Chronology of Russian Involvement in North Caucasus

["thanhdang" <thanhlan@mindspring.com>]

Hi ca'c ba'c

Below is a  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.

Thanh Dang




  August 9, 1999


Chronology of Russian Involvement in North Caucasus
By REUTERS


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
honoured 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 neighbours, 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 neighbouring 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.

Sep. 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 shatter
ed 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.

Aug. 1998 -- Dagestan's top Moslem cleric, his brother and a driver killed
in bomb attack.

Sep. 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 organised 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.