An unholy war in Chechnya

What do the Chechens want?

Unlike Osama bin Laden and al Qaida, the Chechens are not fighting to establish a world Islamic state. They’re fighting for a state, period. Chechens are Muslims, but most belong to a mystical sect called the Sufis, and they are not particularly religious. Chechen identity has traditionally rested on principles of family and clan honor, individualism, and opposition to hierarchy. The rugged mountain tribe has fought Russia’s control of the region since the reign of Ivan the Terrible, in the 16th century. Russia established control in 1858, after a long and bloody campaign.

Why won’t the Russians let go?

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Chechnya is located in the Caucasus, a mountainous region between the Caspian and Black seas, that is strategically important as Russia’s southern flank. And since Russia has been fighting to keep Chechnya for nearly 150 years, no Russian leader wants to surrender a region won at the cost of so much blood. The enmity goes deep: Over the decades, the Chechens have embraced any enemy of Russia who’d promise help in return, including the Nazis during World War II. A vengeful Stalin deported almost the entire Chechen population to the desolate steppes of Siberia and Kazakhstan. The transfer was one of the most devastating acts of ethnic cleansing in the 20th century; at least one-third and possibly one-half of the Chechens died in the first year. In the late 1950s, Khrushchev allowed the survivors to limp back to the Caucasus, where they raised their children on tales of Soviet oppression.

What happened when the Soviet Union fell?

Russian President Boris Yeltsin, carried away by the euphoria of his success in shaking off the Soviet yoke, told all the Russian provinces to claim “as much autonomy as you can handle.” Chechnya took him at his word and promptly declared independence. But that was more than Yeltsin had had in mind, and in 1994 he sent troops in for what was supposed to be a quick reassertion of sovereignty. It turned into a nightmarish slaughter. At least 70,000 civilians were killed; the capital, Grozny, was completely flattened; and some 200,000 women and children fled to neighboring provinces. In fierce fighting, thousands of Russian soldiers were killed. Finally, in 1996, the Russians signed a truce with military leader Aslan Maskhadov, who became the new provincial president.

Did the truce bring peace?

No. Chechnya had been largely destroyed by war, with its roads and power plants and water supplies ruined, and half its population in refugee camps. There was little work or money. Armed gangs roved the countryside, and President Maskhadov couldn’t establish a rule of law. Hostage-taking became a primary source of revenue. Chechen thugs frequently kidnapped international aid workers, beheading them if payment wasn’t forthcoming. The total breakdown of order in the society fed the growth of a new strain of Islam: Wahhabism.

What is Wahhabism?

Dominant in Saudi Arabia, Wahhabism is a very strict and militant form of Islam. The Sufis view jihad as a personal, spiritual war against one’s own flaws. But the Wahhabis see jihad as a literal war against infidels. After having their country largely destroyed by the Russians, the idea of a holy war has a strong emotional appeal for a growing number of Chechens. Khattab, an Arab who became one of the best Chechen field commanders, is a Wahhabi, and so is notorious hostage-taker and warlord Shamil Basayev. The terrorists who took 700 people hostage in a Moscow theater last month were also Wahhabis. But most Chechens remain Sufis, and Maskhadov and the field commanders loyal to him strongly oppose Wahhabism, which they see as a foreign influence.

Is al Qaida active in Chechnya?

Putin says about 200 Arab fighters have traveled to Chechnya to aid the rebels’ cause; Western intelligence puts the number closer to 100. The Chechen resistance undoubtedly welcomes any assistance, but it was fighting the Russians long before bin Laden declared his worldwide jihad. There is no evidence that al Qaida is directing the Chechen rebellion or providing weapons and training. Putin, though, insists the Chechen independence movement springs from “religious extremists and international terrorists” who are determined to “kill all non-Muslims.”

Why does he say that?

Putin has always taken a hard line on the Chechens, and it helped bring him to power. When he was prime minister in 1999, he blamed a series of deadly apartment bombings in Moscow on Chechen militants and vowed revenge. The subsequent military crackdown in Chechnya was immensely popular among Russians and propelled Putin to the presidency. But domestic politics is just part of the story. By branding the Chechens terrorists, Putin is forging a link to America’s war on terrorism, thus inoculating him from international criticism. The strategy seems to be working. In the past, Russia’s army has been condemned for brutality and indiscriminate killing in Chechnya by Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, the European Union, and other international bodies. In recent months, those critics have fallen silent.

Russia’s Wild West

The Cossacks