Preview

Kavkazologiya

Advanced search

Events of the "Chechen wars" in Musa Muradov's articles in the newspaper "Kommersant" (2019-2025)

https://doi.org/10.31143/2542-212X-2026-1-189-202

EDN: RJAWBK

Abstract

For more than three decades, which have passed since the beginning of the crisis in the Chechen Republic, etc. "Chechen" wars, "Kommersant" remains one of the few publications, consistently wrote about them – from the congress of the Chechen people in 1990, the coming to power of D. Dudaev, in combat operations as in 1994-1996 (the establishment of constitutional order), so in 1996-1999 and in 1999- early 2000s. (counterterrorism operation) to modern attempts to make sense of their implications. Unlike the official summaries, the publication gave readers not only a chronicle of the fighting but also an analysis of the conflict’s consequences. Despite a series of global crises in recent years – from Syria to the Special Military Operation in Ukraine, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict – this topic continues to occupy a special place in the public consciousness and media space of Russia. The aim is to analyze the publications of M. Muradov for 2019-2025 years. and identifying the main reasons for the enduring relevance of the topic of the “Chechen wars” in Russian society (evidenced by the millions of views of some articles on the site), as the newspaper returns to these events through eyewitness recollections, archival analysis and reporting from the uprisings of the Chechen Republic. Content analysis of articles by M. Muradova, a Chechen by nationality and an eyewitness to most of the events described, allows us to identify key narrative strategies for making sense of traumatic experience through the lens of individual trials, archival documents, and visual testimonies of devastation.

Publications M. Muradov transcend propaganda clichés, their academic rigor does not prevent them from remaining human documents of the era, displaying both major political decisions and their consequences for ordinary people. The articles combine micro-histories of eyewitnesses, criticism of all sides of the conflict, and reflection on the limits of journalism under censorship. About the interest of Russian society in the events of the late 20th and early 21st centuries say views of publications on the site of the newspaper "Kommersant".

About the Author

Abbaz D. Osmaev
A. Kadyrov Chechen State University; Kh.I. Ibragimov Complex Institute, RAS
Russian Federation

Doctor of Historical Sciences, Associate Professor, Professor of the Department of General History



References

1. ASTASHKIN N.S. Po volchemu sledu. Hroniki chechenskih vojn [On the Wolf's trail: chronicles of the Chechen Wars]. – Moscow: Veche, 2005. – 416 p. (In Russ.).

2. BUGAY N.F. Chechenskaja respublika: konfrontacija, stabilnost, mir [The Chechen Republic: confrontation, stability, peace]. – Moscow: IRI RAN, 2006. – 476 p. (In Russ.).

3. DANILEVSKIJ I.N., KABANOV V.V., MEDUSHEVSKAYA O.M., RUMYANCEVA M.F. Istochnikovedenie: Teoriya. Istoriya. Metod. Istochniki rossijskoj istorii: Ucheb. Posobie [Source Studies: Theory. History. Method. Sources of Russian History: A Textbook] / M.: Rossijsk. gos. gumanit. un-t, 1998. 702 p. (In Russ.).

4. KULIKOV A.S. Tyazhelye zvezdy. [Heavy Stars] – Moskva: OLMA-Press, 2003. – 447 p. (In Russ.).

5. LYAKHOVSKY A.A. Zacharovannyje svobodoj: Tajny kavkazskih vojn: Informacija. Analiz. Vyvody [Enchanted Freedoms: Secrets of the Caucasian Wars: Information. Analysis.Conclusions]. – Moscow: Detectiv-Press, 2006. – 640 p. (In Russ.).

6. MIHAJLOV A.G. Chechenskoe koleso. General FSB svidetel'stvuet. [The Chechen wheel. The FSB general testifies.] – Moskva: Sovershenno sekretno, 2002. – 384 p. (In Russ.).

7. NORIN E.A. Chechenskaya vojna. [The Chechen Wheel] v 2 t. T. 1. – Nizhnij Novgorod: Chernaya Sotnya, 2021. – 352 p. (In Russ.).

8. NORIN E.A. Chechenskaya vojna. [The Chechen Wheel] v 2 t. T. 2. – Nizhnij Novgorod: Chernaya Sotnya, 2022. – 480 p. (In Russ.).

9. PULIKOVSKIJ K.B. Ukradennoe vozmezdie. [Stolen Retribution] Moskva: Olma Media Grupp, 2010. (In Russ.).

10. TISHKOV V.A. Obshchestvo v vooruzhennom konflikte: etnografiya chechenskoj vojny. [Society in an Armed Conflict: The Ethnography of the Chechen War] – Moskva: Nauka, 2001. – 512 p. (In Russ.).

11. TROSHEV G.N. Moya vojna: chechenskij dnevnik okopnogo generala. [My War: The Chechen Diary of a Trench General]. – Moskva: Vagrius, 2002. – 334 p. (In Russ.).

12. TUMAKOV D.V. Goryachaya tochka novoj Rossii: chechenskij krizis 1991-1996gg. v otsenkah rossijskogo obschestva [Hot spot of the new Russia: the Chechen crisis of 1991-1996 in the Assessments of Russian Society]. – Yaroslavl: Avers plus, 2017. – 740 p. (In Russ.).

13. TUMAKOV D.V. Voennye dejstviya v CHechenskoj Respublike v 1994-1996 gg. i ob"edinenie «YAbloko» [Military operations in the Chechen Republic in 1994-1996 and the Yabloko movement] // Elektronnyj zhurnal «Kavkazologiya». – 2025. – № 2. – S. 63-82. – DOI: 10.31143/2542-212X-2025-2-63-82. (In Russ.).

14. CONBOY M. The Press and Popular Culture. – London: SAGE, 2004 – (In English).

15. DUNLOP J.B. Russia Confronts Chechnya: Roots of a Separatist Conflict. – Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998. – 432 p. (In English).

16. LIEVEN A. Chechnya: Tombstone of Russian Power. – New Haven: Yale University Press, 1998. – 464 p. (In English).

17. EVANGELISTA M. The Chechen Wars: Will Russia Go the Way of the Soviet Union? In: Brookings Institution Press, 2002. 244 p. (In English).


Review

For citations:


Osmaev A.D. Events of the "Chechen wars" in Musa Muradov's articles in the newspaper "Kommersant" (2019-2025). Kavkazologiya. 2026;(1):189-202. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.31143/2542-212X-2026-1-189-202. EDN: RJAWBK

Views: 96

JATS XML


Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.


ISSN 2542-212X (Online)