Chechen War, Second

The Second Chechen War, in a later phase better known as the War in the North Caucasus, is launched by the Russian Federation starting August 26, 1999, in which Russian federal forces largely retake control of the separatist region of Chechnya.The Second Chechen War is started in response to the Invasion of Dagestan by the IIPB, and the Russian apartment bombings which Russia blames on Chechen separatists, although no evidence linking Chechens with the bombings has been released to the public.

The campaign largely reverses the outcome of the First Chechen War, in which the region had gained de facto independence as the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria.

Although it is regarded by many as an internal conflict within the Russian Federation, the war attracts a large number of Jihadist foreign fighters.During the initial campaign, Russian military and pro-Russian Chechen paramilitary face Chechen separatists in open combat, and seize the Chechen capital Grozny after a winter siege that lasts from late 1999 to the following February.

Russia establishes direct rule of Chechnya in May 2000 and after the full-scale offensive, Chechen guerrilla resistance throughout the North Caucasus region continues to inflict heavy Russian casualties and challenge Russian political control over Chechnya for several more years.

Some Chechen rebels also carriy out terrorist attacks against civilians in Russia.

These terrorist attacks, as well as widespread human rights violations by Russian and rebel forces, draw international condemnation.Russia has severely disabled the Chechen rebel movement, although violence still occurs throughout the North Caucasus.

Large-scale fighting has been replaced by guerrilla warfare and bombings targeting federal troops and forces of the regional government, with the violence more often spilling over into adjacent regions since 2005.

The exact death toll from this conflict is unknown.

Unofficial estimates range from 25,000 - 50,000 dead or missing, mostly civilians in Chechnya.

No clear figures for Russian losses are known to the public.

In spite of the large amount of casualties, both Chechen wars remain largely unpublicized abroad.