This was "decimation" in its truest literal sense - the Russian operation left only one tenth of the population intact.
A similar tragedy occurred in 1944, when the Soviets enacted the mass deportation of Chechens and other Caucasus peoples to Gulags in Siberia. Writing in London's Independent, Phil Reeves describes last week's siege in Moscow as "the latest chapter in the blood-drenched history of relations between Russia and the peoples of the northern Caucasus." Russia conquered Chechnya in 1858, he writes, "after wars that live in Russian literature and folk memory for the ferocity of the fighting, the romantic desperation of the Chechen warriors and the dramatic grandeur of the scenery."
Chechens have been quick to make grabs at liberty while their Russian antagonists have been busy elsewhere - the Russian Revolution, the Second World War, and, most recently, the breakup of the Soviet Union. During the last episode, which led to the independence of the Baltic and other Soviet states, Chechen hopes for similar liberation were shattered. Yeltsin - so eager to see the end of the Soviet empire - cautiously maintained the 'unity of the Russian federation,' of which Chechnya is a part.
Again, the greed for oil has clouded world peace. Writing for IPS World News, Sergei Blagov notes that "as the Russian army tightens its grip around the Chechen capital of Grozny and Moscow becomes increasingly assertive, analysts stress that manoeuvring [sic] over huge oil-transit deals is the real issue of the Chechen war."
A similar tragedy occurred in 1944, when the Soviets enacted the mass deportation of Chechens and other Caucasus peoples to Gulags in Siberia. Writing in London's Independent, Phil Reeves describes last week's siege in Moscow as "the latest chapter in the blood-drenched history of relations between Russia and the peoples of the northern Caucasus." Russia conquered Chechnya in 1858, he writes, "after wars that live in Russian literature and folk memory for the ferocity of the fighting, the romantic desperation of the Chechen warriors and the dramatic grandeur of the scenery."
Chechens have been quick to make grabs at liberty while their Russian antagonists have been busy elsewhere - the Russian Revolution, the Second World War, and, most recently, the breakup of the Soviet Union. During the last episode, which led to the independence of the Baltic and other Soviet states, Chechen hopes for similar liberation were shattered. Yeltsin - so eager to see the end of the Soviet empire - cautiously maintained the 'unity of the Russian federation,' of which Chechnya is a part.
Again, the greed for oil has clouded world peace. Writing for IPS World News, Sergei Blagov notes that "as the Russian army tightens its grip around the Chechen capital of Grozny and Moscow becomes increasingly assertive, analysts stress that manoeuvring [sic] over huge oil-transit deals is the real issue of the Chechen war."