In January 2025, it will be thirty years since the infamous New Year's assault on Grozny. Tactically, the battles in the capital of rebellious Chechnya turned into one of the Kremlin's most significant failures in modern military history. In human terms, it resulted in tens of thousands of deaths, primarily among civilians who were supposedly being "liberated."
It was during those days that it became clear: the blitzkrieg Moscow had planned had morphed into a protracted war—the First Chechen War. It was the first of the major wars waged by modern Russia. The parallels between that "special operation" and the current one are evident to anyone. But are they mere coincidences or inevitable patterns? Can it be argued that today's Russia and the war in Ukraine are rooted in that Chechen war? And why did the attempt to forcibly reshape a tiny republic ultimately change us, the Russians, instead?
The first part of Konstantin Goldenzweig's film "The Special Military Chechen Operation," commissioned by "Artdoc.Media," delves into the origins and prelude to the conflict. Key figures of the era recount the decisions that led to the war.
00:00:00 - Why remember the First Chechen War thirty years later?
00:08:24 - "They even gave us dress uniforms": How and why troops were sent to Chechnya at the end of 1994.
00:14:17 - A brief overview of how Chechnya descended into conflict.
00:16:10 - Operation "They're-not-there": How the Kremlin relied on mercenaries before the big war.
00:23:29 - They had no other choice: Who in Yeltsin's Security Council decided to send troops into Chechnya?
00:27:35 - The day before war: Why the final attempt at peaceful negotiations failed.
00:34:07 - December 1994: The war begins.
00:43:47 - Chechnya's resistance in 1994 as revenge for the 1944 deportation: What’s the connection?
00:45:48 - Nationalists for the Kremlin, militia for Dudayev: Who fought against the "federal" forces?
00:47:05 - Not a war, but a special operation: How Russians were made to view the First Chechen War.
00:49:09 - "Precision strikes": Mass bombings in Chechnya from December 1994 onward.
00:55:59 - Human rights defenders or traitors? The role of Sergei Kovalev's team at the war's outset.
00:58:08 - Before Yeltsin and perestroika: The myth of Soviet friendship among nations in Chechnya.
01:00:44 - Glasnost was not in short supply: How perestroika impacted the Chechens.
01:03:57 - A general with a non-Chechen career: Who brought Dudayev to power in Chechnya?
01:11:49 - "They were similar": How Yeltsin and Dudayev rose to power and sovereignty in 1990–1991.
01:13:28 - "They thought Dudayev was their man": How the former general took control of Chechnya.
01:16:58 - November 1991: The Chechen conflict that didn’t happen.
01:22:20 - A small but mountainous republic: How Dudayev built an independent Chechnya.
01:26:42 - Domino principles or federalism: Why Russia wouldn’t let Chechnya go.
01:30:30 - Where did Dudayev’s forces get their weapons?
01:33:45 - "Want to scratch Chechnya? Or tickle Kaliningrad?": Who and when decided to rein in Dudayev?
01:35:17 - "We couldn’t endure it anymore": What became the final straw before the war began?
01:38:54 - "Dzhokhar proposed a joint army with the Russians": How Yeltsin-Dudayev negotiations broke down.
01:41:33 - Disputes between Kremlin factions: How the First Chechen War strengthened the siloviki in Russia.
01:45:30 - "We won’t storm Grozny": How the Chechen capital turned into a bloodbath.
01:47:41 - The New Year’s assault on Grozny hour by hour.
02:08:58 - Following Yermolov’s example: How the Caucasian War was echoed in the First Chechen War.
02:10:03 - What’s coming in the next episode?