events that led to first chechen war

The dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 created a power vacuum and allowed Chechnya to declare independence

Dzhokhar Dudayev was elected president of free Chechnya in 1991. However, Russia refused to recognize the self-proclaimed independence of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, a unity of Chechnya and Ingushetia. Ichkeria split into two when Ingushetia left the union and decided to become a federal subject of Russia. Therefore, Dudayev declared the sovereignty of Chechnya in 1993, which triggered the Russian armed forces’ invasion and the start of the Russian-Chechen wars.