Is a use of force appropriate? Clashing memories of the Budennovsk hostage crisis (1995)

ABSTRACT

The hostage-taking by Chechen combatants in the Russian town of Budennovsk (1995) marked a turning point in the first Chechnya War (1994–96) and has left deep marks on the consciousness of Russians and Chechens representatives and civil society. It is referred to in Russian accounts as the first large-scale terrorist attack by Chechen groups in Russia. Based on today’s memories of “Budennovsk”, collected from open source materials, this article deconstructs and contextualises the conflicting narratives of the key actors involved. The analysis of the memories reveals the clashing attitudes regarding the legitimacy or condemnation of the use of force, and evaluates their significance in the political context of contemporary Russia. In a next step, this should allow to draw conclusions about the conceptual connection between memory, narrative and conflict.

KEYWORDS:

• Chechnya conflict
• Hostage crisis
• Terrorism
• Counterterrorism
• Contested memories

Acknowledgements

This article would hardly have seen the light without the support, advice and constructive criticism of my interdisciplinary research team at the University of Bern (Switzerland). A warm thank you thus goes to Oksana Myshlovska, Carmen Scheide, Elena Natenadze, Murat Shogenov and Valentina Tanaylova. My gratitude should also be expressed to the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), which has funded our project over all these years. And last, but not least, a warm thank you also goes to the anonymous reviewers who have contributed greatly to this article with their constructive criticism and suggestions for improvement.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. This article uses the abridged expressions of “Chechnya War(s)” or “Chechnya conflict(s)” to mean the geographical expression or “war(s)” or “conflict(s) in Chechnya”. This seems to be more correct than the notion of “Chechen conflict”, which is often used in international literature and suggests a Chechen authorship.

2. “Mnemonic” has its origins in the Greek word “mnemonika”, which means “memory”.

3. Conflict-supporting narratives are described as “oversimplified characters and plots, with storylines that work mainly to legitimise the self and delegitimise others, thus increasing polarisation” (Cobb 2006, as quoted in (Federman 2016, 156)).

4. Basayev mentioned these conditions, among others, in an interview given to Russian journalists during the siege in the hospital building in June 1995 (Lavrentyeva 2014).

5. Notably, Viktor Yerin (Minister of the Interior), Mikhail Yegorov (his deputy), Nikolay Yegorov (Minister of Nationalities and Presidential Envoy to Chechnya), Sergey Stepashin (Secretary of the Security Council) and Korzhakov, the head of the local intelligence service, were named as responsible decision-makers for handling the hostage crisis in Budennovsk (Filatov 2020b; Hockstader 1995).

6. Chernomyrdin’s telephone conversation with Basayev, broadcasted on television, is usually the first thing Russians remember when asked about Budennovsk. And for many these negotiations came as a humiliating shock.

7. “NORDOS” stands for “Nezavisimiy ocobiy razvedyvatel’no-diversionniy otryad smertnikov” (“Independent Special Reconnaissance and Diversionary Suicide Squad”) (Kavkazcenter 2004). The name forms a striking parallel with the name of the musical “Nordost”, performed in the Dubrovka theatre in Moscow at the moment when Chechen hostage-takers landed another blow there.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) under the grant provided to the research project “Remembering the Past in the Conflicts of the Present. Civil Societies and Contested Histories in the Post-Soviet Space (1991-2017)”, which was implemented between 2018 and 2023 by the Historical Institute of the University of Bern (Switzerland).Disclosure StatementNo potential competing interests.

Notes on contributors

Cécile Druey

Cécile Druey holds a PhD in International History and Politics from the Graduate Institute for International and Development Studies in Geneva, and a master in Russian language and literature and Islamic Studies from the Universities of Fribourg and Bern (Switzerland). She works as a senior researcher at the University of Bern (Switzerland); beyond her academic engagements, Druey is active as well as a practitioner in mediation and dealing with the past advising governmental and non-governmental bodies, such as the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA), the Swiss Peace Foundation swisspeace and at the dialogue platform “Women’s Initiatives for Peace in Donbas (WIPD)”. Her main interests of research are the conflicts and approaches of peacebuilding in the former Soviet space, with a particular focus on the Caucasus, Ukraine and Russia.