Word: vladimir
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...years. Officially, they have been goaded past endurance by alleged Chechen acts of terrorism, including the spectacular bombings of four apartment buildings in Moscow and elsewhere last month. But Chechnya's determination to secede from Russia is equally a target. When asked about Russian incursions into Chechnya, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, the latest in President Boris Yeltsin's revolving cast of legislative leaders, gave a sinister little smile and explained that the term incursion didn't apply. "We don't have a border with Chechnya," he said. "Chechnya is part of the Russian Federation." In the Chechen capital of Grozny...
...objectives in Chechnya, but now it's given the game away. Initially Moscow said it had 30,000 men around Chechnya to beef up border security while bombing suspected terrorist bases; then it crossed those borders saying it wanted a 10-mile security zone inside Chechnya. But Prime Minister Vladimir Putin announced Tuesday that his forces now occupy the northern third of the breakaway republic along the east-west line of the River Terek - a fact borne out by reports of fierce fighting from villages deep inside Chechnya. And that suggests that Moscow is trying to partition the territory, taking...
...very convenient for troubled politicians. And so while the stated intention of Russia?s mini-invasion of Chechnya is to eliminate Islamic guerrillas involved in incursions into neighboring Dagestan, it will not hurt if a successful outcome burnishes the reputation of the recently installed prime minister Vladimir Putin. Or that a debacle may give Putin?s patron, President Boris Yeltsin, an excuse to postpone elections scheduled for next year...
Moscow has managed to whip up Russian public support for war against Chechnya; now it may be trying to delicately climb down from the precipice. Following six days of continuous bombing, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Wednesday authorized a meeting between Russian officials in the region and Chechen president Aslan Mashkadov. Russia insists that Mashkadov curb Islamic guerrilla groups operating in his country, although observers point out that the Chechen president himself has limited control over his own territory. And Russian opposition politicians, mindful of Moscow's 1994-96 debacle in Chechnya, are warning against escalating the conflict...
Much of the pressure to act comes from within Moscow's political class, with new prime minister Vladimir Putin making his vow to deal firmly with the rebels the centerpiece of his campaign for next year's presidential election. "The Kremlin is certainly using this crisis to paint the not-very-striking Putin to look like presidential material," says Quinn-Judge. The former KGB officer on Monday firmly rejected a call by Chechnya's President Aslan Maskhadov for political dialogue with Moscow, instead moving armor to the border. But despite their anger at the bombings, Russian voters may balk...