Word: guerrillas
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...Chechens will try to kill as many Russians as possible in Grozny, then retire into the hills to wage guerrilla warfare with hit-and-run strikes into occupied towns and cities. The Russians say they are strangling the rebels in a ring of steel, but squeezing Jell-O is a better analogy. As Russian troops advance, Chechen guerrillas slip through the lines to harass them, even in the northern plains that Moscow claims are completely Russian controlled...
...correspondent Andrew Meier. "And Putin's handlers recognize that as fast as he's risen on the success of Chechyna thus far, he could fall just as fast if the public begins to perceive that the war is going badly." The onset of winter makes a quick victory against guerrilla forces in the mountains extremely unlikely, and even Grozny is proving far more resilient - and costly in terms of Russian casualties - than Russian military boasts allowed for. Even if they risk the heavy losses of an all-out assault on the Chechen capital, its capture would be primarily a symbolic...
...friendliest legislature since the collapse of communism. But Putin's bid to be the boss Russian voters clearly crave is based almost entirely on the war in Chechnya, where Moscow's troops have taken control of much of the rebel republic while suffering minimal losses. But the Chechen guerrilla forces have for the most part simply retreated into the mountains. It is the next phase of the war, in which the Chechens seek to make Moscow pay an unacceptably high price in casualties for their territorial gains while the Russians hope to choke off Chechen supply lines, that may decide...
...elections are over, Russia may be more inclined to seek a political solution. Seizing Grozny is, after all, primarily of symbolic importance, since most of the Chechen rebel forces have retreated intact into the mountains. But Putin may not want to still have his army deployed in a hostile guerrilla environment six months from now when he goes to the electorate to seek the presidency...
...capture of Grozny may put a symbolic seal on Russia?s victory, but that victory remains partial. After all, guerrilla wars aren?t won by capturing territory, and the Chechen forces have retreated mostly intact from the Russian advance. They're already making life difficult for Russian forces by night in many of the areas under Moscow's control, and a protracted guerrilla war against fighters based in the mountains of the south will mean mounting Russian casualties in exchange for few tangible gains. That gives Russia an incentive to try and divide the Chechen resistance with concessions...