Analysis of the Conflict
Elections and Pacification Efforts
Russia’s then-Premier (and current President) Vladimir Putin ordered military, police, and other security forces to enter the breakaway Chechnya region (with a population variously estimated at less than one-half to one million) in September 1999. These forces occupied most of the region by early 2000. The conflict has ebbed and flowed since then. Chechen rebel forces — estimated by Russian officials to number between 1,200 and 2,000 dedicated fighters — currently appear weakened but still tenacious. In recent months, they increasingly have engaged in small-scale attacks and bombings — including suicide bombings — against both Russian troops and civilians in…
