop fighting Chechen rebels in
Pervomayskaya. The hostages were released three days later after the
Russian troops stormed Pervomaiskoye.
(WSJ, 1/17/96, p.A-1)(AP, 1/16/01)
1996 Jan 17, Russian forces
unleashed a scorching barrage of rockets on Chechen rebels in
Pervomayskaya.
(AP, 1/17/01)
1996 Jan 22, The Chechen rebel
leader escaped from Dagestan along with many fighters and hostages.
(WSJ, 1/23/96, p.A-1)
1996 Feb. 23, Chechen rebels blew
up a big gas pipeline in southern Chechnya. Russia was bringing in
troops ahead of today’s anniversary of mass deportations of Chechens to
Central Asia in World War II.
(WSJ, 2/22/96, p.A-1)
1996 Feb, Yeltsin announced that
the war in Chechnya was a mistake and began negotiations with rebels.
Russian forces withdrew and Chechnya descended into lawlessness.
(SSFC, 11/10/02, p.A11)
1996 Apr 16, Moscow said 70 of its
soldiers were killed in a rebel ambush in Chechnya.
(WSJ, 4/19/96, p.A-1)
1996 Apr 18, Pres. Yeltsin of
Russia denied that there was a war in Chechnya while Russian TV showed
Chechen rebels attacking a Russian military convoy. 26 soldiers were
killed and 51 were wounded.
(SFC, 4/18/96, p.a-14)
1996 Apr 25, Top Chechen officials
confirmed that their leader, Dzhokar Dudayev, was killed in a Russian
air strike. He was succeeded Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev.
(WSJ, 4/25/96, p.A-1)(USAT, 9/2/04, p.13A)
1996 May, Chechen rebels shot down
a Russian Su-25 fighter near the village of Mairtup. It was the 5th
Russian plane downed since Dec. 1994.
(SFC, 5/6/96, p.A-10)
1996 May 24, Chechen leader
Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev and Russian Pres. Boris Yeltsin have agreed to
hold peace talks.
(SFC, 5/234/96, p.A14)
1996 May 27, Chechen leader
Zelimkhan Yanderbiyev and Russian leader Boris Yeltsin agreed to a
peace accord and prime minister Victor Chernomyrdin signed the
agreement with Yanderbiyev.
(SFC, 5/28/96, p.A1)
1996 May 29, Rebel commander Aslan
Maskhadov sent a radio message to his forces to refrain from attacks on
Russian soldiers. A power sharing plan defines Chechnya as a sovereign
state within the Russian Federation, giving it control over its
finances and resources.
(SFC, 5/30/96, p.A8)
1996 Jun 9, In Russia a rebel
spokesman said that the two sides have agreed on the withdrawal of
Russian troops from Chechnya by the end of August.
(SFC, 6/10/96, C2)
1996 Jun 11, A convoy of Chechen
rebel leaders was blasted by remote control bombs while returning after
negotiations with Russian counterparts.
(SFC, 6/12/96, p.A10)
1996 Jun 12, Chechnya’s pro-Moscow
government refused to postpone elections for the local parliament as
called for in the recent peace talks.
(SFC, 6/13/96, p.C2)
1996 Jun 28, Russian troops began
to pull out from Chechnya.
(SFC, 6/29/96, p.A13)
1996 Jul 9, The pre-election truce
in Chechnya was shattered and the war resumed.
(WSJ, 7/10/96, p.A1)
1996 Aug 5, Chechen rebels began a
new raid and seized much of Grozny by the next day.
(SFC, 8/14/96, p.A10)
1996 Aug 11, Pres. Yeltsin
appointed Alexander Lebed as his pres. envoy to Chechnya.
(WSJ, 8/12/96, p.A9)
1996 Aug 27, Russian and Chechen
military commanders signed the Khasavyurt Accords, an agreement for
military disengagement.
(SFC, 8/28/96, p.A8)(USAT, 9/2/04, p.13A)
1996 Sep 3, In Russia Alexander
Lebed said that about 80,000 people had died in the fighting in
Chechnya during the 21 months of the war.
(SFC, 4/9/96, A10)
1996 Nov 23, In Russia Pres.
Yeltsin ordered all troops withdrawn from Chechnya by Jan 27, when
elections would be held.
(SFEC, 11/24/96, p.A14)
1996 Dec 17, Six Red Cross workers
were slain in their sleep and a 7th was wounded by as many as 15
attackers in Chechnya. The Red Cross immediately suspended all
operations in Chechnya.
(SFC, 12/18/96, p.A1)(AP, 12/17/97)
1996 Dzhokar Dudayev led Chechnya.
(WSJ, 4/1/96, p.A-10)
1997 Jan 21, Elections for
president were planned and Aslan Maskhadov and Shamil Basayev led the
16 candidates. Ichkeria was name given to free Chechnya by the Muslim
separatists.
(SFC, 1/22/96, p.A9)
1997 Jan 28, Aslan Maskhadov claim
victory in the Chechen elections.
(SFC, 1/29/97, p.A6)
1997 Apr 28, A bomb in southern
Russia killed one person and injured 17 at a train station in
Pyatigorsk. It was the 2nd bombing in a week and Chechen rebels were
blamed.
(WSJ, 4/29/97, p.A1)
1997 May 12, Russia and Chechnya
signed a peace treaty. The treaty refers to Chechnya as the “Chechen
Republic of Ichkeria,” and says that it is subject to international law.
(SFC, 5/13/97, p.A12)
1997 Jun 9, Chechen Pres. Aslan
Maskhadov dissolved secular courts and left only Islamic tribunals in
charge of the legal system. Islamic banks were scheduled as well as a
conversion from a Latin to Arabic letters.
(SFC, 6/10/97, p.A16)
1997 Jul, Camilla Carr and Jon
James, British charity workers for a Quaker relief organization, were
taken hostage in Chechnya. The were released Sep 20, 1998.
(SFC, 9/21/98, p.A13)
1997 Oct 22, Relief workers Istvan
Olah and Gabor Dunajsky of Hungary were captured and held as hostages
in Chechnya. They were released in July, 1998.
(SFC, 7/27/98, p.A10)
1997 Lyoma Usmanov came to the US
and stayed on as the Chechen representative. He later authored
"Unbroken Chechnya."
(SFC, 11/26/99, p.A22)
1998 Jan 1, The Chechen president
asked Shamil Basayev to form a government.
(WSJ, 1/2/98, p.A1)
1998 Jan 15, A cabinet reshuffle
left Shamil Basayev in charge of the government. Russia still held him
subject to arrest. He served 6 months as prime minister and failed to
crack down on lawlessness, kidnapping and violence.
(WSJ, 1/16/98, p.A1)(SFC, 8/13/99, p.A14)
1998 Feb 21, Guerrilla leader
Salman Raduyev was warmly greeted at the congress of veterans by some
10,000 veterans of the 1994-1996 war in Grozny.
(SFC, 2/23/98, p.A12)
1998 Feb 22, Guerrilla leader
Salman Raduyev announced a reconciliation with the Chechen leadership.
(SFC, 2/23/98, p.A12)
1998 Apr 16, A Russian army convoy
was ambushed near the Chechnya border. A general, 2 colonels and 3
soldiers were killed and Chechen militants were blamed.
(WSJ, 4/17/98, p.A1)
1998 May, Valentin Vlasov, a
personal envoy of Boris Yeltsin, was kidnapped. He was released Nov. 13.
(SFC, 12/10/98, p.C8)
1998 Jun 21, The Chechen security
chief, Lecha Khulygov, and a guerrilla commander, Vakha Dzhafarov,
fatally shot each other in an argument over a demonstration by rebel
supporters.
(SFC, 6/22/98, p.A10)
1998 Jul 16, In Gudermes,
Chechnya, fighting broke out and over 50 people were reported killed in
a battle between Chechen security forces and Muslim Wahabist
paramilitary, a conservative arm of Sunni Islam.
(SFC, 7/17/98, p.A16)
1998 Jul 23, In Chechnya Pres.
Aslan Maskhadov received minor injuries from an assassination attempt
in Grozny that killed 2 bodyguards. He had been cracking down on
organized crime and Muslim militants.
(SFC, 7/24/98, p.D2)(WSJ, 7/24/98, p.A1)
1998 Jul 27, It was reported that
2 Hungarian relief workers held as hostages in Chechnya since Oct 22
were released the previous week.
(SFC, 7/27/98, p.A10)
1998 Sep 29, Akmal Saidov, a
Russian government representative, was kidnapped in Chechnya. His body
was found Oct 3.
(SFC, 12/10/98, p.C8)
1998 Oct 3, In Chechnya 4 men
working to install a cellular phone system were kidnapped by 20 men.
The severed heads Darren Hickey, Rudolf Petschi, Stanley Shaw and
Peter Kennedy were found Dec 8. Their bodies were found Dec 26 in
Chernorechiye.
(SFC, 10/5/98, p.A9)(SFC, 12/9/98, p.A9)(SFC,
12/28/98, p.B1)
1998 Oct 25, In Chechnya Shadid
Bargishev (27), the top anti-kidnapping official, was killed in a
remote-controlled car bombing. He was about as to begin a major
offensive on hostage takers.
(SFC, 10/26/98, p.A7)
1998 Dec 7, In Chechnya a rescue
attempt was made to free the 4 men kidnapped Oct 3. The action led to
the murder of the 4 men whose severed heads were found the next day.
(SFC, 12/9/98, p.A9)
1998 Dec 8, The severed heads
Darren Hickey, Rudolf Petschi, Stanley Shaw and Peter Kennedy
were found lines up along a highway outside of Grozny.
(SFC, 12/10/98, p.C8)
1998 Dec 10, Mansur Tagirov,
Chechnya’s top prosecutor, disappeared while returning to Grozny.
(SFC, 12/12/98, p.B1)
1998 Carlotta Gall and Thomas de
Waal wrote “Chechnya: Calamity in the Caucasus,” and Anatol Lieven
wrote “Chechnya: Tombstone of Russian Power.”
(WSJ, 6/9/98, p.A16)
1999 Jan 1-1999 Jun 30, At least
1,094 people were abducted in and around Chechnya during this period.
Kidnapped Chechens and civilians from Dagestan were not recorded.
(SFC, 8/3/99, p.A9)
1999 Jan 10, In Chechnya Pres.
Aslan Maskhadov planned to adopt a constitution based on the Koran and
phase in sharia law over 3 years.
(SFC, 1/11/99, p.A10)(USAT, 9/2/04, p.13A)
1999 Mar 21, In Chechnya one
person was killed as a bomb exploded in the motorcade of Pres.
Maskhadov.
(SFC, 3/22/99, p.A10)
1999 Mar, Maj. Gen. Gennadi
Shpigun, Russian envoy, was kidnapped in Grozny. His remains were found
a year later in the village of Itum-Kale.
(SFC, 6/15/00, p.A15)
1999 Apr 7, Chechen gunmen killed
4 Russian policemen patrolling the border near Stavropol.
(WSJ, 4/8/99, p.A1)
1999 Jun 18, In Chechnya the worst
fighting in months broke out as Chechen fighters attacked Russian
border posts in Dagestan. 7 men were killed and 15 wounded in separate
confrontations.
(SFC, 6/19/99, p.A10)
1999 Jun 29, In Chechnya Russian
security forces freed Herbert Gregg (51), an American missionary
kidnapped over 7 months ago. Part of his index finger had been cut off
in an attempt to extort ransom.
(SFC, 6/30/99, p.A8)
1999 Jul 5, Russian troops
attacked some 150 militants in Chechnya about this time and a number of
people were killed.
(WSJ, 7/6/99, p.A1)
1999 Aug 7, In Russia Islamic
fighters based in Chechnya seized at least 2 village in Dagestan.
Warlords Shamil Basayev and Wahabi commander Khattab were reported to
be involved. The Wahabi sect, a puritan branch of Sunni Islam, was
founded in the 18th century in Saudi Arabia.
(SFEC, 8/8/99, p.A20)
1999 Sep 6, In Dagestan Russian
forces used artillery and air power against rebel guerrillas and 2
dozen people were killed on the Chechen side of the border. Fighting in
NoIvolakskoye left 14 soldiers dead.
(SFC, 9/7/99, p.A12)
1999 Sep 18, Russian forces
attacked rebel targets in Chechnya to prevent guerrilla raids in
Dagestan.
(SFEC, 9/19/99, p.A1)
1999 Sep 22, A bombing attempt was
made in Ryazan, western Russia. The people arrested were not Chechens
and later pronounced to be Russian secret service on a training
exercise.
(SFC, 11/26/99, p.A22)
1999 Sep 23, In Chechnya Russian
fighter jets bombed targets in and around Grozny. The Chechen
government said that it does not support Islamic militants and that it
would retaliate against Russian attacks on its territory.
(SFC, 9/24/99, p.A16)
1999 Sep 24, In Chechnya tens of
thousands of civilians fled Grozny as Russian planes continued to bomb
the capital to wipe out Islamic militants accused of terrorizing Russia.
(SFC, 9/25/99, p.A13)
1999 Sep 25, In Chechnya Russian
warplanes knocked out local TV and mobile phones and forced thousands
of civilians to flee Grozny. 7 people were reported killed and 24
wounded. An estimated 100,000 crowded the border crossing to Ingushetia.
(SFEC, 9/26/99, p.A23)
1999 Sep 27, In Chechnya Russian
jets dropped bombs for a 5th day and thousands of civilians fled to
towns and villages in the region. Some 300 people were reported killed
in the air strikes around Grozny.
(SFC, 9/28/99, p.A1)
1999 Sep 28, In Chechnya 8 people
were killed when a schoolhouse was bombed on the 6th day of Russian air
attacks. Some 60,000 people had reportedly fled to the neighboring
regions of Ingushetia, Dagestan, North Ossetia and Stavropol.
(SFC, 9/29/99, p.A12)
1999 Sep 29, Russia demanded that
Chechnya condemn terrorism and extradite the criminals responsible for
the bombings in Russia.
(SFC, 9/30/99, p.A14)
1999 Sep 30, Russian troops began
a ground offensive into Chechnya aimed at creating a buffer zone to
block the infiltration of Chechen guerrillas.
(SFC, 10/1/99, p.D5)
1999 Sep, Tamerlan Khasaev and
fellow Chechens under orders killed 6 Russian conscripts who had
surrendered. The killings were videotaped.
(WSJ, 7/23/02, p.A12)
1999 Oct 1, In Russia Prime
Minister Putin cut ties with the elected government of Chechnya.
(SFC, 10/2/99, p.A12)
1999 Oct 2, Russian troops engaged
Chechen guerrilla defenders as armored columns rolled into the villages
of Alpatova and Chernokosova.
(SFEC, 10/3/99, p.A22)
1999 Oct 4, In Russia Prime
Minister Putin planned to resettle thousands of Chechens in areas under
Russian control, an indication that Moscow planned to split Chechnya in
two. Chechen fighters shot down a Russian Sukhoi-24 warplane that was
searching for another downed plane.
(SFC, 10/5/99, p.A10)(SFC, 10/6/99, p.A10)
1999 Oct 5, In Chechnya Russian
troops seized the northern third of the country. A suspected Russian
artillery shell hit a busload of people and killed 40 people, mostly
women and children.
(SFC, 10/6/99, p.A10)(SFC, 10/8/99, p.A12)
1999 Oct 6, The Chechen president
called for a holy war against Russia.
(WSJ, 10/7/99, p.A1)
1999 Oct 7, In Chechnya Russian
planes bombed the village of Elistanzhi and 32 people were reported
killed with 60 injured and 200 houses destroyed.
(SFC, 10/9/99, p.A10)
1999 Oct 11, In Chechnya more
people fled Russian attacks and Moscow rebuffed a peace overture and
demanded that Islamic militants be handed over before any peace
settlement.
(WSJ, 10/12/99, p.A1)
1999 Oct 14, In Chechnya the
Russians pressed an offensive below the Terek River as the Chechens
rallied in Grozny.
(WSJ, 10/15/99, p.A1)
1999 Oct 15, The Russians
bombarded Goragorsky, Chechnya.
(SFC, 10/20/99, p.B4)
1999 Oct 21, In Chechnya Russian
rockets hit and market and 2 other sites in Grozny and as many as 140
people were killed.
(SFC, 10/22/99, p.A1)(SFC, 10/23/99, p.A10)
1999 Oct 24, In Chechnya Russian
artillery and jet bombers killed at least 27 people during a dawn
attack at Serzhen-Yurt. Over the weekend the Chechen-Ingush border was
sealed.
(SFC, 10/25/99, p.A12)(SFC, 10/29/99, p.D4)
1999 Oct 27, In Chechnya Russian
warplanes and artillery closed in on Grozny and 100 people were killed
and some 200 wounded.
(SFC, 10/28/99, p.A12)
1999 Oct 28, Russian soldiers
battled Chechen fighters for control of Yastrebinaya Hill, which
overlooked Grozny. Chechen Pres. Makhashev said that 223 civilians had
been killed in the last 2 days.
(SFC, 10/29/99, p.D4)
1999 Oct 29, In Chechnya Russian
warplanes and artillery launched fierce strikes and 25 refugees were
killed while trying to flee the assaults.
(SFC, 10/30/99, p.A12)(SFEC, 10/31/99, p.A26)
1999 Nov 4, Russia allowed
thousands of refugees to flee Chechnya and the crossing at the
Sleptsovskaya border reached 500 people per hour.
(SFC, 11/5/99, p.D3)
1999 Nov 7, In Chechnya Russian
soldiers dislodged rebels in Bamut. 38 civilians were reported killed
along with 28 Chechen fighters.
(SFC, 11/8/99, p.C14)
1999 Nov 12, In Chechnya Russian
forces took control of Gudermes and proposed to move the capital there
from Grozny.
(SFC, 11/13/99, p.A10)
1999 Nov 18, The UN high
commissioner for refugees, Sadako Ogata, visited Chechen refugee camps
in Ingushetia. Some 215,000 refugees had fled Russian attacks.
(SFC, 11/19/99, p.A18)
1999 Nov 18, Pres. Clinton at a
conference in Turkey of the Organization for Security and Cooperation
in Europe urged Pres. Yeltsin to stop the bombing and rocket attacks in
Chechnya.
(SFC, 11/19/99, p.A1)
1999 Nov 21, In Chechnya some
5,000 rebels barricaded themselves in Grozny in preparation for a
Russian offensive.
(SFC, 11/22/99, p.A12)
1999 Nov 25, In Chechnya Russian
forces fired hundreds of rockets into Grozny in its fiercest assault in
the 3-month offensive.
(SFC, 11/26/99, p.A20)
1999 Nov 26, Russian commanders
announced that they would begin pursuing Chechen guerrilla forces into
their mountain hideouts.
(SFC, 11/27/99, p.A1)
1999 Nov 27, In Chechnya residents
reported 260 civilian deaths in Grozny since the beginning of Russian
assaults 2 days earlier.
(SFEC, 11/28/99, p.A19)
1999 Nov, The Kremlin appointed
Beslan Gantamirov (36) as head of the pro-Moscow Chechen State Council.
Gantamirov was just pardoned by Pres. Yeltsin and released from a
6-year sentence for embezzling federal funds to rebuild Chechnya in
1995-96.
(SFC, 11/30/99, p.D1)
1999 Dec 3, In Chechnya some 250
Russian soldiers were reported killed by rebels south of Grozny.
Separately as many as 40 Chechen civilians were killed when Russian
troops fired on a refugee convoy.
(SFC, 12/4/99, p.A12)
1999 Dec 4, Russian troops
pillaged the Alkhan-Yurt village 10 miles southwest of Grozny and
killed 17 civilians.
(SFC, 12/23/99, p.A14)
1999 Dec 6, In Chechnya Russian
planes dropped leaflets warning civilians in Grozny to leave or face
heavy air and artillery strikes on Dec 11.
(SFC, 12/7/99, p.A1)
1999 Dec 8, In Chechnya Russian
forces ousted rebels from Urus-Martan.
(SFC, 12/9/99, p.A16)
1999 Dec 11, In Chechnya Russian
forces halted attacks on Grozny to give an estimated 10-40,000
civilians a chance to leave. An estimated 4,000 rebel fighters were
holed up there.
(SFEC, 12/12/99, p.A26)
1999 Dec 15, In Chechnya at least
115 Russian soldiers were killed by rocket propelled grenades fired by
Chechen guerrillas in Grozny.
(SFC, 12/16/99, p.A1)(SFC, 12/17/99, p.A12)
1999 Dec 17, Russian soldiers in
Ingushetia attempted to tow 100 rail cars of Chechen refugees back to
Chechnya. Refugees blocked the tracks and after a standoff 36 cars were
towed back with some 100 willing Chechens.
(SFC, 12/22/99, p.C4)
1999 Dec 25, Russian forces
launched an attack on Grozny led by 700 pro-Moscow Chechen volunteers.
(SFEC, 12/26/99, p.A1)
1999 Dec 31, Russia’s Pres.
Yeltsin (68) announced his resignation and handed power over to PM
Putin. Yeltsin approved a law just before resigning that required
presidential candidates to collect 1 million registered signatures to
win a place on the next ballet. Putin flew to Chechnya and vowed to
pursue terrorists everywhere.
(SFC, 1/1/00, p.A1)(SFC, 1/3/00, p.A9)(Econ, 3/1/08,
p.54)
1999-2005 It was estimated that 3,000 to 5,000 people
disappeared in Chechnya over this period. A third due to masked Russian
forces and the rest from Chechen “security.”
(Econ, 3/26/05, p.53)
2000 Jan 7, Russia announced a
suspension of aerial bombardment in Grozny to allow civilians to
escape. A military shakeup was also announced.
(SFC, 1/800, p.A1)
2000 Jan 9, In Chechnya rebels
attacked Russian positions in Argun, Shali and Gudermes as Russia
continued a bombing halt for the Orthodox Christmas.
(SFC, 1/10/00, p.A10)
2000 Jan 16, In Chechnya Russian
warplanes bombarded the area around Grozny and federal forces reported
120 rebels killed. Islamic militants reported at least 18 civilians
killed.
(SFC, 1/17/00, p.A10)
2000 Jan 17, Russian aircraft and
artillery bombed Grozny with a record number of attacks.
(SFC, 1/18/00, p.A8)
2000 Jan 18, In Chechnya Russian
troops began moving through the streets of Grozny in the most intense
ground attack in 4 months.
(SFC, 1/19/00, p.A1)
2000 Jan 18, In Chechnya Russian
Gen. Mikhail Malofeyev went missing in Grozny following an ambush and
rebel commanders later reported that they had him captured.
(SFC, 1/21/00, p.A12)
2000 Jan 22, In Chechnya Russian
forces claimed control over a third of Grozny. Russian commander Viktor
Kazantsev said Pres. Aslan Maskhadov was wounded in fighting in the
Argun Gorge.
(SFEC, 1/23/00, p.A27)
2000 Jan 23, In Chechnya rebels
ambushed Russian troops in Staraya Sunzha village and 8 soldiers were
killed. The body of Gen. Mikhail Malofeyev was found in Grozny. A
Chechen commander denied reports that Pres. Maskhadov was wounded.
(SFC, 1/24/00, p.A7)
2000 Jan 25, The Russian
government announced that 1,055 servicemen had been killed and 3,206
wounded in Chechnya since Oct 1.
(SFC, 1/27/00, p.A13)
2000 Feb 1, In Chechnya rebel
fighters suffered heavy losses to Russian troops and some 2000 broke
out of Grozny to rejoin fellow rebels in the south. Some 600 rebels
were killed or wounded when they crossed a Russian mine field following
a $100,000 proposed bribe. Commanders Shamil Basayev, Aslanbek Ismailov
and Khunkar-Pasha Israpilov were among the dead.
(SFC, 2/2/00, p.A14)(SFC, 2/5/00, p.A10)
2000 Feb 4, Russians forces began
bombing Katyr Yurt after Chechen rebels arrived from Grozny. The
bombing lasted for 2 days, well after the rebels fled, and at least 170
civilians were killed. Later reports said 343 refugees were killed.
(SFC, 2/15/00, p.A13)(WSJ, 3/6/00, p.A1)
2000 Feb 5, In Chechnya the Human
Rights Watch group said it had documented 22 cases in which Grozny
residents were killed by Russian soldiers. Another 14 cases were under
investigation. Later reports indicated 82 civilians were killed by
Russian mercenaries (kontraktniki).
(SFEC, 2/6/00, p.A25)(SFC, 2/22/00, p.A9)
2000 Feb 6, In Russia acting Pres.
Putin announced that federal forces had scored a major victory in
Chechnya.
(SFC, 2/7/00, p.A1)
2000 Feb 7, In Chechnya Russian
forces reported that hundreds of rebels had been killed over the last 2
days near the villages of Katyr-Yurt and Shaami-Yurt.
(SFC, 2/8/00, p.A14)
2000 Feb 8, In Chechnya rebels
attacked 2 Russian military trains and set off a large battle.
(WSJ, 2/11/00, p.A1)
2000 Feb 14, In Chechnya Russian
commanders ordered Grozny sealed and its population evacuated in order
to clear bombs and booby-traps. Oleg Blotsky, a Russian journalist,
made a video tape of dead Chechens at Roshni-Chu and Urus-Martan. The
video was given to N24, a German TV station, and broadcast on Feb 25.
(SF, 2/15/00, p.A12)(SFC, 2/26/00, p.A10)
2000 Feb 17, In Russian Vladimir
Putin named Vladimir Kalamanov, the head of the migration service, to
look into allegations of torture, rape and executions by Russian
soldiers against Chechen civilians.
(SFC, 2/19/00, p.A10)
2000 Feb 18, In Chechnya rebels
shot down a Russian helicopter and 15 men were killed.
(SFEC, 2/20/00, p.A32)
2000 Feb 29, In Chechnya 84
Russian paratroopers were killed after rebels attacked a guard post
near Ulus Kert. Most of the soldiers were from Pskov. Many were
suspected to have died from Russian artillery called in after the
position was overrun.
(SFC, 3/11/00, p.A12)
2000 Mar 2, In Chechnya rebels
ambushed Russian troops outside Grozny and killed at least 20 police
commandos.
(SFC, 3/4/00, p.A1)
2000 Mar 6, In Chechnya some 30
rebels held positions at Komsomolskoye's mosque under Russian shelling.
50 Russian troops were reported killed in the last 2 days.
(SFC, 3/7/00, p.A14)
2000 Mar 12, In Russia agents
captured Salman Raduyev, a Chechen warlord.
(SFC, 3/14/00, p.A8)
2000 Mar 20, Natalya Estemirova
(1959-2009), Chechen rights activist, went to the village of Aldi and
counted 47 victims.
(Econ, 7/18/09, p.24)
2000 Mar 26, Russian Col. Yuri
Budanov and 3 soldiers seized Elza (Heda) Kungayeva (18) and strangled
her to death following a pummeling and sexual assault. She was believed
to be a Chechen rebel sniper. In 2001 Budanov faced a trial and in 2002
he was ruled temporarily insane.
(SSFC, 3/18/01, p.D5)(SFC, 1/1/03, p.A9)
2000 Mar 29, In Chechnya rebels
ambushed Russian troops and left 4 dead and 18 wounded. 27 men were
missing.
(WSJ, 3/31/00, p.A1)
2000 Apr 1, In Chechnya Russian
soldiers found 33 of their missing comrades. 32 were dead and
booby-trapped from the Mar 30 rebel attack.
(SFEC, 4/2/00, p.A20)
2000 Apr 20, In Chechnya Pres.
Maskhadov told a Russian news agency that he had declared a unilateral
cease-fire. Maskhadov later said his remarks meant that fighting would
stop only if both sides agreed to stop fighting and negotiate a
settlement.
(WSJ, 4/21/00, p.A1)(SFC, 4/25/00, p.A10)
2000 Apr 22, In Chechnya
guerrillas attacked a Russian convoy and killed 15 soldiers near
Serzhen-Yurt.
(SFC, 4/25/00, p.A10)
2000 Apr 26, In Chechnya Russian
troops were ambushed near Serzhen-Yurt. 17 rebels and 10 Russians were
reported killed.
(SFC, 4/28/00, p.D3)
2000 Apr 29, In Chechnya Alman
Mesiyev, the mayor of Khattuni, was shot at close range by rebels for
cooperating with Russian troops.
(SFC, 5/4/00, p.A16)
2000 May 3, Russian troops
ambushed a Chechen rebel band and killed at least 18 men.
(WSJ, 5/5/00, p.A1)
2000 May 10, Chechnya rebels
claimed to have trapped a Russian unit and killed 34 soldiers with 4
rebels dead. Russian officials denied the claim.
(SFC, 5/11/00, p.A24)
2000 May 11, Chechen rebels
ambushed a Russian troop convoy west of Chechnya and killed 18 soldiers.
(SFC, 5/12/00, p.D3)
2000 May 12, In Chechnya Russian
forces staged two ambush attacks on rebels and claimed 41 killed.
(SFC, 5/13/00, p.A9)
2000 May 31, Sergei Zveryev,
Russia’s 2nd highest official in the area, was killed by a remote
controlled bomb in Grozny. Grozny’s Mayor Supyan Makhchayev was injured
and his assistant was also killed.
(SFC, 6/1/00, p.A16)
2000 May, Pres. Putin declared
direct rule over Chechnya from Moscow. Former Chechen cleric Akhmad
Kadyrov was appointed as administrative head.
(USAT, 9/2/04, p.13A)
2000 May, Russian security
arrested Ruslan Alikhadzhiyev, a Chechen parliamentary speaker in
Shali. In Sept. it was reported that Alikhadzhiyev was missing and had
reportedly been killed following torture.
(SFC, 9/6/00, p.A10)
2000 Jun 7, In Chechnya a suicide
attack killed 2 Russian policemen and wounded 5 in Alkhan-Yurt.
(WSJ, 6/8/00, p.A1)
2000 Jun 8, In Russia Pres. Putin
took personal control over Chechnya. A provisional government was
planned headed by a Kremlin-appointed official.
(SFC, 6/9/00, p.A14)
2000 Jun 12, Akhmad Kadyrov, a
Muslim cleric, was appointed by Pres. Putin to head the administration
in Chechnya.
(SFC, 6/13/00, p.A10)
2000 Jun 16, In Chechnya Umar
Idrisov, a Muslim leader, was shot and killed by attackers following a
sermon for peace. 2 Chechen police officers working for Russian
authorities were found beheaded.
(SFC, 6/17/00, p.A10)
2000 Jun 21, In Chechnya 2 Russian
soldiers were killed and 2 wounded in a rebel ambush near Mesker-Yurt.
(SFC, 6/23/00, p.A20)
2000 Jun 25, In Russia the
military declared that air and artillery attacks in Chechnya had been
suspended.
(SFC, 6/26/00, p.A10)
2000 Jun 27, In Chechnya 2 days of
fighting left 12 Russians dead and up to 60 rebels killed according to
Russian officials.
(SFC, 6/29/00, p.C6)
2000 Jun 30, In Chechnya Russian
Gen. Gennady Troshev said that a 5-day firefight at Serzhen-Yurt was
over and that over 100 rebels were killed.
(SFC, 7/1/00, p.A13)
2000 Jul 2, Chechen rebels staged
5 suicide attacks against Russian forces. One bomb killed 31 elite OMON
police troops as they slept in their barracks at Argun.
(SFC, 7/4/00, p.A8)
2000 Jul 19, In Chechnya 7 Russian
servicemen were killed in 4 Russian-controlled areas.
(SFC, 7/21/00, p.B10)
2000 Jul 21, Four Russian soldiers
were killed when a land mine blew up their truck in the Shali region of
Chechnya.
(SFC, 7/22/00, p.C1)
2000 Jul 27, In Chechnya 74
bodies, mostly men, were removed from a mass grave near Tangi-Chu. As
many as 80 more remained.
(SFC, 7/28/00, p.A12)
2000 Aug 4, It was reported that
the war in Chechnya had killed 2,508 Russian soldiers since 8/2/99. A
mother’s group put the figure up to 6,000.
(WSJ, 8/4/00, p.A1)
2000 Aug 4, Russia reported that
Chechen rebels had decapitated 2 Russian colonels, who had been seized
earlier in the Vedeno region.
(SFC, 8/5/00, p.C1)
2000 Aug 6, Russian officials
reported that scores of rebels were killed in weekend artillery attacks
outside Grozny, Chechnya, following warnings of a possible rebel
offensive. As many as 160 insurgents were reported killed.
(SFC, 8/7/00, p.A12)(SFC, 8/8/00, p.A12)
2000 Aug 7, Chechen rebels claimed
11 Russian soldiers in a military convoy were killed by a remote
controlled mine.
(SFC, 8/8/00, p.A12)
2000 Aug 16, In Chechnya 2
civilians were killed when rebels blew up a police car in Grozny.
(SFC, 8/18/00, p.D6)
2000 Aug 18, Chechen rebels killed
8 Russian soldiers in several attacks on checkpoints and roadblocks.
(SFC, 8/19/00, p.A10)
2000 Sep 7, Four Russian soldiers
were killed in a rebel ambush in Grozny.
(SFC, 9/9/00, p.A12)
2000 Sep 12, A truck bomb killed a
woman and her daughter in the Oktyabrsky market in Grozny.
(SFC, 9/14/00, p.C7)
2000 Sep 17, Chechen attackers
gunned down Col. Shamil Azayev, deputy chief of police in Vedeno.
(SFC, 9/18/00, p.A9)
2000 Sep 28, Russian troops
reportedly killed Isa Munayev, a Chechen rebel military commander.
(SFC, 10/4/00, p.A12)
2000 Oct 8, Chechen rebels crossed
into Ingushetia and attacked a police patrol. 2 officers were killed
and 3 wounded.
(SFC, 10/9/00, p.A11)
2000 Oct 9, Three Russian soldiers
were shot to death in Urus-Martan, Chechnya.
(SFC, 10/10/00, p.A13)
2000 Oct 12, A car bomb exploded
outside a Grozny police stations and at least 10 people were killed.
(SFC, 10/13/00, p.D3)
2000 Oct 17, It was reported that
mines planted by Chechen rebels killed 4 Russian soldiers.
(SFC, 10/18/00, p.A26)
2000 Oct 24, In Chechnya 13
Russian soldiers died from rebel mines and attacks and 24 were wounded.
(SFC, 10/25/00, p.A16)
2000 Nov 1, Chechen rebels killed
14 Russian soldiers in a series of raids.
(WSJ, 11/2/00, p.A1)
2000 Nov 19, 7 Russian soldiers
were killed and 10 wounded in some 2 dozen attacks by Chechen rebels.
(SFC, 11/20/00, p.A10)
2000 Nov 23, 4 Russian soldiers
were killed and 18 wounded in a series of Chechen rebel attacks.
(SFC, 11/24/00, p.D8)
2000 Nov 28, A 55-nation European
security meeting failed to make a tough declaration on Chechnya amid
Russian objections.
(WSJ, 11/29/00, p.A1)
2000 Dec 3, In Chechnya rebels
struck numerous check points and at least 13 Russian soldiers
were killed.
(SFC, 12/5/00, p.A16)
2000 Dec 9, Two Chechen rebel car
bombs killed at least 19 people in Alkhan-Yurt.
(SSFC, 12/10/00, p.C5)
2000 Dec 16, A series of Chechen
rebel attacks killed 16 Russian soldiers. A Chechen family of 4 was
shot to death in Alkhan-Kala by unidentified assailants.
(SSFC, 12/17/00, p.D11)(SFC, 12/19/00, p.B4)
2000 Dec 17, In Chechnya a rebel
attack killed 3 Russian soldiers. A shootout with rebels in Grozny left
2 police officers and 2 rebels dead.
(SFC, 12/19/00, p.B4)(SFC, 12/18/00, p.E6)
2000 Dec 20, In Chechnya 6
students and an instructor from the university in Grozny were killed by
mortar fire from Russian soldiers. One soldier was killed and 4 injured.
(SFC, 12/21/00, p.C6)(SFC, 12/26/00, p.C4)
2000 Dec 29, In Chechnya 14
Russian soldiers were killed. Russian troops averaged a loss of 200 men
per month in Chechnya.
(SFC, 1/1/01, p.A10)
2001 Jan 9, Kenny Gluck, a US aid
worker, was kidnapped in Chechnya and a 2nd was wounded.
(WSJ, 1/11/01, p.A1)
2001 Jan 21, Chechen rebels fought
street battles in Gudermes following weekend raids that left 6 Russian
soldiers dead.
(WSJ, 1/22/01, p.A1)
2001 Jan 22, In Russia Pres. Putin
put his domestic security agency in charge of the war effort in
Chechnya.
(SFC, 1/23/01, p.C3)
2001 Jan 24, In Chechnya 14
Russian soldiers were killed.
(WSJ, 1/25/01, p.A1)
2001 Feb 14, In Chechnya rebels
opened fire on Russian positions and 12 Russian soldiers were killed.
(SFC, 2/15/01, p.A16)
2001 Feb 18, Chechen rebels blew a
Russian troop train of its tracks and 3 people were killed.
(WSJ, 2/21/01, p.A1)
2001 Feb 21, Some 50 bodies began
to be uncovered across from a Russian military base at Zdorovye,
Chechnya.
(SFC, 4/14/01, p.A8)
2001 Feb 25, Russian military
officials promised to investigate a recently discovered grave in
Chechnya that contained 11 to several score Chechens with many of the
bodies mined. 48 bodies of men, women and children were found with gun
shot wounds. They had been dumped over the course of a year.
(SFC, 2/26/01, p.A10)(SFC, 3/3/01, p.A12)
2001 Mar 15, Chechen rebels
hijacked a Russian plane with 174 people after it left Turkey. They
forced a landing in Medina.
(SFC, 3/16/01, p.A14)
2001 Mar 16, In Saudi Arabia Saudi
commandos freed over 100 hijacked hostages held by Chechen rebels in a
Russian plane. 3 people were killed including a hijacker, a flight
attendant and a passenger.
(SFC, 3/17/01, p.A10)
2001 Mar 18, Chechen rebels killed
at least 21 Russian troops.
(WSJ, 3/19/01, p.A1)
2001 Mar 24, In southern Russia
near Chechnya car bombs killed 21 people and wounded over 140. Chechen
separatists were blamed.
(SSFC, 3/25/01, p.C1)
2001 Apr 17, A Chechen herdsman,
Khozh-Akmed Alsultanov (44) was killed with his 3 children in Nazran,
an area surrounded by Russian forces.
(SFC, 4/25/01, p.A8)
2001 Apr 22, In Turkey pro-Chechen
gunmen seized at least 30 hostages at a luxury hotel in Istanbul.
(SFC, 4/23/01, p.A8)
2001 Apr 26, Chechen rebel
fighting killed at least 17 Russian soldiers and wounded 28.
(SFC, 4/27/01, p.D4)
2001 May 7, In Chechnya a 2-day
fight around Argun left at least 15 Russian soldiers dead.
(SFC, 5/9/01, p.C5)
2001 Jun 18, Russian authorities
reported that 19 servicemen were detained on suspicion of killing
civilians in Chechnya. 7-8 civilians were recently killed near
Pobedenskoye.
(SFC, 6/19/01, p.A9)
2001 Jun 25, Russia claimed to
have killed Arbi Barayev, a top Chechen rebel commander, in a week-long
offensive near Grozny. At least 17 rebels were killed. Movladi Udagov,
a Chechen leader, said 150 federal soldiers were killed along with 60
civilians from a massive Russian bombardment.
(WSJ, 6/25/01, p.A1)(SFC, 6/26/01, p.A9)
2001 Jun 26, In Chechnya
Russian troops claimed to have killed at least 30 rebels near the
Georgian border.
(WSJ, 6/27/01, p.A1)
2001 Jul 3-4, A Russian roundup
operation sent an estimated 26,000 Chechen refugees fleeing to
Ingushetia. Lt. Gen. Vladimir Moltenskoi, acting commander of Russian
forces, later acknowledged that his troops committed widespread crimes
during the operation.
(SFC, 7/10/01, p.A8)(SFC, 7/12/01, p.A12)
2001 Jul 31, Russian commandos
freed 25 [41] hostages held by 2 hijackers in Mineralniye Vody,
Chechnya.
(SFC, 8/1/01, p.A8)(WSJ, 8/1/01, p.A1)
2001 Aug 1, In Chechnya 86
refugees attempted a 1000-mile march to Moscow to protest atrocities
but were immediately stopped by force and 12 were arrested.
(SFC, 8/3/01, p.A12)
2001 Aug 13, In southeast Chechnya
rebels seized the village of Benoi-Yurt. Pro-Moscow administrators were
reported killed.
(SFC, 8/14/01, p.A7)
2001 Aug 22, In Chechnya Russian
troops claimed to have wounded rebel commander Shamil Basayev and
killed 35 of his fighters.
(WSJ, 8/23/01, p.A1)
2001 Sep 3, In Chechnya an
explosion tore through the headquarters of the Russian-backed
government during a Cabinet meeting. One woman was killed.
(SFC, 9/4/01, p.B1)
2001 Sep 17, In Chechnya rebels
shot down a Russian Mi-8 helicopter. 2 generals and 8 colonels were
killed. An attack at Gudermes left 10 Russian soldiers dead. 15 rebels
were reported killed.
(SFC, 9/18/01, p.B10)
2001 Sep 25, In Russia Pres. Putin
issued a 72-hour ultimatum to Chechen rebels to show up for peace talks.
(WSJ, 9/27/01, p.A1)
2001 Sep 30, Chechen militants
staged raids on army, police and administrative buildings over the
weekend. In Kurchaloi 2 policemen were killed and 14 wounded.
(WSJ, 10/1/01, p.A21)
2001 Oct 1, Russia claimed to have
killed Abu Yakub, a top aide to an Arab commander allied with rebels in
Chechnya.
(WSJ, 10/2/01, p.A1)
2001 Oct 3, Chechen rebels killed
9 federal troops in a number of clashes that included 4 dead from land
mines. 4 militants were also killed.
(SFC, 10/4/01, p.C8)
2001 Oct 15, Russian troops
claimed to have killed 20 Chechen rebels with a loss of 5 of their own
men.
(WSJ, 10/16/01, p.A1)
2001 Oct 24, Chechen leader Akhmed
Zakayev called Putin envoy Viktor Kazantsev to meet in Moscow for talks.
(SFC, 10/25/01, p.C2)
2001 Nov 18, Russia dropped all
conditions and opened talks with Chechnya.
(SFC, 11/19/01, p.A15)
2001 Dec 25, Salman Raduyev, a
Chechen warlord, was sentenced by a Russian court to life in prison for
terrorism and murder.
(SFC, 12/26/01, p.A4)
2001 Dec 30, Russian troops
mounted an offensive south of Grozny after 6 Russian soldiers were
killed by rebels. The offensive left 73 rebels dead. Civilians were
later reported to have been counted as rebels.
(WSJ, 12/31/01, p.A1)(WSJ, 1/2/02, p.A1)(SFC,
1/7/02, p.A5)
2001 Anna Politkovskaya authored
“A Dirty War: A Russian Reporter in Chechnya.”
(SSFC, 1/6/02, p.M6)
2002 Jan 3, Russian forces fought
Chechen rebels for a 6th day in a conflict that left 40 dead. In other
action 5 Russian soldiers were killed in attacks across Chechnya.
Fighting continued in Tsotsin-Yurt. Moscow claimed 100 rebels killed,
but rebels disputed that and said 40 Russians were killed. Civilians
were later reported to have been counted as rebels.
(SFC, 1/4/02, p.A17)(WSJ, 1/4/02, p.A1)(SFC, 1/7/02,
p.A5)
2002 Jan 10, In Chechnya Russian
troops lifted a weeklong blockade of Argun.
(WSJ, 1/11/02, p.A1)
2002 Apr 3, The US-financed Radio
Free Europe / Radio Liberty began broadcasting in the North Caucasus
region that included Chechnya. The Kremlin viewed the broadcasts as
interference with internal affairs.
(SFC, 4/3/02, p.A6)
2002 Apr 5, The Kremlin reported
about this time that 3,220 Russian soldiers had been killed in Chechnya
since 1999 and nearly 9,000 injured.
(SFC, 4/10/02, p.A11)
2002 Apr 18, In Chechnya rebel
explosives killed 21 police officers in Grozny.
(SFC, 4/19/02, p.A19)
2002 Apr 25, Russia reported that
Khattab, an Arab guerrilla, had been killed in Chechnya on Mar 19-20.
(SFC, 4/26/02, p.A14)(SFC, 4/27/02, p.A10)
2002 Apr 28, A bomb killed 7
people in a Russian provincial town near Chechnya.
(WSJ, 4/29/02, p.A1)
2002 Apr 30, Russia’s military
command said the Chechen commander Shamil Basayev had been killed.
(SFC, 5/1/02, p.A13)
2002 Jun 3, It was reported that
Chechen rebel leaders had appealed to the US to get Russia to end a
military operation in Mesker-Yurt where 21 have been killed and others
taken away.
(WSJ, 6/3/02, p.A1)
2002 Jun, Pres. Putin said
Chechens must take over control of their homeland from the 80,000
federal troops. The local police force numbered about 8,500.
(SFC, 7/4/02, p.A1)
2002 Jul 5, In Chechnya rebel
ambushes killed 11 Russian soldiers and police officers.
(SFC, 7/6/02, p.A7)
2002 Jul 16, In Chechnya
separatist fighters attacked Russian army convoys and checkpoints and 6
people were killed.
(WSJ, 7/17/02, p.A1)
2002 Jul 29, The United Nations
indefinitely suspended aid operations in Chechnya after the kidnapping
last week of a Russian aid worker in the breakaway republic.
(AP, 7/29/02)
2002 Aug 13, In Chechnya
explosions rocked a bus in Grozny and Shali , killing at least five
people and wounding several others.
(AP, 8/13/02)
2002 Aug 17, Russia troops battled
with Chechen rebels who attacked a number of villages in southern
Chechnya in fighting that has left nine soldiers and five civilians
dead.
(AP, 8/17/02)
2002 Aug 18, Turpal-Ali Atgeriyev
(b.1969), a former Chechen rebel commander and top official in the
region's rebel government, died of complications from leukemia while
serving a 15-year prison term for terrorism in Yekaterinburg.
(AP, 8/22/02)
2002 Aug 19, A Russian Mi-26
military helicopter loaded with troops crashed in Chechnya. 127 were
killed and 32 injured when the troop transport fell into a minefield in
what Russian media called the nation's biggest military helicopter
crash and the biggest single-day casualty count in the Chechen war.
Chechen rebels claimed to have shot the helicopter down.
(AP, 8/20/02)(WSJ, 8/23/02, p.A1)(AP, 8/21/03)(AP,
8/19/07)
2002 Aug 23, Russian troops
battled rebels for the fourth straight day outside a Chechen village,
while eight soldiers were killed in the last 24 hours.
(AP, 8/23/02)
2002 Aug 31, A Russian helicopter
was downed by a missile in Chechnya, killing two.
(AP, 8/31/02)
2002 Sep 8, A Russian prosecutor
said that the bodies of seven Chechen residents who disappeared several
months ago were found in a common grave near Goragorsk.
(AP, 9/8/02)
2002 Sep 16, In Chechnya a land
mine planted at a busy intersection in the capital Grozny exploded as a
passenger bus drove by, and 19 people were killed and 20 others
wounded. 3 suspects in the blast were detained.
(AP, 9/16/02)(AP, 9/17/02)
2002 Oct 23, In Moscow 40-50
Chechen separatist guerrillas seized a theater and threatened to shoot
or blow up 700 hostages unless Russia pulled its troops out of their
homeland. The next day they killed one woman.
(AP, 10/24/02)(SFC, 10/24/02, p.A1)
2002 Oct 25, Russia pledged not to
kill Chechen guerrillas holding some 600 hostages in a Moscow theater
if they freed all their captives. Chechens released eight children and
then set a dawn Saturday deadline to begin killing the rest of their
captives if Russia does not agree to pull its army out of Chechnya.
(AP, 10/25/02)
2002 Oct 26, Russian special
forces, using gas to knock out Chechen guerrillas, stormed a Moscow
theater in a dawn raid that left dozens of hostages dead along with
most of their rebel captors. Russian special forces killed 41 rebels,
including leader Movsar Barayev, and freed more about 600 captives in
the third day of a hostage drama. 129 captives were killed. All the
dead hostages except for 1 were killed by the gas later suspected to be
the anesthetic carfentanyl possibly mixed with halothane.
(SFC, 10/26/02, p.A1)(SFC, 10/28/02, p.A1)(WSJ,
10/31/02, p.A1)(SFC, 11/9/02, p.A7)(AP, 10/26/03)
2002 Oct 27, The Russian Health
Ministry said 118 captives died in the Moscow theater hostage crisis,
as doctors released some of the 750 who were rescued.
(AP, 10/27/02)
2002 Oct 28, Chechen President
Aslan Maskhadov was prepared to hold unconditional talks with the
Russian leadership to find a political solution to the bloody conflict
in Chechnya, his envoy said.
(Reuters, 10/28/02)
2002 Oct 29, A Russian helicopter
was shot down in Chechnya by a missile, killing all three crew and one
passenger aboard.
(AP, 10/29/02)
2002 Oct 31, Chechen rebels killed
six Russian servicemen, a Chechen policeman and a local administrator,
as Russian forces intensified searches for rebels in the wake of the
Moscow theater siege.
(AP, 11/1/02)
2002 Oct 30, Danish police
arrested Akhmed Zakayev (43), a top aide to Aslan Maskhadov, former
Chechen president.
(SFC, 10/31/02, p.A31)
2002 Nov 3, Chechen rebels shot
down a Russian military helicopter, killing nine servicemen, after
Moscow said its forces had launched new military action to crush
attempts by the guerrillas to stage "new acts of terror."
(Reuters, 11/3/02)
2002 Nov 11, Russian troops
ambushed Chechen rebels near Grozhny and 6 guerrillas were reported
killed. [see Apr 29, 2004]
(WSJ, 11/12/02, p.A1)
2002 Nov 16, A high-ranking
Russian officer was killed and a top Chechen official abducted at
gunpoint in new fighting in the southern Russian republic.
(AP, 11/16/02)
2002 Nov 27, Russian officials
renewed their drive to close sprawling tent camps in the republic of
Ingushetia that are home to tens of thousands of Chechen refugees.
(AP, 11/27/02)
2002 Nov 29, Five Russian
servicemen and a paramilitary policeman serving in Chechnya were killed
in clashes with rebels and from mine explosions.
(AP, 11/30/02)
2002 Dec 14, Salman Raduyev
(b.1967), the Chechen warlord who led a bloody 1996 raid on a Russian
hospital that killed 78 people, died in a Russian hard labor camp while
serving a life sentence.
(AP, 12/15/02)
2002 Dec 17, The Interfax news
agency reported that Russia has lost 4,705 soldiers, officers and
policemen in Chechnya since 1999.
(AP, 12/18/02)
2002 Dec 25, In Chechnya 28
guerrillas laid down their weapons in Grozny. A pro-Russian party
leader and at least 4 Russians were killed in the last 24 hrs.
(SFC, 12/25/02, p.A17)
2002 Dec 27, Chechen rebel suicide
bombers rammed vehicles packed with a ton of explosives into the local
government headquarters in Grozny, gutting the building and killing at
least 83 people.
(Reuters, 12/27/02)(AP, 12/28/02)(SFC, 12/31/02,
p.A7)
2002 Dec 30, In Chechnya rebels
staged attacks on pro-Moscow forces and killed 4 people in Grozny.
(SFC, 12/31/02, p.A7)
2003 Jan 9, Six Russian soldiers
and police officers were killed in Chechnya in the last 24 hours.
Another 9 Russian soldiers died when their convoy came under rebel fire
in Grozny. Two rebels were killed in the fighting.
(AP, 1/10/03)(AP, 1/11/03)
2003 Jan 11, In Chechnya 4 Russian
servicemen were killed in clashes, while 4 soldiers died when their
vehicles struck land mines.
(AP, 1/12/03)
2003 Jan, In Chechnya 3
construction workers were killed at a checkpoint. In Dec 2007 two
Russian officers were convicted by a military court of killing the 3
workers.
(AP, 12/28/07)
2003 Feb 2, Chechen rebel attacks
and mines killed 5 Russian servicemen and wounded 8.
(AP, 2/3/03)
2003 Feb 7, Chechen rebel attacks
and land mines killed 10 soldiers and police over the last 24 hours.
(AP, 2/8/03)
2003 Feb 10, Moscow appointed a
new prime minister of Chechnya. Anatoly Popov replaced Mikhail Babich,
who resigned under pressure 2 days earlier after a dispute with his
superior, the chief of the Moscow-backed administration, Akhmad Kadyrov.
(AP, 2/10/03)
2003 Mar 1, The US
designated 3 rebel groups in Chechnya as terrorist organizations linked
to al-Qaeda and imposed a freeze on their US assets.
(SSFC, 3/2/03, A21)
2003 Mar 1, Rebels attacked
the motorcade of Chechnya’s pro-Moscow leader, Akhmad Kadyrov, killing
four bodyguards and three policemen.
(AP, 3/3/03)
2003 Mar 9, In Chechnya 2
Russian armored personnel carriers opened fire in Staraya Sunzha,
killing 2 policemen.
(AP, 3/12/03)
2003 Mar 15, In Chechnya 6 Russian
soldiers were killed by rebel fire and mines. Attackers destroyed 2
polling stations ahead of the Mar 23 constitutional referendum.
(SFC, 3/17/03, p.A4)
2003 Mar 22, Dozens of Chechen
rebels surrendered their weapons in a ceremony apparently designed to
promote harmony on the eve of a constitutional referendum.
(AP, 3/22/03)
2003 Mar 23, A Chechen referendum
strongly approved a new constitution that confirmed Chechnya as part of
Russia and endorsed rules for electing a Chechen president and
parliament.
(AP, 3/23/03)(AP, 3/24/03)(SFC, 3/24/03, p.A11)
2003 Mar 24, Russian officials
declared that the approval of a new constitution by Chechnya's voters
completely discredited the separatist cause, further dimming hopes that
the Kremlin would negotiate an end to the 3 1/2-year war.
(AP, 3/24/03)
2003 Mar 28, Chechen rebels killed
six Russian soldiers and two riot police.
(AP, 3/29/03)
2003 Apr 3, In Chechnya a bus was
blown apart by a remote-controlled mine, killing at least six people.
(AP, 4/3/03)
2003 Apr 6, Police in Chechnya
said they had discovered four graves filled with disfigured bodies,
many of them with their heads and arms cut off. Pro-Moscow Chechen
policeman Ruslan Visarigov was killed by a mine near his home in the
Shelkovskaya district. Rebels killed 4 servicemen and wounded 10 others
in attacks over the past 24 hours.
(AP, 4/6/03)(AP, 4/7/03)
2003 Apr 8, In Chechnya a Russian
armored personnel carrier hit a land mine in Grozny and exploded,
killing two soldiers and injuring several others.
(AP, 4/8/03)
2003 Apr 15, In Chechnya 16
people, mostly female construction workers, were killed last week in a
bus explosion. The incident was not reported until Apr 21.
(AP, 4/21/03)
2003 Apr 20, Chechen rebels opened
fire on Russian troops, killing 7 soldiers and wounding 7 others.
(AP, 4/20/03)
2003 May 12, In northern Chechnya
a truck bomb ripped through a government compound, killing 60 people
and wounding some 300 others.
(AP, 5/13/03)(WSJ, 5/19/03, p.A1)
2003 May 14, In Chechnya a female
suicide attacker killed at least 10 people at a funeral service.
(AP, 5/14/03)
2003 May 30, A rebel ambush and
other attacks killed five Russian soldiers and wounded 11 others in and
around the breakaway republic of Chechnya.
(AP, 5/31/03)
2003 Jun 5, A bomber attacked a
bus near a Russian military air base near Chechnya on Thursday, killing
herself and at least 16 others.
(AP, 6/5/03)
2003 Jun 6, Russia's parliament
approved an amnesty for Chechen rebels who agree to disarm. Pres.
Vladimir Putin presented the move as a major step toward peace.
(AP, 6/6/03)
2003 Jun 7, In Chechnya a fierce
battle between rebels and Russian troops raged into its second day,
leaving six servicemen dead.
(AP, 6/7/03)
2003 Jun 8, In Chechnya the deputy
director of the region's natural gas network was shot and killed in his
home.
(AP, 6/9/03)
2003 Jun 30, In Chechnya armed
thieves opened fire on a crowd of Chechen villagers as they were
collecting unemployment benefits, killing four and wounding at least
eight.
(AP, 6/30/03)
2003 Jul 12, In southern Chechnya
rebels ambushed a Russian military vehicle and staged hit-and-run
attacks against federal positions, killing 16 soldiers and wounding 13.
(AP, 7/13/03)
2003 Jul 29, A land mine
explosion shattered a military convoy near the border with rebel
Chechnya, killing five Russian soldiers.
(AP, 7/30/03)
2003 Aug 1, A suicide bomber
rammed a truck packed with explosives through the gates of a Russian
military hospital near Chechnya, destroying the building and killing at
least 50 people.
(AP, 8/3/03)
2003 Aug 7, Chechen rebels using a
shoulder-fired missile shot down a Russian military helicopter in the
mountains, killing three of the crew.
(AP, 8/7/03)
2003 Aug 7, Gunmen ambushed a
Russian military convoy near the border with Chechnya, killing six
soldiers and wounding seven.
(AP, 8/8/03)
2003 Aug 10, Eight Russian
soldiers and police died in rebel attacks in a day of violence
throughout Chechnya.
(AP, 8/11/03)
2003 Aug 15, A remote mine,
allegedly triggered by Chechen rebels, killed five Russian soldiers
while troops were conducting a search operation in the breakaway
republic. Chechen rebels also fired automatic weapons and lobbed
grenades at a military commander's office, killing two soldiers and
wounding 10.
(AP, 8/15/03)(AP, 8/16/03)
2003 Aug 19, Fighting persisted in
Chechnya, with six Russian servicemen killed and 11 others wounded.
(AP, 8/20/03)
2003 Aug 20, In Chechnya fighting
left 8 Russian soldiers and 12 rebels dead.
(SFC, 8/22/03, p.A9)
2003 Aug 28, Akhmad Kadyrov, the
Kremlin-appointed head of Chechnya, said death squads associated with
security forces were seeking to prolong the conflict through abductions
and terror.
(SFC, 8/29/03, p.A8)
2003 Oct 1, In southern Chechnya
gunmen opened fire on a car carrying the mayor of a town, killing the
local leader and his son, who was a police officer.
(AP, 10/2/03)
2003 Oct 5, Elections organized by
Moscow were scheduled in Chechnya. Some 200,000 dead Chechens remained
on the electoral lists. Akhmad Kadyrov, chief of the pro-Russian
administration enjoyed a 13% popularity.
(WSJ, 10/2/03, p.A16)
2003 Oct 6, In Chechnya Akhmad
Kadyrov was declared the winner in the region's presidential vote.
Human rights advocates questioned the fairness of a vote held during a
war and said the election was heavily tilted in favor of Kadyrov, whose
personal security service is widely feared and accused of kidnappings
and killings.
(AP, 10/6/03)
2003 Oct 19, In Chechnya Akhmad
Kadyrov was inaugurated as president.
(AP, 10/19/03)
2003 Oct 28, Chechen rebels killed
8 Russian soldiers in a series of attacks.
(WSJ, 10/29/03, p.A1)
2003 Nov 23, Russian special
forces killed 17 militants near the Chechen village of Serzhen-Yurt.
The Kremlin later displayed passports belonging to an Algerian, 3 Turks
and Thomas Fischer (25), a German, who were among the dead.
(SFC, 12/25/03, p.A11)(WSJ, 10/14/04, p.A14)
2003 Nov 29, A Chechen leader
wanted in Russia on charges of terrorism and murder has been granted
refugee status in Britain. A British judge had rejected a Russian
government request to extradite Akhmed Zakayev earlier this month.
(AP, 11/29/03)
2003 Dec 5, A shrapnel-filled bomb
believed strapped to a suicide attacker ripped apart a commuter train
near Chechnya, killing 44 people and wounding nearly 200. Pres. Putin
called it an attempt to disrupt weekend parliamentary elections.
(AP, 12/5/04)
2003 Dec 15, At least 25 gunmen
crossed from Chechnya into the Russian region of Dagestan, killing at
least 3 border guards and seizing hostages in a remote mountain village.
(AP, 12/15/03)
2003 Dec 16, Chechen rebels, who
fought their way into the neighboring Dagestan region and occupied a
village, released all their hostages and fled, avoiding capture.
(AP, 12/16/03)
2003 Dec 20, In Chechnya 10
Russian servicemen were killed in rebel attacks over 24 hours.
(AP, 12/21/03)
2003 Khassan Baiev with Ruth and
Nicholas Daniloff authored "The Oath: A Surgeon Under Fire," a primer
on Russian-Chechen history and his own experiences in the civil war.
(SSFC, 10/19/03, p.M6)
2003 Anna Politkovskaya authored
“A Small Corner of Hell: Dispatches from Chechnya.”
(Econ, 10/4/03, p.80)
2004 Jan 27, In Chechnya at least
8 Russian servicemen were killed and 16 others wounded in the latest
rebel raids and land mine explosions.
(AP, 1/28/04)
2004 Feb 5, Seven Russian
servicemen were killed and at least 11 wounded over the last 24 hours
in the latest rebel attacks in the breakaway region of Chechnya.
(AP, 2/5/04)
2004 Feb 6, A bomb ripped through
a Moscow subway car during rush hour morning, killing 39 people and
wounding 134. Chechen rebels were blamed.
(AP, 2/6/04)(SFC, 2/7/04, p.A1)
2004 Feb 9, Rebel attacks and land
mines in Chechnya killed at least 9 Russian servicemen and local
pro-Moscow police over the last 24 hours.
(SFC, 2/10/04, p.A6)
2004 Feb 13, In Qatar Zelimkhan
Yandarbiyev (51), Chechnya's exiled former president, was assassinated
when a bomb blew apart his car as he left a mosque with his teenage son
(13). He was wanted by Russia for terrorism and ties to al-Qaida.
(AP, 2/13/04)
2004 Feb 25, A US State Dept.
report criticized Russia's human rights record in Chechnya citing
reports of government involvement in "politically motivated
disappearances."
(SSFC, 2/29/04, p.A3)
2004 Feb 26, Russian Foreign
Minister Igor Ivanov said that three Russian intelligence agents had
been arrested in Qatar on suspicion of involvement in the killing of
former Chechen President Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev. Ivanov said they were
innocent and demanded their release. On June 30 Qatar sentenced 2 of
the Russian agents to 25 years in jail.
(AP, 2/26/04)(WSJ, 7/1/04, p.A1)
2004 Mar 2, Russian authorities
said they have confirmed that a man killed in the Dagestan region a few
days earlier was Ruslan Gelayev, one of the Chechnya's most powerful
rebel warlords.
(AP, 3/2/04)
2004 Mar 2, In Chechnya rebel
attacks and land mines killed five Russian soldiers.
(AP, 3/3/04)
2004 Mar 25, A military truck
drove out of a Russian military base in Chechnya after curfew and hit a
mine planted outside to deter a rebel attack, killing 10 soldiers.
(AP, 3/26/04)
2004 Apr 5, Rebel attacks across
Chechnya killed six Russian soldiers.
(AP, 4/6/04)
2004 Apr 8, A Moscow court handed
down a 20-year prison sentence to a Chechen woman who was earlier
convicted of carrying a bomb that killed an explosives expert.
(AP, 4/8/04)
2004 Apr 12, Chechnya rebels
killed 10 Russian soldiers, including five whose convoy was shelled
while driving through an insurgent stronghold.
(AP, 4/12/04)
2004 Apr 16, Abu Walid, Saudi-born
rebel commander also known as Abdul Aziz al-Ghamdi, was killed by
Russian government forces in Chechnya.
(AP, 4/19/04)
2004 Apr 29, A Russian court
acquitted 4 commando officers in the shooting deaths of 6 Chechen
civilians, after the officers admitted in court that they mistakenly
opened fire on their vehicle and set the car on fire to conceal the
incident based on orders from superiors.
(SFC, 4/30/04, p.A3)
2004 May 9, Akhmad Kadyrov (52),
the Kremlin-backed president of Russia's warring Chechnya region, was
killed along with 23 others when an explosion tore through a stadium in
Grozny, during Victory Day observances marking the defeat of the Nazis
in World War II. Russian Sergei Abramov was named acting president.
(SFC, 5/10/04, p.A1)(SFC, 5/11/04, p.A7)(AP, 5/9/05)
2004 May 10, Ramzan Kadyrov (27),
the son of Akhmad Kadyrov, was named the top Chechen official in the
regional government.
(SFC, 5/11/04, p.A1)
2004 May 18, Chechen rebels
ambushed 2 military vehicles killing 8 Russian soldiers and
4-pro-Mosciw police officers.
(WSJ, 5/19/04, p.A1)
2004 Jun 19, In Chechnya rebel
attacks killed seven Russian soldiers and police officers over the last
24 hours.
(AP, 6/19/04)
2004 Jun 22, Thousands of Russian
troops poured into Nazran, Ingushetia, chasing Chechen rebels who set
fire to police and government buildings and killed at least 48 people
in brazen overnight attacks.
(AP, 6/22/04)
2004 Jul 13, Chechnya's acting
president escaped injury in the Chechen capital when an explosion hit
his motorcade, but one person was killed and three were wounded. A
separate clash left 18 soldiers dead.
(AP, 7/13/04)(WSJ, 7/14/04, p.A1)
2004 Jul 18, In Chechnya Tamara
Khadzhiyeva of United Russia, a local leader of Russia's main
pro-presidential party, was fatally shot in Shali. The region's
prosecutor said it was a contract killing linked to next month's
presidential election.
(AP, 7/18/04)
2004 Aug 21, In Chechnya gunmen
attacked a police station and polling sites in Grozny, killing several
people 8 days before a special election to replace the region's
assassinated president.
(AP, 8/21/04)
2004 Aug 22, Pres. Putin flew to
Chechnya in advance of elections. Overnight attacks killed at least 30
people.
(SFC, 8/23/04, p.A3)
2004 Aug 27, Officials said one of
two Russian airliners that crashed nearly simultaneously was brought
down by a terrorist act, after finding traces of explosives in the
plane's wreckage. An Islamic militant group claimed responsibility for
the attack in a Web statement. Chechen women Amanta Nagayeva (30) and
S. Dzhebirkhanova (27) had purchased their tickets at the last minute.
(AP, 8/27/04)(SFC, 8/31/04, p.A8)
2004 Aug 28, Officials said they
had found traces of the explosive hexogen on the wreckage of the second
of two Russian airliners that crashed just minutes apart earlier this
week. Attention focused on the roles of two dead female passengers
believed to be of Chechen origin.
(AP, 8/28/04)(SFC, 8/31/04, p.A8)
2004 Aug 29, Chechens voted for a
replacement for their assassinated president. One man was killed when
he attempted to blow up a polling station. Alu Alkhanov, the Russian
government's candidate in Chechnya, received nearly 74 percent of the
vote.
(AP, 8/29/04)(AP, 8/30/04)
2004 Sep 3, Commandos stormed a
school in southern Russia and battled Chechen separatist rebels holding
hundreds of hostages, as crying children, some naked and covered in
blood, fled through explosions and gunfire. Over 330 people, including
155 children, were killed in the violence that ended a hostage standoff
with militants in Beslan, Russia. 31 of 32 hostage takers were killed.
6 Chechens and 4 Ingush were identified among the hostage takers. In
2006 a woman died from her injuries in Beslan bringing the total deaths
to 334.
(SFC, 9/4/04, p.A1)(SFC, 9/7/04, p.A3)(WSJ, 9/10/04,
p.A1)(AP, 12/9/07)
2004 Sep 17, The main Chechen
rebel Web site, Kavkaz-Center, posted what it said was an e-mail from
Basayev, claiming his "Riyadus Salikhin Martyrs' Brigade" was
responsible for the bombings of two passenger jets last month, a
suicide bombing outside a Moscow subway station and the school siege in
the southern city of Beslan.
(AP, 9/17/04)
2004 Oct 5, In Chechnya Maj. Gen.
Alu Alkhanov was sworn in as president.
(AP, 10/5/04)
2004 Oct 31, In Chechnya a car
bomb exploded outside Grozny’s main hospital, injuring 17 people.
(AP, 10/31/04)
2004 Dec 29, Ramzan Kadyrov, a
pro-Moscow Chechen leader accused by rights groups of kidnapping and
murder, earned Russia's highest award for "valor and heroism."
(AP, 12/29/04)
2005 Jan 8, Russian troops killed
four rebels hiding in a house in the Russian city of Nazran, 20 miles
from the border with Chechnya, in a firefight.
(AP, 1/8/05)
2005 Feb 3, Chechnya's
Russian-backed government dismissed a rebel February cease-fire
declaration, saying it was a publicity stunt that could not be trusted.
(AP, 2/3/05)(WSJ, 2/3/05, p.A1)
2005 Feb 4, Russia lashed out at
Britain after an independent TV channel there aired an interview with
Chechen rebel warlord Shamil Basayev, saying the broadcast amounted to
terrorist propaganda and calling for an investigation.
(AP, 2/4/05)
2005 Mar 8, A spokesman for
Russian forces said Chechen rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov has been
killed. Russia had offered a $10 million reward.
(AP, 3/8/05)(WSJ, 3/16/05, p.A1)(Econ, 3/12/05, p.84)
2005 Mar 10, At least 15 Russian
servicemen were killed and 12 others were injured when a federal
helicopter crashed in Chechnya.
(AP, 3/11/05)
2005 May 5, Russia's Federal
Security service said it foiled planned terror attacks ahead of Victory
in Europe celebrations, discovering a truck near Grozny packed with
more than a ton of explosives and a cache of poisons allegedly intended
for chemical attacks.
(AP, 5/5/05)
2005 May 14, Russian security
forces and police killed six suspected militants, including two female
suicide bombers, who had holed up in an apartment in Cherkessk. Russian
forces in Chechnya killed 4 rebels including former separatist vice
president Vakha Arsanov.
(AP, 5/15/05)
2005 May 17, Russian security
services killed Alash Daudov, a prominent Chechen rebel wanted for a
series of planned chemical attacks.
(AP, 5/17/05)
2005 May 27, Chechen warlord
Shamil Basayev claimed responsibility for a power outage that caused
chaos in Moscow.
(AP, 5/27/05)
2005 Jun 4, Masked Chechen
soldiers apparently avenging the killing of a woodcutter raided a tiny
village, beat and killed residents and set homes afire. The raid in
Borozdinovskaya pitted ethnic Chechens against ethnic Avars, marking
the first serious conflict between the two groups. Villagers, failing
to attract local authorities' attention to the abuses, abandoned their
houses June 16 and fled to nearby Kizlyar in Dagestan,
(AP, 6/26/05)
2005 Jun 6, Chechnya’s
Moscow-backed Pres. Alu Alkhanov said Russian military forces carry out
up to 10 percent of the kidnappings that occur in turbulent Chechnya.
(AP, 6/6/05)
2005 Jul 16, A Russian air force
helicopter carrying border guards crashed in mountainous southern
Chechnya, killing eight people.
(AP, 7/17/05)
2005 Jul 19, Insurgents set off a
bomb near a police minibus in breakaway Chechnya after luring the
security forces into a trap, killing 14 people, including two children,
and wounding more than 20 others.
(AP, 7/20/05)
2005 Jul 28, Chechnya’s Shamil
Basayev, linked to a dozen deadly attacks on civilians, admitted he was
a terrorist in an interview being broadcast on ABC News' "Nightline."
The Kremlin denounced the network's decision to run the interview,
which was conducted by well-known Russian journalist Andrei Babitsky.
(AP, 7/29/05)
2005 Aug 9, In Chechnya gunmen
sprayed bullets at a car in Grozny, killing one person, wounding a
child in the head, and setting the vehicle ablaze.
(AP, 8/9/05)
2005 Aug 10, Russia’s Defense
Ministry said more than 3,450 Russian troops have been killed in
Chechnya since federal forces re-entered the southern Russian region
six years ago.
(AP, 8/10/05)
2005 Aug 14, A land mine exploded
in Chechnya when Russia troops came to the aid of a local official
whose home was under attack by rebels, killing a senior Russian
military officer and four other soldiers.
(AP, 8/14/05)
2005 Aug 15, A powerful car bomb
exploded outside a restaurant in Chechnya's capital, killing two
people, including a child, and wounding at least 11 others.
(AP, 8/16/05)
2005 Sep 20, In Chechnya gunmen
launched two separate attacks, killing one police officer and wounding
four others.
(AP, 9/21/05)
2005 Sep 21, The Kremlin issued a
letter from President Vladimir Putin to Jordanian King Abdullah II,
delivered personally by Moscow-backed Chechen President Alu Alkhanov
during his Middle Eastern tour. Putin said in the letter that the
situation in Chechnya was "steadily normalizing." Jordan has a large
Chechen Diaspora.
(AP, 9/21/05)
2005 Oct 13, Scores of Islamic
militants launched simultaneous attacks on police and government
buildings in Nalchik capital of the republic of Kabardino-Balkariya,
sparking battles that killed 12 police, 12 civilians and more than 50
guerrillas. Chechen rebels claimed responsibility for the attacks.
President Putin ordered a total blockade of Nalchik, a city of 235,000,
to prevent militants from slipping out, and he said armed resisters
would be shot.
(AP, 10/13/05)(SFC, 10/14/05, p.A11)
2005 Oct 14, In Nalchik Russian
security forces in an armored personnel carrier smashed through the
wall of a store to rescue two hostages held by suspected Islamic
militants as authorities tried to clear out the last pockets of rebel
resistance after more than a day of fighting that killed 139 people
including 94 militants.
(AP, 10/14/05)(WSJ, 10/17/05, p.A1)
2005 Nov 16, In Chechnya a group
of Russian soldiers, alleged to be drunk, began flagging down cars and
demanding money in the Grozny suburb of Staraya Sunzha. 3 civilians
were killed and 3 servicemen were detained.
(SSFC, 11/20/05, p.A22)
2005 Nov 17, Sergei Abramov, the
prime minister of Chechnya was in a serious condition after a car crash
on the way to a Moscow airport. His aide said it was too early to rule
out an assassination attempt.
(AP, 11/18/05)
2005 Nov 27, Residents of Chechnya
began voting in the latest in a series of elections that are part of
efforts to bring stability and peace.
(AP, 11/27/05)
2005 Nov 28, A top pro-Kremlin
party led in early returns from Chechnya's first parliamentary election
since federal troops reinvaded more than six years ago, and President
Vladimir Putin hailed the vote as a key to restoring law and order.
(AP, 11/28/05)
2005 Dec 3, Chechnya’s top
election official said a Kremlin-backed political party has won the
largest number of seats in the new parliament.
(AP, 12/03/05)
2005 Dec 16, Chechnya's top
prosecutor said a state-owned chemical company on the outskirts of the
Chechen capital had "catastrophic" radiation levels tens of thousands
of times greater than normal.
(AP, 12/16/05)
2005 Dec, Chechen members of the
pro-Kremlin United Russia party that dominates the region's recently
elected parliament voted to make Ramzan Kadyrov (29) its regional head
despite observers questioning his democratic credentials.
(Reuters, 12/21/05)
2006 Feb 7, An apparent gas
explosion destroyed a two-story military barracks in Chechnya, killing
at least two people and injuring 32.
(AP, 2/7/06)
2006 Feb 7, An aid group that
provides food to tens of thousands of people in war-ravaged Chechnya
suspended its operations after Chechen officials banned all Danish
organizations because of the publication of Prophet Muhammad cartoons.
(AP, 2/7/06)
2006 Feb 28, Sergei Abramov, the
Kremlin-backed PM of war-battered Chechnya, said he was stepping down
to give way to Ramzan Kadyrov (29), the widely feared head of a shadowy
security service.
(AP, 3/1/06)
2006 Mar 1, Pakistani security
forces backed by helicopter gunships struck a militant hide-out in a
tribal region near the Afghan border, killing 45 fighters, including a
Chechen commander linked to al-Qaida.
(AP, 3/1/06)
2006 Mar 4, Chechnya's Parliament
unanimously approved Ramzan Kadyrov (29), the head of a security force
widely accused of human rights abuses, as PM of the war-battered
republic.
(AP, 3/4/06)
2006 Apr 15, In southern Chechnya
rebels killed two Russian soldiers and wounded five others in an ambush.
(AP, 4/16/06)
2006 Apr 21, A bomb exploded on a
roadside in Chechnya where schoolchildren were cleaning up trash,
killing a boy and wounding five other children.
(AP, 4/22/06)
2006 Jun 17, In Chechnya Russian
police killed rebel leader Abdul-Khalim Sadulayev in a special police
operation in his hometown of Argun. An intelligence agent and a police
officer were killed in the operation. One rebel also was killed and two
rebels escaped.
(AP, 6/17/06)
2006 Jun 27, Chechnya's new
separatist leader named warlord Shamil Basayev, wanted by Russia for a
string of shocking terrorist attacks, as his vice president in a move
that could signal a radicalization of the Chechen rebel movement.
(AP, 6/29/06)
2006 Jul 4, Gunmen attacked a
Russian military convoy in the Chechnya region, killing at least five
troops and wounding as many as 25 others, officials said. Pro-rebel Web
sites claimed more than 20 Russian soldiers were killed.
(AP, 7/4/06)
2006 Jul 10, Chechen warlord
Shamil Basayev (41) was killed in Ingushetia. He had claimed
responsibility for modern Russia's worst terrorist attacks including
Beslan in 2004. He was killed along with 4 other militant while
accompanying a truck filled with 220 pounds of dynamite that blew up in
the Ingush village of Ekazhevo. Shortly before his death he was
appointed vice-president of Ichkeria, the rebel’s name for their
non-existent state.
(AP, 7/10/06)(Econ, 7/15/06, p.84)
2006 Jul 19, Doku Umarov, the
leader of the Chechen rebels, dismissed a Russian amnesty offer, saying
attacks outside his home region would be his rebels' answer to Moscow.
(AP, 7/19/06)
2006 Jul 27, The European Court of
Human Rights found Russia guilty of violating the "right to life" of a
young Chechen who disappeared after a Russian general ordered him shot.
Khadzimurat Yandiyev (25) was last seen in the hands of Russian troops
in February 2000.
(AP, 7/27/06)
2006 Aug 24, An explosion in
Chechnya's capital Grozny killed four people.
(AP, 8/24/06)
2006 Aug 29, About 50 former
militants surrendered and handed over their weapons in a ceremony led
by Chechnya's powerful prime minister, who said rebel numbers are
dwindling in the war-ravaged region.
(AP, 8/29/06)
2006 Oct 7, Anna Politkovskaya, a
Russian journalist, was shot to death, her body discovered in an
elevator in her apartment building in Moscow. She was known for her
critical coverage of the war in Chechnya. Politkovskaya, shot to death
in an apparent contract killing, was about to publish a story about
torture and abductions in Chechnya. In 2007 Random House published her
diaries under the title: “A Russian Diary.” In 2008 Russian
investigators named Rustam Makhmudov (34 of Chechnya as the executor of
the murder. Makhmudov was still at large. In 2008 Prosecutors charged
Sergei Khadzhikurbanov, a former police officer, and 2 brothers from
Chechnya, Dzhabrail and Ibragim Makhmudov, with involvement in the
murder.
(AP, 10/8/06)(Econ, 10/14/06, p.91)(Econ, 4/7/07,
p.82)(WSJ, 5/13/08, p.A8)(SFC, 6/19/08, p.A9)
2006 Nov 7, Rebels ambushed a
police convoy in Chechnya, killing 7 police officers. Lt. Col. Nikolai
Varavin, a spokesman for Russian forces in Chechnya, said that up to
700 militants continue operating in the province's mountains.
(AP, 11/9/06)
2006 Nov 24, A UN anti-torture
panel said it had credible reports of unofficial detention centers,
abuse and disappearances in Russia's restive southern province of
Chechnya.
(AP, 11/24/06)
2006 Nov 26, Abu Khavs, a
Jordanian who commanded foreign mercenaries in Chechnya and was
reportedly al-Qaida's top emissary in the troubled North Caucasus, died
along with 4 other militants in a shootout with police in Dagestan.
(AP, 11/26/06)
2007 Jan 15, More than 500 armed
militants in Chechnya and other parts of Russia's troubled North
Caucasus surrendered to authorities as part of an amnesty that expired
at day’s end.
(AP, 1/15/07)
2007 Jan, Russia's Supreme Court
upheld a lower court's ruling that the Russian-Chechen Friendship
Society must close its doors. Rights advocates denounced the ruling,
charging it was a Kremlin attempt to silence criticism of its conduct
in the violence-wracked Chechnya region. The group has campaigned
against the Russian government's war on separatists in Chechnya, and
published reports alleging torture, abductions and killings of
civilians by Russian forces and their pro-Moscow Chechen allies.
(AP, 9/14/07)
2007 Feb 15, Russia’s President
Vladimir Putin dismissed Alu Alkhanov, the president of the republic of
Chechnya, and named its widely feared PM Ramzan Kadyrov as acting
president.
(AP, 2/16/07)(Econ, 2/24/07, p.62)
2007 Mar 1, President Vladimir
Putin nominated Ramzan Kadyrov, a widely feared security chief, as the
new president of Chechnya. Europe's human rights chief denounced
torture and other rampant abuses in the war-battered region. Kadyrov,
who previously had served as Chechnya's prime minister, has run a
security force that is accused of abducting and abusing suspected
rebels and civilians believed to be connected to them.
(AP, 3/1/07)
2007 Mar 2, Chechnya's parliament
approved Ramzan Kadyrov, a widely feared former security chief as
president of the war-battered Russian republic in a nearly unanimous
vote.
(AP, 3/2/07)
2007 Mar 8, The first regularly
scheduled civilian passenger flight in six years arrived at Chechnya's
main airport, in what officials say is yet another sign that normalcy
has returned to the war-wracked Russian region.
(AP, 3/8/07)
2007 Apr 5, Ramzan Kadyrov was
inaugurated as the new president of Chechnya on a blessing from the
Kremlin, which has relied on him to stabilize the region after more
than a decade of separatist fighting.
(AP, 4/5/07)
2007 Apr 27, A Russian military
helicopter crashed in Chechnya, killing all 18 people aboard, emergency
officials said. There were conflicting reports about whether the craft
was shot down.
(AP, 4/27/07)
2007 Jun 14, Four soldiers were
convicted of killing a truck driver and five passengers in Chechnya,
but three of the defendants have been missing since disappearing while
on trial.
(AP, 6/15/07)
2007 Jun 20, In Chechnya a
gunbattle broke out between traffic police and a Defense Ministry unit
in Grozny, leaving at least five people dead and six wounded.
(AP, 6/20/07)
2007 Jun 21, The European Court of
Human Rights found the Russian authorities responsible for the killings
of four members of a Chechen family in 2003 and ordered Moscow to pay a
relative $114,000.
(AP, 6/21/07)
2007 Jul 26, The European Court of
Human Rights ordered the Russian government to pay damages of $196,000
to the family members of 11 Chechen civilians killed by Russian
soldiers in 2000, when security forces rampaged through Novye Aldi,
setting fire to houses and killing at least 50 civilians.
(AP, 7/27/07)
2007 Aug 23, A shootout in
Chechnya's capital left two policemen and a rebel dead. A group of
about 30 camouflage-clad gunmen set on fire the houses of two police
officers and the local administration building in the Chechen village
of Yandi.
(AP, 8/24/07)
2007 Aug 27, Russia announced the
arrest of 10 people in the killing of journalist and Kremlin critic
Anna Politkovskaya. Russia's top prosecutor said a Chechen crime boss,
Russian police and security officers were involved in the death of the
journalist Anna Politkovskaya. But he suggested that someone outside
Russia masterminded the killing of the frequent Kremlin critic.
(AP, 8/27/07)(AP, 8/27/08)
2007 Dec 16, In Grozny, Chechnya,
a police officer and 4 militants were killed in a gunbattle.
(AP, 12/18/07)
2007 Dec 17, In Grozny, Chechnya,
a roadside bomb killed a prison guard and wounded four other people as
they drove in a van transporting suspected criminals.
(AP, 12/18/07)
2007 Dec 27, In Chechnya
unidentified gunmen shot and killed a police officer in Grozny.
(AP, 12/28/07)
2007 Arkady Babchenko, Russian
soldier, authored “A Soldier’s War in Chechnya,” an account of his
service in Chechnya. In 2008 it was translated to English by Nick Allen
and published as “One Soldier’s War.”
(Econ, 11/17/07, p.100)(WSJ, 1/22/08, p.D8)
2007 Tony Wood authored “Chechnya:
The Case for Independence.”
(Econ, 3/24/07, p.95)
2008 Mar 19, In the Russian region
of Chechnya 9 people were been killed in an hour-long clash between
police and unidentified gunmen.
(AP, 3/20/08)
2008 May 2, In Chechnya suspected
Islamic militants clashed with police, killing two law enforcement
officers. The rebel-linked Web site Kavkaz Center claimed that at least
nine law enforcement officers were killed in a gunfight that lasted for
four hours.
(AP, 5/3/08)
2008 May 4, In Chechnya a
remote-controlled bomb exploded on a roadside in Grozny, leaving five
police officers dead, while another officer was fatally shot near the
city.
(AP, 5/5/08)
2008 Jun 12, In Chechnya at least
25 armed rebels raided the village of Benoi-Vedeno, killing three
locals and setting several houses on fire. An internet site with ties
to the separatist movement, www.kavkazcenter.com, said the rebels had
killed 11 armed men linked to Ramzan Kadyrov, Chechnya's pro-Moscow
president.
(Reuters, 6/13/08)
2008 Jun 16, A group of militants
opened fire on a convoy of security officers in Chechnya, killing three
and injuring five.
(AP, 6/16/08)
2008 Jun 27, In Chechnya a clash
left two militants and four police dead, and four more police wounded.
(AP, 6/29/08)
2008 Jun 28, In Chechnya 2 police
officers and 2 civilians were killed in the southern Shatoi district
during an operation to persuade militants to surrender.
(SFC, 6/30/08, p.A3)
2008 Jul 21, In Chechnya the
bullet-riddled bodies of three officers, who had been guarding an
Interior Ministry trailer, were found on a collective farm. The
assailants made off with the officers' guns.
(AP, 7/21/08)
2008 Oct 11, A strong earthquake
hit Chechnya and other parts of Russia's North Caucasus, killing at
least 13 people and damaging scores of hospitals, schools and other
buildings.
(AP, 10/11/08)(SFC, 10/18/08, p.B6)
2008 Oct 17, Chechen leader Ramzan
Kadyrov opened one of Europe's biggest mosques in the rebuilt capital
of the southern Russian region, saying it was proof Russian rule and
Islam can go together. The mosque, named "The Heart of Chechnya" and
constructed by Turkish builders, can host up to 10,000 worshippers.
(AP, 10/17/08)
2008 Oct 23, Rebel attacks using
land mines in Chechnya killed one Russian soldier and wounded 10 other
servicemen and police.
(AP, 10/24/08)
2009 Jan 13, In Austria Umar
Israilov (27), a Chechen refugee, was shot dead on a Vienna street.
Officials said they had no proof the killing was political, but human
rights activists said his death was linked to his opposition to
Chechnya's pro-Moscow president. On Jan 28 Austrian authorities
arrested seven suspects, all Chechens, in the killing. On February 19
Polish police arrested Turpal Ali J. (31), a man suspected of killing
Israilov. In 2010 Austrian investigators concluded that Chechnya Pres.
Ramzan Kadyrov ordered the kidnapping of one of his critics and former
bodyguards and that Israilov was shot to death when the abduction went
awry.
(AP, 1/28/09)(AP, 2/22/09)(AP, 4/27/10)
2009 Jan 20, In Chechnya Hundreds
of people rallied in Grozny to protest the slaying of Stanislav
Markelov (34), a lawyer who opposed the early release of a Russian army
officer convicted of strangling an 18-year-old Chechen woman.
(AP, 1/20/09)
2009 Mar 28, In Dubai Sulim
Yamadayev, a former Chechen rebel, was shot in a brazen attack and died
on March 30. He had switched sides to the government during Chechnya's
long-running conflict with Moscow. On April 5 Dubai authorities said
they had arrested two suspects in the slaying. They said Adam
Delimkhanov, a Chechen member of Russia’s lower house and the Chechen
president's right-hand man, had masterminded the killing. On April 12,
2010, an Iranian and a Tajik were sentenced to 25 years in prison after
being found guilty of aiding and abetting the assassination of
Yamadayev.
(AP, 3/31/09)(SFC, 3/31/09, p.A5)(AP, 4/5/09)(SFC,
4/6/09, p.A3)(AP, 4/12/10)
2009 Apr 16, Russia ordered an end
to its counterterrorism operation in Chechnya, a move that could lead
to the withdrawal of tens of thousands of troops from the southern
republic battered by two separatist wars in the past 15 years.
(AP, 4/16/09)
2009 Jun 8, Interfax news agency
reported that Russian forces have killed Doku Umarov, the leader of the
Chechen separatist movement.
(Reuters, 6/8/09)
2009 Jun 25, Russia's Supreme
Court overturned the acquittal of three men charged with the 2006
murder of Anna Politkovskaya, a journalist whose reporting on Chechnya
directly challenged the country's most powerful leaders.
(AP, 6/25/09)
2009 Jul 13, In Russia 5 suspected
militants and two law enforcement officers were killed in separate
attacks in the south. The militants were killed in two separate
gunbattles in Chechnya, while Interior Ministry troops in Dagestan died
in an ambush by insurgents.
(AP, 7/13/09)
2009 Jul 15, In Ingushetia police
officials said that the body of Natalya Estemirova (b.1959), a
prominent rights activist, was found not far from the main city of
Nazran, hours after she was kidnapped in Chechnya.
(AP, 7/15/09)(Econ, 7/25/09, p.23)
2009 Jul 20, The Russian rights
group, where slain activist Natalia Estemirova worked, said it has
suspended operations in Chechnya because of safety fears for her
co-workers. Memorial said it will continue tracking human rights abuses
in nearby Ingushetia. A spokesman for Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov,
who has condemned the murder and promised to find those responsible,
said a Moscow court had accepted a lawsuit from Kadyrov against
Memorial head Oleg Orlov for libel after the group's chairman blamed
Kadyrov for Estemirova's death.
(Reuters, 7/20/09)
2009 Jul 24, A senior Chechen
official held talks in Norway with prominent separatist figure Akhmed
Zakayev, who said they had agreed to seek a political settlement of
rebellion in the south Russian region.
(Reuters, 7/24/09)
2009 Jul 26, In Chechnya a suicide
bomber killed five people and wounded a number of others near a concert
hall in the capital. four policemen died trying to prevent the bomber
from entering the hall. 4 militants were found dead after an explosion
in the Nazran district of Ingushetia province that borders Chechnya to
the west.
(AP, 7/26/09)
2009 Aug 11, In Chechnya Zarema
Sadulayeva, the head of the Save the Generation Chechen aid
group, and her husband, Alik Dzhabrailov, were found shot dead in the
trunk of their car a day after being kidnapped.
(AP, 8/11/09)
2009 Aug 12, Chechen Interior
Ministry spokesman Magomed Deniyev said 2 policemen were killed in
separate attacks during the night as they returned to their homes.
(AP, 8/12/09)
2009 Aug 13, In Chechnya a gun
battle between police an 2 suspected militants left the 2 militants
dead as well as 4 police officers.
(SFC, 8/15/09, p.A3)
2009 Aug 21, In Chechnya suicide
bombers on bicycles detonated explosives, killing at least four police
officers and a civilian in coordinated attacks in the capital.
(AP, 8/21/09)
2009 Aug 25, In Chechnya a suicide
bombing killed three police officers at a gas station-carwash complex
in the Shali region. Earlier in the day the Chechen Interior Ministry
said a policeman was killed and another wounded in an overnight clash
with militants.
(AP, 8/25/09)(AP, 8/28/09)
2009 Aug 28, Two Chechen militants
blew themselves up to escape capture, wounding three policemen and
three civilians in the process.
(AP, 8/28/09)
2009 Sep 4, In Ingushetia a
roadside bomb blast ripped through a police car, killing three officers
and wounding two others. Ingush authorities shot dead 3 insurgents. One
man, identified as Rustam Dzortov, was a suspected ringleader of rebel
operations in Ingushetia and had organized the suicide bombing of
Ingush President Yunus Bek Yevkurov's motorcade earlier this year. The
two others may have been planning a terrorist act in Moscow. In
neighboring Chechnya two suspected insurgents were killed in a similar
incident. The suspected insurgents were found to have explosives
strapped to them, hand grenades, and train tickets to Moscow.
(AP, 9/4/09)(AP, 9/5/09)
2009 Sep 12, In Chechnya three
police were wounded when a suicide bomber blew himself up in Grozny. An
alleged militant was killed in a separate incident in Chechnya.
(AP, 9/12/09)
2009 Sep 16, In Chechnya a suicide
bomber wounded six police officers in Grozny.
(AP, 9/16/09)
2009 Oct 2, Chechen forces engaged
in a 2-hour gunbattle with militants leaving 8 insurgents dead.
(SFC, 10/3/09, p.A2)
2009 Oct 6, Chechnya's
Kremlin-backed leader Ramzan Kadyrov won a defamation lawsuit against a
rights activist who blamed him for the killing of a colleague whose
murder sparked international outrage. Moscow's Tverskoi district court
ordered Memorial rights group chairman Oleg Orlov to retract his
statement that Kadyrov was responsible for Natalya Estemirova's death
in 2006. Kadyrov sought 10 million rubles ($330,000) in damages, but
judge Tatyana Fedosova ruled that Memorial and Orlov should only pay
70,000 rubles ($2,300 rubles).
(AP, 10/6/09)
2009 Nov 5, Memorial, a Russian
rights group, said Chechen authorities have abducted Arbi Khachukayev,
a human rights advocate in Moscow, who has been critical of Chechnya's
Kremlin-backed leader.
(AP, 11/5/09)
2009 Nov 13, Chechen leader Ramzan
Kadyrov said security forces had killed up to 20 Islamist rebels in a
helicopter attack near the capital Grozny.
(Reuters, 11/13/09)
2009 Nov 27, In Russia a homemade
bomb planted on the tracks of the high-speed Moscow-to-St. Petersburg
route, caused a derailment of the 14-car Nevsky Express. 26 people were
killed and dozens more injured. Chechen militants later claimed
responsibility and vowed further "acts of sabotage" in a letter posted
on a rebel website.
(AP, 11/28/09)(AP, 12/2/09)
2009 Wojciech Jagielski authored
“Towers of Stone: The Battle of Wills in Chechnya.
(Econ, 12/12/09, p.92)
2010 Jan 23, Russian PM Vladimir
Putin declared that peace has returned to North Caucasus, the center of
a growing Islamist insurgency, and called for the region's economy to
be rebuilt. He also ordered officials in the North Caucasus to ensure
what he called the "normal work" of human rights groups operating in
the volatile region.
(Reuters, 1/23/10)(AP, 1/23/10)
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