The Chechens of the North Caucasus region endured many decades of first Russian, then Soviet domination before open war broke out in 1994. In response to Chechnya's unilateral declaration of independence and its rapid descent into disorder, Moscow sent in ground troops, but its forces struggled to counter the Chechens' guerrilla tactics amid the mountainous terrain. The 1996 Khasav-Yurt Accord, which ended the first war, failed to address many of the tensions that led to the conflict. In 1999, with Vladimir Putin now at the helm, the Russians launched a second war, surrounding and storming the capital, Grozny, and establishing a puppet government. Even after the formal Russian counter-terrorism operation ended in 2009, low-level insurgency persisted, taking on the character of a civil war fuelled by a long tradition of blood vendetta. In this insightful account of asymmetric warfare at its starkest, an expert on the conflict explains the origins, history and consequences of Russia's war in Chechnya, shedding new light on the prospects for this troubled region.

Includes maps of: North Caucasus; First Invasion; First Battle for Grozny, 1994-1995; Invasion of Dagestan, 1999; Invasion and Conquest, 1999-2006.

Introduction; Chronology; Background to war -- Home of the wolf; Warring sides -- Soldiers versus fighters; Outbreak -- Flashpoint: 1994; The fighting -- Two wars; Portrait of a soldier -- Sergeant Pavel Klementyev; The world around war -- The world looks on in horror; Portrait of a civilian -- Ruslan Yusupov; How the war ended -- The end of the 'counterterrorist operation'; Conclusion and consequences -- One war over, others just beginning; Bibliography and further reading.