As of June 2008, there were 57 registered locations of mass graves in Chechnya. [66] The Russian air strikes were reported to have forced at least 100,000 Chechens to flee their homes to safety; the neighbouring region of Ingushetia was reported to have appealed for United Nations aid to deal with tens of thousands of refugees. Unable to secure justice domestically, hundreds of victims of abuse have filed applications with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). Chechens were accused by Joseph Stalin of aiding Nazi forces. [167] In May 2007, Amnesty International refuted claims by the government that the conflict has ended, stating "while large-scale military operations have been reduced, the conflict continues. Kadyrov has become Chechnya's most powerful leader and, in February 2007, with support from Putin, Ramzan Kadyrov replaced Alu Alkhanov as president. Russia's step came in retaliation for ABC's broadcast of an interview with Shamil Basayev, the Chechen rebel leader who ordered and/or carried out some of the worst terrorist acts in the country's history, including the school siege in Beslan that left 330 people dead. Explaining Prejudice Against Muslims in the Russian Federation: Islamophobia or Internalised Racial Hierarchy? [96] Russia's general policy to the Chechen mass graves is to not exhume them.[98]. [120] In 2004, Russian government has designated one-third of Chechnya a "zone of ecological disaster" and another 40% "a zone of extreme environmental distress".[121]. The Second Chechen War (Russian: Втора́я чече́нская война́) was an armed conflict in Chechnya and the border regions of the North Caucasus between the Russian Federation and the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, fought from August 1999 to April 2009.. On 4 December 1999, the commander of Russian forces in the North Caucasus, General Viktor Kazantsev, claimed that Grozny was fully blockaded by Russian troops. By 2009, Russia had severely disabled the Chechen separatist movement and large-scale fighting ceased. [48] It has been estimated that up to 1,300 people were kidnapped in Chechnya between 1996 and 1999,[46] and in 1998 a group of four Western hostages were murdered. "[114] Projecting back from the post-9/11 period, some have linked Chechen resistance to Russia to the al-Qaida global jihad movement. The war then appeared to enter a transitional phase between 2002 to 2006, in which militant groups began to reorganize their structure and leadership. The countries and the energy companies that operated in the region believed that they needed to have a multiple pipeline system. [37] Unofficial sources estimate a range of 25,000 to 50,000 dead or missing, mostly Chechen civilians.[38]. The fighting was the worst in the region since Russia's 1994-1996 civil war with Chechnya. Yevgeny Primakov and then Sergei Stepashin were the Prime Ministers of Russia during the period. On 7 August 1999, Shamil Basayev (in association with the Saudi-born Ibn al-Khattab, Commander of the Mujahedeen) led two armies of up to 2,000 Chechen, Dagestani, Arab and international mujahideen and Wahhabist militants from Chechnya into the neighboring Republic of Dagestan. Therefore we don't plan to do this any more." According to Hammarberg, missing people and the identification of missing bodies were still the two biggest human rights issues in the region, and he expressed his wish that further efforts be done to clarify the issue. On 26 August 1999, Russia acknowledged bombing raids in Chechnya. There is still some sporadic fighting in the mountains and south of the republic, but Russia has scaled down its presence significantly leaving the local government to stabilize things further. Russia's policy in Chechnya was a part of a broader Russian policy across the entire Caucasus designed to freeze out other people and allow Russian influence to come back. [47] In place of the devastated economic structure, kidnapping emerged as the principal source of income countrywide, procuring over $200 million during the three-year independence of the chaotic fledgling state. He would later be replaced by Doku Umarov, who would lead the Islamic insurgency that had engulfed the Caucasus in the 2000s. [178] However Medvedev asserted that situation in Chechnya must remain under direct control of the FSB. Page last modified: In the Moscow stand-off, FSB Spetsnaz forces stormed the building on the third day using an unknown incapacitating chemical agent that proved to be lethal without sufficient medical care, resulting in deaths of 133 out of 916 hostages. d.setTime(d.getTime() + 60 * 60 * 24 * 2 * 1000); Practically all the local Chechen media are under total control of the pro-Moscow government, Russian journalists in Chechnya face intense harassment and obstruction[106] leading to widespread self-censorship, while foreign journalists and media outlets too are pressured into censoring their reports on the conflict. The militants moved away from the idea of creating an independent Chechnya and instead the resistance headed toward what seemed to be an autonomous Islamic region which incorporated the Caucasus republics. In February 1944 Stalin deported all the Chechens and Ingush to the Kazakh and Kirghiz SSRs. A wave of kidnappings hit the Caucasus region soon after Russian troops pulled out of Chechnya in 1996. Many buildings were destroyed by Russian bombs and other weaponry in the 1994-96 war … On 16 November 1996, in Kaspiysk (Dagestan), a bomb... General Gennady Shpigun, the Kremlin's envoy to Chechnya, was kidnapped at the airport in Grozny. [143] However ongoing reconstruction efforts have been rebuilding the region at a quick pace over the past few years, including new housing, facilities, paved roads and traffic lights, a new mosque, and restoration of electricity to much of the region. Military conflicts similar to or like. [119] One child in 10 is born with some kind of anomaly that requires treatment. American Secretary of State Madeleine Albright noted in her 24 March 2000, speech to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights: According to the 2001 annual report by Amnesty International: The Russian government failed to pursue any accountability process for human rights abuses committed during the course of the conflict in Chechnya. The Russian military said Chechen militants exploded canisters of toxic agents in a village on the outskirts of Grozny on 10 December 1999. Since 2005, the insurgency has largely shifted out of Chechnya proper and into the nearby Russian territories, such as Ingushetia and Dagestan; the Russian government, for its part, has focused on the stabilization of the North Caucasus. Russian forces first moved into highland Chechnya in 1830, and the conflict in the area lasted until 1859, when a 250,000-strong army under General Baryatinsky broke down the highlanders' resistance. The Clinton and Bush administrations, as well as other NATO governments, uniformly dismissed Moscow's rhetoric concerning the existence of Chechens in Afghanistan and Afghans in Chechnya as Soviet-style "agitprop" (agitation-propaganda) until September 11th occurred. On 16 April 2009, the head of the Federal Security Service, Alexander Bortnikov, announced that Russia had ended its "anti-terror operation" in Chechnya, claiming that stability had been restored to the territory. He led the Wahhabi Islamic movement in Dagestan, which was aided by the Chechen rebels. [142] Not only the social (such as housing and hospitals) and economic infrastructure but also the foundations of culture and education, including most of educational and cultural institutions, were destroyed over the course of the two wars in Chechnya. On 29 July 1999, the Russian Interior Ministry troops destroyed a Chechen border post and captured an 800-meter section of strategic road. The Russian Airborne Troops headquarters later stated that 20 separatists were killed and two taken prisoner. Colonel Sulim Yamadayev, Chechnya's second most powerful loyalist warlord after Kadyrov, also denied that the war is over. 1999 September - The authorities blame a series of apartment block bombings on Chechen rebels, and launch the second Chechen war. [166] The overall security situation in Chechnya remains exceedingly difficult to accurately report due to the near monopoly the Russian government has on media covering the issue. [173], In late April 2008, the Human Rights Commissioner for the Council of Europe, Thomas Hammarberg, visited Russia's Caucasian republics. )", Commissioner Hammarberg meets Putin and Medvedev, Russian Caucasus 'stabilising': EU Commissioner, Грани.Ру // Политика / Россия / Десять лет без права, "Russia mulls lifting tight Chechnya security regime", Грани.Ру // Война / Медведев: ФСБ должна сохранить контроль над Чечней, Video: Is it safe in Chechnya? The Second Chechen War (Russian: Втора́я чече́нская война́) was an armed conflict in Chechnya and the border regions of the North Caucasus between the Russian Federation and the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, fought from August 1999 to April 2009..  Я активно вел работу по укреплению границ с Чечней, готовясь к активному наступлению. План активных действий в этой республике разрабатывался начиная с марта. Reliable numbers on police brutality are hard to come by, but in a statement released in 2006, the internal affairs department of Russia's Interior Ministry said that the number of recorded crimes committed by police officers rose 46.8% in 2005. In 1941, during World War II, a Chechen revolt broke out, led by Khasan Israilov. Russian forces retaliated with artillery and air strikes, as well as counter-insurgency operations. Meanwhile, the fortunes of the Chechen independence movement sagged, plagued by the internal disunity between Chechen moderates and Islamist radicals and the changing global political climate after 11 September 2001, as well as the general war-weariness of the Chechen population. On 1 October, Russian troops entered Chechnya. Russia's Defense Minister, Marshal of the Russian Federation Igor Sergeyev, evaluated the numerical strength of the separatists at between 2,000 and 2,500 men, "scattered all over Chechnya." [116], Environmental agencies warn that the Russian republic of Chechnya, devastated by war, now faces ecological disaster. Typically small separatist units targeted Russian and pro-Russian officials, security forces, and military and police convoys and vehicles. [109] The conflict greatly contributed to the deep changes in the Russian politics and society. The Russians appeared to be taking no chances with the Chechen population in its rear areas, setting up "filtration camps" in October in northern Chechnya for detaining suspected members of bandformirovaniya militant formations (literally: "bandit formations"). There are a number of possible scenarios, ranging from an agonizing, ruinously expensive war against “invisible” partisans to total rout of the army and disintegration of the command structure, as happened to the French in 1812. Historical Map of Russia & the former Soviet Union (6 February 2000 - Second Chechen War: The Russian economy hit its nadir in 1998 before beginning a steady recovery, in part buoyed by oil revenues. Military casualty figures from both sides are impossible to verify and are generally believed to be higher. The second Chechen War was the best argument in favor of the agreement on an oil pipeline from Baku to Turkey as an alternative to a Russian pipeline, paradoxically confirming the Russian assumption that the United States benefited from Chechnya because it wanted to bring the Caucasus under its influence. Об этом вы можете спросить его самого. However, the number of foreign jihad fighters in Chechnya was at most in the hundreds. "[165] According to the CIA factbook, Russia has severely disabled the Chechen separatist movement, although sporadic violence still occurs throughout the North Caucasus. ", "The Alkhazurovo Operation: Are Chechnya's separatists on the Rebound? The Russian Terek Cossack Host was established in lowland Chechnya in 1577 by free Cossacks who were resettled from the Volga to the Terek River. According to the figures released by the Russian Ministry of Defence on in August 2005, at least 1,250 Russian Armed Forces soldiers have been killed in action 1999–2005. Although Russia has killed a lot of separatists throughout the war, many young fighters have joined the separatists. uprising of a terrorist group in the Caucasus Mountain ranges. About 200 people were killed in a series of bombings (most of them suicide attacks), most of them in the 2003 Stavropol train bombing (46), the 2004 Moscow metro bombing (40), and the 2004 Russian aircraft bombings (89). Chechen parliamentarians said they had information that Russian troops attacked 2 districts in Grozny with chemical weapons in early December 1999, though this report could not be independently verified. This development met with early approval in the rest of Russia, but the continued deaths of Russian troops dampened public enthusiasm. To begin to understand what has made this group escalate their acts of terrorism we must identify the past historical events leading up to … The Second Chechen War (Russian: Втора́я чече́нская война́) was an armed conflict in Chechnya and the border regions of the North Caucasus between the Russian Federation and the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, fought from August 1999 to April 2009. Martial law was declared in Ichkeria and reservists were called, but no martial law or state of emergency had been declared in Chechnya or Russia by the Russian government. Following the first war, the government's grip on the chaotic republic was weak, especially outside the ruined capital Grozny. "Don't Use Fuel-air Weapons in Chechnya | Human Rights Watch", "Finally we Know About the Moscow Bombings", "David Satter – House committee on Foreign Affairs", "Russian Federation: Amnesty International's concerns and recommendations in the case of Mikhail Trepashkin", Bomb Blamed in Fatal Moscow Apartment Blast, "At least 90 dead in Moscow apartment blast", "Russia acknowledges bombing raids in Chechnya", Russia launches more air strikes against Chechnya, Miscalculations Paved Path to Chechen War, Refugee bus reportedly shelled by Russian tank, Russian warplanes kill dozens of villagers, CHAMBER JUDGMENTS IN SIX APPLICATIONS AGAINST RUSSIA, Europe: Russians 'within sight' of Grozny, Phase Two – The Ground Campaign – October–November 1999, "Crimes Of War Project > Expert Analysis", "Russia/Chechnya: "No Happiness Remains": Civilian Killings, Pillage, And Rape In Alkhan-Yurt, Chechnya", "Russia may withdraw some troops from Chechnya", "War Crimes and Human Rights Violations in Chechnya", "Russians urged to stop 'vacuum' bombings", "Reassessing Strategy: A Historical Examination", "Ambush at Serzhen Yurt: Command-Detonated Mines in the Second Chechen War", U.S. (However, according to Putin's advisor and aide Aslambek Aslakhanov most of them were since killed, both by their former comrades and by the Russians, who by then perceived them as a potential "fifth column". November 2007. [146] Since 2007, police officers from outside Caucasus are now not only being sent to Chechnya, but to all the region's republics. document.cookie = "__adblocker=" + (adblocker ? Ontdek de perfecte stockfoto's over Second Chechen War en redactionele nieuwsbeelden van Getty Images Kies uit premium Second Chechen War van de hoogste kwaliteit. ", "Imaginary Muslims: How the Polish right frames Islam", Large numbers of street children discovered in Chechnya, "Chechnya, land of Putin's 99 percent support", Чечня – лидер по уровню безработицы среди регионов России, "The Consequences of War for Education and Culture in Chechnya", The Crisis in Chechnya and the Northern Caucasus at a Glance, The Geography of OMON Deployments in the North Caucasus, Russia: Police Brutality Shows Traces Of Chechnya, Political turmoil erupts again in deadly protests, Nationalists rally in Russian town near Chechnya, "separatists kill 18 pro-Russians in Chechnya, Putin says war is over", "Sergey Ivanov: "The war in Chechnya is over, "Ramzan Kadyrov: Since the war ended forever", "Chechnya's new leader: a boxer with his own army", "In the front line of Putin's secret war", "Russian Federation What justice for Chechnya's disappeared? The Second Chechen War, in a later phase better known as the Counter-terrorist operation on Chechnya, [20] was launched by the Russian Federation starting 26 August 1999, in response to the Invasion of Dagestan by the Islamic International Peacekeeping Brigade (IIPB).. On 1 October Russian troops entered Chechnya. Moreover, since 1996 the ethno-political and humanitarian situation in Chechnya deteriorated. } "[168] The strength of the separatists has for many years been unknown. [96] According to Amnesty International, thousands may be buried in unmarked graves including up to 5,000 civilians who disappeared since the beginning of the Second Chechen War in 1999. [100] Georgia denied having troops in the area, and the suspicion fell on the armed group headed by Chechen warlord Ruslan Gelayev, who was speculated to have been hired by the Georgian government to wage proxy war against separatist Abkhazia. Russian defense officials said at least 10,000 rebels had died. Political tensions were fueled in part by allegedly Chechen or pro-Chechen terrorist and criminal activity in Russia, as well as by border clashes. On 8 October 2001, a UNOMIG helicopter was shot down in Georgia in Kodori Valley gorge near Abkhazia, amid fighting between Chechens and Abkhazians, killing nine including five UN observers. ", "Chechen Gunment Attack Russian Army Unit in Dagestan". Chechen officials disputed those figures, saying rebel fighters had suffered minimal losses while killing thousands of Russian troops. Most of the more prominent past Chechen separatist leaders have died or have been killed, including former president Aslan Maskhadov and leading warlord and terrorist attack mastermind Shamil Basayev. [91] Increasingly frequent clashes between federal forces and local militants continued in Dagestan, while sporadic fighting erupted in the other southern Russia regions, such as Ingushetia, and notably in Nalchik on 13 October 2005. The western line to Supsa, Georgia, opened in April 1999. The most heavily mined areas of Chechnya are those in which separatists continue to put up resistance, namely the southern regions, as well as the borders of the republic. fighting in the mountains under leadership of field commander Doku Umarov according to official data. [156], In 2005, there were about 60,000 Federal troops in Chechnya, but that number has since decreased significantly. Select from premium Second Chechen War Pictures of the highest quality. Feb 4, 2021 - Explore Jason Greene's board "First and Second Chechen War", followed by 970 people on Pinterest. [124] This death toll did not include losses of Internal Troops, the FSB, police and local paramilitaries, of whom all at least 1,720 were killed by October 2003. He also noted that the judicial system in Chechnya was functioning properly. CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (, [MSF Activity Reports on The Russian Federation: 2006, Ethnic cleansing of Chechens from their homeland, Mountainous Republic of the Northern Caucasus, Chechen–Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, a group of four Western hostages were murdered, List of Russian aircraft losses in the Second Chechen War, Guerrilla phase of the Second Chechen War, hostage taking at an elementary school in Beslan, List of Second Chechen War assassinations, United Nations Commission on Human Rights, International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights, Amnestied People as Targets for Persecution in Chechnya, Russian government censorship of Chechnya coverage, the list of casualties officially announced in the first year of the conflict, Union of the Committees of Soldiers' Mothers of Russia, Learn how and when to remove this template message, International response to the Second Chechen War, Федеральным силам в Чечне противостоят 22 тыс. While Dudayev and Maskhadov were seeking from Moscow recognition of the independence of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, other leaders spoke out more about the need to expel Russia from the territory of the whole North Caucasus, an impoverished mountain region inhabited mostly by Muslim, non-Russian ethnic groups. Afterwards, it focuses on the main causes that led to this conflict. Large-scale fighting has been replaced by guerrilla warfare and bombings targeting federal troops and forces of the regional government, with the violence often spilling over into adjacent regions. "Case Study: The Massive Deportation of the Chechen People: How and why Chechens were Deported." On 23 March 2003, a new Chechen constitution was passed in a referendum. In August 1999, Islamist fighters from Chechnya infiltrated Russia's Dagestan region, declaring it an independent state and calling for holy war. He was the director of FSB at this time and had all the information. [158] [85] On 18 February 2000, a Russian army transport helicopter was shot down in the south, killing 15 men aboard, Russian Interior Minister Vladimir Rushailo announced in a rare admission by Moscow of losses in the war.[86]. However, the terms of the Khasavyurt accords were violated by the Chechen side. [74] Eight days later Russian aircraft carried out a rocket attack on a large convoy of refugees heading into Ingushetia, killing at least 25 civilians including Red Cross workers and journalists. Heavy fighting accompanied by massive shelling and bombing continued through the winter of 2000 in the mountainous south of Chechnya, particularly in the areas around Argun, Vedeno and Shatoy, where fighting involving Russian paratroopers had raged since 1999. [125] Some commanders, still fighting along with Doku Umarov, like Anzor Astemirov, have publicly denounced the idea of a global Jihad, but keep fighting for the independence of Caucasus states. Throughout the years Russian officials have often announced that the war is over. Vladikavkaz was the capital of the North Ossetia region and was located just 30 miles from the Chechen border. You can ask him about this. [162] Some independent observers, including Álvaro Gil-Robles, the human rights envoy for the Council of Europe, and Louise Arbour, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, have said that the war has largely concluded as of 2006. Afterwards, the authority of the Soviet government gradually eroded. Independent analysts say there are no more than 2,000 armed terrorists combatants still fighting, while Russia says only a few hundred remain. The prospect of another full-scale war in Chechnya prompted Western governments to issue statements of concern over Russian tactics against rebels in the breakaway republic. After long negotiations, in November 1999 Turkmenistan, Azarbaijan, Georgia, Turkey and the United States agreed on the development of a commercial pipeline to sell gas from Turkmenistan through Georgia and Azerbaijan to Turkey and on to Europe. I. Whatever the case, Putin saw and seized the day. [citation needed] Akhmad Kadyrov was assassinated by a bomb blast in 2004. The most prominent of these included the 13 February 2004 killing of exiled former separatist Chechen President Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev in Qatar, and the 9 May 2004 killing of pro-Russian Chechen President Akhmad Kadyrov during a parade in Grozny. script.setAttribute("async", true); Western European rights groups estimate there have been about 5,000 forced disappearances in Chechnya since 1999.[92]. [109], In the Second Chechen War, over 60,000 combatants and non-combatants were killed. 31 03 00 коменд рота.jpg 1,400 × 933; 1.06 MB. By its re-conquest of Chechnya, Russia served notice to the US that Russia had stopped retreating from the Caucasus and intended to scuttle US plans to gain control over the region. On the same day, a Russian VDV paratroop company from Pskov was attacked by Chechen and Arab fighters near the village of Ulus-Kert in Chechnya's southern lowlands; at least 84 Russian soldiers were killed in the especially heavy fighting. In March 2007, Yamadayev claimed there were well over 1,000 separatists and foreign Islamic militants entrenched in the mountains of Chechnya alone: "The war is not over, the war is far from being over. The following month, Putin appointed Akhmad Kadyrov interim head of the pro-Moscow government. On 17 November 1999, Russian soldiers dislodged separatists in Bamut, the symbolic separatist stronghold in the first war; dozens of Chechen fighters and many civilians were reported killed, and the village was levelled in the FAE bombing. War Crimes of the Second Chechen War: Se: Llc, Books: Amazon.nl Selecteer uw cookievoorkeuren We gebruiken cookies en vergelijkbare tools om uw winkelervaring te verbeteren, onze services aan te bieden, te begrijpen hoe klanten onze services gebruiken zodat we verbeteringen kunnen aanbrengen, en om advertenties weer te geven. Six other suspects have been convicted by Russian courts. Cadets of the Ichkeria Chechen national guard 1999.jpg 790 × 522; 103 KB. When the Russians, at the initiative of General Aleksandr Lebed agreed to withdraw from Chechnya, and agreed on a timetable for Chechen self-determination, they also promised major aid. [81], The Russians also suffered heavy losses as they advanced elsewhere, and from Chechen counterattacks and convoy ambushes. [146], Since the Chechen conflict began in 1994, cases of young veterans returning embittered and traumatized to their home towns have been reported all across Russia. Their operations were no longer limited to Chechnya, with militants operating in Dagestan and Ingushetia as well. Then, it deals with the formal outbreak of the Second Chechen war and examines whether the Second Chechen war does prima facie constitute a civil war. [163][164], The separatists deny that the war is over, and guerrilla warfare continues throughout the North Caucasus. Sergey Pravosudov. [155] The Caucasians also face ethnic-related violence in the ranks of Russian Army. Chechnya and its People Essay 5500 Words | 22 Pages. Abductions and raids into other parts of the Northern Caucasus by various Chechen warlords had been steadily increasing. On this day, a bus filled with refugees was reportedly hit by a Russian tank shell, killing at least 11 civilians;[69] two days later, Russian Su-24 fighter bombers dropped cluster bombs on the village of Elistanzhi, killing some 35 people. Second Chechen War. On 8 March 2005, Maskhadov was killed in an operation by Russian security forces in the Chechen community of Tolstoy-Yurt, northeast of Grozny. [150][151] According to Amnesty International, torture of detainees in Russia is now endemic. [70] On 10 October 1999, Maskhadov outlined a peace plan offering a crackdown on renegade warlords;[70] the offer was rejected by the Russian side. Russian Defense Minister Igor Sergeyev said that 2,700 separatists were killed trying to leave Grozny. While Russia continued to maintain a military presence within Chechnya, federal forces played less of a direct role. In 1783 Russi… Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube. In 2013, the Tsarnaev brothers launched a suicide attack in Boston in claim of jihad, accusing the United States for killing Muslims of Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine, weakened sympathy for Chechen resistance from Russia globally and increased xenophobia against Chechens and Muslims in the United States. The first one was announced in 1999 when about 400 Chechen switched sides. Prerequisites, the course of the war and its results. With the abolition of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria and the proclamation of the Caucasus Emirate by the president of the separatist movement Dokka Umarov, the conflict in Chechnya and the rest of the North Caucasus is often referred to as the "War in the North Caucasus". Recent Posts. The first war, with its extensive and largely unrestricted coverage (despite deaths of many journalists), convinced the Kremlin more than any other event that it needed to control national television channels, which most Russians rely on for news, to successfully undertake any major national policy. script.setAttribute("src", "//www.npttech.com/advertising.js"); By 2017, this figure had decreased to 13.9%. "Conflict in Chechnya: A Background Perspective. 57, No. The pipeline to the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossisk opened, and then closed because of events in Chechnya. In April 2002, President Vladimir Putin's declared that the war in Chechnya was over. In Beslan, some 20 hostages had been executed by their captors before the assault, and the ill-prepared assault itself (started hastily after explosions in the gym that had been rigged with explosives by the terrorists) resulted in 294 more casualties among the 1128 hostages, as well as heavy losses among the special forces. The failure of the second Chechnya campaign will become obvious by spring. The campaign ended the de facto independence of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria and restored Russian federal control over the territory.[30][31][32].