SUMMARY
The conflict between the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria and the Provisional Council of the Chechen Republic was one of several conflicts fought over power in Chechnya during the early 1990s in the wake of rising separatism and the struggle of the breakaway state for independence from the Soviet Union and Russia.
The relationship between Dzhokhar Dudajev’s Chechen Republic of Ichkeria and the Provisional Council of the Chechen Republic became increasingly tense during summer 1994 after the Council had declared to be the sole legitimate power in Chechnya, openly calling to replace Dudajev. In addition to openly questioning the position of Dudajev as the president of the unrecognized Chechen government, it had also become obvious that the Council was receiving aid from the Russian government.
First clashes between the groups were recorded in September 1994 when forces loyal to Dudajev attacked bases of the Provisional Council of the Chechen Republic around Grozny. In early September, Dudajev’s forces drove out Labazanov’s forces out of the town of Argun. The Forces of Ruslan Labazonov had earlier in 1994 been involved in non-state conflict against the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, but joined the Provisional Council after a major defeat against Dudajev’s forces in summer 1994. In early fall, the forces of the Provisional Council were able to make some advances against Dudajev’s troops, e.g. by capturing the Grozny airport. These early successes were a major reason for the government in Moscow to start providing military support for the Provisional Council, regarding the Chechen opposition as an instrument to get rid of Dudajev as soon as possible. The intense fighting in Chechnya had aggravated concerns in Moscow that the fighting might escalate into a full-scale civil war, which would further deteriorate the already volatile situation in the North Caucasus region. From early October onwards, Russian helicopter gunships operated in Chechnya in support of the Council’s forces. During October and November, the Council staged several attacks on the forces of Dudajev in Grozny. In late November, Russian forces and tanks participated in the attacks against Grozny and surrounding villages. Despite the Russian support, however, these attempts to capture Grozny and to remove Dudajev by force quickly turned into a humiliating fiasco for the forces of the Council and the Russian troops.
Eventually, Moscow launched a military intervention in December 1994 that should become the First Chechen War. As a result of the Russian attacks and left without much choice, more and more Chechens were driven into resistance and began to support the previously unpopular Dudajev in the fight for independence from Russia.
The non-state conflict between the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria and the Provisional Council of the Chechen Republic is first included in UCDP data in 1994. In early October of that year, the violent clashes between the two groups escalated and led to the passing of the threshold of 25 battle-related deaths.
