The following is a list of the political movements and parties that animated the life of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria from its foundation to its demise. The organizations are listed by historical period.

PERESTROIKA (1987 – 1989)

Chechen-Ingush Popular Front

ACRONYM: NFCHI

Founded: Spring 1988

Active until: September 1991

Status: Officially registered on July 22, 1991

Leader: Khozh – Akhmed Bisultanov

The first “informal” organization (i.e., not affiliated with the CPSU) in Chechnya, it was founded on June 10, 1988, as the “Union for the Support of Perestroika,” and then took its final name, “Chechen-Ingush Popular Front,” two months later. It was led by Khozh Akhmed Bisultanov, an engineer and organizer of popular demonstrations against the construction of a biochemical plant in Gudermes. From its initial environmental protests, the Popular Front shifted towards heated anti-Soviet protests, culminating in a demand for the replacement of the entire political class in the Republic. The advent of Doku Zavgaev and the gradual replacement of the main administrative positions exhausted the main political proposal of the Popular Front, which began to lose support and, from December 1990, to fragment. On December 9, 1990, the Popular Front split into two factions, gradually losing its hold on the population, which was attracted to other political groups with a more marked ideological imprint and more specific programs. By early 1991, the Popular Front had been reduced to a small fraction of what it had been between 1988 and 1989, and the election of Bisultanov to the Congress of People’s Deputies (March 1990) and his joining the “Democratic Initiative” (critical of the republic’s establishment but part of the Supreme Soviet) led to the definitive disappearance of the Movement. By the outbreak of the Chechen Revolution, the Popular Front was nothing more than a name without popular support.

Chechen-Ingush Green Movement

ACRONYM: ZDCHI

Founded: Spring 1988

Active until: January 1995

Slogan: “The Caucasus is our common home”

Status: Officially registered in 1989

Leader: Ramzan Goytemirov (until 1991) then Magomed Arsanukaev

One of the first “informal” political movements (as it was not recognized by the then ruling party, the CPSU), it arose around environmental issues that fueled the first protests against the Soviet leadership. The movement’s objectives, formulated between 1989 and 1990, were the protection of Chechnya’s natural resources and the defense of the environment, health, and nature in general. With a pan-Caucasian orientation, it collaborated in the establishment of the Caucasian Ecological Council.

The events of the Chechen Revolution involved the Green Movement, which, through its president, Professor Ramzan Goytemirov, sided with the national radicals, joining the National Movement in December 1990 and thus forming its moderate wing. Between August and September 1991, armed militants of the Movement formed the “Green Forces,” a fighting unit to defend the Executive Committee of the Chechen National Congress (OKChN). However, faced with escalating political violence, the Green Movement’s leadership spoke out against it and ordered the withdrawal of armed units from the nascent National Guard, the original core of the army of the Republic of Ichkeria.

In the popular elections of October 27, 1991, the Greens participated by supporting Ramzan Goytemirov’s candidacy for the presidency of the Republic, winning several seats in the new Parliament and the appointment of Goytemirov as Presidential Advisor. The “Green Forces” were once again incorporated into the Republic’s military structure and their commander, I. Akhyadov, became one of the commanders of the Republic’s customs service.

The Green Movement gradually lost importance during the Dudaev regime, and its leader, Ramzan Goytemirov, exploited its militant base at the end of the First Chechen War to form the ultra-nationalist group “Svoboda.”

CHECHEN REVOLUTION (1990 – 1991)

Islamic Party “Via Islamica”

ACRONYM: Via Islamica

Founded: Spring 1990

Active until: ?

Status: unregistered

Leader: Bislan Gantamirov

Formed in early 1990, Via Islamica aims to transform Chechnya into an Islamic state based on Sharia law and Adat. Aligned with the positions of national radicals, the party was one of the first to join the Chechen National Movement, a grouping of nationalist groups in favor of a fully independent Chechnya. Representatives of Islamic Way, following their leader, Bislan Gantamirov, actively participated in all sessions of the Chechen People’s National Congress (OKChN) and in the establishment of the National Guard, an armed force serving the Chechen Revolution, in whose armament Gantamirov himself played a key role. The party’s armed militias were the main strike force that carried out the occupation of public buildings and defended the revolutionary institutions during the state of emergency declared by Boris Yeltsin between October 8 and 10, 1991. At that juncture, Gantamirov’s militias blocked federal forces inside the Khanakala military base, preventing them from leaving and forcing them to withdraw from Chechnya on civilian buses.

After the victory of the revolutionaries and the proclamation of the independent Chechen Republic, Gantamirov first took command of the armed forces, then the leadership of the Grozny municipal junta, before being elected mayor at the end of 1992.

Association of the Intelligentsia of the Chechen-Ingush Republic

ACRONYM: AI

Founded: April 1991

Active until: January 1995

Status: unregistered

Leader: Kashmagomed Magomaev

A professional, social, and political association representing the intellectual world. Liberal-democratic in orientation, it supports the creation of an effective parliamentary system based on a multiparty system. It supported the causes of the Executive Committee of the Chechen National People’s Congress until September 1991, when the Ispolkom ordered the assault on public buildings and the seizure of power by force. For this reason, the Association boycotted the popular elections of October 27, 1991. Opposed to the separation of Chechnya from Ingushetia, it demonstrated against the nationalist-radical front until the introduction of a state of emergency by Boris Yeltsin in November 1991. On that occasion, most of the AI’s leaders joined forces with the nationalists, opposing armed intervention by the federal army in Chechnya.

Once the political crisis between Chechnya and Russia had subsided, AI became one of the main opposition forces to the Dudaev government, joining the Movement for Democratic Reforms.

Association of Women under the President of the Chechen Republic

ACRONYM: AWAHRD

Founded: November 1991

Active until: 1997

Status: Officially registered on January 31, 1992

Leader: Marzhan Dombayeva

Formed during the Chechen Revolution, it was the women’s wing of the popular movement supporting President Dzhokhar Dudaev. During the introduction of a state of emergency by Boris Yeltsin (November 8-10, 1991), members of the association formed an armed women’s battalion. From December 1991, the battalion became a voluntary patrol against commercial speculation, in line with the association’s objectives of safeguarding social justice. The Women’s Association was very popular among the weaker sections of the city’s population and among the rural population of the republic.

Association of Victims of Political Repression in Chechnya-Ingushetia

Until July 1991, “Chechen-Ingush Association of Victims of Political Repression.”

ACRONYM: ?

Founded: November 6, 1990

Active until: ?

Status: Not officially registered

Leader: Bashkir Chakhkiev

Established to assist in the rehabilitation of victims of political repression during the Soviet period and to study and promote historical knowledge about Stalinism and the repressive communist regime, it organized and participated in the First Congress of the Oppressed Peoples of the RSFSR. The association’s members have produced historical publications and organized television and radio broadcasts denouncing the crimes of the regime in Chechnya and Ingushetia.

Vaynakh Democratic Party

ACRONYM: VDP

Founded on: May 5, 1990

Active until: 1995

Status: Not officially registered

Leader: Zelimkhan Yandarbiev

Born out of the socio-political association “Bart” (Unity), which was founded in 1989 as an intellectual circle and magazine, it emerged as a party in favor of the creation of an independent Chechen-Ingush republic. With a nationalist-populist orientation, the VDP was in favor of strengthening the linguistic and cultural identity of the Chechen nation. Its leader and main ideologue was Zelimkhan Yandarbiev, one of the main protagonists of the Chechen Revolution and, later, second President of the Republic.

Other prominent figures in the party were Yusup Soslambekov (who later joined the opposition to the regime supported by Yandarbiev), Lema Usmanov, Musa Temishev, Isa Arsamikov, Said Khasan Abumuslimov, and M. Salekhov. Most of these were the main leaders of the Chechen National Congress (OCKhN), from which the secessionist movement emerged. The Vaynakh Democratic Party was the main force behind the Chechen National Movement, a radical nationalist group that won most of the seats in the first parliament.

Having become the ruling party in the elections of October 27, 1991, most of its representatives became the hard core of the presidential faction in Parliament, which supported Dudaev’s authoritarian turn in 1993 and the dispersal of the institutional opposition with the coup d’état of June 4. In July 1993, Dudaev reconstituted a ‘purged’ parliament drawing on the faction loyal to him, mostly composed of VDP members.

Supreme Islamic Council of Chechnya

ACRONYM: VIS

Founded: September 1991

Active until: ?

Status: Officially registered on November 27, 1991

Leader: Mayrbek – Khadzhi Aslanbekov

An association bringing together the Dudaevite Islamic clergy, it supported the gradual transformation of the Republic into an Islamic state. Generally loyal to President Dudaev, it sometimes criticized some of his measures but remained aligned with his position even after the coup d’état of June 4, 1993.

Chechen Foreign Policy Association

ACRONYM: WPA

Founded: June 29, 1991

Active until: November 1991

Status: Officially registered on October 11, 1991

Leader: Prof. Abdullah Bugaev

Established within the Chechen-Ingush Supreme Soviet, the Foreign Policy Association aimed to establish international contacts through which to appoint representatives of the Republic, in order to strengthen ties between the country and abroad. The short-term goal was to strengthen the network of Vaynakh diaspora communities. The organization ceased all activities following the Chechen Revolution, during which the Chechen-Ingush Supreme Soviet, of which President Bugaev was a member, was dissolved. Since then, WPA members have joined the opposition to the Dudaev government.

Grozny Social Democratic Club

ACRONYM: none

Founded: May 4, 1990

Active until: September 1991

Status: Not officially registered

Leader: Ruslan Azimov

Born in the university circles of Grozny, the Social Democratic Club was inspired by the ideas of Western social democracy. A member of the Interregional Social Democratic Association (SDA), it immediately took a stand against the National Movement and nationalist-radical parties such as Zelimkhan Yandarbiev’s Vaynakh Democratic Party. The events of the Chechen Revolution marginalized the club until it disappeared from the political arena. Most of its activists (about thirty) joined the Movement for Democratic Reforms, in opposition to the Dudaev government.

Associations for the protection of the Russian minority in Chechnya

ACRONYM:

Founded: 1991 – 1995

Active until: August 1996

Status: Not officially registered

Leader: ?

Between the Chechen Revolution and the First Chechen War, a number of associations dedicated to protecting the Russian minority emerged in the country, threatened by rising Chechen ethno-nationalism, which in many cases led to aggression, violence, and discrimination. The three main associations of this type were the Slavic Congress, the Ethnic Union, and the Slavic Society, which were mainly active between 1991 and 1993 and then between 1995 and 1996. The end of the war led to a dramatic increase in emigration by the Russian component of society, and these organizations were gradually marginalized from political life and eventually disappeared.

Their legacy was taken up at the end of 1996 by the Congress of Russian-Speaking Peoples, which was recognized by the Maskhadov government as the official representative of the interests of Slavic minorities in the country, but without managing to have a significant impact on the political path of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria.

The ethnic Cossack component, which had always been very cohesive and animated by the desire to secede from Chechnya, had better luck, succeeding, with the support of the FSB, in organizing real armed militias to defend the northern districts of the country, so much so that Maskhadov had to carry out a real military operation between May and June 1997 to disarm them. Local administrations in the districts of Naursk and Shelkovsky proceeded to collect signatures in support of a petition aimed at separating the two districts from Chechnya and annexing them to the Stavropol Territory in the Russian Federation, but without achieving any tangible results.

Movement for Civil Consensus

ACRONYM: CCP

Founded: End of 1990

Active until: September 1991

Status: Not officially registered

Leader: Sultan Datuev, Yuri Cherny

Founded in late 1990 with the aim of forming a “loyal opposition” to the Chechen-Ingush Supreme Soviet, it supported mass protests against Doku Zavgaev and the establishment of a Provisional Soviet to lead Chechnya to multiparty elections. The events of the Chechen Revolution marginalized the CCP, which gradually lost its influence and merged into anti-Dudaev opposition groups.

“Dosh” Movement

ACRONYM: Dosh (“word”)

Founded: Spring 1990

Active until: September 1991

Status: Not officially registered

Leader: Yakub Vagapov

Born in the university circles of Chechnya-Ingushetia, the Dosh Movement attempted to establish itself as the main reformist force in the emerging multiparty landscape of the Republic, but the succession of events linked to the Chechen Revolution soon reduced it to a residual and influential group. After participating in the preparation of the first session of the Chechen National Congress, it was quickly marginalized by radical nationalist forces. Remaining confined to the Chechen intellectual world, it did not participate in the Dudaevites’ seizure of power, nor did it oppose it.

Gulam Association

ACRONYM: Gulam

Founded: September 1991

Active until: ?

Status: Officially registered on October 27, 1991

Leader: Mustafa Edilbiev

Literally meaning “Assembly,” the Gulam Association was a radical nationalist organization that emerged during the Chechen Revolution and favored the creation of an independent, ethnic Chechen state. Unlike other nationalist groups, which enthusiastically supported the Dudaev regime, Gulam positioned itself in “loyal opposition” to the government, condemning its lack of professionalism and inability to curb rampant anarchy, without however joining the armed opposition. His supporters were well represented in both the state administration and the National Guard, and the movement’s activities were also supported by the “Council of Elders” (“Mekh-Khel”), an organization halfway between an institutional and a radical nationalist political organization. At the outbreak of the First Chechen War, Gulam’s president, the writer Mustafa Edilbiev, recruited a combat brigade from among the militants and assumed the rank of Brigadier General, fighting throughout the conflict.

Democratic Reform Movement of the Chechen-Ingush Republic

ACRONYM: DDR – CHIR

Founded: July 17, 1991

Active until: 1995

Status: Officially registered in December 1991

Leader: Salambek Hadjiev

Formed as a grouping of democratic forces opposed to the nationalist-radical movements within the National Movement, the Democratic Reform Movement began its activities in September 1991, at the outbreak of the Chechen Revolution. It was joined by the Association of the Intelligentsia of the Chechen-Ingush Republic, the Social Democratic Club of Grozny, and numerous smaller political and labor groups. Its most prominent members, in addition to the presidents of the above-mentioned organizations, were Prof. Dzhabrail Gakaev, President of the Trade Union of Science and Education Workers, Khizir Gerzeliev, Associate Professor at the Grozny Oil Institute, Yevgeni Sarmatin, and Bek Abadiev, Director of the Ingush Museum of Fine Arts.

During the Chechen Revolution, the DDR-CHIR took a stand against the violent drift of national radicals and boycotted the popular elections of October 27, 1991, refusing to recognize the elected Parliament and President and becoming the main aggregator of the extra-parliamentary opposition to the independence government.

Youth Movement for the National Revival of the Chechen Republic

ACRONYM: NONE

Founded on: September 16, 1991

Active until: ?

Status: Officially registered on November 4, 1991

Leader: D. Umarov

Born in youth and university circles, the Movement established itself as the youth association of the Chechen National People’s Congress. The cornerstones of its political program were the strengthening of national and Islamic values and the protection of all minorities residing within the borders of the republic. With about fifteen activists, it had no significant impact on the political life of the country.

Movement for the Preservation of Chechen-Ingushetia

ACRONYM: SHDM

Founded: November 1991

Active until: February 1992

Status: not officially registered

Leader: Ilyas Khadzhi-Arsanov

Founded shortly before the popular elections of October 27, 1991, with the aim of safeguarding the constitutional order and unity of the Chechen-Ingush Republic, it supported the creation of a Provisional Soviet to which the political management of the state would be entrusted pending new elections. After boycotting the elections, it gained the support of a large part of the political class of the Chechen-Ingush SSR, which had been ousted by nationalists between September and October 1991. During the state of emergency (November 8-10, 1991), the Movement entered into crisis and disappeared almost completely from the political arena. With the normalization of the situation and the consolidation of revolutionary institutions, the Movement for the Preservation of Chechen-Ingushetia reorganized itself into the Movement for the Restoration of Constitutional Order.

Chechen Justice Party

ACRONYM: CPJ

Founded: September 19, 1990

Active until: End of 1992

Status: not officially registered

Leader: Lecha Saligov

Born around the political and cultural magazine of the same name (“Niyskho” – “Justice,” a daily newspaper since 1992), the Chechen Justice Party managed to gather around it prominent figures from the intellectual and political world. The party’s program was based on social justice and the development of a democratic Chechnya. During the “August Putsch,” it sided with the Executive Committee of the Congress, but then condemned its violent methods and joined the opposition, participating in the boycott of the popular elections of October 27, 1991. Following the state of emergency crisis of October 8-10, 1991, the party ceased almost all public activity, only to reemerge in the form of a daily newspaper in February 1992.

During the Russian occupation, between January 1995 and August 1996, the Chechen Justice Party became one of the main forces of the “Government of National Revival” under Prime Minister Salambek Hadjiev.

World Democratic Union

ACRONYM: IBC

Founded on: April 20, 1991

Active until: December 1991

Status: Officially registered on May 20, 1991

Leader: A. Aduev

Formed by a small but energetic group of activists, the World Democratic Union supported the establishment of a single large planetary republic founded on democratic principles. Utopian in orientation, the Union participated in the events of the Chechen Revolution and presented its president as a candidate in the presidential elections of October 27, 1991, obtaining almost no results.

FIRST REPUBLIC (1992 – 1994)

“Daimokhk” Movement

ACRONYM: Daimokhk (“Homeland”)

Founded: February 1992

Active until: 1996

Status: Officially registered on February 26, 1992

Leader: Lema Usmanov, then Lecha Umkhaev,

Born out of the Vaynakh Democratic Party, led by one of its founders, Lema Usmanov, the “Homeland” movement was conceived as a “constructive opposition” to the Dudaev government. While supporting the need to protect and implement the sovereignty of the Republic, it was opposed to the government’s military methods and in favor of expanding its representation through new democratic elections and the holding of a confirmatory referendum on the status of the Republic.

The movement took a clearly critical stance towards Dudaev and, in June 1993, joined the militant opposition, calling for the resignation or overthrow of the General in order to restore constitutional order. During the First Chechen War, Daimokhk supported the collaborationist positions of the Prime Minister of the National Revival Government, Salambek Hadjiev, before distancing himself from the pro-Russian camp when he was replaced by Doku Zavgaev.

At the end of the First Chechen War, Daimokhk backed the moderate leader Aslan Maskhadov, supporting his candidacy and then the government that emerged from the January 1997 elections. Due to the fact that many members of the movement had collaborated with the Russian occupation administration during the war, with the advent of the lustration law promoted by radical nationalists, the party’s activities were virtually paralyzed. To avoid this blockage, some of Daimokhk’s members who had not colluded with the Hadjiev and Zavgaev governments organized themselves into a “decoy party” called “Marsho Daimokhk” (“Free Homeland”) under the leadership of former Foreign Minister Shamil Beno.

Movement for the Restoration of Constitutional Order

ACRONYM: none

Founded: February 1992

Active until: ?

Status: Officially registered on February 26, 1992

Leader: Vakhid Itayev

Born from the ashes of the Movement for the Preservation of Checheno-Ingushetia, the Movement for the Restoration of Constitutional Order aimed to overthrow General Dudaev’s separatist regime and return to the pre-revolutionary political status quo. On March 31, 1992, armed units organized by the Movement attempted to take Grozny and arrest Dudaev, but failed: the coup was suppressed by loyalist forces and its organizers were forced to take refuge in the Upper Terek.

Republican Party

ACRONYM: none

Founded: December 1991

Active until: ?

Status: not officially registered

Leader: Ruslan Madiev, then Lecha Magomadov

Formed in December 1991 as an organizing committee, its goal was to create a liberal party “centered on the principles of freedom and democracy” open to all nationalities present in the Republic. The demands of the Republican Party were not accepted by the Chechen population, and the project remained in its infancy until 1995. In January of that year, the federal army invaded Chechnya and installed a collaborationist government known as the “Government of National Revival,” led by Salambek Hadjev. The Republican Party supported the government’s actions, obtaining positions of great responsibility such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which was entrusted to party leader Ruslan Madiev.

Having distanced itself from the pro-Russian camp with the replacement of Salambek Hadjiev by Doku Zavgaev, the Republican Party survived the end of the First Chechen War and joined the Coordinating Council of Political Parties and Movements in Chechnya (KDPS), a moderate grouping that supported the election of Aslan Maskhadov as President of the Republic. Once elected, the Party supported the government’s actions until February 1999 (one of its representatives, Khalid Vitushev, became Minister of Labor in 1997) when the President decreed the transformation of the Republic into an Islamic state.

Due to the fact that many members of the movement (including President R. Magomadov himself) had collaborated with the Russian occupation administration during the war, with the advent of the lustration law promoted by radical nationalists, the party’s activities were virtually paralyzed.

Party for National Independence

ACRONYM: ?

Founded: 1993

Active until: 1999

Status: ?

Leader: Ruslan Kutaev

A nationalist and liberal-inspired party, the National Independence Party was formed as a bloc supporting the Dudaev government. Its influence grew with the Russian invasion of Chechnya and the subsequent installation of a collaborationist government led by Salambek Hadjiev, and then by the old Soviet leader Doku Zavgaev. The National Independence Party became the main channel for dissent against the occupation regime, acting as a conduit between the militias fighting on the front lines and civil society.

After joining the Coordinating Council of Political Parties and Movements in Chechnya (KDPS), it became Maskhadov’s main political sponsor, after which he agreed to run for president alongside the party’s candidate, Vakha Arsanov, as vice president. After winning the parliamentary elections, it became the relative majority party in the country, winning around 20 seats in the second convocation of parliament.

Chechen-Ingush Islamic Youth Union

ACRONYM: CHI – SIM

Founded on: October 25, 1991

Active until: ?

Status: Officially registered on December 23, 1991

Leader: L. Sarimsultanov

An organization in favor of the Islamization of society, it supported the need to strengthen Islamic education of the people, especially in schools. Small in size, it never became a force capable of having a real impact on the political life of the Republic.

Chechen Labor Party

ACRONYM: PTP

Founded: October 1991

Active until: ?

Status: Not officially registered

Leader: ?

Founded in the city of Gudermes, it was in favor of the development of private property and, in general, the dismantling of the socialist system, but never gained enough support to have an impact on the political life of the Republic. On October 27, 1991, it participated in the popular elections but failed to win any seats in Parliament.

FIRST CHECHEN WAR (1995 – 1996)

Movement for the Rebirth of Constitutional Order

ACRONYM: ?

Founded: June 1996

Active until: Spring 1997

Status: not officially registered

Leader: G. Elmurzaev

A liberal and moderate movement, born from the ashes of the Movement for the Restoration of Constitutional Order (anti-Dudaev), it supported Aslan Maskhadov’s candidacy in the January 1997 elections, contributing to his election as President of the Republic. Due to the fact that many members of the movement (including President G. Elmurzaev himself) had collaborated with the Russian occupation administration during the war, with the advent of the lustration law promoted by radical nationalists, the party’s activities were virtually paralyzed.

Assembly of Parties and Committees of the Chechen Republic

ACRONYM: ?

Founded: May 1995

Active until: August 1998

Status: Not officially registered

Leader: Said Khasan Abumuslimov

Established with the aim of supporting the military resistance of the secessionists through political means, the Assembly brought together all the parties and committees that supported General Dudaev’s political line. The militants, mostly women who were relatives of fighters at the front or mothers who had lost their sons in the war, organized numerous street demonstrations, often held in front of the ruins of the Reskom, the Presidential Palace that had been the stronghold of the separatists during the siege of Grozny in January 1995.

At the end of the first Chechen war, the Assembly split into factions supporting the outgoing president, Zelimkhan Yandarbiev (Abumuslimov himself ran for vice president), factions favoring the moderate candidate (Aslan Maskhadov), and associations aligned with the Islamic radicalism of Movladi Ugudov.

It continued to exist as a cartel of radical parties and movements and opposed the government, complaining of its excessive appeasement of Russia.

People’s Accord Movement

ACRONYM: ?

Founded: May 1995

Active until: August 1996

Status: Not officially registered

Leader: ?

A movement in favor of ending hostilities and starting political negotiations between the separatists and the federal government, it was mainly made up of intellectuals and lawyers.

People’s Movement for Peace and Unity

ACRONYM: ?

Founded: 1995

Active until: 1996

Status: ?

Leader: Ruslan Soslambekov

A small movement established by Ruslan Soslambekov, brother of the more famous Yusup Soslambekov, it aimed to bring the military conflict that was tearing Chechnya apart back to the political arena, thereby bringing about the withdrawal of the federal army and the resolution of the conflict between Grozny and Moscow. The movement remained largely insignificant and disappeared completely with the end of the war.

People’s Union for the Revival of the Republic

ACRONYM: ?

Founded: 1995

Active until: 1996

Status: ?

Leader: Ruslan Khasbulatov

A political group formed around Ruslan Khasbulatov, former President of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union who fell from grace in 1993 but remained very popular in his native Chechnya, it was established as a natural consequence of the “peace mission” initiated by Khasbulatov himself in 1994, when a fratricidal civil war was raging in Chechnya between the Dudaevites and the anti-Dudaevites. The Popular Union was among the first political groups to explicitly demand that Russia recognize the legitimacy of the Dudaev government and open concrete negotiations to end the military action. The end of the war and Khasbulatov’s refusal to stand in the January 1997 presidential elections marked the decline of the Union, which had now lost its main political purpose.

Coordinating Committee of the Supreme Soviet of the Chechen Republic

ACRONYM: ?

Founded: May 1995

Active until: 1996

Status: ?

Leader: Amin Osmayev

Established to defend the interests of the old Soviet nomenklatura with the federal occupation authorities, the Committee supported the rehabilitation of Doku Zavgaev as leader of the Republic. The committee’s work produced results, if it is true that at the end of 1995 Salambek Hadjiev had to resign in favor of a revived Zavgaev. The end of the war and the regaining of independence by the secessionists put an end once and for all to the ambitions of the Zavgaevites, and the Committee was dissolved.

Communist Party of the Chechen Republic

ACRONYM: ?

Founded: ?

Active until: August 1996

Status: ?

Leader: ?

Established as a political collective in support of Doku Zavgaev, it backed his candidacy in the disputed elections that confirmed him as president during the federal occupation of the country. With the recapture of Grozny by the separatists and the Khasavyurt agreements, the party immediately ceased to exist.

SECOND REPUBLIC (1997 – 1999)

Coordinating Council of Social and Political Parties and Movements of the Chechen Republic

ACRONYM: KSPD

Founded: April 1996

Active until: December 1996

Status: not officially registered

Leader: Aslan Maskhadov

Born out of the Assembly of Parties and Committees led by Abumuslimov, the KSPD was the embryo of the political front supporting Aslan Maskhadov. Moderate nationalist movements and parties gathered around it with the aim of supporting his rise to power and establishing a moderate hegemony in the secessionist camp. Among the main parties were the National Independence Party, the Republican Party, the Daimokhk Movement, the Progressive Democratic Party, and the Movement for Constitutional Revival. Many other groups participated in the Council, including the Social Justice Party and the Patriots’ Party, to name but a few.

Movement for the National Rebirth of the Chechen People

ACRONYM: ?

Founded: Summer 1996

Active until: Spring 1997

Status: not officially registered

Leader: Khalif Adam

A civic movement that emerged as a “third force” between unionists and separatists, it gained some political prominence in 1996, during which it drafted a constitution for a “National Salvation Government.” However, it never gained enough strength to establish itself as an effective alternative to the two main opposing fronts. With the 1997 presidential elections and the disappearance of the unionists from the Chechen political scene, the alternative promoted by the Movement also lost importance and foundered.

Marshonan Toba (“Freedom Movement”)

ACRONYM: ?

Founded: December 1996

Active until: February 1999

Motto: Faith, Fatherland, Honor

Status: not officially registered

Leader: Shamil Basayev

Formed to support Shamil Basayev’s presidential campaign, it was essentially a “party of veterans.” It supported the need to rehabilitate combatants and punish collaborators with a “lustrism law” that would expel them from public office. The hard core of the party was made up of radical nationalists, former fighters, Islamic radicals, and, in general, the most intransigent and conservative wing of Chechen society. For some time, Ilyas Akhmadov, a decidedly more moderate figure far removed from radical circles, also participated in the party’s activities, but he left a few weeks after the presidential campaign ended.

Initially aligned with a position of “conditional support” for the government, he soon opposed it, calling for a “purge” of former collaborators in the state administrative hierarchy.

The Path of Dzhokhar

ACRONYM: ?

Founded: December 1996

Active until: ?

Motto: ?

Status: not officially registered

Leader: Salman Raduev

Founded by one of the most notorious brigadier generals of the Chechen army and son-in-law of the late President Dzhokhar Dudaev, it began as an association of war veterans and represented the most radical wing of nationalism. In accordance with the radical beliefs of its founder, “The Path of Dzhokhar” was particularly popular among the weaker sections of the population, perpetuating the myth of a “Dudaev still alive” waiting to “reveal himself” when the Chechen people regained their unity, and of a “total war” against Russia to be waged until the federal army surrendered.

The military wing of the movement was the Army of Dzhokhar Dudaev, a group of veterans who had not been demobilized, numbering several hundred armed men, founded in June/July 1996 and consisting mainly of fighters from the “Presidential Berets” units and militiamen who had fought under Raduev. This armed militia operated under the banner of the “Society of Veterans of the Battle of May 1st” union. Dissolved by decree by Maskhadov on June 14, 1997, Dzhokhar Dudaev’s Army never demobilized, but instead was responsible for an assault on state television on June 21, 1998, during which the Chief of Staff of the Raduev militia, Jafarov, and the Director of the National Security Service, Lecha Khultygov, were killed.

Caucasian Confederation

ACRONYM: ?

Founded: End of 1996

Active until: ?

Motto: ?

Status: not officially registered

Leader: Zelimkhan Yandarbiev

A political umbrella organization supporting the activities of interim president Zelimkhan Yandarbiev, it was formed in late 1996 to support his election campaign ahead of the January 1997 presidential elections, bringing together mostly supporters of the Dudaev regime and former militants of the Vaynakh Democratic Party. After Yandarbiev’s defeat in the elections, the Caucasian Confederation, which sought to establish an independent confederation across the North Caucasus, sided with the opposition to President Maskhadov, collaborating with the ultra-nationalists of Salman Raduev in an attempt to discredit him and bring about his downfall.

Islamic Order

ACRONYM: ?

Founded: December 1996

Active until: ?

Motto: ?

Status: not officially registered

Leader: Movladi Ugudov

Formed as an electoral cartel in support of Movladi Ugudov’s candidacy in the presidential elections, it became a fairly important parliamentary group in the second convocation of the Parliament, gathering seven deputies and effectively constituting the second most important political grouping after the bloc of Maskhadov’s supporters. Its existence came to an end with the birth of the political group “Congress of the Peoples of Ichkeria and Dagestan,” which advocated the “export” of the Chechen Revolution to the neighboring republic of Dagestan.

Progressive Democratic Party

ACRONYM: ?

Founded: ?

Active until: ?

Motto: ?

Status: not officially registered

Leader: R. Akhtakhanov

A social democratic party founded, among others, by the former President of the first Parliament, Hussein Akhmadov, and the internationally renowned athlete Ruslan Badalov, it entered the political arena after the First Chechen War to support the cause of Aslan Maskhadov and the moderate nationalist front, of which it was part in the January 1997 elections. Due to the fact that many members of the movement had collaborated with the Russian occupation administration during the war, with the advent of the lustration law promoted by radical nationalists, the party’s activities were virtually paralyzed.

Chechen Islamic State

ACRONYM: CHIG

Founded: August 1997

Active until: November 1999

Status: not officially registered

Leader: Turpal Ali Atgeriev (President) Abdul – Halim Sadulayev (Vice President)

Formed by Maskhadov’s loyal supporter Turpal Ali Atgeriev as a political vehicle to support the government’s activities, contrary to what its name might suggest, it was part of the moderate nationalist movement, but it appealed to the conservative sector of Chechen society, which was being courted at the time by radical nationalist movements and those with a clear religious bent, such as the Islamic Order of Movladi Ugudov.

The influence of the CHIG increased considerably from mid-1998, when, following armed clashes with Wahhabi militias, the regular army managed to temporarily impose a certain order in Chechnya. In October of that year, Atgeriev managed to organize a re-edition of the Chechen National Congress, with the aim of further supporting the government’s actions and discrediting the radicals, who were recovering from military defeat. However, Maskhadov’s decision to mend the rift with the opposition, rather than crush it and risk a civil war, thwarted Atgeriev’s efforts.

Block of National Patriotic Forces “Freedom”

ACRONYM: SVOBODA

Founded: Spring 1997

Active until: November 1999

Status: not officially registered

Leader: Ramzan Goytemirov

Formed as a confederation of radical nationalist movements, it immediately positioned itself in opposition to the moderate government of Maskhadov. The president of the Green Movement, Prof. Ramzan Goytemirov, was appointed its leader.

“Nochkhi”

ACRONYM: NOCHKHI (“Chechens”)

Founded: November 1997

Active until: November 1999

Status: not officially registered

Leader: Shirvani Pashaev

A radical nationalist party, it was founded in November 1997 and immediately characterized itself as a supremacist, ethnocentric group aligned with the positions of the Chechen far right. It never achieved sufficient numbers to influence government action and disappeared with the start of the Second Chechen War.

Military-Patriotic Union “Marshonan Blahoy”

ACRONYM: MARSHONAN BLAHOY (“Fighters for Freedom”)

Founded: Summer 1997

Active until: November 1999

Status: not officially registered

Leaders: Ruslan Gelayev, Ruslan Khaikhororev, Sultan Geliskhanov and others

Founded as a combatant association, in the fall of 1997 it aligned itself with radical nationalists in opposition to the Maskhadov government. In December 1997, its leaders began calling for the resignation of the Maskhadov government and the establishment of a nationalist-led government that would carry out the “lustration” of the republic’s ruling class, denounce the peace treaty with Russia, and condemn in absentia those “responsible for the genocide of the Chechen people,” organizing clandestine operations to carry out death sentences on Russian territory.

Islamic Nation

ACRONYM: none

Founded: Spring 1997

Active until: November 1999

Status: not officially registered

Leader: Movladi Ugudov

Islamic Nation was founded as Movladi Ugudov’s “personal” party. Aligned with radical positions in both the political and religious spheres, it represented the hard core of Ugudov’s supporters and the nerve center of the broader confederation of movements united in the Islamic Order.

Congress of the Peoples of Ichkeria and Dagestan

ACRONYM: KNID

Founded: April 26, 1998

Active until: Winter 1999 – 2000

Status: not officially registered

Leader: Shamil Basayev

Formed to extend the political activity of radical Islamists to the turbulent Republic of Dagestan, the KNID soon became the main radical group in Chechnya and the incubator of the pan-Caucasian revolutionary movement that was supposed to unleash a “second wave” of anti-Russian sentiment throughout the North Caucasus, starting in Dagestan. In August 1999, militias organized by the KNID carried out a disastrous raid with the aim of raising the Dagestan population and forcing Russia to recognize the independence of the North Caucasian peoples. The military action, supported by heinous bombings throughout Russia, ended in failure and gave Russia a casus belli to invade Chechnya again.

Ortsa Socio-Political Movement

ACRONYM: ORTSA

Founded: March 1999

Active until: Winter 1999

Status: not officially registered

Leader: S. Yasuyev

A pacifist movement, mainly involving religious figures, intellectuals, and students, it emerged in the spring of 1999, when the clouds of civil war and state failure were gathering over the Republic. Liberally inspired, the “Ortsa” movement never went beyond bearing witness to a civil society tired of deprivation and the excessive power of the separatist militias.