Word: chechen
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...superior forces and politically damaging body counts. Even if Russia has regained control of the battlefield, the guerrillas have melted away to plot new surprises. Acting President Vladimir Putin's confident prediction of imminent victory--and his triumphal glide to the presidency in March--is slipping toward the Chechen quagmire...
Until a few weeks ago, when Russian troops reached the outskirts of the provincial capital of Grozny, Chechen fighters had been strangely inactive. Moscow's generals attributed their unhindered progress to brilliant new tactics. When the advance bogged down around Christmas at the outskirts of the capital--where the besieging forces have remained ever since, pulverizing the city but making little progress--Moscow put an optimistic gloss on the situation. Through the tame media, Putin declared that everything was proceeding according to plan. Russian forces have made a "breakthrough" in the campaign, reported Defense Minister Igor Sergeyev. The defenders...
...threat. If the rebels' purpose was to shake Russian confidence, they succeeded. "It's not clear where they came from," said Major General Sergei Makarov, commander on the eastern front. "They just popped up among the civilians." General Victor Kazantsev blamed his troops' "tenderheartedness" and "groundless trust" in Chechen civilians. The response from Moscow made it clear that the top brass had been stung. Defense Minister Sergeyev sniffed that the attacks were "perfidious...
...case of Shali, the guerrillas had even announced they were coming back. Before abandoning the town last December, recalls Isa Madayev, chief of administration in a small town next door, the rebels warned they would return if there were any Russian abuses. Early last week, more than 50 young Chechen men were summarily rounded up in the town, said Madayev. "So no one was surprised when the fighters came back...
...response, Russian generals lashed out as their Chechen adversaries hoped. From now on, Moscow announced, no Chechen male between the ages of 10 and 60 would be considered a refugee. They would be subjected to checks, and those suspected of "terrorism" would undergo further verification in detention centers. In the last war, these "filtration centers" were notorious as places of torture and death. This measure outraged the West, and Moscow quickly backed down. Now only males from 15 on will be subject to checks...