Word: buts
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Russia's generals have learned some hard lessons. After the blood-soaked debacle of the last attempt to subdue Chechnya during 1994-1996, war gamers went back to the doctrine of the ferocious Russian who first conquered the Caucasus, 19th century general Alexei Yermolov: use siege warfare rather than frontal...
So far, though, Moscow is winning the home-propaganda battle. Opinion surveys show that around 60% of Russians support the war as a necessity to quell Chechen militants. The generals are sure their Prime Minister will back them to the end. But while "there is political and military consensus on...
The toll on civilians has been devastating, but Moscow seems not to care. One of Yermolov's tactics was to destroy any village whose inhabitants resisted, as an example. General Troshev, commanding the eastern sector, takes the same approach. No one knows how many civilians have died, especially in Grozny...
But the strategy works much less well against rebel fighters. They too have altered tactics. This time, as soon as the Russians open up with artillery, the rebels retreat to safe new lines of defense. Moscow claims to have killed 7,000 fighters, leaving 12,000 to 15,000 in...
The generals rightly fear body bags. Heavy troop losses drove them from Chechnya last time and could provoke a drop in support for this war any time. As of last week, the Russians admitted to 400 dead soldiers. But U.S. intelligence, which has been tracking the numbers closely, believes the...