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

Russian and rebel military forces fought to control the Chechen city of Grozny in 1994-1995 and 1999-2000, as well as clashing in smaller towns and villages. This work examines both Russian and rebel tactics and operations in those battles.

Customer Reviews:

Desperately needed learning for counterinsurgency

By Stratiotes Doxha Theon "2 Thes 2:15" - September 6, 2006

An excellant and well-researched case study in urban guerrilla warfare. The study begins with the Russian attempt to take Grozny in the first Chechen war drawing attention to the failure in Russian intelligence and planning for the resistance that would be met there. At the same time, deficiencies in the plans and organization of the Russian army are never used to diminish the tenacity and innovative tactics of the Chechen guerrillas. At times the beurecratic baggage of the Russian forces were their worst enemies. At other times it was their own technological advantage that led to failure. After the first Chechen war and the shakey peace, the book picks up with the battle for Grozny in the second Chechen war along with lessons learned and forgotten from the first. The study is well-written and researched without the political slant toward either side. The lessons learned are drawn from the Russian experience insofar as it covers the classic problems of a large, technologically... read more

How To Lose the PR War

By John G. Hilliard - June 5, 2003

This book is a very workman like review of the war, not a personal memoir, but a just the facts kind of book. The author examines the two different combat periods during this civil war and basically runs down all the mistakes and pretty horrible things that the Russian military did. The book gives the reader a good idea of the difficulties any military operation would face in an inter city fight against gorilla or paramilitary troops. It is not a pretty picture. In a slight way you almost feel sorry for the difficulties faced by the Russian military but then you turn the page and the author details out the leveling of an apartment block or set of houses by artillery just to get one sniper and you sober up rather fast. I also found the details of the tactics used by the Russian forces to be an interesting detail given that the majority of the wars the US has been in over the past 30 years have been fought by militaries trained, supplied or controlled by the USSR / Russia. It... read more

Good analysis of wars in Chechnya

By slammy - July 27, 2009

I enjoyed this book. Its rather short and to the point. The Russian military was woefully unprepared for this type of warfare, especially the urban fighting.
I did find that the author overly emphasized Russian losses when the Chechen losses were probably at least as high, and they had the advantage of defending. And their resistance only resulted in the devastation of their own cities and towns, hardly a resounding victory. The book does show how little we have to fear from Russian conventional forces, and gives some insight into how eager Russian might be to butt heads with a modern Army.