At the beginning of 2022, the situation in Russia and Ukraine was suddenly urgent, and the Russian army sent troops to Ukraine with the intention of protecting the two independent republics in eastern Ukraine, as well as other ethnic Russian civilians, and eliminating the "Nazi" regime in Ukraine.
In fact, as early as 8 years ago, russian troops have entered Crimea, but this time the situation is very different.
The Russians are multi-faceted, targeting Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, in a full-scale war against the Ukrainian government. Although the war on Earth never ceases, this war is particularly critical because it broke out in Europe.
In modern history, all major power conflicts that erupt in Europe have often evolved into world-class wars.
When Russian troops entered Ukraine on three sides, Chechen army leader Kadyrov also announced that he would send troops to support Putin's actions, and the Chechen army vowed to go out.
At the congress in Grozny, the capital of Chechnya, a chechen soldier dressed in black was tall and bearded, looking murderous and intimidating.
Chechnya, for the Russian Federation, used to be a heavy name.
Since Russia's independence in 1991, the war around Chechnya has been fought intermittently for 20 years, causing hundreds of thousands of civilian casualties in Russia and Chechnya, and the Russian army has left the bodies of 10,000 soldiers on Chechen soil to stabilize this land of bullets.
After Putin came to power, the Chechen region gradually stabilized, Putin the Great not only controlled the region, but also made Chechnya loyal to him from top to bottom, President Kadyrov claimed to be his "defender", 20,000 "Kajia army" vowed to die allegiance to the federal president.
In the past 20 years, chechnya has changed dramatically, from the feared old nest of terrorism in the Russian Federation to putin's loyal "defender" today.
Now that the war in Ukraine is in full swing, how will Chechnya's participation in the war bring about changes?
Putin: My duty is to send them to God
Ethnic problems, coupled with religious conflicts, are intractable diseases throughout the world and the root causes of centuries-old conflicts between Chechnya and Russia.
Chechens and Russians are of different origins and believe in different religions, turning over the history of 200 years of Russian rule by Chechens, from the Tsarist Empire to the Soviet era, Russians have repeatedly slaughtered and migrated Chechens, and the hatred in Chechnya's heart has been passed down from generation to generation.
In 1991, when Dudayev declared Chechenia independent, Russia reacted immediately by sending troops to order the dissolution of the Chechen government.
Three years later, in 1994, war broke out between Russia and Chechnya, and the Russian army fought extremely badly. In 1999, the war began again, and although the Russian army won on the frontal battlefield, the subsequent war on terror lasted until 2009.
The two Chechen wars of the late 20th century were russia's founding battles and one of the bloodiest regional conflicts in the world.
At that time, Russia was in ruins, the economy was in disarray, and the army was even more decayed.
The Russian army disbanded the troops that had inherited the Soviet Union in large numbers, and the professional soldiers lost their jobs, and then formed a new army dominated by conscripts, which were full of recruits in their teens and twenties.
Chechnya, on the other hand, had veterans and veterans of the Soviet Army, who had rich combat experience and high morale, so the Russian army fought very hard in Chechnya for the first time.
Chechens have thick skin and strong will, and in Chinese parlance it is "hard-working war"; no matter how different the situation between the enemy and us is, the Chechens can fight to the last soldier, even if they enter the Caucasus Mountains and suffer from hunger and frost, they will not surrender.
During the First Chechen War, the Russian army nibbled forward from village to village, and finally fought a lot of resentment and suffered heavy casualties.
In particular, during the siege of Grozny, the Russian army used white phosphorus bombs to attack the city, causing a large number of civilian casualties, and chechen guerrillas slaughtered a large number of Russian prisoners of war to vent their anger.
The anti-human acts of the two sides in the war have caused a world uproar, and the Russian government has been under too much pressure to sign an armistice with the terrorist chief Maskhadov.
In 1999, Putin became the prime minister of Russia and was regarded by Yeltsin as his successor, and Putin decided not to give in to the thorn in Chechnya, saying: "Separatist forces and violent terrorists must be eliminated, there is no room for negotiation." Let them go to God for forgiveness, and my duty is to send them to God. ”
That year, as soon as Putin's voice dropped, the second Chechen war began, and the Russian military chose to fight in a more efficient and humane way.
Putin knows that staunch separatists and Islamic jihadists must be exterminated and ruthless.
For ordinary Chechens, as well as wavering Chechen religious and political leaders, it is necessary to win people's hearts and minds, protect their safety, and safeguard their interests.
Therefore, the Russian army crossed most of Chechnya, and with the local religious and folk leaders "about the three chapters of the law", the Russian army did not enter the village, did not encircle and suppress, the local Chechen people promised not to support the rebels, not to sneak attack the Russian army.
However, wherever the agreement was violated, the Russian army cracked down strictly, and most Chechens maintained the greatest degree of restraint for their own safety.
Subsequently, the Russian army directly inserted into Grozny, the capital of Chechnya, and the air force cooperated with the "Guards" special forces to eliminate the main force of the Chechen rebels and drove the rebels into the Caucasus Mountains.
Second, engage in economic grasp of religion, Putin to build a new Chechnya
In the summer of 2000, the Chechen Republic was basically stable, but Putin adhered to the principle of "eliminating evil and doing everything possible" and insisted on the war on terrorism in the mountains.
The Russian army went deep into the Caucasus and showed no mercy to the terrorists, fighting for 9 years until the Chechen terrorists were basically eliminated.
Putin's decisiveness and resoluteness in the war have been admired by the Russian government and convinced by the Chechen elite.
After the Chechen rebels were driven out of the capital, Putin embarked on a reconstruction of the region, using both economic and religious means to rebuild a regime loyal to Russia in Chechnya.
As a result of the total collapse of the economies of the entire Soviet Union since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the unemployment rate in Chechnya in the northern Caucasus also climbed to more than 40%.
Food and clothing became a problem for the common people, decent workers and soldiers were reduced to the brink of begging, and dissatisfaction with the Russian government naturally skyrocketed.
So when the Second Chechen War broke out, Putin allocated $200 million from the desperately impoverished Russian treasury to pay salaries and pensions to Chechen civil servants and workers.
Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, people here have not had a good day, and Putin's money can be described as a blessing in disguise.
It is precisely because of the benefits of Russia that many civilians who are hostile to the Russian army have also remained calm in this war.
After appeasing the Chechen people, Putin opened his doors to the Chechen religious people, and under his official wish, the famous Ahmed. Kadyrov was moved.
The elder Kadyrov was the Chechen "Mufuti", the "religious judge" of Islam, and had the highest right to interpret religion in the region. For Chechnya, where the whole people believe in Islam, the elder Kadyrov is the leader in the minds of the people.
After the end of the First Chechen War, Chechen rebels poured in from "Wahhabi" terrorists, causing harm to the entire Caucasus region, and the elder Kadyrov felt that the Chechen leadership had gone astray.
Just when Putin co-opted him and promised him to take charge of Chechnya, the elder Kadyrov sided with Putin.
On June 12, 2000, Grozny had been liberated for half a year, and Putin signed a presidential decree establishing power in Chechnya, with Kadyrov the elder as chief executive.
Russia has also begun propaganda for the elder Kadyrov, whose portraits and handshakes with President Vladimir Putin can be seen everywhere from the capital to rural areas.
The common people know that "Mufti" has become the local leader, and "the Chechens have ruled Chechnya", which is a reassuring pill in the hearts of the people.
In 2003, the Chechen parliament voted for elections, and the elder Kadyrov received more than 80% of the vote, becoming the first president of Chechnya. Since then, Putin's reconstruction of Chechnya has been on track.
Third, the Chechen army: help Russia gnaw hard bones
Unfortunately, in May 2004, the elder Kadyrov was assassinated in Grozny , where he was killed by a mine at a local celebration of the "Commemoration of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War".
Immediately after the news of his death reached Moscow, Putin summoned Ramzan, the son of the old Kadyrov, who was still studying.
Putin comforted Comrade Xiaoka, who had just lost his father, praised his father's exploits, and promised his father that his promise to his father would not change.
Putin assured that the Russian government would keep him safe from a similar tragedy. The Russian army would track down the Assassins, hand over his father's killer to him, and finally Putin promised to let the Kadyrov family continue to rule Chechnya.
Immediately after that, Kadyrov Jr. was appointed Deputy Prime Minister of Chechnya, who was not yet 30 years old, and three years later, Kadyrov Jr. turned 30, reaching the minimum age for a legal president in Chechnya. In the spring of 2007, the Chechen parliament voted to elect Kadyrov Jr. president of the republic.
In the following years, Putin's promises came true one by one, so The younger Kadyrov admired Putin very much and regarded Putin as an idol.
In his early years, he led troops in the Chechen police force, and had a group of armed forces under his command, which was the core of the later Chechen army.
It can be said that today's Chechen army is the personal soldier of Kadyrov Jr., loyal to the president himself, code-named "Kadrovzi", that is, "Kadyrov's death squad".
The Chechen army has experienced a long period of war and has a lot of experience in mountain warfare and urban street warfare.
As early as the First Chechen War, the local guerrilla street battles annihilated thousands of Russian troops, and even completely annihilated the Russian 131st Brigade, which made the Russian army feel frightened.
After the conflict between Russia and Ukraine broke out in 2022, Kadyrov Jr. immediately spoke in support of Putin and sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine to help in the war.
Kadyrov Jr. brought chechen troops into the war, which was enough to see Putin's determination to crush the Ukrainian government, and the Chechens were good at special warfare, which was very useful in attacking tough problems and street battles in the later stages of the war.
For fear of civilian casualties, Russia did not dare to bomb Ukraine's large cities, allowing chechen troops to fight street battles to eliminate the enemy, which may be the way the Russian army occupied the cities.
On 26 February, Chechen troops were airlifted to Ukraine to begin fighting.
Their participation in the war was a huge blow to the morale of the Ukrainian army, and no one wanted to fight this group of tough bearded men.
According to Russian officials, Chechen troops are deployed in Udong Kharkiv, in Mariupol on the Azov Sea in southern Ukraine, and at The Antonov airport in the capital Kiev.
It will take time to verify whether the Chechen army can achieve results on the frontal battlefield and whether the combat effectiveness of this force is as strong as the appearance.
Text/Shogakuno
Resources:
1. "The Transformation of Russia's Combat Style from the Two Chechen Wars", Bai Xuefei
2. "Advancing the Chechen Peace Process: Kadyrov, The New President of the Chechen Republic of Russia", Wang Ying