in the campaign “First Russian-Chechen War (1994–1996)”
In the autumn of 1994, Russia attacked the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria under the name of a puppet opposition, and on 11 December 1994 the Russian army openly invaded the republic. The occupiers promised the villages of Ichkeria not to touch the Chechens if a village handed over its weapons, sent away the Armed Forces of Ichkeria or let Russian troops in, and then looted, bombed and stormed the villages that had believed them.
Russian generals and officers gave their promises to village heads and elders at their posts, by word of mouth or in the form of a written treaty[1].
In mid-January 1995, the elders of Assinovskaya, a stanitsa in the west of Ichkeria, let in Russian troops, who promised through loudspeakers and leaflets not to touch anyone. The occupiers looted houses and abused Chechens, and by 16 February every Chechen family had left the stanitsa (see: "Pillage")[2].
On 21 February 1995, the head of Samashki, a village in the west of Ichkeria, and the elders asked Kosolapov, a general of the occupation forces, at the Russian post near the village what they should do so that there would be no war in the village. The report of the Observer Mission of Russian human rights defenders gives the general's answer: "You have to hand over the heavy weapons, set up a militia team of 40-45 men to guard the village, draw up a protocol of accord with the seals of the imam and the chairman [of the village administration], explain it to the people — that is all that is required of you". On 6-7 March, fighters of the army of Ichkeria from other villages were forced to leave at the demand of the Chechens of Samashki. On 8 March, the head of the village, the imam and five elders signed a treaty with the Russian troops. The village undertook to hand over its heavy weapons and send away the army of Ichkeria, and in exchange the elders asked the Russian troops not to enter Samashki and not to use force against Chechen civilians. General Kosolapov signed the treaty and gave a copy to the head of the village[1].
Eighteen days after the treaty, on 26 March 1995, Russian pilots in six helicopters fired rockets at Samashki and seriously wounded four Chechens. On 28 March, the colonel who commanded the Russian post near the village demanded that small arms be handed over, although the treaty said nothing of this. The head of Samashki collected six assault rifles in the village and handed them to the occupiers. On 6 April, Romanov, deputy commander of the occupation forces, demanded that the village let in the Internal Troops of Russia's Ministry of Internal Affairs (predecessors of today's Rosgvardia) and hand over 264 assault rifles by seven in the morning of 7 April (see: "Collective Punishment"). The elders replied that there were not that many weapons in the village, and the head of Samashki asked for three days to collect about fifty assault rifles. Romanov refused. On 7 April, the occupiers shelled Samashki with mortars and stormed the village. On 7 and 8 April, the Russian military killed 103 Chechen civilians in the village, whom human rights defenders recorded by name (see: "Mass Killings of Civilians")[1]. On 11 April, five elders of Samashki handed human rights defenders at the Russian post a written statement: "We believed the MVD of Russia… we forced all the militiamen to leave our village of Samashki. We believed the military that in this case they would not touch the civilian population. And once again a lie. On 7 April the special forces of Russia's MVD began to enter the village"[1][3].
Around 20 April 1995, the elders of Ishkhoy-Yurt, a village in the east of Ichkeria, let in Russian servicemen who promised only to pass through the village[4]. The occupiers fired their assault rifles at the houses and killed a woman who was carrying a child, and the child survived[5].
In the spring of 1996, Russian troops surrounded the villages of Ichkeria and shelled them (see: "Collective Punishment")[6]. Then the occupiers and the puppet government in Grozny signed a "Protocol on Peace and Accord" with the village. The village undertook not to let in fighters of the army of Ichkeria, and in return Russia promised that it would be spared any fighting[7]. On 14 March, Artemov, commander of the occupation forces in the south-west of Ichkeria, gave Russian deputies his word of honor that he would not storm Samashki, because the village was handing over its weapons[6]. On 15 March, the occupiers stormed the village and killed at least 35 Chechen civilians (see: "Indiscriminate Attacks")[4].
On 31 March 1996, Russian president Yeltsin, by decree No. 435, named "the signing of protocols on peace and accord" one of the main directions of his program for the Chechen Republic[8]. According to the French agency AFP, even before the decree, by 28 March, more than 120 villages of Ichkeria had signed protocols with the occupation forces[9]. On 2 April, Russia and the puppet government signed a "Protocol on Peace and Accord" with Shalazhi, a village south-west of Grozny[4]. On the night of 3 April and on 4 April, Russian pilots bombed the village, destroyed dozens of houses, killed three Chechens and wounded more than three hundred (see: "Indiscriminate Attacks")[4][6]. By 20 April, according to Zavgaev, head of the puppet government, only 15 villages and towns of Ichkeria had not signed the protocol[4]. On 25 April, Russian pilots bombed Chishki, a village south of Grozny, which had signed a "Protocol on Peace and Accord" shortly before. The pilots killed one Chechen woman and wounded two more Chechens[4].
Human rights defenders of Memorial write: "At times neither a truce, nor the signing of a 'protocol on peace and accord' by a settlement, nor even the occupation of a village or town by the federal [Russian] troops saved it from indiscriminate attacks, air strikes and artillery shelling"[4]. Tim Guldimann, head of the mission of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe in Grozny from January 1996, wrote in 1998 that the commander of the occupation forces and Zavgaev, head of the puppet government, in part forced these protocols upon the villages[7].
In August 1996, the Armed Forces of Ichkeria liberated Grozny from the occupiers, forcing Russia to the negotiating table[10]. On 31 August 1996, peace agreements were signed in Khasavyurt (see: "Sham Treaties")[11]. On 31 December 1996, the last Russian troops left the republic[4].