Editing Second Chechen War (section)

==Effects==

===Civilian losses===
{{Main|Casualties of the Second Chechen War}}
[[File:Fosse commune de Saadi-Kotar.jpg|thumb|A Russian soldier stands on a mass grave of Chechen civilians in Komsomolskoye, 2000]]
In the Second Chechen War, over 60,000 combatants and non-combatants were killed.{{Sfn|Coene|2009|p=145}} Civilian casualty estimates vary widely. According to the pro-Moscow [[Chechnya]] government, 160,000 combatants and non-combatants died or have gone missing in the two wars, including 30,000–40,000 Chechens and about 100,000 Russians,<ref>[http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/08/15/news/chech.php Chechen official puts death toll for 2 wars at up to 160,000]  {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090301034653/http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/08/15/news/chech.php |date=1 March 2009 }}  International Herald Tribune, 16 August 2005</ref><ref>[http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2005/08/b23f8d99-f15d-4b40-882c-975598c29ae3.html Russia: Chechen Official Puts War Death Toll At 160,000] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080613004501/http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2005/08/b23f8d99-f15d-4b40-882c-975598c29ae3.html |date=13 June 2008 }} RFE/RL, 16 August 2005</ref> while separatist leader Aslan Maskhadov (deceased) repeatedly claimed about 200,000 ethnic Chechens died as a consequence of the two conflicts.<ref>[http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/08/16/011.html Death Toll Put at 160,000 in Chechnya] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080829231310/http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/08/16/011.html |date=29 August 2008 }}  [[The Moscow Times]], 16 August 2005</ref> A 2005 report by Al Jazeera estimated the total death toll from the two wars, including civilians and combatants, to be around 300,000.<ref>{{cite news |title=Official: Chechen wars killed 300,000 |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2005/6/26/official-chechen-wars-killed-300000 |access-date=30 December 2024 |publisher=Al Jazeera |date=26 June 2005}}</ref> As in the case of military losses, these claims can not be independently verified. According to a count by the Russian human rights group [[Memorial (society)|Memorial]] in 2007, up to 25,000 civilians have died or disappeared since 1999.<ref name="alert">[http://www.alertnet.org/db/crisisprofiles/RU_WAR.htm?v=in_detail Chechnya war] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100620001101/http://www.alertnet.org/db/crisisprofiles/RU_WAR.htm?v=in_detail |date=20 June 2010 }}, Reuters AlertNet, 11 April 2007</ref> According to Amnesty International in 2007, the second war killed up to 25,000 civilians since 1999, with up to another 5,000 people missing.<ref name="jamestown.org"/> However, the [[Russian-Chechen Friendship Society]] set their estimate of the total death toll in two wars at about 150,000 to 200,000 civilians.<ref name="casualties"/>

===Material and environmental damage===
Environmental agencies warn that the Russian republic of Chechnya, devastated by war, faced ecological disaster. A former aide to Boris Yeltsin said Russian bombing has rendered Chechnya an "environmental wasteland."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.american.edu/TED/ice/chechnya.htm |title=Chechnya Conflict and Environmental Implications |publisher=American.edu |access-date=17 October 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111125034703/http://www1.american.edu/ted/ice/chechnya.htm |archive-date=25 November 2011 }}</ref> Several [[oil spill]]s and pollution from [[sanitary sewer|sewers]] were caused by war (the water is polluted to a depth of 250&nbsp;m<ref>[http://www.kommersant.com/p-92/r_436/Chechen_Republic/ Chechen Republic // GENERAL INFORMATION] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160514163311/http://www.kommersant.com/p-92/r_436/Chechen_Republic/ |date=14 May 2016 }}, Kommersant, 10 March 2004</ref>), and chemical and [[radioactive pollution]], as a result of the bombardment of chemical facilities and storages during the conflict.<ref name="ravaged"/> Chechnya's wildlife also sustained heavy damage during the hostilities, as animals that had once populated the Chechen forests have moved off to seek safer ground.<ref>[http://www.watchdog.cz/index.php?show=000000-000002-000001-000110-000048&lang=1 Military operations greatly alter Chechen mountain life] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304193914/http://www.watchdog.cz/index.php?show=000000-000002-000001-000110-000048&lang=1 |date=4 March 2016 }}, Prague Watchdog, 4 May 2003</ref> In 2004, Russian government has designated one-third of Chechnya a "zone of ecological disaster" and another 40% "a zone of extreme environmental distress".<ref>[http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2004/723/sc211.htm 'In the Caucasus, you can buy anything'] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071016111527/http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2004/723/sc211.htm |date=16 October 2007 }}, ''Al-Ahram Weekly'', 2004</ref>

Approximately 60,000 housing units were damaged or destroyed, while {{convert|30000|ha|km2}} of [[agricultural land]] were contamined by explosives.{{sfn|Sakwa|2005|p=40}}

===Land mines===
{{Main|Land mines in Chechnya}}
In 2004, Chechnya became the most [[land mine]]-affected region worldwide.<ref>[http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2004/10/8f24150a-e534-42a8-80d9-198ae5453f89.html Chechnya: Land Mines Seen As Continuing Scourge] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080613131843/http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2004/10/8f24150a-e534-42a8-80d9-198ae5453f89.html |date=13 June 2008 }} RFE/RL, 19 October 2004</ref> Since 1994 there have been widespread use of mines by both sides (Russia is a party to the 1980 [[Convention on Conventional Weapons]] but not the 1996 protocol on land mines and other devices). The most heavily mined areas of Chechnya are those in which separatists continued to put up resistance, namely the southern regions, as well as the borders of the republic.<ref>[http://www.icbl.org/lm/2004/chechnya Chechnya] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090218181656/http://www.icbl.org/lm/2004/chechnya |date=18 February 2009 }}, LM Report 2004, 8 February 2005</ref> No humanitarian mine clearance has taken place since the [[HALO Trust]] was evicted by Russia in December 1999. In June 2002, [[Olara Otunnu]], the UN official, estimated that there were 500,000 land mines placed in the region. [[UNICEF]] has recorded 2,340 civilian land mine and [[unexploded ordnance]] casualties occurring in Chechnya between 1999 and the end of 2003.

===Military losses===
{{Main|Casualties of the Second Chechen War}}

Military casualty figures from both sides are impossible to verify and are generally believed to be higher. In September 2000, the [[Kavkaz Center]] compiled a list of casualties officially announced in the conflict, which, although incomplete and with little factual value, provide some minimal insight of the casualties.<ref>[http://www.watchdog.cz/index.php?show=000000-000005-000003-000001&lang=1 Casualties officially announced since the beginning of the conflict] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930155502/http://www.watchdog.cz/index.php?show=000000-000005-000003-000001&lang=1 |date=30 September 2007 }}, Prague Watchdog, 13 September 2000</ref> According to the figures released by the [[Russian Ministry of Defence]] in August 2005, at least 1,250 [[Russian Armed Forces]] soldiers were [[killed in action]] in 1999–2005. This death toll did not include losses of [[Internal Troops]], the FSB, police and local paramilitaries, of whom all at least 1,720 were killed by October 2003.<ref name="casualties">[https://archive.today/20070821154629/http://www.hrvc.net/htmls/references.htm Civil and military casualties of the wars in Chechnya], [[Russian-Chechen Friendship Society]]</ref> Independent Russian and Western estimates are much higher; the [[Union of the Committees of Soldiers' Mothers of Russia]], for instance, estimated about 2,000 Russian Army servicemen have been killed between 1999 and 2003.<ref name="alert"/>

===Political radicalization of the separatist movement===
The Chechens had become increasingly radicalized. Former [[Soviet Armed Forces]] officers Dzhokhar Dudayev and Aslan Maskhadov were succeeded by people who rely more on [[Islamism|Islamist]] doctrine, rather than the secular [[nationalism|nationalistic]] feelings of the population. While Dudayev and Maskhadov were seeking from Moscow recognition of the independence of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, other leaders spoke out more about the need to expel Russia from the territory of the whole [[North Caucasus]], an impoverished mountain region inhabited mostly by Muslim, non-Russian ethnic groups.{{Citation needed|date=April 2008}}

In April 2006, asked whether negotiations with Russians are possible, the top separatist commander [[Doku Umarov]] answered: "We offered them many times. But it turned out that we constantly press for negotiations and it's as if we are always standing with an extended hand and this is taken as a sign of our weakness. Therefore we don't plan to do this any more." In the same month, the new separatist spokesman [[Movladi Udugov]] said that attacks should be expected anywhere in Russia: "Today, we have a different task on our hands – [[total war]], war everywhere our enemy can be reached. (...) And this means mounting attacks at any place, not just in the Caucasus but in all Russia." Reflecting growing radicalization of the Chechen-led militants, Udugov said their goal was no longer Western-style democracy and independence, but the [[Islamist]] "North Caucasian [[Emirate]]".{{Citation needed|date=April 2008}}

[[File:Flag of Caucasian Emirate.jpg|thumb|Flag of the [[Caucasian Emirate]]]]

This trend ultimately resulted in the October 2007 declaration of the [[Caucasus Emirate]] by [[Doku Umarov]] where he also urged for a global [[Jihad]], and the political schism between the moderates and the radical Islamists fighting in Chechnya and the neighbouring regions with ties in the Middle East.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/chechnya/Story/0,,2214769,00.html The battle for the soul of Chechnya]  {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080125232721/http://www.guardian.co.uk/chechnya/Story/0%2C%2C2214769%2C00.html |date=25 January 2008 }}, ''The Guardian'', 22 November 2007</ref> Some commanders, still fighting along with Doku Umarov, like [[Anzor Astemirov]], publicly denounced the idea of a global Jihad, but keep fighting for the independence of Caucasus states.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jamestown.org/chechnya_weekly/article.php?articleid=2373840 |title=Chechnya Weekly from the Jamestown Foundation |access-date=16 January 2008 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080213022450/http://www.jamestown.org/chechnya_weekly/article.php?articleid=2373840 |archive-date=13 February 2008 }}</ref>

The struggle garnered support from Muslim sympathizers around the world nonetheless, and some of them were willing to take up arms. Many commentators thought it was likely that Chechen fighters had links with international Islamist separatist groups. The [[BBC]] said in an online Q&A on the conflict: "It has been known for years that Muslim volunteers have traveled to Chechnya to join the fight, reportedly after attending training camps in [[Afghan training camp|Afghanistan]] or [[Pakistan]]."<ref name="alert"/>

Islamic radicalisation also affected the Chechen separatist movement's support abroad. In 2013, the [[Tsarnaev brothers]] launched [[Boston Marathon bombing|a suicide attack]] in [[Boston]] with a claim of [[jihad]], accusing the United States of killing Muslims of [[Iraq]], [[Afghanistan]] and [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]], weakening sympathy for the Chechen resistance globally and increasing xenophobia against Chechens and Muslims in the United States.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/details-emerge-on-suspected-boston-bombers/2013/04/19/ef2c2566-a8e4-11e2-a8e2-5b98cb59187f_story.html|title=Details emerge on brothers suspected in bombing at Boston Marathon|first1=Peter|last1=Finn|first2=Carol D.|last2=Leonnig|first3=Will|last3=Englund|date=19 April 2013|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=1 January 2020|archive-date=18 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191218150404/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/details-emerge-on-suspected-boston-bombers/2013/04/19/ef2c2566-a8e4-11e2-a8e2-5b98cb59187f_story.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Rampant [[Islamic terrorism in Europe]] and the exclusive role of the Chechens on the [[Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant]], most notably [[Abu Omar al-Shishani]], also put the Chechen separatist movement in jeopardy due to increasing anti-Islamic sentiment on the rise in Europe, even in some of the countries in Europe like [[Poland]], who supported Chechens during and after conflicts with Russia.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-28217590|title=Georgian roots of Isis commander|first=Nina|last=Akhmeteli|work=BBC News|date=9 July 2014|access-date=8 January 2020|archive-date=4 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200204163436/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-28217590|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.connections.clio-online.net/article/id/artikel-4692|title=A Different Dynamic? Explaining Prejudice Against Muslims in the Russian Federation: Islamophobia or Internalised Racial Hierarchy?|first=David|last=Herbert|date=7 July 2020|website=www.connections.clio-online.net|access-date=6 July 2020|archive-date=1 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200101065314/https://www.connections.clio-online.net/article/id/artikel-4692|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | last1=Dudzińska | first1=Agnieszka | author-link1=Agnieszka Dudzińska | last2=Kotnarowski | first2=Michał | title=Imaginary Muslims: How the Polish right frames Islam | website=Brookings | date=24 July 2019 | url=https://www.brookings.edu/research/imaginary-muslims-how-polands-populists-frame-islam/ | access-date=6 July 2020 | archive-date=13 May 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200513194958/https://www.brookings.edu/research/imaginary-muslims-how-polands-populists-frame-islam/ | url-status=live }}</ref>

===Impact on the Chechen population===
According to a 2006 report by [[Médecins Sans Frontières]], "the majority of Chechens still struggle through lives burdened by fear, uncertainty and poverty." A survey conducted by MSF in September 2005 showed that 77% of the respondents were suffering from "discernible symptoms of psychological distress".<ref>[MSF Activity Reports on The Russian Federation: 2006 {{cite web|url=http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org |title=MSF USA &#124; Medical aid where it is needed most. Independent. Neutral. Impartial. |access-date=18 March 2008 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161108092649/http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/ |archive-date=8 November 2016}}], Doctors Without Borders</ref>

As of 2008, the [[infant mortality]] rate stood at 17 per 1,000, the highest in Russia;<ref>[http://www.gks.ru/wps/PA_1_0_S5/Documents/jsp/Detail_default.jsp?category=1112178611292&elementId=1140096846203 Russian demographic statistics 2008] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101215012413/http://www.gks.ru/wps/PA_1_0_S5/Documents/jsp/Detail_default.jsp?category=1112178611292&elementId=1140096846203 |date=15 December 2010 }}  [[Rosstat]] Retrieved on Oct-05-2009</ref> There are reports of a growing number of [[genetic disorder]]s in babies and unexplained illnesses among school children.<ref name="ravaged">[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5108416.stm Chechnya habitat 'ravaged by war'] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306024043/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5108416.stm |date=6 March 2016 }}, BBC News, 22 June 2006</ref> One child in ten is born with some kind of [[birth defect|anomaly]] that requires treatment. Some children whose parents can afford it are sent to the neighbouring republic of Dagestan, where treatment is better; Chechnya lacks sufficient medical equipment in most of its medical facilities.<ref>[https://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2007/11/14/a_determined_spirit_guides_grozny/?page=2 A determined spirit guides Grozny] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305002616/http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2007/11/14/a_determined_spirit_guides_grozny/?page=2 |date=5 March 2016 }}, ''The Boston Globe'', 14 November 2007</ref> According to the [[United Nations Children's Fund]] (UNICEF), since 1994 to 2008 about 25,000 children in Chechnya have lost one or both parents.<ref>[https://www.smh.com.au/news/world/groznys-lost-boys/2008/03/21/1205602658064.html Grozny's lost boys] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160430101252/http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/groznys-lost-boys/2008/03/21/1205602658064.html |date=30 April 2016 }}, ''Sydney Morning Herald'', 22 March 2008</ref> A whole generation of Chechen children is showing symptoms of [[psychological trauma]]. In 2006, Chechnya's pro-Moscow deputy health minister, said the Chechen children had become "living specimens" of what it means to grow up with the constant threat of violence and chronic poverty.<ref>[http://www.genocidewatch.org/Chechnyarussiaamysterymaladyinchechnyamar06.htm A Mystery Malady in Chechnya], ''Los Angeles Times'', 10 March 2006 {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081202070245/http://www.genocidewatch.org/Chechnyarussiaamysterymaladyinchechnyamar06.htm |date=2 December 2008 }}</ref> In 2007, the Chechen interior ministry has identified 1,000 [[street children]] involved in [[Vagrancy (people)|vagrancy]]; the number was increasing.<ref>[http://www.watchdog.cz/?show=000000-000002-000001-000186&lang=1 Large numbers of street children discovered in Chechnya] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303203243/http://www.watchdog.cz/?show=000000-000002-000001-000186&lang=1 |date=3 March 2016 }}, Prague Watchdog, 23 March 2007</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.macaudailytimesnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=7314&Itemid=33 |title=Chechnya, land of Putin's 99 percent support |access-date=17 April 2008 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080521000712/http://www.macaudailytimesnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=7314&Itemid=33 |archive-date=21 May 2008 }}</ref>

According to official statistics, Chechnya's [[unemployment rate]] in August 2009 was 32.9%. By 2017, this figure had decreased to 13.9%.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.gks.ru/free_doc/doc_2017/social/osn-11-2017.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=13 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180713231231/http://www.gks.ru/free_doc/doc_2017/social/osn-11-2017.pdf |archive-date=13 July 2018 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>[http://www.rosbaltsouth.ru/2007/12/05/437738.html Чечня – лидер по уровню безработицы среди регионов России] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090105202934/http://www.rosbaltsouth.ru/2007/12/05/437738.html |date=5 January 2009 }}, 5 December 2007</ref> Many people remain [[Homelessness|homeless]] because so much of Chechnya's housing was destroyed by the Russian federal forces and many people have not yet been given [[Damages|compensation]].<ref>[http://www.smu.edu/humanrights/aiurgent.html Amnesty International Urgent Action] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130526015820/http://www.smu.edu/humanrights/aiurgent.html |date=26 May 2013 }}, Amnesty International, 25 January 2008</ref> Not only the social (such as housing and hospitals) and economic infrastructure but also the foundations of culture and education, including most of educational and cultural institutions, were destroyed over the course of the two wars in Chechnya.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.idee.org/lreport2.html|title=The Consequences of War for Education and Culture in Chechnya|publisher=Idee.org|date=29 September 2000|access-date=17 October 2011|archive-date=27 September 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927152158/http://www.idee.org/lreport2.html|url-status=live}}</ref> However, ongoing reconstruction efforts have been rebuilding the region at a quick pace over the past few years, including new housing, facilities, paved roads and traffic lights, a new mosque, and restoration of electricity to much of the region.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/05/03/news/chech.php |title=Spring rebuilding in Chechnya |work=International Herald Tribune |date=29 March 2009 |access-date=17 October 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080521015028/http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/05/03/news/chech.php |archive-date=21 May 2008 }}</ref> Governmental, social and commercial life remain hobbled by bribery, kidnapping, extortion and other criminal activity; reports by the Russian government estimate that the organized crime sector is twice the Russian average and the government is widely perceived to be corrupt and unresponsive.<ref>[http://www.theirc.org/news/the_crisis_in_chechnya_and_the_northern_caucasus_at_a_glance.html The Crisis in Chechnya and the Northern Caucasus at a Glance]  {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081225093734/http://www.theirc.org/news/the_crisis_in_chechnya_and_the_northern_caucasus_at_a_glance.html |date=25 December 2008 }}, IRC, 31 January 2006</ref>

Hundreds of thousands of Chechens [[Chechen refugees|were displaced by the conflict]], including 300,000 at the height of the conflict in 2000.<ref name="alert"/> Most of them were displaced internally in Chechnya and in neighbouring republic of Ingushetia, but thousands of refugees also went into exile, with, as of 2008, most of them residing in the [[European Union]] countries.

===Impact on the Russian population===
{{See also|Human rights in Russia|Racism in Russia}}
The start of the war bolstered the domestic popularity of Vladimir Putin as the campaign was started one month after he had become [[Prime Minister of Russia|Russian prime minister]].<ref name="poll">[http://www.jamestown.org/publications_details.php?volume_id=421&issue_id=4037&article_id=2372009 POLL FINDS A PLURALITY OF RUSSIANS DISTRUST RAMZAN] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080520043841/http://www.jamestown.org/publications_details.php?volume_id=421&issue_id=4037&article_id=2372009 |date=20 May 2008 }} [[The Jamestown Foundation]], 27 March 2007</ref> The conflict greatly contributed to the deep changes in the Russian politics and society.<ref name="warlord">[http://economist.com/world/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9254176 The warlord and the spook] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090126132118/http://economist.com/world/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9254176 |date=26 January 2009 }} [[The Economist]], 31 March 2007</ref>

Since the Chechen conflict began in 1994, cases of young veterans returning embittered and traumatized to their home towns were reported all across Russia. Psychiatrists, law-enforcement officials, and journalists started calling the condition of psychologically scarred soldiers "Chechen syndrome" (CS), drawing a parallel with the [[post-traumatic stress disorder]]s suffered by Soviet soldiers who fought in [[Afghanistan]]. According to Yuri Alexandrovsky, deputy director of the [[Moscow Serbsky Institute]] in 2003, at least 70% of the estimated 1.5&nbsp;million Chechnya veterans suffered CS.<ref>[http://205.188.238.181/time/printout/0,8816,901031006-490663,00.html Chechnya's Walking Wounded]  {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928082235/http://205.188.238.181/time/printout/0%2C8816%2C901031006-490663%2C00.html |date=28 September 2007 }} [[Time (magazine)]]/CNN, 28 September 2003</ref> Many of the veterans came back alcoholic, unemployable and [[Antisocial personality disorder|antisocial]].<ref name="warlord"/> Thousands were also physically [[disability|disabled]] for life and left with very limited help from the government.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20151016233612/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4176/is_20030430/ai_n14548271 Island lessons for Russian war vet], Oakland Tribune, 30 April 2003</ref>

According to the 2007 study by [[Memorial (society)|Memorial]] and [[Demos (human rights center)|Demos]] human rights organisations, Russian policemen lost their qualifications and professional skills during their [[tour of duty|duty tours]] in Chechnya.<ref name="omon">[http://jamestown.org/chechnya_weekly/article.php?articleid=2374082 The Geography of OMON Deployments in the North Caucasus] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080612041833/http://jamestown.org/chechnya_weekly/article.php?articleid=2374082 |date=12 June 2008 }}, [[The Jamestown Foundation]], 3 April 2008</ref> The conflict was linked to the rising brutality and general criminalisation of the Russian police forces. According to human rights activists and journalists, tens of thousands of police and security forces that went to Chechnya learned patterns of brutality and impunity and brought them to their home regions, often returning with disciplinary and psychological problems. Reliable numbers on [[police brutality]] are hard to come by, but in a statement released in 2006, the internal affairs department of Russia's Interior Ministry said that the number of recorded crimes committed by police officers rose 46.8% in 2005. In one nationwide poll in 2005, 71% of respondents said they didn't trust their police at all; in another, 41% Russians said they lived in fear of police violence.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20050528002945/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A4009-2005Mar26.html For Russians, Police Rampage Fuels Fear] ''[[Washington Post]]'', 27 March 2005</ref><ref>[http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2005/06/da84eb4b-5f23-4876-8d61-bc4d6f4f6260.html Russia: Police Brutality Shows Traces Of Chechnya] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080616101236/http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2005/06/da84eb4b-5f23-4876-8d61-bc4d6f4f6260.html |date=16 June 2008 }} RFE/RL, 20 June 2005</ref> According to Amnesty International, torture of detainees in Russia had become [[Endemism|endemic]].<ref name="warlord"/> Since 2007, police officers from outside the Caucasus were not only being sent to Chechnya, but to all the region's republics.<ref name="omon"/>

The wars in Chechnya and associated Caucasian terrorism in Russia were major factors in the growth of intolerance, [[xenophobia]], and [[racism|racist]] violence in Russia, directed in a great part against the people from the Caucasus.<ref name="warlord"/> The Russian authorities were unlikely to label random attacks on people of non-Russian ethnicity as racist, preferring to call it "[[hooliganism]]".{{Citation needed|date=July 2009}} The number of murders officially classified as racist more than doubled in Russia between 2003 and 2004. The violence included acts of terrorism such as the [[2006 Moscow market bombing]] which killed 13 people.<ref>[http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/11/02/news/briefs.php Political turmoil erupts again in deadly protests]  {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080521014958/http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/11/02/news/briefs.php |date=21 May 2008 }}  IHT, 2 November 2005</ref><ref>[http://english.people.com.cn/200609/14/eng20060914_302534.html Migrants flee town after racial violence] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130522142249/http://english.people.com.cn/200609/14/eng20060914_302534.html |date=22 May 2013 }} [[People's Daily]], 14 September 2006</ref> In 2007, 18-year-old [[Artur Ryno]] claimed responsibility for 37 racially motivated murders in the course of one year, saying that "since school [he] hated people from the Caucasus."<ref>[http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2007/05/29/011.html Teenager Admits to Over 30 Murders] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081122123042/http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2007/05/29/011.html |date=22 November 2008 }} [[The Moscow Times]], 29 May 2007</ref> On 5 June 2007, an anti-Chechen riot involving hundreds of people took place in the town of [[Stavropol]] in southern Russia. Rioters demanded the eviction of ethnic Chechens following the murder of two young Russians who locals believed were killed by Chechens. The event revived memories of a recent clash between Chechens and local Russians in [[Kondopoga]], when two Russians were killed over an unpaid bill.<ref>[https://www.reuters.com/article/homepageCrisis/idUSL05224442._CH_.2400 Nationalists rally in Russian town near Chechnya] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090103155648/https://www.reuters.com/article/homepageCrisis/idUSL05224442._CH_.2400 |date=3 January 2009 }} [[Reuters]], 5 June 2007</ref> The Caucasians also face ethnic-related violence in the ranks of Russian Army.<ref>[http://iwpr.net/?p=crs&s=f&o=159879&apc_state=henicrs2000 Racist Violence Plagues Russian Army] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305130815/http://iwpr.net/?p=crs&s=f&o=159879&apc_state=henicrs2000 |date=5 March 2016 }} IWPR, 15-Sep-00</ref>