Complex sentence: The Chechen people had never willingly accepted Russian rule, and, with the dissolution of the Soviet Union, had declared independence in November 1991 under a former Air Forces officer, General Dzhokar Dudayev.
Split into simpler sentences: The Chechen people had never willingly accepted Russian rule. With the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Chechens declared independence in November 1991, under the leadership of a former Air Forces officer, General Dzhokar Dudayev.