First Chechen War

The First Chechen War was a war between the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria and Russia from 1994 to 1996.

First Chechen War
Part of the Chechen-Russian conflict and the post-Soviet conflicts
A Russian Mil Mi-8 helicopter brought down by Chechen fighters near the capital Grozny in 1994.
Date 11 December 1994 - 31 August 1996 Location Chechnya and parts of Ingushetia, Stavropol Krai and Dagestan, Russia
Belligerents
Chechen Republic of Ichkeria Foreign volunteers	Russia Chechen opposition
Units involved
Armed Forces of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria Chechen Mujahideen Georgian volunteers Ukrainian National Assembly – Ukrainian People's Self-Defence	Russian Armed Forces Loyalist opposition
Casualties and losses
3,654–17,391 killed or missing	Disputed

Battles

The war was caused by Russia's prior attempt to overthrow the Chechen government in the Battle of Grozny in November 1994. The initial campaign of the war saw the deadly First Battle of Grozny. Russia's major military failures during the conflict led to a rise of opposition movements against Russian president Boris Yeltsin.

Damages

Death estimates for the Russian military in the conflict range anywhere from 3,500 up to 14,000.^[1] The war caused massive devastation for the region of Chechnya and neighboring areas of Russia that continues until this day.^[2] The conflict also caused a rise of ethnic tensions between Chechens and non-Chechens in Chechnya.^[3]

Aftermath

In the aftermath of the First Chechen War, a rise of radical Islamic thought in the form of Jihadism began to rise in Chechnya. This ultimately led to the Chechen Civil War^[4] and later the pretext for the Second Chechen War.