Chechen War is Over?

A Norwegian Russophile of unknown motivations came to the blog to comment on the post about the execution of six Russian conscripts. He repeated the usual pro-Russian propaganda about the crazy Chechen War.

I don't know about the Norwegians, but the truth is that almost all Greeks, Serbs, Montenegrins and Macedonians will always line up with Russia. I'm not sure about Bulgarians. Also you are going to see this to some extent in Romania, especially in Moldova. It's not so much Pan-Slavism (which doesn't really exist in a rational form), but more Pan-Orthodoxism.

For instance, the Poles, Czechs and Ukrainians are all Slavs, but you don't necessarily see pan-Slavism with them. In the Poles, it is almost nonexistent. This is due to the Catholicism of the Poles. In the 20th Century, there were horrible wars waged with Polish Catholics on one side and Ukrainian Orthodox on the other. The Czechs are also Catholic.

The Ukrainians are Orthodox by and large, but they saw Russia as attacking them during the Communist era and thwarting their demands for independence. The Romanians are probably racially Slavic, but they speak a Latinate tongue. Further, they had bad experiences with Communism. The Bulgarians are Slavs and speak a Slavic tongue, but they also had a bad experience with Communism.

Armenians are Orthodox, but speak an unrelated tongue. Further, they resent Russia and are not racially Slavic (they are Armenids in standard old anthropological literature).

The common thread in Pan-Orthodoxism not just Orthodoxy but the endless war against Islam, in particular in the form of the Turks. These wars, the Ottomans against the Russian Czars, raged through much of the 1800's such that the rest of Europe sat the two parties down together to try to force them to work out their problems.

These wars were predicated on Russia seizing the role of protector of the Orthodox Christians under the Ottoman Empire. During this period, several horrible massacres of Orthodox Christians, in particular, Greeks, Assyrians and Armenians. Towards the end of the century, the Christians in the Balkans, led by the Orthodox Serbs, began rebelling.

It is essential to understand this history if one is to understand the Balkan Wars of the 1990's, the tumult in Kosova and Kosovo's declaration of independence, and also the Chechen War. The Slavs in this region have always been worried about expansionist Islam on the move, generally to the north into Slavic lands.

On the other side, Russia conquered Muslim lands in the south in the 1800's. Many of these Muslims have never been happy with Russian rule.

During the Balkan Wars, the Montenegrins, the Greeks, the Russians and the Macedonians lined up with the Serbs. The Russians continue to oppose Kosovar independence. Further, Greece has its own issues with Albanians in Greece. These nations are really the core of pan-Orthodoxism, which is associated with Pan-Slavism, but the Greeks are not Slavs. So it stands to reason that Greeks support Russia's genocidal war against the Chechens.

This commenter noted that since the death of Shamil Basayev a year ago in Ingushetia, the war has seriously petered out to the point now where the rebels are more or less defeated. He also said that the vast majority of Chechens support the pro-Russian puppet regime, and the guerrillas have only a tiny amount of support.

Just to show you how he is wrong, let us look at some recent events in Ingushetia, next to Chechnya and not even a part of Chechnya itself. The first two days cover Ingush events, and the rest covers the entire Caucasus.


July 5:

Malgobek, Ingushetia, 11 AM: Ingush rebels carried out attacks on Malgobek, and one policeman was seriously wounded.

Sredniye Achaluki, Ingushetia, 11 AM: Ingush rebels attacked a Russian convoy near Sredniye Achaluki. 1 soldier was killed and several were wounded.

Ingushetia, Evening: The Russian military carried out an attack on the Ingush rebels who carried out the 11 AM attack above in the woods near Sagopshi. 3 rebels were killed and several more were wounded.


July 4:

Ingushetia, night: Ingush rebels attacked the home of Musa Kozdoyev, a leader of the Ingush security forces and caused considerable damage.

Nazran, Ingushetia, night: Ingush rebels attacked the home of Bashir Aushev, vice-premier of the Ingush government, in the capital city of Nazran, and burned it to the ground.

Malgobek, Ingushetia, night: Ingush rebels used RPG's to attack the home of an advisor to Boris Ozdoyev, an Ingush government advisor, in Malgobek, and burned it to the ground.

July 3:

Kabardino-Balkaria, 11:30 AM: Caucasus rebels attacked security forces of a Russian oil company in the Chegem District, killing 1 and wounding 2 more. They escaped with the men's weapons.


July 2:

Nazran, Ingushetia, 12:30 AM : A grenade was thrown into the home of Esmurziyev, an associate of Ingush President Zyazikov. The attack was followed by a 15-minute gunbattle.

Surhohi, Ingushetia, 1 AM: Ingush rebels attacked the home of Nalgiyev, a close associate of Zyazikov, causing significant damage to the house.

Border of the Zugdidi District of Georgia and the Gali District of Abkhazia, 9 AM: A time bomb exploded at the Russian checkpoint at the border. To be honest, this could be Georgian forces attacking Russian troops.

Nalchik suburbs, Kabardino-Balkaria, 2:25 PM: Caucasus rebels attacked a vehicle with a local security force member on board with a bomb, killing him and wounding two civilians.

Malgobek, Ingushetia, 7 PM: Ingush rebels attacked a Russian vehicle, killing 2 and wounding 5.

Malgobek, Ingushetia: 7:15 PM: Ingush rebels attacked an Ingush police patrol, wounding two members.

Goity, Chechnya: Chechen government forces raided a village to search for a militant, but he escaped.


July 1:

Barnaul, Chechnya, 7 AM: Chechen rebels placed a bomb on a launchpad in a Russian missile base. It went off, killing one Russian soldier.

Nalchik suburbs, Kabardino-Balkaria: Security forces battled Caucasus rebels, killing 1 rebel.


June 29

Elistanzhi, Chechnya, early: Over 100 Chechen rebels entered the village of Elistanzhi. A convoy of Russians and Chechen forces coming to the village was attacked, and one URAL truck and UAZ van was destroyed. 2 bases of the Chechen forces and 1 base of Russian forces were attacked.


Furthermore, in January 2008, protests rocked Ingushetia. The protests were over the arrests, detentions and killings of suspected rebels and their supporters by the Ingush government. It doesn't sound to me like the Ingush people are very happy with this Ingush government (installed by Russia) or that the vast majority hate the rebels.

Clearly, the war has slowed way down, but it's not over by any means.

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