Aslan Doukaev was a university professor in Grozny when the first Chechen war broke out on December 11, 1994. Thousands died during the brutal 20-month conflict between Chechen separatist fighters and Russian government forces. Twenty years later and now the director of RFE/RL's North Caucasus Service, Doukaev looks back on the destruction wrought upon his native city.
Russia's War Against Ukraine
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: ‘It was hell on Earth’; remembering the first Chechen war (VIDEO)
Chechen women and men pass in February 1996 by a Russian Army armoured personnel carrier in front of destroyed presidential palace in Grozny, capital of the breakaway southern republic of Chechnya. Russian troops entered Chechnya 11 December 1994 with the stated aim of introducing constitutional rule in the Caucasus republic. Russian forces fought a brutal war in 1994-1996 to crush separatist rebels in Chechnya that ended in defeat for Moscow and killed 80,000 people.
