Editing First Chechen War (section)

==Spread of the war==
[[File:Evstafiev-chechnya-tank-helmet.jpg|thumb|upright|Chechen irregular fighter with a ''[[Borz]]'' submachine gun]]
The declaration by Chechnya's Chief Mufti [[Akhmad Kadyrov]] that the ChRI was waging a ''[[Jihad]]'' (''struggle'') against Russia raised the spectre that [[Jihadi]]s from other regions and even outside Russia would enter the war. {{citation needed|date=July 2023}}

Limited fighting occurred in the neighbouring a small republic of [[Ingushetia]], mostly when Russian commanders sent troops over the border in pursuit of Chechen fighters, while as many as 200,000 refugees (from [[Chechnya]] and the conflict in [[North Ossetia–Alania|North Ossetia]]) strained Ingushetia's already weak economy. On several occasions, Ingush president [[Ruslan Aushev]] protested incursions by Russian soldiers and even threatened to sue the [[Ministry of Defence (Russia)|Russian Ministry of Defence]] for damages inflicted, recalling how the federal forces previously assisted in the [[Population transfer|expulsion]] of the [[Ingush people|Ingush]] population from North Ossetia.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://psi.ece.jhu.edu/~kaplan/IRUSS/ARCHIVE/2.94.html |access-date=2006-12-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160608021010/http://psi.ece.jhu.edu/~kaplan/IRUSS/ARCHIVE/2.94.html |archive-date=2016-06-08 |title=July archive |website=jhu.edu}}</ref> Undisciplined Russian soldiers were also reported to be committing murders, rapes, and looting in Ingushetia (in an incident partially witnessed by visiting Russian [[Duma]] deputies, at least nine Ingush civilians and an ethnic [[Bashkirs|Bashkir]] soldier were murdered by apparently drunk Russian soldiers; earlier, drunken Russian soldiers killed another Russian soldier, five Ingush villagers and even Ingushetia's Health Minister).<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.nupi.no/cgi-win/Russland/krono.exe?3271 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927213430/http://www.nupi.no/cgi-win/Russland/krono.exe?3271 |title=Army demoralized |archive-date=September 27, 2007}}</ref>

Much larger and more deadly acts of hostility took place in the [[Republic of Dagestan]]. In particular, the border village of [[Pervomayskoye, Khasavyurtovsky District, Republic of Dagestan|Pervomayskoye]] was completely destroyed by Russian forces in January 1996 in reaction to the large-scale [[Kizlyar-Pervomayskoye hostage crisis|Chechen hostage taking in Kizlyar]] in Dagestan (in which more than 2,000 hostages were taken), bringing strong criticism from this hitherto loyal republic and escalating domestic dissatisfaction. The [[Don Cossacks]] of [[Southern Russia]], originally sympathetic to the Chechen cause,{{Citation needed|date=February 2010}} turned hostile as a result of their Russian-esque culture and language, stronger affinity to Moscow than to Grozny, and a history of conflict with indigenous peoples such as the Chechens. The [[Kuban Cossacks]] started organizing themselves against the Chechens, including manning [[paramilitary]] roadblocks against infiltration of their territories. {{citation needed|date=July 2023}}

Meanwhile, the war in Chechnya spawned new forms of resistance to the federal government. Opposition to the [[conscription]] of men from minority ethnic groups to fight in Chechnya was widespread among other republics, many of which passed laws and decrees on the subject. For example, the government of [[Chuvashia Republic|Chuvashia]] passed a decree providing legal protection to soldiers from the republic who refused to participate in the Chechen war and imposed limits on the use of the federal army in [[ethnic conflict|ethnic or regional conflicts]] within Russia. [[Tatarstan]] president [[Mintimer Shaimiev]] vocally opposed the war and appealed to Yeltsin to stop it and return conscripts, warning the conflict was at risk of expanding across the Caucasus.<ref>{{Cite web |date=10 November 2022 |title=Mintimer Shaimiev: "Stop the Civil War". The first Chechen war and the reaction of the authorities of Tatarstan |url=https://www.idelreal.org/a/32118934.html |access-date=2022-12-08 |website=[[Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty]] |language=ru |archive-date=2024-09-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240906143816/https://www.idelreal.org/a/32118934.html |url-status=live}}</ref> Some regional and local [[legislative]] bodies called for the prohibition on the use of draftees in quelling internal conflicts, while others demanded a total ban on the use of the armed forces in such situations. Russian government officials feared that a move to end the war short of victory would create a cascade of secession attempts by other ethnic minorities.{{citation needed|date=July 2023}}

On 16 January 1996, a [[Turkey|Turkish]] [[passenger ship]] carrying 200 Russian passengers [[Black Sea hostage crisis|was taken over]] by what were mostly Turkish gunmen who were seeking to publicize the Chechen cause. On 6 March, a [[Cyprus|Cypriot]] [[passenger jet]] was [[Aircraft hijacking|hijacked]] by Chechen sympathisers while flying toward [[Germany]]. Both of these incidents were resolved through negotiations, and the hijackers surrendered without any fatalities being inflicted. {{citation needed|date=July 2023}}