Russia's integrity: Russian parties of power and the Yabloko association on Russo–Chechen relations, 1999–2001

Abstract

ONE OF THE MOST SEVERE PROBLEMS Russia has faced since the collapse of the Soviet Union has been relations with Chechnya. The problem, as seen from the Russian side, is the separatism of the Chechens and, consequently, the threat posed by this to the integrity of the Federation, and as seen from the Chechen side, Russia's unwillingness to grant national self-determination to Chechnya. The extreme manifestation of the unsolved problems has been the Russo-Chechen wars, the first in 1994-96 and the second beginning in 1999. The problems in Russo-Chechen relations and the efforts to solve them reflect other problems in post-Soviet Russia, especially problems to do with the administrative form and the territory of the Federation and all the political, economic, legal, social and moral issues connected with them.' Russo-Chechen relations have been well discussed in the literature. We have been reminded of the