Chechen Leader Research Articles

Analysis of the Russian-Chechen conflict from a military perspective

The Russian-Chechen conflict burst out on September 6th, 1991, when the Chechen Republic proclaimed its independence from the Russian Federation. This action of the Chechens was not recognized by the authorities in Moscow, as it violated the provisions of the Russian Federation’s Constitution. Chechen leader Dudaev took a number of political and social decisions that were not well received by Russia. He dissolved the Chechen Parliament and banned any opposition to its authority. In addition, a series of persecutions began against Russians living in Chechnya. Dudaev created paramilitary groups and hired mercenaries devoted only to him. The Moscow government refused to recognize Dudaev's regime. The leaders of Chechnya refused to sign the Russian Federation Treaty, which displeased the Russians. Under these conditions, in December 1994, the Russian Army entered Chechnya to oust Dudaev. A bloody war followed, culminating in the fight between the Russians and Chechens for the capital of Chechnya, Groznya, but also with guerrilla actions carried out by Chechen paramilitary groups in the mountainous and hard-to-reach areas of their country. A peace treaty was finally signed in May 1997. Nevertheless, this proved to be short-lived, as tensions between Russia and Chechnya flared up again in August 1999, when armed groups of Chechens attacked villages in the Republic of Dagestan. Under these conditions, Vladimir Putin threatened with a new military intervention in Chechnya, which materialized in September 1999. Heavy fighting took place, ending with the Russian troops occupying the main cities in Chechnya. In spite of this, the Chechens did not surrender. They briefly seized some cities and committed numerous terrorist attacks during 2000. The forceful intervention of the Russian security forces and the elimination of the paramilitary groups’ leaders led to the gradual de-escalation of the conflict. In 2009, the Russian leader Medvedev declared that in Chechnya "life has normalized to some extent" (Chechnya profile - Timeline 2018).

Chechen Nation-Building under Kadyrov: A Belated “Korenizatsiya”?

ABSTRACT Ramzan Kadyrov’s regime in Chechnya has been shaped by a republic-level nation-building process. To outbid his nationalist and religious rivals, the Chechen leader has followed a political strategy that bears some similarities to korenizatsiia, the early Soviet policy of establishing a strong interconnection between administrative structures and ethnicity. Under Kadyrov, Chechen nationalism has thoroughly penetrated the state institutions of the republic. A new ethnic Chechen bureaucracy has emerged, one with durable connections to federal institutions. Thus, with this sustained emphasis on Chechen nationalism, Kadyrov has made Chechen society far more deeply integrated with Russia than it has been in decades.

Медиаобраз Рамзана Кадырова в британских СМИ (на материале статей The Independent)

The paper aims to identify lexical evaluative means used to form Ramzan Kadyrov’s image in the British online newspaper “The Independent”. The author analyzes the themes and content of publications about Kadyrov, examines expressive-evaluative means forming his media image. Scientific originality of the study involves a comprehensive analysis of linguistic techniques used to create a stereotyped image of Chechen leader in readers' consciousness. The findings indicate that British mass media cultivate the image of oppressive and authoritarian Chechen ruler. Negative evaluation is expressed by use of metaphors, lexemes with negative connotation, negative clichés.

The “Real” Chechen Man: Conceptions of Religion, Nature, and Gender and the Persecution of Sexual Minorities in Postwar Chechnya

ABSTRACT In March of 2017, the Russian LGBT Network received their first reports of police violence against individuals in Chechnya because of their perceived sexual orientation. In the following months, news spread of a campaign of forced disappearances and torture specifically targeting suspected homosexual men. Between December, 2018 and February, 2019, police carried out another wave of unlawful detentions of men on the basis of their sexual orientation. The reports of unlawful detentions and extrajudicial killings of queer men may seem surreal in a world that has slowly grown more progressive with regard to LGBT rights issues. And yet, this violence is the reality faced by gay and bisexual men in Chechnya under Ramzan Kadyrov, the hypermasculine Chechen leader. This paper explores the ways in which religious practice, imaginations of nature, and conceptions of gender have influenced Chechnya’s current anti-LGBT climate.

NEW WARS BETWEEN SECURITY CLANS, OR WHAT ZOLOTOV MAY KNOW ABOUT NEMTSOV’S ASSASSINATION

NEW WARS BETWEEN SECURITY CLANS, OR WHAT ZOLOTOV MAY KNOW ABOUT NEMTSOV’S ASSASSINATION

A DECEPTIVE LULL: WHY RADICALIZATION OF THE NORTH CAUCASUS CONTINUES

A DECEPTIVE LULL: WHY RADICALIZATION OF THE NORTH CAUCASUS CONTINUES