10th Anniv of Russian Invasion of Chechnya

Topic: Chechnya/Russia

Saturday marked the 10th anniversery of the day on which President Boris Yeltsin sent Russian troops into Chechnya. For an excellent summary of the conflict over the past ten years, including comparisons of Yeltsin's war (1994-1996) and Putin's war (1999-present) read the article written by Liz Fuller at Radio Free Europe, Analysis: Look Back In Anger -- Ten Years Of War In Chechnya. This article serves as a great summary and an excellent introduction to the crisis in the Chechen Republic of Ickeria.

Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev also had some words on the conflict:

"Certainly, what was going on in Chechnya at that time was alarming," Gorbachev said in an interview with Russia’s Interfax news agency, published Saturday. "But those problems were not unsolvable and the sending of troops into that republic was an absolutely inadequate measure. That was a great and tragic mistake which led to the military campaign and later to a terrorist war... Thousands of people were killed, Chechnya has suffered catastrophic devastation, but the situation there still remains unsettled," Gorbachev told the agency.

The Committee on Conscious at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum declared a genocide watch in 2001 and the Human Rights Watch continues to keep a close eye on the situation.
Committee on Conscious - Chechnya
Human Rights Watch - Chechnya

The crisis in Chechnya shows no signs of abating any time soon. Spread awareness.