Chechen nationalists could be set to launch a war against Russia in order to claim independence for the Chechnya region, according to volunteer Chechens fighting in Ukraine.
The leader of the Sheikh Mansur Battalion, Islam Belokiev, who are currently fighting the Russians in Ukraine, said in a video that Chechen fighters were planning a huge offensive against what they believe is the illegal occupation of Chechnya by Russia and their collaborators.
Belokiev says in the video:
"We know the enemy's positions, where Russian military bases are. We have divided the Chechen Republic of Icheriya into three fronts and 16 sectors."
Chechnya is part of the Caucus region and part of Russian territory; however, the mainly Islamic population has risen up in conflicts for independence many times over the past few centuries. The most recent battles for independence were in the 1990s after the fall of the Soviet Union. In the two Chechen wars, over 160,000 people were killed.
Autonomy was granted to Chechnya following a peace treaty in the mid-1990s, but this was rescinded by Putin after bombings of apartment blocks in Russia that was blamed on Chechen terrorists. In response to these bombings Putin, the then newly appointed Russian leader, launched an offensive and defeated the insurgency. It has been suggested that the apartment bombings were carried out by Putin himself in order to create an excuse for the conflict.
Since the defeat to Russia, the region has been run by Chechens loyal to Moscow, many of whom are now fighting in Ukraine on Russia's behalf. However, many Chechens resent this, and some have gone to Ukraine as volunteers to fight against the Russians and their fellow pro-Moscow Chechens. This includes the Sheikh Mansur Battalion and the Dzhokhar Dudayev Battalion.
Many of the Chechens striving for independence will see this as a perfect opportunity to strike, given that Russia is already distracted on the Ukrainian front, suffering extremely high losses and a crippled economy.
Rebekah Koffler, of the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA), said that:
"The possibility of them taking advantage of Putin's forces being tied up in Ukraine to assert their independence is very plausible."
Adding:
"Putin and the Russians believe that they will have to divert their attention and take eyes off Ukraine, so Ukrainians could launch a counter-offensive. That's very clever."
[Based on reporting by: MSN]
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