Author : Timothy L. Thomas
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 32 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (872 download)
Book Synopsis Russian Tactical Lessons Learned Fighting Chechen Separatists by : Timothy L. Thomas
Download or read book Russian Tactical Lessons Learned Fighting Chechen Separatists written by Timothy L. Thomas and published by . This book was released on 2005 with total page 32 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "On 11 December 2004 Russian newspapers recognized the tenth anniversary of the start of the war in the Russian Republic of Chechnya. The so-called first war lasted from December 1994 to September 1996. The second war started in 1999 and is still ongoing. In these wars the Chechen Republic has sought its independence from Russia, a geostrategic undertaking that Russia feels it cannot tolerate if it is to maintain peace and stability in the North Caucasus region. Russia is afraid that a Vietnam era concept, the domino effect, will ensue if Chechnya becomes independent. That is, Chechnya s independence would set off a chain reaction of independence-seeking republics in the region sympathetic to the Chechens cause. During the conflict in Chechnya, both the Chechen and Russian sides have employed a variety of methods to either conduct an insurgency or to counter one, respectively, and both sides have attained great skills at each. On the Chechen side, these skills include the extensive planning and construction of hostage taking and ambush sites, the use of deception, the development and employment of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and suicide bombers, attacks against leading security and law enforcement officials (to include the assassination of the Chechen President), and the utilization of the Internet and mass media as information outlets to further their cause. On the Russian side, the counter insurgency skills developed by its armed forces include the ability to recognize ambush sites and IEDs, the ability to spot and disarm mines, the use of friendly Chechen subunits as reconnaissance groups, and the establishment of a special information center to feed the official Russian version of events to the media. In the days of the Soviet Union and the Cold War, it was difficult to find Soviet lessons learned (for example, from the fighting in Afghanistan) while the conflict was unfolding. This is no longer the case."--Abstract