As Chechens (led by many who grew up in the deportation) declare independence in the wake of the fall of the Soviet Union, Boris Yeltsin’s Russia does nothing for three years. Embarrassment at the new state’s defiance eventually drives an attempt to topple the Chechen government through far superior arms. Spoiler Alert: Russia, thought to be the second most powerful country in the world at the time, gets a disastrous comeuppance.
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For Further Awesome Reading…
The Lost American: Killing Chechnya by Fred Cuny
This is an excellent article by an embedded American journalist—one who paid the ultimate price for his bravery in reporting. While he was with the rebels, Russian double agents passed along false information that he was a Russian spy, resulting in his execution. The opening paragraphs of this article, written in 1995, are eerily accurate for the future Cuny would never see.
The Sky Wept Fire by Mikhail Eldin
This is a personal account of a Chechen fighter and spy during the 1990s. While occasionally a little too purple in prose, it captures the desperate position of the guerrillas well.
One Soldier’s War by Arkady Babchenko
A personal account from the other side: a Russian conscript, but then, curiously, a volunteer. Babchenko recounts the hazing, poor training, and hopeless situation of the Russian draftee deployed to Chechnya, and the moral trouble and “gunpowder disease” (read: addiction to combat) of the redeployed volunteer. Grim book, worth reading for anyone.
Jocko Podcast #13: Chechens vs. Russians
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xqy3Sh7BlaY
Jocko has a great podcast in general, but this one is particularly relevant here as he analyzes U.S. and Russian military primary sources for conclusions about urban combat in the Chechen Wars. Jocko does a great job breaking down the disintegration of morale in the Russian forces and the discipline problems that resulted, along with the effective tactics of the guerrillas. If you like this one, check out his review of Babchenko’s book as well.
For the tactical observation text Jocko references:
https://smallwarsjournal.com/documents/jenkinson.pdf
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