Footnote about unsubstantiated claims about US support for Chechnya
Mujahideen²
There is no evidence the US supported Chechen separatist groups. The US did not recognize Chechen independence and it supported a “political settlement.” Official US policy stated:
We seek a political settlement that will end the fighting, promote reconciliation, and recognize the territorial integrity of the Russian Federation. We also seek accountability for human rights abuses committed by all sides, and unimpeded access to the displaced by humanitarian organizations.
A common claim used to demonstrate US support for Chechnya relates to a Stinger missile.
A think tank based in Moscow mentioned a Stinger missile obtained by Chechnya as from Afghanistan. The US had provided these to Mujahideen. Founding members of the Taliban came from the Mujahideen, a group that had resisted the Soviet Union occupation of Afghanistan with covert help from the CIA. Not all members of the Mujahideen went on to become the Taliban and the reasons for this progression are complex and not easily simplified.
The Taliban’s relationship with Chechnya further suggests Afghanistan as the Stinger missile’s origin. The Taliban recognized Chechen independence in 2000, and Russia had accused the Taliban of supporting Chechen separatists. Thus, this seems the most probably explanation for how the Chechens came to possess a Stinger missile as the US did not even recognize Chechen independence.
Still, belief that the US armed separatists may partially explain another part of Putin’s methodology. Russia also attempts to co-opt the language of NATO to legitimize its actions.
Recommended sources
(1) Russia Monitor. (2019, May 9). Russian GRU Agents Found Guilty of Attempted Montenegro Coup. Warsaw Institute. https://warsawinstitute.org/russian-gru-agents-found-guilty-attempted-montenegro-coup/ (2) Gordon, M. (1999). Imitating NATO: A Script Is Adapted for Chechnya. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/1999/09/28/world/imitating-nato-a-script-is-adapted-for-chechnya.html
(3) Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies, a group based in Moscow, reported of the Stinger missiles: “…a Stinger has a service life of two years and the United States long ago stopped their deliveries to Afghanistan from where Chechen rebels received them.”
Pashin, A. (2000). Russian Army Operations and Weaponry During Second Military Campaign in Chechnya. Moscow Defense Brief. https://web.archive.org/web/20140501050127/http:/mdb.cast.ru/mdb/3-2002/ac/raowdsmcc/ (4) The CIA attempted to buyback these missiles. Presumably they were not able to recover all of them.
Schemtzer, U. (1992). CIA trying to buy back missiles given to Afghans. Chicago Tribune. https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1992-12-06-9204210095-story.html