Chronology Of Russian Involvement In North
Caucasus
Russia is facing the most serious challenge to its authority in the North
Caucasus region since its ill-fated 1994-96 bid to crush rebel guerrillas in
Chechnya.
Moscow has sent troops to Dagestan, which borders Chechnya, to combat
an armed Islamic revolt it says is being supported by Chechen warlords.
Here is a brief history of Russia's involvement in the North Caucasus region,
which borders the oil-rich Caspian Sea and the former Soviet republics of
Azerbaijan and Georgia.
1722 - Peter the Great annexes Caspian Sea regions of Dagestan at the
start of a 150-year military campaign to absorb the largely Moslem North
Caucasus region into the Russian Empire. Russia starts settling armed
Cossack volunteers there.
Mid-19th century - The legendary Shamil uses Islam to weld mountain
tribes of Dagestan and Chechnya into a formidable fighting force. His
ambition is to create a theocratic, Islamic state, but he is eventually defeated
by Russia's superior numbers and technology. He lives out his days as the
honored guest of his former foes in the imperial capital St Petersburg and
other Russian cities.
1917 - Russian revolution brings Communists to power and ensuing civil
war cements their hold over vast, multi-ethnic nation now known as the
Soviet Union. Islam and a traditional clan system remain strong among
peoples of the North Caucasus despite persecution from the atheistic
regime in Moscow.
1943 - With Nazi German troops camped near regional capital Grozny,
Chechen separatists rebel against Soviet rule.
1944 - Soviet dictator Josef Stalin takes his revenge by deporting the entire
Chechen people and their ethnic cousins and neighbors, the Ingushi, to
Central Asia. Tens of thousands die.
1957 - Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev allows the Chechens back to the
Caucasus, setting up the Checheno-Ingush republic.
Oct 1991 - Following the overthrow of local communist ruler Doku
Zavgayev, Soviet air force general Dzhokhar Dudayev wins a disputed local
poll and declares Chechnya independent.
Russia rejects any talk of independence but takes no action against
Dudayev and allows him to run Chechnya.
Dec 1994 - President Boris Yeltsin sends troops to Chechnya to crush the
independence movement, but they meet strong resistance from guerrilla
fighters and suffer heavy casualties.
Feb 1995 - Separatists abandon capital Grozny, reduced to ruins by
artillery and rocket attacks over a month of fighting.
June 1995 - Rebels seize hundreds of hostages in the Russian town
Budennovsk. Over 100 people die. Peace talks open, Russia orders a halt
to military operations, but the conflict goes on.
Jan 1996 - Fighters seize hostages in neighboring Dagestan, then move to
the village of Pervomaiskoye just outside Chechnya. Most rebels escape,
but many are killed.
Feb 1996 - Yeltsin says the Chechnya campaign was "maybe one of our
mistakes" but rules out withdrawal of Russian forces.
April 1996 - Dudayev is killed in a rocket attack and replaced by
vice-president Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev.
May 1996 - Yeltsin and Yandarbiyev agree a truce at talks in Moscow. It
holds until the presidential poll which Yeltsin wins some six weeks later.
Yeltsin visits Russian troops in Grozny.
Aug 1996 - Rebels seize Grozny. Yeltsin gives national security adviser
Alexander Lebed powers to resolve the crisis. Lebed signs a truce on
August 31 providing for a Russian pullout and deferring the issue of
Chechen sovereignty for five years.
Sept 1996 - Russia starts withdrawing its soldiers.
Oct 1996 - Aslan Maskhadov, former rebel chief-of-staff, is named prime
minister of an interim government. His platform includes independence and
some elements of Islamic sharia law.
Dec 1996 - Six foreign Red Cross workers are murdered in Chechnya,
casting a shadow over the election campaign.
Jan 1997 - Last Russian troops leave. Thirteen candidates run for president
on January 27 and Maskhadov is elected with almost 65 percent of the
vote.
Jan 1997 - Unidentified kidnappers seize two Russian journalists in
Chechnya, first in a long series of abductions for ransom money which fuel
tensions with Moscow and effectively block the reconstruction of the
shattered economy.
March 1997 - Russia's Parliament approves amnesty for most Chechen
rebel fighters.
May 12 1997 - Yeltsin and Maskhadov sign peace accord but Chechnya's
final status still unresolved. Moscow says Chechnya must stay part of
Russian Federation, albeit with wide autonomy.
May 1998 - Gunmen briefly seize main government building in Dagestani
capital Makhachkala, underlining political tensions in wider North Caucasus
region beyond Chechnya.
August 1998 - Dagestan's top Moslem cleric, his brother and a driver killed
in bomb attack.
September 1998 - Chechen warlords demand the resignation of President
Maskhadov, saying he is too conciliatory towards Moscow. Maskhadov
also under pressure from Russia, which says he is failing to combat
organized criminal gangs, whose frequent kidnappings have turned
Chechnya into no-go zone for outsiders.
March 1999 - Maskhadov narrowly escapes assassination attempt. In
unrelated incident, more than 50 die in a bomb blast in Vladikavkaz, capital
of North Ossetia which borders Chechnya.
July 1999 - Russian troops clash with Chechen fighters near Chechnya's
border with Dagestan.
Aug 7 1999 - Russian helicopters pound positions held by Islamic militants
in Dagestan said to have come from Chechnya. Moscow vows firm action
to dislodge intruders but says it does not seek resumption of full-scale war
with breakaway Chechnya.
Aug 8 1999 - Prime Minister Sergei Stepashin, a longstanding hawk on
Chechnya, travels to Dagestan to supervise Russian counter-offensive.
Aug 9 1999 – Yeltsin sacks Stepashin and replaces him with Vladimir
Putin, a strong personality who vows action on the Dagestani front. Aug 10
1999 – Islamic militants declare Dagestan's independence from the Russian
Federation. ((c) 1999 Reuters)
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