Editing First Chechen War (section)

===Chechen declaration of independence===
Meanwhile, on 6 September 1991, militants of the [[All-National Congress of the Chechen People]] (NCChP) party, created by the former [[Soviet Air Force]] general [[Dzhokhar Dudayev]], stormed a session of the Supreme Soviet of the [[Checheno-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic]], with the aim of asserting independence. The storming caused the death of the head of [[Grozny]]'s branch of the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union]] Vitaliy Kutsenko, who was [[Defenestration|defenestrated]] or fell while trying to escape. This effectively dissolved the government of the Checheno-Ingush [[Autonomous republics of the Soviet Union|Autonomous Republic of the Soviet Union]].<ref>{{cite book |title=The Chechen Wars: Will Russia Go the Way of the Soviet Union? |first=Matthew |last=Evangelista |location=Washington |publisher=Brookings Institution Press |year=2002 |page=[https://archive.org/details/chechenwars00matt/page/18 18] |isbn=978-0-8157-2498-8 |url=https://archive.org/details/chechenwars00matt/page/18 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Russia's Chechen War |first=Tracey C. |last=German |location=New York |publisher=RoutledgeCurzon |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-415-29720-2 |page=176 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Chechnya: Calamity in the Caucasus |author-link=Carlotta Gall |first1=Carlotta |last1=Gall |author-link2=Thomas De Waal |first2=Thomas |last2=De Waal |location=New York |publisher=New York University Press |year=1998 |isbn=978-0-8147-2963-2 |page=[https://archive.org/details/chechnyacalamity00gall/page/96 96] |quote=Vitaly Kutsenko, the elderly First Secretary of the town soviet either was [[Defenestration|defenestrated]] or tried to clamber out to escape the crowd. |url=https://archive.org/details/chechnyacalamity00gall/page/96 }}</ref>

[[1991 Chechen presidential election|Elections for the president]] and parliament of Chechnya were held on 27 October 1991. The day before, the [[Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union]] published a notice in the local Chechen press that the elections were illegal. With a turnout of 72%, 90.1% voted for Dudayev.<ref name="kommersant_history_and_memory">{{cite web |url=https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/2630476 |title=Первая война |trans-title=First war |language=ru |website=kommersant.ru |date=13 December 2014 |quote=...&nbsp;По данным Центризбиркома Чечено-Ингушетии, в выборах принимают участие 72% избирателей, за генерала Дудаева голосуют 412,6 тыс. человек (90,1%)&nbsp;...' |access-date=September 4, 2020 |archive-date=7 May 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170507230240/http://www.kommersant.ru/doc/2630476 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Dudayev won overwhelming popular support (as evidenced by the later presidential elections with high turnout and a clear Dudayev victory) to oust the interim administration supported by the central government. He became president and declared independence from the [[Soviet Union]].

In November 1991, Yeltsin dispatched [[Internal Troops]] to [[Grozny]], but they were forced to withdraw when Dudayev's forces surrounded them at the airport. After Chechnya made its initial declaration of [[sovereignty]], the Checheno-Ingush Autonomous Republic split in two in June 1992 amidst the [[East Prigorodny conflict|armed conflict between the Ingush and Ossetians]]. The newly created [[Ingushetia|Republic of Ingushetia]] then joined the [[Russian Federation]], while Chechnya declared full independence from [[Moscow]] in 1993 as the [[Chechen Republic of Ichkeria]] (ChRI).