Editing First Chechen War (section)

==Initial stages of conflict==
{{More citations needed section|date=April 2008}}

===Initial conflict===
[[File:Evstafiev-chechnya-women-pray.jpg|thumb|Chechen women praying for Russian troops not to advance on [[Grozny]], December 1994.]]

On 11 December 1994, Russian forces launched a three-pronged ground attack towards [[Grozny]]. The main attack was temporarily halted by the deputy commander of the [[Russian Ground Forces]], General {{ill|Eduard Vorobyov|ru|Воробьёв, Эдуард Аркадьевич}}, who then resigned in protest, stating that it is "a crime" to "send the army against its own people."<ref name="Gall"/> Many in the Russian military and government opposed the war as well. [[Boris Yeltsin|Yeltsin]]'s adviser on nationality affairs, {{Interlanguage link|Emil Pain|ru|Паин, Эмиль Абрамович}}, and Russia's Deputy Minister of Defense General [[Boris Gromov]] (commander of the [[Soviet–Afghan War|Afghan War]]), also resigned in protest of the invasion ("It will be a bloodbath, another [[Soviet–Afghan War|Afghanistan]]", Gromov said on television), as did General Boris Poliakov. More than 800 professional soldiers and officers refused to take part in the operation; of these, 83 were convicted by [[military court]]s and the rest were discharged. Later General [[Lev Rokhlin]] also refused to be decorated as a [[Hero of the Russian Federation]] for his part in the war.

The advance of the northern column was halted by the [[Battle of Dolinskoye|unexpected Chechen resistance]] at Dolinskoye and the Russian forces suffered their first serious losses.<ref name="Gall"/>
Units of Chechen fighters inflicted severe losses on the Russian troops. Deeper in Chechnya, a group of 50 [[Russian Airborne Troops|Russian paratroopers]] was captured by the local Chechen [[militia]], after being deployed by helicopters behind enemy lines to capture a Chechen weapons cache.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Efron |first1=Sonni |title=Aerial Death Threat Sends Chechens Fleeing From Village: Caucasus: Russians warn they will bomb five towns near Grozny unless 50 captured paratroopers are quickly freed. |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-01-10-mn-18475-story.html |access-date=31 December 2020 |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=January 10, 1995 |archive-date=2023-03-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230317122524/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-01-10-mn-18475-story.html |url-status=live }}</ref> On 29 December, in a rare instance of a Russian outright victory, the Russian airborne forces seized the military airfield next to [[Grozny]] and repelled a Chechen counter-attack in the [[Battle of Khankala (1994)|Battle of Khankala]]; the next objective was the city itself. With the Russians closing in on the capital, the Chechens began to set up [[defensive fighting position]]s and grouped their forces in the city.

===Storming of Grozny===
{{Main|Battle of Grozny (1994–95)}}
[[File:Evstafiev-chechnya-palace-gunman.jpg|thumb|A Chechen fighter near the burned-out ruins of the [[Presidential Palace, Grozny|Presidential Palace in Grozny]], January 1995]]
When the [[Russians]] besieged the [[Chechnya|Chechen]] capital, thousands of civilians died from a week-long series of [[Airstrike|air raids]] and artillery bombardments in the heaviest bombing campaign in [[Europe]] since the [[bombing of Dresden in World War II|destruction of Dresden]].<ref>Williams, Bryan Glyn (2001).[https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1475-4967.00012 The Russo-Chechen War: A Threat to Stability in the Middle East and Eurasia?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220316202623/https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1475-4967.00012 |date=2022-03-16 }}. ''[[Middle East Policy]]'' 8.1.</ref> The initial assault on [[New Year's Eve]] 1994 ended in a big Russian defeat, resulting in many casualties and at first a nearly complete breakdown of morale in the Russian forces. The fighting claimed the lives of an estimated 1,000 to 2,000 Russian soldiers, mostly barely trained conscripts; the worst losses were inflicted on the [[9th Infantry Division (Soviet Union)#Post-war service history|131st 'Maikop' Motor Rifle Brigade]], which was destroyed in the fighting near the central railway station.<ref name="Gall">{{cite book|last =Gall|first =Carlotta|author2 =Thomas de Waal|title =Chechnya: Calamity in the Caucasus|publisher =New York University Press|year =1998|url =https://archive.org/details/chechnyacalamity00gall|isbn =978-0-8147-2963-2}}</ref> Despite the early Chechen defeat of the New Year's assault and the many further casualties that the Russians had suffered, [[Grozny]] was eventually conquered by Russian forces after an [[urban warfare]] campaign. After armored assaults failed, the Russian military set out to take the city using air power and artillery. At the same time, the Russian military accused the Chechen fighters of using civilians as [[human shield]]s by preventing them from leaving the capital as it was bombarded.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/545672.stm|title=BBC News – EUROPE – Chechens 'using human shields'|work=bbc.co.uk|access-date=2008-05-29|archive-date=2003-03-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030317185829/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/545672.stm|url-status=live}}</ref> On 7 January 1995, the Russian Major-General Viktor Vorobyov was killed by [[Mortar (weapon)|mortar]] fire, becoming the first on a long list of Russian generals to be killed in Chechnya. On 19 January, despite many casualties, Russian forces seized the ruins of the [[Presidential Palace, Grozny|Chechen presidential palace]], which had been fought over for more than three weeks as the Chechens abandoned their positions in the ruins of the downtown area. The battle for the southern part of the city continued until the official end on 6 March 1995.

By the estimates of Yeltsin's human rights adviser [[Sergei Kovalev]], about 27,000 civilians died in the first five weeks of fighting. The Russian historian and general [[Dmitri Volkogonov]] said the Russian military's bombardment of Grozny killed around 35,000 civilians, including 5,000 children and that the vast majority of those killed were ethnic Russians. While military casualties are not known, the Russian side admitted to having 2,000 soldiers killed or missing.<ref>{{cite journal
 |last=Faurby
 |first=Ib
 |author2=Märta-Lisa Magnusson
 |title=The Battle(s) of Grozny
 |journal=Baltic Defence Review
 |issue=2
 |pages=75–87
 |year=1999
 |url=http://www.caucasus.dk/publication1.htm
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720083643/http://www.caucasus.dk/publication1.htm
 |archive-date=July 20, 2011
}}</ref> The bloodbath of Grozny shocked Russia and the outside world, inciting severe criticism of the war. International monitors from the [[Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe]] (OSCE) described the scenes as nothing short of an "unimaginable catastrophe", while former Soviet leader [[Mikhail Gorbachev]] called the war a "disgraceful, bloody adventure" and German chancellor [[Helmut Kohl]] called it "sheer madness".<ref>{{cite news | title =The First Bloody Battle | work =The Chechen Conflict | publisher =BBC News | date =2000-03-16 | url =http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/482323.stm | access-date =2006-08-10 | archive-date =2016-12-03 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20161203115036/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/482323.stm | url-status =live }}</ref>

===Continued Russian offensive===
[[File:Evstafiev-chechnya-boy-house-burns.jpg|thumb|left|A Chechen stands near a burning house in Grozny.]]
Following the fall of [[Grozny]], the Russian government slowly and methodically expanded its control over the lowland areas and then into the mountains. In what was dubbed the worst massacre in the war, the [[OMON]] and other federal forces [[Samashki massacre|killed up to 300 civilians]] while seizing the border village of [[Samashki]] on 7 April (several hundred more were detained and beaten or otherwise tortured).<ref name="human">[https://www.hrw.org/reports/1996/WR96/Helsinki-16.htm The Russian Federation Human Rights Developments] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130525150038/http://www.hrw.org/reports/1996/WR96/Helsinki-16.htm |date=2013-05-25 }} Human Rights Watch</ref> In the southern mountains, the Russians launched an offensive along all the front on 15 April, advancing in large columns of 200–300 vehicles.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://smallwarsjournal.com/documents/alikhadzhievinterview.pdf|title=Alikhadzhiev interview|access-date=2007-05-12|archive-date=2008-10-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081030112906/http://smallwarsjournal.com/documents/alikhadzhievinterview.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> The ChRI forces defended the city of [[Argun, Chechen Republic|Argun]], moving their military headquarters first to surrounded [[Shali, Chechen Republic|Shali]], then shortly after to the village of [[Serzhen'-Yurt]] as they were forced into the mountains and finally to [[Shamil Basayev]]'s ancestral stronghold of [[Vedeno]]. Chechnya's second-largest city of [[Gudermes]] was surrendered without a fight but the village of [[Shatoy]] was fought for and defended by the men of [[Ruslan Gelayev]]. Eventually, the Chechen command withdrew from the area of Vedeno to the Chechen opposition-aligned village of [[Dargo, Vedensky District|Dargo]] and from there to [[Benoy, Vedensky District|Benoy]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://smallwarsjournal.com/documents/iskhanovinterview.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080308081720/http://smallwarsjournal.com/documents/iskhanovinterview.pdf|title=Iskhanov interview |archive-date=March 8, 2008}}</ref> According to an estimate cited in a [[United States Army]] analysis report, between January and May 1995, when the Russian forces conquered most of the republic in the conventional campaign, their losses in Chechnya were approximately 2,800 killed, 10,000 wounded and more than 500 missing or captured.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.inetres.com/gp/military/FM3-06_11H.html |title=FM 3-06.11 Appendix H |website=inetres.com |access-date=2007-03-15 |archive-date=2007-04-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070418133849/http://www.inetres.com/gp/military/FM3-06_11H.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Some Chechen fighters infiltrated occupied areas, hiding in crowds of returning refugees.<ref>{{cite web |author1=Timothy L. Thomas |author2=Charles P. O'Hara |url=http://leav-www.army.mil/fmso/documents/stress.htm |work=Foreign Military Studies Office Publications |title=Combat Stress in Chechnya: "The Equal Opportunity Disorder" |archive-url=https://archive.today/20070801170345/http://leav-www.army.mil/fmso/documents/stress.htm |archive-date=2007-08-01 }}</ref>

As the war continued, the Chechens resorted to mass [[hostage]]-takings, attempting to influence the Russian public and leadership. In June 1995, a group led by the maverick field commander [[Shamil Basayev]] took more than 1,500 people hostage in southern Russia in the [[Budyonnovsk hospital hostage crisis]]; about 120 Russian civilians died before a ceasefire was signed after negotiations between Basayev and the Russian Prime Minister [[Viktor Chernomyrdin]]. The raid forced a temporary stop in Russian military operations, giving the Chechens time to regroup and to prepare for the national militant campaign. The full-scale Russian attack led many of [[Dzhokhar Dudayev]]'s opponents to side with his forces and thousands of volunteers to swell the ranks of mobile militant units. Many others formed local self-defence [[militia]] units to defend their settlements in the case of federal offensive action, officially numbering 5,000–6,000 armed men in late 1995. According to a UN report, the [[Armed Forces of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria|Chechen Armed Forces]] included a large number of [[Military use of children|child soldiers]], some as young as 11 years old, and also included females.<ref name=humanrts>{{cite web |title=The situation of human rights in the Republic of Chechnya of the Russian Federation |publisher=[[United Nations]] |date=26 March 1996 |url=http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/commission/country52/1996_13.htm |archive-date=February 11, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120211102551/http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/commission/country52/1996_13.htm |url-status=live}}</ref> As the territory controlled by them shrank, the Chechens increasingly resorted to classic [[guerrilla warfare]] tactics, such as [[booby trap]]s and [[land mine|mining]] roads in enemy-held territory. The use of [[improvised explosive device]]s was particularly noteworthy; they also exploited a combination of [[Land mine|mines]] and [[ambush]]es.

On 6 October 1995,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Specter |first=Michael |date=1995-11-21 |title=Pro-Russian Chechen Leader Survives Bombing in Capital |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/11/21/world/pro-russian-chechen-leader-survives-bombing-in-capital.html |access-date=2023-02-04 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=2024-04-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240422215044/https://www.nytimes.com/1995/11/21/world/pro-russian-chechen-leader-survives-bombing-in-capital.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Gen. [[Anatoliy Romanov]], the federal commander in Chechnya at the time, was critically injured and [[Paralysis|paralyzed]] in a bomb blast in [[Grozny]]. Suspicion of responsibility for the attack fell on rogue elements of the Russian military, as the attack destroyed hopes for a permanent ceasefire based on the developing trust between Gen. Romanov and the ChRI Chief of Staff [[Aslan Maskhadov]], a former colonel in the [[Soviet Army]]; in August, the two went to southern Chechnya to try to convince the local commanders to release Russian prisoners.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sptimes.ru/index.php?action_id=2&story_id=11071 |title=Honoring a General Who is Silenced |work=[[The St. Petersburg Times (Russia)|The St. Petersburg Times]] |archive-date=July 17, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140717102746/http://www.sptimes.ru/index.php?action_id=2&story_id=11071}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|title=Chechnya: Election Date Postponed, Prisoner Exchange in Trouble|magazine=[[Jamestown Foundation|Monitor]]|volume=1|issue=69|date=August 8, 1995|publisher=The Jamestown Foundation |url=http://www.jamestown.org/publications_details.php?volume_id=14&&issue_id=740|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061122084849/http://www.jamestown.org/publications_details.php?volume_id=14&&issue_id=740 |archive-date=2006-11-22}}</ref> In February 1996, federal and pro-Russian Chechen forces in Grozny opened fire on a massive pro-independence peace march of tens of thousands of people, killing a number of demonstrators.<ref>{{cite web|author=Chris Hunter|title=Mass protests in Grozny end in bloodshed|url=http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/63/080.html|website=hartford-hwp.com|access-date=2007-08-19|archive-date=2019-05-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190527082713/http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/63/080.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The ruins of the presidential palace, the symbol of Chechen independence, were then demolished two days later.