#second chechen war

Chechen rebel unit moving south

"Many of the Chechen rebels who made it out of the capital, Grozny, are moving south toward the rugged mountains towards western Chechnya, where at least three-thousand of their comrades have fled and are concentrated in various villages. Senior Russian military officials say their forces will head south as soon as federal troops have seized Grozny, but the rebels insists they will continue to fight the Russians in a partisan campaign. Russian forces are raining bombs and shells on the villages inhabited by the rebels in western Chechnya.

This video shows one such group of Chechen rebels in the southern hills. The rebels insist the mountains allow them more mobility to wage a guerrilla war. The Russians have been bombarding the rebel-held Argun and Vedeno gorges, trying to dislodge the militants from their refuges on the forested inner slopes of the gorges. The gorges are key corridors through the mountains that shelter rebels and from which they can mount guerrilla attacks on the Russians. The Russians believe that rebel supplies are also coming through these gorges, some of them believed to be from Georgia, the only foreign country that borders on Chechnya. Russia thought it had crushed the Chechens after Grozny fell in 1995 during the first Chechen war. But the Chechens retreated to the mountains and went on fighting until they retook Grozny in 1996 and forced Russian forces to pull out of the territory. For more than a century, the Chechens have been fighting the Russians for their independence. And there is little sign that they will give up that struggle now."

2:06 into the video you can see Chechen bard Timur Mutsurayev in white, known for singing about the conflict in Chechnya as well as touching on Islamic themes - next to his comrade brandishing a large knife who says: "This is a weapon we saved for Putin personally. I bought it for 500(?) rubles at a market. Inshallah!"

(5th Feb 2000)

[eng]"Prv.Derzhavin.K.S. 1990.17.01. 9/13. B rh-"

This art is not exactly fresh, but it is relevant

[rus]" Рядовой Державин.К.С. 1990.17.01. 9/13. B rh-"

Данный арт не то что бы свежий.. Но актуальный хд

A Chechen fighter takes cover from sniper fire in front of the from the presidential palace destroyed by Russian artillery bombardments in Grozny on January 10, 1995.

Chechen separatists fight Russian soldiers 05 January 1995 in Grozny, capital of the breakaway southern republic of Chechnya.

- A Chechen volunteer (L) takes cover behind a Russian tank 01 January 1995 during a street fighting in Grozny opposing Russian troops and Chechen soldiers supporting rebel President Djokhar Dudayev.

Chechen Guerrillas Visiting Man in Hospital

A Chechen fighter holding a homemade automatic gun takes advantage of a pause in the shelling in downtown Grozny 13 December.

Russian troops head into Grozny November 23, 2000, capital of the breakaway republic of Chechnya.

Khuseyn Vakhaevich Gakayev (Russian: Хусейн Вахаевич Гакаев), also known as Emir Mansur (not to be confused with Amir Mansur, or Arbi Yovmurzaev, the Chechen nationalist commander killed in 2010)and Emir Hussein, was a mujahid Emir (commander) fighting in Chechnya. He was one of the most senior field commanders still operating in the North Caucasus prior to his death on 24 January 2013.

Picture taken on March 31, 1995 shows a Russian soldier inspecting the bodies of civilans killed in winter fighting that have been exhumed for identification at the Orthodox cemetary in Grozny.

Chechen frontline fighter, October 01, 1999

The First Chechen war happened during the presidency of Boris Yeltsin, and the "progressive West" paid ZERO attention to it. While the war was going on, in 1995, Bill Clinton happily embraced Yeltsin and laughing at his speeches to reporters. Everyone rejoiced at the new "democratic" Russia (in fact, no - neoliberal and oligarchic), which was defeated in the Cold War and became another market for Western goods.