![]() ![]() ![]() However, this restrained strategy changed in September. The original strategy included inflicting heavy damage against the insurgents without risking Russian casualties by avoiding ground combat at all costs. Russian military figures expected initially to respond in a limited fashion. Finding inspiration in the successes by the mujahideen in Kosovo, radical Islamic groups in Chechnya led by Ibn al-Khattab and Shamil Basayev began executing an insurgency in Dagestan in late August 1999, sparking the Second Chechen War. In the months before his appointment, hostilities in Chechnya were rising. There was little time for Putin to ease into his new role. The fading Yeltsin immediately appointed Vladimir Putin as Prime Minister of Russia, claiming to the Russian public in a televised speech that Putin was the only person “able to consolidate society and, drawing support from broadest political forces, to ensure the continuation of reforms in Russia.” Since Putin would bring prosperity to Russia in the 21 st century, Yeltsin called on “everyone who will come to the polling stations… and make their choice to have confidence in I think that he has sufficient time to prove himself.” On August 9, 1999, in one of his final dramatic decrees as president, Boris Yeltsin fired Prime Minister Sergei Stepashin and his entire cabinet. They agreed that the young Putin was a “superb candidate.” ![]() According to Yumashev, he and Yeltsin discussed who should be the next leader of Russia. The President’s ill health, inability to maintain Russian democracy, and seemingly subservient attitude toward the West caused many Russians to view Yeltsin as unpopular and weak. Prime Minister Putin and the Second Chechen WarĪs the new millennium approached, Yeltsin’s second and final term as president was ending. The Russian government agreed, believing that allowing an independent Chechnya was a danger to Russia. Even moderates began to see Chechnya as nothing more than a land run on crime. The chaos in Chechnya made many Russians fear for their safety. Lawlessness and terrorist attacks continued to plague the new nation, as pro-Chechen terrorist groups began executing terrorist attacks and kidnappings of Russian political figures, such as Valentin Vlasov and General Gennadiy Shpigun, in Russia and along the Russian-Chechen border. Moreover, Chechnya was proving to the Russians that the region was falling apart. However, the issue of Chechen independence was still not resolved. When it came to Chechnya in the post-war years, Yeltsin alleviated some tensions by signing the Moscow Peace Treaty with new Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov. Two months later, Putin was selected as the director of the Federal Security Service, or FSB, which served as the successor to the KGB. Yeltsin’s close advisor and Chief of Staff Valentin Yumashev initially hired the former KGB agent in 1997 to work for the administration before Yeltsin appointed Putin as the First Deputy Chief of the Presidential Staff on May 25, 1998. Putin left Saint Petersburg and moved to Moscow, where he eventually caught the eye of the Yeltsin administration. Putin initially worked for the Russian security agency, better known as the KGB, before working for the mayor of Leningrad/Saint Petersburg Anatoly Sobchak. Vladimir Putin was not a part of the Yeltsin administration during the First Chechen War. Mikhail Gorbachev went so far as to describe the war in Chechnya as a “disgraceful, bloody adventure.” The Russian Army withdrew from Chechnya, and Yeltsin wallowed in embarrassment. After nearly two years of fighting, the Khasavyurt Accords were signed on August 31, 1996, ending the conflict. The war became an unfathomable slog that proved the ineptitude of the Russian military. To the surprise of Russian officials, the Chechen defense was much stiffer than anticipated, causing a steeper number of casualties and logistical losses. ![]() After three years of mulling around the issue, Yeltsin ordered Russian forces to invade Chechnya on December 11, 1994, sparking the First Chechen War. To curb Chechnya’s ambitions, Yeltsin appointed “hawkish” anti-Chechen politicians in influential positions within his administration. Russian President Boris Yeltsin, who supported the autonomy of Soviet states, was far from pleased with Chechnya’s assertion for self-determination, believing Chechen independence was an attack on Russia’s territorial sovereignty. Chechen leaders, led by Major General Dzhokhar Dudayev, took advantage of the turmoil by officially asserting their independence on September 6, 1991. The road to Chechen independence began in the turbulent final years of Mikhail Gorbachev’s reign as General Secretary of the Soviet Union. A Post-Soviet Chechnya and the First Chechen War ![]()
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