Chechnya: The inside story

From independence to war

Par Mairbeck Vatchagaev

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à propos du livre

Mairbek Vatchagaev, ancien secrétaire de presse et premier conseiller du président tchétchène Maskhadov, relate les événements dramatiques qui se sont déroulés en Tchétchénie dans les années 1990, après l’effondrement de l’Union soviétique et la guerre d’indépendance tchétchène.
Engagé d’un côté du conflit russo-tchétchène, il présente ce dont il a été témoin, comment il s’est impliqué, comment la lutte avec la Russie et les rivalités internes tchétchènes ont évolué, et comment cela a affecté sa famille, ses amis, ses connaissances et le peuple tchétchène.
Chapter 1

PRELUDE

 

What Is a Homeland ?

After my exile to France, a friend asked me what « homeland » means to me; with what, or with whom do I associate the concept. I responded that it was with my village cemetery. My fiend’s eyes showed incomprehension, even shock. But for me my village cemetery is the story of my family, my village, and my people. According to tradition, a Chechen must know at least seven generations of ancestors on his father’s side. In the cemetery of my village of Avtury in the Shali district, I always visited the tomb of the founder of my name, Vachg haji.

 

Historical Note

My great-great-grandfather, Vachg-haji, according to village history, was its richest inhabitant of the mid-nineteneth century. He was the one Chechen that Imam Shamil allowed to smoke, despite a strict ban on smoking. The bestowal of this favor demonstrated how Chechens ignored restrictions imposed by the formidable imam and how Shamil made exceptions for Chechens.
Shamil had introduced the Sharia and strictly enforced his understanding of it, including prohibition of smoking and drinking. In the 1850s, he visited Avtury, and every morning he was informed that a Russian sniper had killed one of the Chechen standing guard at night at the entrance to the village. One day the shooting stopped. Wanting to know how such a fine shot had been eliminated, Shamil summoned the man thought to be responsible, Vachg-haji. However, his attempts to learn details ran into my ancestor’s reluctance to talk. Only after Shamil gave his word not to get angry, did Vachg-haji explain that despite the prohibition, he was smoking and that the shooter used the glow of his cigarette to direct his fire. Several cigarettes later, my great-great-grandfather was able to locate the sniper and successfully return the gunfire.
[…]

Contenu

CHAPITRE I. PRELUDE
  • What is Homeland ?
  • Historical note
  • The first step into adulthood
  • Russian Grozny
  • Historical note
  • My first riot in the period of perestroïka
  • Historical note
  • Conflict with the KGB
CHAPITRE II. THE BEGINNING OF THE GREAT ADVENTURE
  • Leaving Chechnya
  • Getting to know Moscow
  • Historical note
  • My first trip to the West
  • Oxford
  • Little Chechnya in Moscow
  • Criminal Chechnya
CHAPITRE III. THE ROAD TO INDEPENDENCE
The Chechen revolution
The historic year 1990
Historical note
In search of a national leader, 1991
Historical note
My first work for Independent Ichkeria, 1992
CHAPITRE IV. POLITICAL CONFRONTATION BETWEEN MOSCOW AND GROZNY
  • A conversation between two men, one deaf and one mute, 1993
  • The battle of Gekhi: a turning point, September 1994
  • The onset of the bloody tragedy, November 1994
CHAPITRE V. THE RUSSIAN ARMY IN CHECHNYA
  • The russian invasion, December 1994
  • Historical note
  • The New Year’s assault on Grozny
  • Historical note
  • An underrated victory
  • Grozny falls and Chechnya is overrun, March-May 1995
  • My thesis
CHAPITRE VI. ICHKERIA AT WAR
  • The army of Ichkeria and the influence of sufism
  • Historical note
  • Russian prisoners of war
  • Historical note
  • The Chechen raid on the rear guard of the russian army, Budennovsk, June 1995
  • Negotiations as an indicator of russian politics
  • Historical note
  • Grozny after Budennovsk
CHAPITRE VII - ASLAN MASKHADOV
  • My acquaintance with Aslan Maskhadov
  • My work at the general staff of the Ichkeria armed forces
  • A delegation from Europe to Aslan Maskhadov
  • The Chechen raid into Kizliar-Pervomaiskoe, January 1996
CHAPITRE VIII - THE POLITICAL FORCES IN PRESENCE
  • The Pro-Russian Chechen opposition during the war salafists in Chechnya
  • The explosion in October 1995
  • Paris to Chechnya by car, March 1996
    Goiskoe, April 1996
  • Historical note
  • Yeltsin’s visit to Chechnya, May 1996
  • The body trade
  • Historical Note
CHAPITRE IX - MILITARY VICTORY
  • The battle for Grozny, August 1996
  • The Khasaviurt agreements, August 1996
  • Historical note
  • My first resignation, September 1996
  • The stampede of the russian army from Chechnya
CHAPITRE X - POST-WAR CHECHNYA
  • The election campaign of Aslan Maskhadov
  • My work as a campaign staffer
  • Victory in the election and my second resignation, January 1997
  • The stolen victory
  • The parliament of Chechnya
CHAPITRE XI - EARLLY POLITICAL STRUGGLE
  • Maskhadov first political victory, May 1997
  • Russia and Chechnya after the armistice
  • New elections and a new party, May-August 1997
  • Boris Berezovsky, money and oil
CHAPITRE XII - CRIMINALITY, SALAFISTS, AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
  • Kidnapping in Chechnya
  • Training camps of Amir Khattab
  • Press secretary to the president
  • Maskhadov’s journeys abroad
  • The visit of Sheykh Nazim
CHAPITRE XIII - SHARIATIZATION OF ICHKERIA
  • Shariah courts
  • The fundamentalist uprising, July 1998
  • Shamil Basayev against Aslan Maskhadov
  • The « trial » of Aslan Maskhadov
CHAPITRE XIV - STORM CLOUDS GATHERING
  • Maskhadov and the parliament, Sprint 1999
  • Shariah rule
  • Another resignation, July 1999
  • My work as Chechnya’s envoy in Moscow
  • The radicals’ raid in Dagestan, August 1999
Short biographies of people involved in the first Chechen-Russian war
Chronology of events, 1988-1999

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