Description
With the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 there has been a marked increase in interest in Russian actions in Chechnya during the Chechen Wars 1994-2009. Over time it has become clear that some of Russia’s nascent plans for post-conflict security provision and many of the actions conducted by Russian forces in occupied territories share tragic parallels with previous actions in Chechnya. With the re-election of Donald Trump in November 2024 raising the possibility of an end to the war in Ukraine that will see significant Ukrainian territory under Russian control, what can we expect from Russian control over these areas?
This paper will focus on the Second Chechen War of 1999-2009 and the Russian use of indigenous elements to establish a new government and security apparatus in the aftermath, and how this enabled them to (seemingly) pacify a region with a long history of resistance. The purpose of this paper will be to explore whether a similar approach may be utilised in Ukraine or whether the differences between the two cases will see the Russian state adopted an evolution of their older methodology.
