Russia's Chechen Wars 1994-2000: Lessons from Urban Combat

An examination of the difficulties faced by the Russian military in planningand carrying out urban operations in Chechnya.Russian and rebel military forces fought to control the Chechen city ofGrozny in the winters of 1994_1995 and 1999_2000, as well as clashing insmaller towns and villages. The author examines both Russian and rebeltactics and operations in those battles, focusing on how and why thecombatants_ approaches changed over time. The study concludes that whilethe Russian military was able to significantly improve its ability to carryout a number of key tasks in the five-year interval between the wars, otherimportant missions--particularly in the urban realm--were ignored, largelyin the belief that the urban mission could be avoided. This consciousdecision not to prepare for a most stressful battlefield met withdevastating results, a lesson the United States would be well served tostudy.

Tanya Charlick-Paley (PhD, Political Science) is an Associate Social Scientist at RAND. Research Interests include European Security, Civil-Military Relations, Force Planning, Organizational Change, Political Psychology (Leadership, Crisis Decision-Making, and Long-Range Planning), and Ethnic Nationalism.