Why did Russia first invade Chechnya?
In 1991, Chechnya declared independence, established a free-trade zone and courted Western oil companies. Such conduct raised Russia’s ire and Russian President Boris Yeltsin invaded with a force of 300,000 men. But the incursion ended two years later in humiliation for the Russian army, driven back by a much smaller, but fiercely determined, force of Chechen guerrilla fighters.
