Timeline of the Caucasus Conflicts Кавказские конфликты
Georgian-Ossetian-Abkhazian-Russian-Chechnyan Conflicts
The two secession provinces of Georgia and the following conflicts are connected and intertwined, but I have produced two timelines for an easier overview. The Ciscaucasian (North Caucasus) conflict in Chechnya, Ingushetia and Dagestan is somehow also connected, especially historically. The Nagorno-Karabach conflict is not presented here, but it will come!
Timeline Ossetia
7th Century CE
Alanians/Ossetians, a Persian speaking people, begins to settle in the Caucasus. They used to live on the plains from Volga to the Black Sea, but was driven towards the mountains due to pressure from other steppe populations, (basically Turkic speaking peoples). Some people argues that the Ossetians are the last remnants of the Scythians.
9th Century
Ossetians starts to convert to Christianity due to Byzantine mission.
12th Century
Queen Tamar the Great (reign 1184 to 1213), the most celebrated ruler of Georgia was half Ossetian and she was married to Soslan, an Ossetian prince.
13th Century
Mongols ravages Northern Caucasus and many Ossetians are forced to flee over the mountains, where they occupy Gori and other places in 1299.
1320 CE
Gori is recaptured from the Ossetians by Georgia and David V.
1774
Ossetia-Alania starts to integrate in the Russian empire.
1783
Treaty of Giorgievsk. Russia and Georgia agrees that Georgia is now a protectorate of Imperial Russia.
1799
Georgian military road is modernised. From now on the Russians, the Ossetians and the Georgians have a Christian axis right through the Muslim areas of Caucasus. Finally, Georgia can get Christian support against the Muslim Safavids of Iran and Muslim Ottomans of Turkey.
1801
Georgia is annexed by Russia.
1917-1921
The North Ossetians supports the White armies in the Russian civil war. (The Whites were pro-tsarist and opposed to the Bolsheviks).
1920
The Menshevik (Social Democratic) government in Tbilisi creates a massacre in South Ossetia when they believe that the Ossetians are on the way to start a Bolshevik insurgency.
1921
The Bolshevik (Communist) red army invades Georgia and they are supported by the South Ossetians.
1938 - 1954
Ossetian is written with Georgian script. From 1954 it is written with Cyrillic, which was already the standard in North Ossetia.
1989
According to the last reliable census (1989) the population is 99.000. 30% are ethnic Georgians and 66% are Ossetians.
1990, September
South Ossetia declares itself an autonomous Soviet republic.
1990, October
After winning the elections, Gamsachurdia degrades South Ossetia to a normal Georgian province with the name Shida-Kartli, (Inner Kartli). The Ossetians call their land Alania.
1990, December
Elections in South Ossetia, followed by a state of emergency in the province, declared by Tbilisi and Gamsachurdia. It developes to violence when extremist Georgian nationalists goes to action. Both official and inofficial militia participates and are accused of atrocities. This is known as the first Ossetian war and lasts until the peace of Dagomys in June 1992.
1991
Gamsachurdia declares that Georgian is the only official language in Georgia. (The Ossetians wanted Ossetian to be their official language)
1991, January 5
The chief medic in the South-Ossetian capital Tschinvali states that 289 wounded had arrived at the hospital and 39 was declered deceased. The president of South Ossetia, Kulumbekov, is arrested and jailed.
1991, February
North Ossetia begs Gorbachev to interfere and protect the South Ossetians. Gorbachev refuses.
1991, March 17
South Ossetia votes yes to the new union proposed by Gorbachev. (A substitute for Soviet) A few weeks later, the Georgians votes no.
1991, August 1
The coup attempt in Moscow is supported by both South and North Ossetia, after all, Gorbachev didn't help them against Gamsachurdia.
1992, January 22
99% of the South Ossetian population votes for membership in the new Russian republic.
1992, June 24
Dagomys peace agreement. Sjevardnadze meets Jeltsin at Dagomys and signs a deal on South Ossetia. In reality, Tschinvali goes into a state of blockade as a result of the first Georgian-Ossetian civil war.
1992, 24 July
Georgia becomes a member of the UN, partly because of to the Dagomys peace agreement.
1992
Russian peace keeping forces are deployed in South Ossetia. On the 6th of November OSSE starts to monitor the peace keeping forces.
1992, fall
A referendum is being hold and the Ossetians vote yes to independence.
1996
A new referendum and 98% of the Ossetians vote yes to independence. Both referendums are not recognised by the broad international community, though.
2004, June
The wife of the Georgian president is denied entry to South Ossetia.
2004, August
The Georgian prime minister, Zurab Zjvania, is fired at, when he visits Georgian villages in the province. As a result, Georgian troops enters the area. In the following violence 26 Georgians and 7 Ossetians are killed (according to Georgian information) At the same time, an opinion poll shows that 98% of the Ossetians opposes Georgian rule.
2008, April
NATO summit in Bucharest. Georgia and Ukraine are accepted as "prospects" to become members in NATO, but they don't get a MAP (Membership Action Plan). Bush wanted to give Georgia a fast track to membership but France and Germany were opposed to that idea.
2008, June - July
During the course of the summer, tension is bulding up. Minor shootings and skirmishes are frequent. Both the Georgian and the Russian side believes that something is on the way.
2008, August 7
Second Georgian-Ossetian war
Around 23.35 Georgia starts shelling Tskhinvali, the capital of South Ossetia. Georgia is using both Grad rocket launchers and internationally banned cluster bombs. (Before the elections in January, Saakashvili had promised to bring South Ossetia into Georgian control).1
2008, August 8
Georgian offensive and Russian reaction on the North Ossetian side of the border to Russia.
2008, August 9
Escalation. The battle-hardened troops from the Russian-Chechen Vostok Battalion, under command of Sulim Yamadayev, invades and conquers South Ossetia with ease. The conflict spreads to Abkhazia and to Georgia proper. The result is a Russian assault on Gori. The Russians also uses cluster bombs against civilians, according to Human Rights Watch.2 Russia says it was exploding ammunition from a Georgian arms depot that was hit.
2008, August 10
- Georgian retreat from Tskhinvali.
- Ships from the Russian Black sea fleet is now outside Poti and Abkhazia, blocking the port of Poti.
2008, August 11
- Attempted International negotiations, but continued Russian offensive.
- All Georgian troops has left South Ossetia
- the First Georgian battalion is flown back from Iraq, but does not engage in fighting
2008, August 12
- Georgia withdraws from Abkhazia and a ceasefire is agreed upon.
- The Dutch television journalist Stan Storimans is killed by a Russian bomb in Gori.
- French president Nicholas Sarkozy starts to mediate, he is backed by Angela Merkel and has the respect of Moscow. He is furious about the US airlift of Georgian troops from Iraq to Tbilisi.
2008, August 13
Russian ground forces in full control of Gori. When they left Gori on the 22nd of August , the Senaki NATO sponsored army base was levelled to the ground.
2008, August 14
Abkhazia and South Ossetia agrees on the ceasefire.
2008, August 15
USA attempts to mediate and Condoleezza Rice meets with Saakashvili in Tbilisi.
2008, August 16
- Continued Russian presence in South Ossetia.
- Russian airstrike on the Black sea port of Poti and another airstrike against an airbase outside Tbilisi.
2008, August 17
- A government crisis in South Ossetia is a fact.
- Russia promises to withdraw.
2008, August 18
Despite their promises, Russia is advancing into Georgia proper.
2008, August 19
A minor Russian retreat. At the same time the relation to NATO becomes worse and infected. (3)
2008, August 20
Abkhazia wants to be recognized as an independent state
2008, August 21
Uncertainty about the Russian retreat from South Ossetia.
2008, August 22
South Ossetia wants to be recognized as an independent state and Russia says it's withdrawal is complete, but in reality they just started to withdraw from Gori.4
2008, August 26
South Ossetia and Abkhazia are recognized as independent states by Russia and an unanimous Duma.
2008, August 27
The Relation between NATO and Russia becomes increasingly tense.
2008, August 26
A Georgian surveillance aeroplane is shot down.
2009
- The Tagliavini report is delivered (Report of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Conflict in Georgia) **
- Anna-Lena Laurén asks herself, in her book, if Saakashvili had gone insane by the year 2008. (He was by then a Cocain addict, we have later found out)
2013
Saakashvili loses election and a more Moscow friendly administration under Bidzina Ivanishvili comes to power. Russian sanctions on Tbilisi are lifted shortly after.
2018
Salome Zurabishvili is elected president in Georgia.5 She made her self fame by saying that Saakashvili was a useful idiot to the Russians when he was tricked into attacking Tschinvali.
**Heidi Tagliavini report conclusions (From Per Gahrton)
(The report, requested by the EU, consists of 1000 pages on the South Ossetian conflict)
It is impossible to blame only one side
Open hostility started with Georgian shelling of Tschinvali
There were some Russian troops in South Ossetia that didn't belong to the peace keeping force, before the Georgian assault.
Georgian use of violence can not be justified.
Russian use of military force outside South Ossetia can not be justified.
There was no Georgian intention to commit genocide.
Ethnic cleansing, targeting Georgians, did occur.
According to Thomas De Waal, the report is very correct and accurate. See: https://carnegie.ru/commentary/61451
Numbers of casualities:
Russian numbers of fatalities include 48 killed Russian soldiers and 365 Ossetians, both soldiers and civilians.
According to the Georgians, 170 soldiers and 17 policemen were killed on their side. 228 Georgian civilians lost their lives to.
According to journalist Laurén, one year after the war, in 2009, 25.000 civilians still lived as refugees in Georgia proper. (Laurén 2009:161)
According to De Waal a total of c.850 people lost their lives. Half of them were civilians, both Ossetians and Georgians. Around 40.000 Georgians were still living as refugees in late 2009. (De Waal 2010:216-217)
There is a lot confusion about the numbers. In the 1989 census, the population of south Ossetia was 100.000, but De Waal gives the number of 138.000 temporary refugees, and 100.000 of them was able to return within two months. But, the trend since independence has been decreasing population, due to emigration. It simply does not add up. Today, 2020, the population of South Ossetia is possibly as low as 30.000.
Timeline Abkhazia
1810
Abkhazia is loosely knit to Russia as an autonomous area, but resistance to Russian rule continued for decades.
1852
The Russian General Grigory Filipson said "We occupy Abkhazia but we don't rule it"6
1864
Muhajirtsvo starts, i.e. large scale exodus of muslims to the Ottoman empire. This is a part of what is known as the Circassian genocide.
(The Circassian genocide was a systematic expulsion of muslims from the North Caucasus that occured during the second half of the 19th century. It was part of the Russian struggle to capture and dominate the Caucasus. It was preceded by the Caucasian war 1764 - 1864).
1866
Abkhazian rebellion against Russian rule.
1877
After a new rebellion, Abkhazians was prohibited to live in larger towns.
1907
Abkhazians are again allowed to live in towns and at the coast.
1918 - 1921
Abkhazia navigates inbetween mensheviks and bolsheviks.
1921 - 1936
Nestor Lakoba is the leading Bolshevik in Abkhazia. He is immensely popular among the people and protects the nobles from collectivisation, among other things. Until Stalins total paranoia begins, Lakoba is a close friend of Stalin.
1925 - 1931
During this period Abkhazia is an independent area, even though it is not formal. Lakoba communicates with Moscow directly and not with Tbilisi. This is possible due to his close personal friendship with Stalin.
1931
Abkhazia is downgraded to a part of Georgia, but Lakoba keeps everything calm for some years more.
1936, December
Nestor Lakoba is poisoned and murdered by Lavrentij Beria in Tbilisi
Lavrentij Beria was the police boss in Caucasus and a chief executioner for Stalin. He was born in Abkhazia and a Mingrelian (Georgian). Stalin called him "My Himmler". Probably one the most evil persons that ever lived!
1937 - 1939
Beria is enforcing "Georgianisation" and many top officals are removed or shot. Massive immigration of Mingrelians and Svans (Georgian subgroups). The Abkhazian language had to be written in Georgian script and teaching in Abkhazian was surpressed.
1944 - 1952
-A Georgian and loyal stalinist, Akaki Mgladze, is the party boss during this period.
-Stalin has one of his summer houses in Abkhazia.
1948
Stalin is rumored to have said "Abkhazia has always been Georgian territory". A policy that both Gamsachurdia and Sjevardnadze later followed.
1953
After Berias arrest and execution by Nikita Khrushchev, integration of Abkhazia into Georgia halted.
1954
- Abkhazian is written in Cyrillic alphabet again.
- From now on, large numbers of Armenians and Russians settles in Abkhazia.
1977 - 1978
A movement of intellectuals demands that Abkhazia shall become a part of Russia, but it is denied. However, TV-broadcasting in Abkhazian is inaugurated
1980s
Competition between ethnic groups for economic benefits and advantages. Control of the lucrative tourist industry is one of the assets.
1989, March - April
Mass rallies by Abkhazians leads to counterdemonstrations by Georgians and on April 9 it turns to violence in Tbilisi.
The Abkhazians wanted independence (from Soviet) and the Georgians wanted independence as well, but not independence for the Abkhazians. The Soviet army crushes the Georgians on the streets of Tbilisi. Twenty young women are killed, hundreds of civilians are wounded.
1989, July
When the university in Suchumi is going to split in two, one Georgian part and one Abkhazian, the first victims of ethnic violence occur. Sixteen persons are killed.
1991, April 9
Georgia declares independence and extreme nationalism, under Gamsachurdia, starts to flourish.
1991
In the end of the year Gamsachurdia is overthrown and an earlier power sharing deal in Abkhazia breaks down, conflict was looming.
1992, May
Direct armed confrontation between interior security forces of the two states, Georgia and Abkhazia. When peace was declared in Ossetia, militias was freed to go after Gamsachurdia supporters that was hiding in Mingrelia on the border to Abkhazia.
1992, July
Georgia inherits Soviet military hardware and is now able to wage war.
War in Abkhazia
The conflict in Abkhazia is a much more complicated story than the Ossetian one and the army of Georgia was a rag tag force without discipline. Some soldiers were freed prisoners that was given amnesty for the purpose of fighting. The Abkhazians needed help from outside, because they had no weapons. But they got help from North Caucasusian volunteers, among them, Shamil Basayev with his unit the "Grey wolfs". Many of the North Caucasians became known as fearsome terrorists later, with connections to the Talibans and Isis. There was also an Armenian unit "Bagramian", some Cossacks and groups from Transnistria and Russia.
Aproximately 6000 - 10.000 persons were killed and an estimated 20.000 houses were destroyed. (numbers varies, depending on source) In total, 200.000 Georgians becomes refugees in Georgia proper, (and still are 2020).
1992, August 14
War breaks out. The head of the Georgian national guard, Tengiz Kitovani, enters Abkhazia with a several thousand strong force. He says he is going to rescue Georgian officials that is hold by Zviadists (Mingrelian supporters of Gamsachurdia) but Kitovani marches directly to Suchumi, the capital of Abkhazia, where his soldiers starts looting and burning official buildings. When the Abkhazian governament fled north, the Georgian navy landed troops even further north. The Abkhazians was surrounded. Chechens and Circassians arrives to assist the Abkhazians.
1992, August 25
The 25 year old, new Georgian military commander, Giorgy Karkarashvili, treathens the Abkhazians with annihilation. A statement made in local television.
1992, 1 - 6th October
Battle of Gagra and the Gagra massacre, Abkhazia. Many captured Georgians are killed at the sports stadium under supervision of Shamil Basayev. (Numbers of killed varies widely, depending on source, so I refrain from citing)
1992, October 22
A group of soldiers dressed in black sets fire to the national archive of Abkhazia and makes a public statement of their contempt of Abkhazian identity.7 People in the neighborhood, including Georgians, attempts to put out the fire. 95% of the historical documents of Abkhazia was destroyed.
1992, December 14
A helicopter that was evacuating civilians from Tkvarcheli was shot down by the Georgians.
1993, July 27
Moscow negotiates and a ceasefire in the Suchumi area is realised. There had been anarchy during spring and summer and a lot of warcrimes took place, especially from the Georgians and the North Caucasian fighters, according to HRW.8 Shevardnadze is wekaned and there is a rebellion by Gamsachurdia supporters in Guria and Mingrelia at the same time.
1993, September 16
The ceasefire is broken by the Abkhaz forces.
1993, September 27
Suchumi massacre. Abkhazians and other North Caucasians violates the UN-negotiated ceasefire and massacres Georgian civilians. Georgia had removed all troops according to the UN brokered deal. There was extensive looting and pillaging, especially by the North Caucasians. The atrocities went on for two weeks. Soon all Georgians had left Abkhazia and the following peace was monitored by Russian troops and Abkhazia faced a pax russica, designed in Moscow. Around 200.000 - 240.000 Georgians became refugees in Georgia.
2001, late summer
A bizarre episode, to use the words of De Waal, occurred in 2001. A group of 100 chechen fighters was hiding out in the Pankisi gorge in Eastern Georgia. Among them were commander Ruslan Gelayev. They were put under pressure and was suddenly transported to the upper Kodori gorge in Abkhazia, where three hundred more fighters showed up. Was this a new attempt to invade Abkhazia? De Waal says this is one of the more murky episodes of Sjevardnadzes period. The attack from the Chechen group was stopped and some fighters was arrested by the Abkhazians, others slipped away. To the picture we must add that Ruslan Gelayev fought with the Abkhazians in 1992-1993.9
2006, 26 January
A gas pipeline is blown up between Mozdok (North Ossetia) and Tbilisi. Tbilisi is left without heating in the middle of the winter. Tbilisi blames Russia and says it's blackmail. Russia blames terrorists. At the same time a major electric cable is destroyed and parts of Georgia face a black out. A gas crisis in Ukraine is underway during the same period.
2006, March
- Russian embargo on Georgian and Moldavian wine. Both countries export 85% of their production to Russia. Later, in May, a boycott on Borjomi and Nabeghlavi (Georgian mineral water) is added to the embargo. The embargo is widely interpreted as a punishment for Georgias ambitions to join NATO. - In 2013 the embargo is lifted, (After Bidzina Ivanishvili was elected).
2006, 22 July
Kodori crisis. A local militia group of Georgian Svans is armed by Abkhazia, and refuses to take orders from Tbilisi. Commander of the Group is a local criminal and warlord, Emzar Kvitsiani. When Georgian security forces enters the area it is seen as provocation by the Abkhazians. (Kodori is located in Southeast Abkhazia)
2006, 27 September
Four Russian citizens are arrested for espionage in Georgia. Consequently, several thousand Georgian citizens are deported from Russia and Georgian businesses are shut down, among them a large casino. (around 1 million Georgians work in Russia). This event is followed by allegations and intense debate inbetween Moscow and Tbilisi for a couple of months.
2007, 11 March
Helicopter incident in Kodori. Georgia accuses Russia for attacking buildings that is used by the Georgian-Abkhazian governament in exile in the Kodori valley. Russia and Abkhazia denies.
2007, 7 August
Missile incident near Gori. Georgia says that two Sukhoi aircraft violated Georgian airspace and fired an air-to-ground missile on the village of Tsitelubani. The missile didn't explode. Russia denies.
2008, June 18 - July 6
Seven bombings took place in Abkhazia. Allegations from Russia and Abkhazia states that Georgia wants to destroy the Russia-Abkhazia railway and to disrupt the tourist season. Georgia claims that the Abkhazians did it themselves in order to raise anti Georgian sentiments.
2008, August
- During the war in South Ossetia, Abkhazia takes control of the Kodori valley, wich is the last area that the Georgians controll in Abkhazia.
- Most moderate and balanced Georgian analysts are realistic: Abkhazia and South Ossetia is lost for good, it's definite and non reversal.
Sources:
De Waal, Thomas. Caucasus, An Introduction. Oxford University Press, 2010.
De Waal, Thomas. The Still-Topical Tagliavini Report. Carnegie Moscow Center, 2015. https://carnegie.ru/commentary/61451 (retrieved 2019-01-16)
Gahrton, Per. Är ryssland ett hot, exemplet Georgien. Carlssons förlag, 2018. (Swedish)
Human Rights Watch, Report on Conflict in Abkhazia, 1995.
https://www.hrw.org/reports/pdfs/g/georgia/georgia953.pdf (retrieved 2019-01-14)
Laurén, Anna-Lena. I bergen finns inga herrar, om Kaukasien och dess folk. Second edition, Söderströms, 2009. (Swedish)
McKinnon, John D, King Jr, Neil and Champion, Marc. U.S. Launches Airlift to Aid Georgia, Wall Street Journal. August 14, 2008 (Retrieved 2019-01-17)
Montefiore, Simon Sebag. Stalin, The Court of the Red Tsar. Orion Publishing, 2005.
Montefiore, Simon Sebag. Young Stalin. Orion Publishing, 2007.
Red Cross report on Abkhazia, 1999. https://www.icrc.org/en/doc/assets/files/other/georgia.pdf (retrieved 2019-01-15)
Timesonline: Russians Accused of Dropping Cluster Bombs on Civilians https://web.archive.org/web/20080903225817/https://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/ article4539186.ece (Retrieved 2019-01-16)
Tran, Mark. Enter Sarkozy the Peacemaker. August 12, 2008, The Guardian.(Retrieved 2019-01-17)
Trenin, D, Malashenko, A.V. & Lieven, A. Russia's Restless Frontier, The Chechnya Factor in Post- Soviet Russia. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2004.
1 Today it is easy to conclude that Saakashvili overestimated the support he could get from NATO and EU.
2 Cited from Times online: https://web.archive.org/web/20080903225817/https://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article4539186.ece
3 According to a witness, the Finlandic-Swedish journalist Anna-Lena Laurén, Ossetian militia was burning, looting and destroying Georgian houses systematically at this time and the Russians did nothing to stop it.
4 Laurén 2009, p.162
5 Actually the first female head of state in Georgia since the golden age and Tamar the Great (Reign 1184-1213 CE)
6 De Waal 2010, p.148
7 De Waal, 2010, p.161
8 De Waal, 2010, p.162
9 De Waal 2010, p.198
North Caucasus Conflict
Vocabulary
APC - Armed personell carrier (In Russian: BTR bronetransporter)
Aul - A typical fortified mountain village, common all over North Caucasia
Avar - A group of about ten tribes or languages in Dagestan. They speak languages related to nakh/vainakh and belongs to the Northeast Caucasian language group. The avar is the largest group in Dagestan and constitutes about 30% of the population.
Balkars - A Sunni Muslim Turkic speaking people of North Caucasus
Benoy teip - the largest teip (clan) in Chechnya and the teip of present leader Ramzan Kadyrov.
Caucasophobia - A common set of values and preconceptions that considers all Caucasians as the same and they are all criminals etc. Caucasophobia is common in Russia. (Note that "Caucasian" in Europe has nothing to do with the American concept of "looking Caucasian")
Dargins - The second largest group in Dagestan i.e. 16%.
Emir - Arabic military title. Commander, leader, viceroy, nobleman, also "Emirate" that is the area that the emir commands.
FSB - Federalnaja sluzjba bezopasnosti Rossijskoj Federatsii, d.v.s. Russian Security Service.
Gazawat - In Russian-Chechnyan terminology "ghazawat" means jihad, or holy war against the infidels i.e. the Russian police and army.
Grad - Russian rocket launcher with multiple rockets.
Hajj - Islamic pilgrimage i.e. a journey to Mecca, something every muslim should do once in a lifetime. One of the five pillars of islam.
Ichkeria - The Chechen name for Chechnya
IED - Improvised explosive device
Imamate - Arabic name for a religious state
Ingushetians - A Vainakh people living in the republic of Ingushetia, whom are related to the Chechens. They are sunni muslims.
IVF - Infantry fighting vehicle
Jamaat - Islamic community or congregation. In Caucasus usually connected to an ethnic group, a subgroup, a community or a village.
Kabardians - People that speak an Adyghe/Circassian dialect, a language that belongs to the Northwest Caucasian language group. Usually muslims.
Kadyrovtsy - Pro-Moscow Chechen militia, followers of Kadyrov.
Karachays - A sunni muslim Turkic speaking people in Northewest Caucasus that speak the same l anguage as the Kumyks.
Kumyks - A Turkic speaking people that lives in Dagestan and Chechnya. Before 1930, Kumyk was the lingua franca of North Caucasus. They are sunni muslims.
Madrasa - Islamic religious school.
Muhajir - A muslim person from the earlier Ottoman empire that had to move to Anatolian Turkey. The largest group being the Circassians from North Caucasus.
Murid - a follower of a sufi sheik (leader). Muridism is the North Caucasian version of sufism.
Nakh-Dagestani - An other name for the Northeast Caucasian languages.
OMON - Otrjad Militsii Osobogo Naznatjenija, or Special Purpose Mobile Unit. A kind of paramilitary police unit. They are today part of the National guard and a federal police unit.
Salafiyya - A very conservative islamist movement, present all over the world. (ISIS, Taliban etc.) The salafiyya movement is opposed to local ethnic traditions and any form of liberalism, as well as other forms of islam, like sufism or shiia. In North Caucasus they are simply called wahabis, but that is somehow incorrect. The theologian Al-Wahab (1703 - 1792) is not that important for islamic extremists, Ibn-Tamiyya (1263 - 1328) is much more central to their doctrine. (Both belonged to the Hanbali school, though).
Shaafi - One of four sunni muslim schools of thaught and the predominating school, madhab, in Caucasus. The other school in Caucasus is the Hanafi school.
Shishani - Chechen in Arabic
Sufism - A form of islam that usually, but not always, focus on meditation, veneration of saints, music and dancing. (e.g. Dancing darvishes of Konya, Turkey)
Tariqat - A sufi order or brotherhood. Naqsbandiyya and Qadiriyya are the two most popular in Chechnya and Dagestan. They are opposed to militant islamism. Achmat Kadyrov was a follower of Qadiriyya, and so is his son, Ramzan Kadyrov.
Teip - A Chechen clan.
Vainakh - Collective name for Chechen and Ingush people, that also includes the Kists (Georgian Chechens)
Whahabism - In the Russian context "whahabism" represents all forms of radical and militant islam. Salafiyya, salafism and salafists is related terminology.
North Caucasus Timeline
(For alternative timeline, see Médecins Sans Frontières)
7th Century
First muslims in Dagestan. A part of the conquest of Persia.
8th Century
Increasing muslim presence in North Caucasus, especially in Dagestan.
10th Century
Byzantine missionaries promotes Christanity in Ossetia.
1000 - 1200 CE
Christian mission from Georgia in the south. Chechnya becomes a vassal under Queen Tamar the great of Georgia, and the province is given the name Dzurzuketia.
1200-1300 CE
Mongols attempts to conquer the mountains but the area is not a suitable geography for their fighting technique, and they fail.
15th Century
Chechens resists the Ottoman Turks and their attempt to dominate the area.
16th Century
Islam starts to gain ground in Chechnya. It spreads from Dagestan that is already a stronghold for the new religion. There is also a islamic center in Derbent. Before islam Chechnya was purely pagan. Islam is not dominant until the 16th century though.
1520s
First Cossacks settles along the river Terek.
1763 CE
Mozdok, in the northern part of North Ossetia is founded as a fort on the banks of Terek. The area is then popultaed by Volga Cossacks. Mozdok is soon also inhabited by different Christian groups like Georgians, Armenians and Ossetians. The year 1763 (or 1764) is sometimes dubbed as the start of the Russian-Caucasian war, at least when it comes to the western part, the Circassian war.
1767 CE
North Ossetia becomes a part of the Russian empire.
1783 CE
Treaty of Giorgievsk. Russian and Georgians makes an agreement and Kartli-Kakheti (East Georgia) becomes a Russian protectorate.
1784 CE
Vladikavkaz is founded, halfway inbetween the Darial pass (Georgian border) and Mozdok. Vladikavkaz is also a fort manned by Cossacks and was at the time the most important Russian military stronghold in North Caucasus. (Vladikavkaz has the meaning "Ruling Caucasus")
1799 CE
The Georgian military road is upgraded and modernized inbetween Vladikavkaz and Tbilisi. Pavel Potemkin started this project already in 1783.
1801 CE
Georgia is annexed by Russia.
1817 CE
Beginning of the Russian-Caucasian war, according to many sources.
1818 CE
Grozny is founded as "Groznaya" by the Russian general Yermolov as one of many forts. Situated at Sunzha river and inhabited by Terek-Cossacks at the beginning. Grozny means "terrible, fearsom" and it's aim was to inflict fear into the recalcitrant North Caucasians.
1820s
General Yermolov removes all Kabardians from the area adjecent to the Georgian military road, including them in Mozdok.
1827 CE
The famous leader Kazi Mulla begins teaching in the islamic school in Gimry, Dagestan. In 1829 Kazi preaches openly for jihad. This was the starting point for the Avar holy war on the Russians.
1828, 20 October
Battle at Khasauka, in todays Karachay-Cherkessia. The day after the battle the Russian commander General Gregory Emanuel agrees with the Karachay leader to incorporate the Karachay land into Russia.
1829 - 1859 CE
The Murid war, i.e. the eastern part of the Russian-Caucasian war. Russia had finished the war with the Persians and the Ottomans and was able to concentrate at the mountains. (The eastern Vainakh and Avar tribes are united in the Caucasian Imamate. This state was established by Ghazi Muhammad in 1829-1832, and was ruled by Imam Shamil (1834 -1859).
1830 CE
Kazi Mulla attacks Arakani och and destroy all vine (alcohol) in the village, among other things. Russian troops are seen in the Chechen mountains for the first time.
1832, 17 October
Russians assaults Gimry and kills 58 murids (holy warriors) among them Kazi Mulla. On of two that was able to escape was Imam Shamil.
1834 - 1859
Imam Shamil manages the theocratic imamate islamic state. Imam Shamil is still one the the greatest heroes of North Caucasus up to this day!
1845 CE
Battle at Dargo. A Russian army unit is ambushed in difficult and woody terrain. The result is heavy losses for the tsarist imperial army.
1858 CE
Russia occupies Argun valley and splits Chechnya in two. Usually considered as the year when Chechnya becomes part of Russia.
1859 CE
Imam Shamil surrenders to the Russians. He is taken to Sankt Peterburg but is recieved in a hounerable manner. He dies in 1871 on hajj, on his way to Mecca.
By this time russia has around 300.000 soldiers in Caucasus.
1864 CE
Russia defeats the Circassians and deportations begins, sometimes called the Circassian genocide. Large proportions of the muslims of Northwest Caucasus are deported to the Ottoman empire, they become Muhajirs.
1877 - 1878 CE
During the Russian-Ottoman war, several rebellions occur.
1883 CE
Oil production starts at Grozny and in 1932, those wells provides 35% of the total Soviet production.
1917 - 1921 CE
Russian civil war. Before the revolution Dagestan had more than 2000 mosques and more than 750 madrasas. Almost all were closed after the war.
1917 - 1920 CE
Mountainous Republic of the Northern Caucasus, MRNC
1920 - 21 CE
Insurgency against the Red Army.
1922 CE
Most of the remaining resistance in Caucasus is crushed by the Red Army. But, until 1943 Chechnya and surrounding areas was in almost constant revolt against the Bolsheviks and the Soviet Union.
1925 CE
Red army quells another insurgency that was initiated by the followers of Imam Shamil.
1929 - 31 CE
Insurrection
1931 - 1939 CE
Insurrection
1936
Chechen-Ingushetian autonomous Soviet Republic is founded.
1940
Insurgency leader Hasan Israilov leads a terror campaign against the Soviets by assassinations and bombings, inspired by the the defeat the Russians suffered against Finland at this time.
1941 - 1944
Insurrection in Chechnya during/in the aftermath of WWII
1942, August
Mozdok is occupied by Nazi-German troops.
1943, January
Mozdok is recaptured by the Red Army.
1944, 23 February
Mass deportations of the Ingush, Chechen, Karachay and other (muslim) populations of North Caucasus.1 The operation was organized by Lavrentij Beria. 400.000 was sent to the east and 140.000 died in the process. An event that is still not forgotten. 23rd of February is a day of national mourning since then.
1945
When the Reichstag (German parliament) was occupied and the Soviet red banner was placed there, the official version is that the two first soldiers were one Russian and one Georgian. This, however, is Stalinist propaganda, according to Montefiore. The truth is that it was one Dagestani soldier, but a muslim did not fit the desired offical picture.
1957
The deported Chechens and other muslims from 1944 are repatriated by Chrustjov and the Kremlin. Now they are allowed to return home.
1958
Soviet Union is gradually losing control from this year.
1981
Ethnic violence erupts in Vladikavkaz and Ossetians and Ingushians fight each others in riots.
1989, 25-26 augusti
Confederation of Mountain Peoples of the Caucasus, is founded in Suchumi, Abkhazia. Shamil Basayev and Ruslan "Hamzat" Gelayev are two of the leaders.
1989 - 1992 (94)
Conflict in East Prigorodny (Ossetian-Ingushian war). Civil unrest between the two ethnic groups turn in to violence in 1989 and escalates to a small war in 1992. Disturbances continues to 1994. Around 60.000 persons fled their homes and 16 years later they have not been able to return. (Laurén 2009:18)
1991, September 6
Chechnya declares independence. Moscow named it the "Dudayev mutiny", but at the same time they didn't pay much attention.
(Trenin 2004:10)
1992, spring
Russia whithdraws the regular army from Chechnya and transmits a lot of military hardware to Dzochar Dudayev, including tanks, artillery and aircraft stationed in the republic. In this way the Russians were much more generous towards Grozny than to Kiev, Tbilisi and Baku. (Trenin 2004:11)
1992 - 93
War in Abkhazia. Volunteers from North Caucasus participates, among them, Shamil Basayev with his unit the "Grey wolfs". There was also an Armenian unit "Bagramian", some Cossacks and groups from Transnistria and Russia. Aproximately 6000 - 10.000 persons are killed and an estimated 20.000 houses are destroyed. (numbers varies, depending on source) In total, 250.000 Georgians becomes refugees in Georgia proper, (and still are 2019).
1992, 1 - 6th October
Battle of Gagra and the Gagra massacre, Abkhazia. Many captured Georgians are killed at the sports stadium under supervision of Shamil Basayev. (Numbers of killed varies widely, depending on source, so I refrain from citing)
1993, 27 September
Suchumi massacre. Abkhazians and other North Caucasians violates a UN-negotiated ceasefire and massacres Georgian civilians. Georgia had removed all troops according to the UN brokered deal. The atrocities went on for two weeks.
1994, July
A hostage drama in Miralniye-Vodny and a bus with 41 passengers is hijacked by Chechen separatists loyal to Dudayev.
1994, 29 November
Aerial bombardment of Grozny
1994, 11 December - 1995, March
First battle of Grozny. Russian forces enters Chechnya and later also Grozny,(New years eve 1995). The population of Grozny plummets from 400.000 to 140.000. Most of the civilans left in the city was elderly Russians with no personal network outside the city, which the Chechens had. Grozny is leveled to the ground but it ended i cathastrophy for the Russians. The assault was not planned well and the army consisted mostly of conscripts. The Chechens was very motivated and the Russians were totally disillusioned. Despite massive losses the Russians finally gain control.
1995
The organisation Arabic Mujahideen in Chechnya is founded, with Ibn al-Khattab as leader.
1995, March
Russia has finally control in Grozny
1995, 14 - 19 June
Budyonnovsk-raid. Shamil Basayev and around 150 other Chechen fighters seizes 1700 hostages at a hospital in the south Russian city of Budyonnovsk in Stavropol krai.
1995, December
Separatist leader Salman Raduyev captures Chechnyas second city, Gudermes.
1996
During the cause of this year the Dagestani islamic leader Bagauddin Muhammed and a couple of hundred followers relocates to Ichkeria (independent Chehchnya) where they were granted asylum.
1996, January
Kizlyar-Pervomayskoye hostage incident. Separatist leader Salman Raduyev attacks a Russian military base in Kizlyar, Dagestan. It developes into a hostage situation with thousands of civilians involved. (c. 2000 according to Dmitri Trenin 2004:26) A shoutout erupts and around 100 fighters on each side dies. About 25 civilians are also killed, (according to other sources the civilan casualities was much higher).
1996, April
Dzochar Dudajev is killed by a Russian missile. This is also the month when Ibn Khattab mounts an ambush on a Russian military convoy, killing 95 persons.
1996, August
Second battle of Grozny. Russian forces are leaving Grozny and withdraws due to heavy attacks from the mountains.
1996, 31 August
Khasav-Yurt stalement agreement. A treaty is signed by Alexander Lebed and Aslan Maskhadov. Russian losses was 30.000 in the first year alone.
1996, 16 November
A bomb explodes at Kaspiysk (Dagestan) and destroys a house inhabited by Russian borderguards. 68 persons are killed. It is not known who was responsible for the bomb.
1997, January
Aslan Maskhadov wins the presidential election in Chechnya and the governamnet is recognised by Moscow. 30% of the votes went to the opposition that became a fighting separatist force later.
1997, May
A peace agreement between Chechnya and Russia is signed.
1996 - 1999
During these years, lawlessness and chaos spreads in Chechnya. Different warlords ravages the country and criminality, kidnappings and killings are common. Most notable warlords were Arbi Barayev and Salman Raduyev. Islamic extremism grows and flourishes.
1998, April
A gathering in Grozny with participants from Chechnya and Dagestan discussed a unification of the two republics under the banner of islam.
1998, May
Valentin Vlasov, the envoy of the Russian president, is kidnapped and hold for six months.
1998, June
Maskhadov declares state of emergency since the country spirals into lawlessness and anarchy.
1998, July
Fighting in Gudermes between Chechen governament forces and islamic extremists, around 50 casualties.
1998
New hostilities in Abkhazia and this time in the Gali region.
1999
Aslan Maskhadov implements sharia law in Chechnya in the beginning of the year.
1999, March
Russias envoy to Chechnya, Gennady Shpigun, is kidnapped at the airport of Grozny and is later found dead. Interior minister Sergei Stepashin argues for Russian invasion (7th of March).
1999, Aug - Sept
Basayev, followed by 1500 militant warriors enters Dagestan in support of the islamist fundamentalists that are under attack from Russian forces. Basayev and Khattab had declared holy war on Russia earlier in August.
1999, 31 August
A bomb explodes in a shoppingmall in Moscow. 30 injured and one dead.
1999, 4 - 16 Sep
Appartment block bombings. A series of bombs explodes and destroys some civilian targets in Russia. Two in Moscow, one in Buynaksk (Dagestan) and one in Volgodonsk (Rostov oblast). The number of victims are 64, 92, 121 and 18 killed and many more injured. There have been allegations that FSB was behind the bombings but it has never been proved. No chechens ever claimed responsibility for the bombings.2
1999, September
Second Chechen war. Aerial bombardment of Chechnya begins in the end of September and on the 23rd Grozny is also targeted. The Southeast part of Chechnya is a priority, because that is the stronghold of the insurgency.
1999, 1 October
Russian groundforces enters Chechnya.
1999, 5 October
A bus with refugees is shelled by Russian tanks and 40 civilians are killed.
1999, 7 October
Two Russian aircrafts drops clusterbombs on the village of Elistanzhy. 48 persons are killed, among whom only 8 were men between 14 and 60 (fighting age)
1999, 21 October
Ten ballistic missiles (SCUD/SS-1) targets civilian installations in Grozny. A hospital, a mosque and a market is hit. EU, UN, USA and Amnesty International strongly condemns the Russian action.
1999, November
Grozny is completely surrounded at the end of the month and is subject to intense rocket and artillery bombardment. Among other weapons, termobaric vacuum bombs are used.
1999, December
Massacre at Alkhan-Yurt. Human Rights Watch (HRW) documents 17 murders on civilians and three cases of rape. The villagers says that 41 persons was killed. Drunken Russian soldiers had been looting the village for two weeks.The highest ranking officer in the unit was later decorated for "exellent performance" in the war.
2000, January
Third battle of Grozny. A large scale operation is launched in the middle of the month..
2000, January
Murders of Staropromyslovski. OMON-forces kills 50 civilians in a number of incidents, mostly elderly woman and men.
2000, 31 January
When food and ammuniton becomes scarce in Grozny, the Chechens make a break-out attempt. In the process, many are killed or wounded in the minefields that surrounds the city, among them, Shamil Basayev himself.
2000, 4 February
Bombing of Katyr-Yurt. The Russian airforce shells a village and a convoy with white flag. More than 300 civilians are killed, according to some sources. Russian numbers are considerably lower (naturally).
2000, 5 February
Massacre of Novye Aldi. Russian forces summarily executes 60 civilians in a suburb of Grozny..
2000, 9 February
A large missile hits the village of Shali and 150 civilians are killed. They were lining up to recieve their pensions. The village was also attacked by helicopter gunships because there were rumours of Chechen guerilla presence.
2000, 17 February
The village Aslanbek-Sharipovo is bombed by the russian airforce. 30 civilians are killed and many more wounded. Moscow says that it didn't happened.
2000, March
Around 70 Chehcen prisoners of war are executed by the Russians in Komsomolskoye.
2000, June
Moscow designates Achmat Kadyrov as administrative chief in Chechnya.
2000, 6 June
Kava Barayeva and her female friend blows themeselfes up in their lorry. Their target was a OMON military barack at Alkhan-Yurt. This is the first suicide attack in Chechnya and its done by a woman. 27 dead according to Chechen sources, only two according to the Russians.
2001, 11 September
After the suicide attacks in USA the Russian public majority changes from anti American sentiments to a more anti muslim/anti Chechen position.
2001
Ruslan Ausjev, the president of Ingushia, is removed by Moscow, because he had become to popular and to powerful.
2002, March 20
Ibn al-Khattab is killed by a posioned letter given to him by an FSB agent.
2002, 9 May
Bombing of Kaspiysk. 43 Russian militaries and civilans are killed when a military parade is targeted on "Victory Day". The founder of Shariat Jamaat, Rasul Makasharipov is likely behind the bomb.
2002, 23 - 26 October
The siege of Nord-Ost. 40 Chechen rebels, mostly women, occupies the Dubrovka theater in Moscow. More than 800 persones are hold hostages. The Russian special forces use poisenous gas when they intervene. The result is about 150 dead civilians, (numbers varies widely). All Chechen terrorists are killed.
2003, 12 May
A suicide bomber blows up a lorry at Znamneskoje, close to a federal security services building in Northern Chechnya. 59 fatalities.
2003, 14 May
Two female suicide bombers at Ilischan-Jurt. 14 dead and around 150 injured.
2003, 5 June
A suicide bomber blasts a bus with Russian soldiers in Mozdok. 20 dead.
2003, 20 June
Two terrorists sets off their suicide bombs at the interior ministry in Grozny. 30 wounded.
2003, 5 July
Two female Chechen suicidebombers blows themeselfes up at the rockfestival Krylja, hold at the Tushino airfield, outside Moscow. 18 persons are killed.
2003, 1 August
A military hospital in Mozdok is assaulted by a suicide bomber.
2003, 3 September
Bombing of the train between Minvoda och Kislovodsk. 40 dead.
2003, 9 December
Bombning at the Red Square. A female suicide bomber goes to action outside Hotel National in Moscow, killing 6 and injures 40.
2004, 6 February
Suicide bombing at Avtozavodskaya metrostation in Moscow. 41 killed and another 120 are injured. Inofficial sources give the number of 100 killed. Dokka Umarov takes resposibility for the attack, but Basayev claims the attack to.
2004, 9 May
Akhmat Kadyrov, the president of Chechnya and former cheif mufti i murdered by extremists. This is done during the WWII victory festivities. Basayev claim responsibility.
2004, 21-22 June
Nazran raid. Shamil Basayev and a group of Ingushians and Chechens storms the capital of Ingushetia, Nazran, with the purpose of seizing a large weapons depot. It resulted in 95 dead and around 100 wounded, among whom half was policemen, soldiers and governament officials. Two terrorists was killed and all the weapons disappeared.
2004, 12-13 July
Atury attack. 18 Moscow affiliated policemen/soldiers are killed and at least 15 terrorists as well. The rebels says they killed 50 pro-Moscow troopers.
2004, 21 August
Aproximately 300 Chehcen separatists assaults police and military in central Grozny. 60 dead policeman and 10 dead civilians.
2004, 24 August
Two domestic flights are blown up by terrorists.
2004, 31 August
A female suicide bomber sets off her device at the Rizhskaya metro station in Moscow. She kills 10 persons and injures 50 others. The leader of her terror organisation, Karachay-Jamaat, dies, when the bombs blows up earlier than planned.
2004, 1-3 September
Hostage tragedy of Beslan. A school is occupied by 40 Chechen rebels and around 1200 persons becomes hostages. During the unraveling of the drama and the following shootout, 338 persons are killed, among them 155 children. Most of the victims were Ossetians and several terrorist came from Ingushia. The kidnappers demanded total withdrawal of Russian troops from Chechnya.
Shamil Basayev claimed responsibility. The weapons used came from the Nazran raid. (Julia Juzik declare a much higher number of fatalities)
2005, March
Maskhadov is killed while fighting with the Russians.
2005, May
Maskhadovs successor Abdul-Khalim Saydullayev declares that the war is a Caucasian war, and not only a Chechen war. He is not interested in any peace negotiations at all. He now name the united Cucasian warriors "the Caucasian Front".
2005, 13 October
Basayev claims responsibilty for an attack in Nalchik, the capital of Kabardinia-Balkaria. In the assault 35 policemen were killed and14 dead civilians as well. 115 persons wounded. 89 militants was also killed and fifty nine was arrested.
2006, April
Chechen rebels declares that they are not interested in a democratic state, they want a North Caucasian emirate. Radicalisation is now official.
2006, 10 July
Shamil Basayev is killed by an explosion that FSB claim responsibility for. The separatists say it's an accident with an IED.
2006, 7 October
The journalist Anna Politkovskaya is being shot in the elevator in her house in central Moscow. Politkovskaya was a fierce critic of Putin and the Chechen war. FSB blames the shooting on Chechens.
2006, 1 November
Alexander Litvinenko, a defected FSB agent is poisoned in London. He dies the 23rd of November, poisoned by polonium-210. He argued that the apartment block bombings were executed by FSB.
2007, Feb/March
Ramzan Kadyrov becomes leader in Chechnya. Kadyrov belongs to the largest teip (clan) in Chechnya and represents a moderate form of Islam.
2008, August
See separate timeline for the Georgian-Abkhazian-South Ossetian conflict
2009, 16 April
Moscow and FSB declare that military operations in Chechnya are officially finished.
2009, July
Human rights activist Natalia Estemirova is abducted and killed. She was investigating crimes committed by the Kadyrovtsy (Pro Moscow Militia)
2010, 2 March
The Buryat rebel leader Alexander Tikhomirov, better known as 'Said Buryatski', was killed in a village in Ingushetia. (Buryat people are Mongols with a province around Lake Baikal)
2010, 24 March
The Kabardian rebel leader Anzor Astemirov, known as 'Amir Sayfullah', was killed on a street of Nalchik.
2010, 29 March
Two female suicide bombers blow themselves up in the subway of Moscow. 38 persons are killed and around 60 are injured. Doku Umarov, the leader of the Caucasian emirate, claims responsibility. The suicide bombings were carried out by two young women, Jennet Abdurrakhmanova a 17-year-old girl and Mariam Sharipova a 28-year-old schoolteacher, both from Dagestan.
2011, 24 January
Domodedovo International Airport bombing. A suicide bomber kills 37 and injures 170 more.
2012, 28 August - 30 Oktober
The Lopota incident. Some youngsters are kidnapped by a group of Kists and Chechens in the Lopota valley in Georgia. In the unravelling of the drama ten kidnappers and a Georgian policeman are killed.
2013, April 15
Two Chechen-Dagestani brothers commit a bomb attack against civilians in Boston, USA. Three fatalities and hundreds of injured.
2014, March
Doku Umarov is killed. 2014 is also the year when many Chechens swear allegiance to ISIS and the leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
2014
The Dzochar Dudayev battalion, consisting of Chechens, becomes a fighting unit in the Ukrainian war. There are 37 different voluntary units in the Ukrainian army and they are accused of most of the war crimes on the Ukrainian side in the Donbass conflict.
2015, August
The leader of the Caucasian emirate, Abu Usman Gimrinsky, is killed by Russian security forces.
2018
During the world championship in soccer, Putin presents a clean and fully renovated Grozny. The city is host for the Swedish soccer team during the games.
2018, August
A group of young teenagers from the village of Shali carries out three different attacks whit knifes in three different locations. Four out of five terrorists are killed by police. Security sources claim they were recruited trough social media by ISIS. The youngest was only 11 years old.
Sources:
Human Rights Watch, Report on Conflict in Abkhazia 1995. https://www.hrw.org/reports/pdfs/g/georgia/georgia953.pdf (retrieved 2019-01-14)
Forsyth, James. The Caucasus, a History. Cambridge University Press, 2013.
Juzik, Julia. Allahs svarta änkor, Tjetjeniens kvinnliga självmordsterrorister. Ersatz förlag, 2005. (Swedish)
Laurén, Anna-Lena. I bergen finns inga herrar, om Kaukasien och dess folk. Second edition, Söderströms, 2009. (Swedish)
Mc Gregor, Andrew. Military Jama'ats in the North Caucasus: A Continuing Threat? September 14th, 2006. https://www.aberfoylesecurity.com/?cat=199 (article from Aberfoyle International Security, retrieved 2019-01-15)
Montefiore, Simon Sebag. Stalin, The Court of the Red Tsar. Orion Publishing, 2005.
Politkovskaya, Anna. Tjetjenien, sanningen om kriget. Ordfront, 2002. (Swedish)
Red Cross report on Abkhazia, 1999. https://www.icrc.org/en/doc/assets/files/other/georgia.pdf (retrieved 2019-01-15)
Roshcin, Mikhail. Sufism and Fundamentalism in Dagestan and Chechnya. Cahiers d'etudes sur la méditerranée orientale et la monde turco-iranien. No 38, juillet-décembre, 2004.
Sakwa, Richard. Frontline Ukraine, Conflict in the Borderlands. I & B Taurus, London, 2015.
Trenin. D, Malashenko, A.V. & Lieven, A. Russia's Restless Frontier, The Chechnya Factor in Post- Soviet Russia. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2004.
War Crimes and Politics of Terror in Chechnya 1994-2004. https://www.msf.org/sites/msf.org/files/pdf_inter_tchetchenie_va.pdf (A report from "Doctors without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières" published in September 2014, retrieved 2019-01-15)
1. The muslims of Caucasus was accused of collaboration with the Nazi German troops, but only the Kalmucks had an organised, serious collaboration. Politkovskaya 2002, p.10
2. Disa Håstad in Politkovskaya 2002, p.14.