The Chechen Republic of Ichkeria (; ; ; abbreviated as "ChRI" or "CRI"), known simply as Ichkeria, and also known as Chechnya, was a de facto state that controlled most of the former Checheno-Ingush ASSR.
The First Chechen War of 1994–1996 resulted in the victory of the separatist forces. After achieving de facto independence from Russia in 1996, kidnappings and violence between gangs plagued the region, which the government was unable to control. In November 1997, Chechnya was proclaimed an Islamic republic. The Second Chechen War began in August 1999, with Ichkeria falling and subsequently being forcibly subsumed back under the control of the Russian central government in 2000. An insurgency followed soon thereafter, officially ending in April 2009 after several years of conflict. Since the 2000s, several entities have claimed to be an exile government of Ichkeria.
In October 2022, the Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada voted to recognize the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria as "temporarily occupied" by Russia.
Etymology
The name (Ičkérija) comes from the river Iskark in South-Eastern Chechnya. The term was mentioned first as "Iskeria" in a Russian document by Colonel Pollo from 1836.
The illesh, or epic legends, tell of conflicts between the Chechens and the Kumyk and Kabardin princes. The Chechens apparently overthrew both their own overlords and the foreign ones, using the widespread nature of the guns among the populace to their advantage. As Jaimoukha puts it, "based on the trinity of democracy, liberty and equality", feudalism was abolished and the "tukkhum-teip" legal system was put into place, with the laws of adat introduced. The "tukkhum-teip" system (see Nakh peoples) functioned somewhat similar to that of a Western democracy, except that there was little importance of a centralized judicial branch (instead local courts held precedence), and that teips (roughly, clans) functioned like provinces, with representatives being elected by teip as well as by region.
History
Declaration of independence
In November 1990, Dzhokhar Dudayev was elected head of the Executive Committee of the unofficial opposition Chechen National Congress (NCChP), which advocated sovereignty for Chechnya as a separate republic within the Soviet Union.
On 8 June 1991, at the initiative of Dzhokhar Dudayev, a part of the delegates of the First Chechen National Congress gathered in Grozny, which proclaimed itself the All-National Congress of the Chechen People (OKChN). Following this, was proclaimed the Chechen Republic (Nokhchi-cho). A month later, the self-proclaimed republic was declared an independent state.
The Soviet coup d'état attempt on 19 August 1991 became the spark for the so-called Chechen Revolution. On 21 August, the OKChN called for the overthrow of the Supreme Soviet of the Chechen-Ingush ASSR. On 6 September 1991, OKChN squads seized the local KGB headquarters, and took over the building of the Supreme Soviet. The OKChN declared itself the only legitimate authority in the region. On 27 October 1991, Dudayev was elected president of the Chechen Republic. Dudayev, in his new position as president, issued a unilateral declaration of independence on 1 November 1991. Initially, his stated objective was for Checheno-Ingushetia to become a union republic within Russia.
Dudayev released 640 inmates from Grozny prison, many of whom became his personal body guards. Among the prisoners was Ruslan Labazanov, who was serving a sentence for armed robbery and murder in Grozny and later headed a pro-Dudayev militia. As crowds of armed separatists gathered in Grozny, Russian President Boris Yeltsin sought to declare a state of emergency in the region, but his efforts were thwarted by the Russian parliament. An early attempt by Russian authorities to confront the pro-independence forces in November 1991 ended after just three days.
According to an article originally published by a Kremlin-backed publication, Komsomolskaya Pravda, and reprinted in early 1992 by The Guardian, Dudayev allegedly signed a decree outlawing the extradition of criminals to any country which did not recognize Chechnya. After being informed that the Russian government would not recognize Chechnya's independence, he declared that he would not recognize Russia. Grozny became an organized crime haven, as the government proved unable or unwilling to curb criminal activities.