Chechen – Russian conflict The Chechen – Russian conflict or simply the Chechen conflict ( ) refers to the centuries - long conflict , often armed , between the Russian ( formerly Soviet ) government and various Chechen nationalist and Islamist forces . Formal hostilities date back to 1785 , though elements of the conflict can be traced back considerably further . The Russian Empire initially had little interest in the North Caucasus itself other than as a communication route to its ally Georgia and its enemies , the Persia n and Ottoman Empire s , but growing tensions triggered by Russian activities in the region resulted in an uprising of Chechens against the Russian presence in 1785 , followed by further clashes and the outbreak of the Caucasian War in 1817 . Russia only succeeded in suppressing the Chechen rebels in 1862 . During the Russian Civil War , Chechens and other Caucasian nations lived in independence for a few years before being Sovietized in 1921 . During the Second World War , the Chechens saw the German invasion as an opportunity to revolt against the Soviet regime . In response , they were " en masse " deported to Central Asia where they were forced to stay until 1957 . The most recent conflict between Chechens and the Russian government took place in the 1990s . As the Soviet Union disintegrated , the Chechen separatists declared independence in 1991 . By late 1994 the First Chechen War broke out and after two years of fighting the Russian forces withdrew from the region . In 1999 , the fighting restarted and concluded the next year with the Russian security forces establishing control over Chechnya . Origins . The North Caucasus , a mountainous region that includes Chechnya , spans or lies close to important trade and communication routes between Europe and the Middle East , control of which have been fought over by various powers for millennia . Russia ' s entry into the region followed Tsar Ivan the Terrible ' s conquest of the Golden Horde ' s Khanate s of Kazan and Astrakhan in 1556 , initiating a long struggle for control of the North Caucasus routes with other contemporary powers including Persia , the Ottoman Empire and the Crimean Khanate . Internal divisions prevented Russia from effectively projecting its power into the region until the 18th century ; however , Russian - allied Cossacks began settling the North Caucasus lowlands following Ivan ' s conquests , sparking tensions and occasional clashes with Chechens , who at this time were themselves increasingly settling the lowlands due to adverse climatic changes in their traditional mountain strongholds . In 1774 , Russia gained control of Ossetia , and with it the strategically important Darial Pass , from the Ottomans . A few years later , in 1783 , Russia signed the Treaty of Georgievsk with Georgia , making Georgia — a Christian enclave surrounded by hostile Muslim states — a Russian protectorate . To fulfill her obligations under the treaty , Catherine the Great , Empress of Russia , began construction of the Georgian Military Road through the Darial Pass , along with a series of military forts to protect the route . These activities , however , antagonized the Chechens , who saw the forts both as an encroachment on the traditional territories of the mountaineers and as a potential threat . Sheikh Mansur uprising and aftermath , 1785 – early 1800s . Around this time , Sheikh Mansur , a Chechen imam , began preaching a purified version of Islam and encouraging the various mountain peoples of the North Caucasus to unite under the banner of Islam in order to protect themselves from further foreign encroachments . His activities were seen by the Russians as a threat to their own interests in the region , and in 1785 , a force was sent to capture him . Failing to do so , it burned his unoccupied home village instead , but the force was ambushed by Mansur ' s followers on its return journey and annihilated , beginning the first Chechen – Russian war . The war lasted several years , with Mansur employing mostly guerilla tactics and the Russians conducting further punitive raids on Chechen villages , until Mansur ' s capture in 1791 . Mansur died in captivity in 1794 . In 1801 , Russia formally annexed Georgia , deepening Russia ' s commitment to the region . In subsequent years , a growing number of small - scale raids and ambushes by Chechen tribesmen on Russian forces moving through the Caucasus prompted the Russians to mount two substantial military expeditions into Chechen territory , both of which were defeated , and Russian leaders began considering more drastic measures . These were postponed however by Napoleon ' s 1812 invasion of Russia . Caucasian War , 1817 – 1862 . After Russia ' s defeat of French Napoleonic forces in the 1812 war , Tsar Alexander I turned his attentions once more to the North Caucasus , assigning one of his most celebrated generals , Aleksey Petrovich Yermolov , to the pacification of the region . In 1817 , Russian forces under Yermolov ' s command embarked upon the conquest of the Caucasus . Yermolov ' s brutal tactics , which included economic warfare , collective punishment and forcible deportations , were initially successful , but have been described as counterproductive since they effectively ended Russian influence on Chechen society and culture and ensured the Chechens ' enduring enmity . Yermolov was not relieved of command until 1827 . A turning point in the conflict was marked in 1828 when the Muridism movement emerged . It was led by an Avar , Imam Shamil . In 1834 he united the northern Caucasian nations under Islam and declared " holy war " on Russia . In 1845 Shamil ' s forces surrounded and killed thousands of Russian soldiers and several generals in Dargo , forcing them to retreat . During the Crimean War of 1853 – 6 , the Chechens supported the Ottoman Empire against Russia . However , internal tribal conflicts weakened Shamil and he was captured in 1859 . The war formally ended in 1862 when Russia promised autonomy for Chechnya and other Caucasian ethnic groups . Russian Civil War and Soviet period . After the Revolution of 1917 , the mountain people of the northern Caucasus came to establish the Mountainous Republic of the Northern Caucasus . It existed until 1921 , when they were forced to accept Soviet rule . Joseph Stalin personally held negotiations with the Caucasian leaders in 1921 and promised a wide autonomy inside the Soviet state . The Mountain Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was created that year , but only lasted until 1924 when it was abolished and six republics were created . The Chechen – Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was established in 1934 . Confrontations between the Chechens and the Soviet government arose in the late 1920s during collectivization . It declined by the mid - 1930s after local leaders were arrested or killed . World War II . Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941 . According to Soviet sources , Chechens joined the Wehrmacht , although this claim is disputed as little evidence exists . By January 1943 , the German retreat started , while the Soviet government began discussing the deportation of Chechen and Ingush people far from the northern Caucasus . In February 1944 , under the direct command of Lavrentiy Beria , almost half million Chechens and Ingush were removed from their homes and forcibly settled in Central Asia . They were put in forced labor camps in Kazakhstan and Kirgiziya . After Stalin ' s death in 1953 , Nikita Khrushchev came to power and soon denounced his predecessor . In 1957 , Chechens were allowed to return to their homes . The Chechen – Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was reestablished . Post - Soviet era . In 1991 , Chechnya declared independence and was named the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria . According to some sources , from 1991 to 1994 , tens of thousands of people of non - Chechen ethnicity ( mostly Russians , Ukrainians and Armenians ) left the republic amidst reports of violence and discrimination against the non - Chechen population . Other sources do not identify displacement as a significant factor in the events of the period , instead focussing on the deteriorating domestic situation within Chechnya , the aggressive politics of the Chechyen President , Dzhokhar Dudayev , and the domestic political ambitions of Russian President Boris Yeltsin . Russian army forces invaded Grozny in 1994 but , after two years of intense fighting , the Russian troops eventually withdrew from Chechnya under the Khasavyurt Accord . Chechnya preserved its " de facto " independence until the second war broke out in 1999 . In 1999 , the Russian government forces again invaded Chechnya , in response to terrorist attacks that Russia blamed on Chechen militants . By early 2000 Russia almost completely destroyed the city of Grozny and succeeded in putting Chechnya under direct control of Moscow . According to Norman Naimark , " serious evidence indicates that Russian government developed plans to deport the Chechens once again in the mid - 1990s if they had lost the war . " Insurgency . Since the end of the Second Chechen War in May 2000 , low - level insurgency has continued , particularly in Chechnya , Ingushetia and Dagestan . Russian security forces have succeeded in capturing some of their leaders , such as Shamil Basayev , who was killed on July 10 , 2006 . Since Basayev ' s death , Dokka Umarov has taken the leadership of the rebel forces in northern Caucasus . Radical Islamists from Chechnya and other northern Caucasian republics have been held responsible for a number of terrorist attacks throughout Russia , most notably the Russian apartment bombings in 1999 , the Moscow theater hostage crisis in 2002 , the Beslan school hostage crisis in 2004 , the 2010 Moscow Metro bombings and the Domodedovo International Airport bombing in 2011 .