The collapse of the Soviet Union granted independence not only to the individual republics that once made up the country, but also the numerous ethnic enclaves within the republics themselves. Chechnya, in the south of Russia, was one enclave that refused to cooperate with the new Russian authorities, insisting instead on complete independence. After a coup deposing the pro-Moscow government and open hostilities towards a neighboring Russian republic, Russian troops moved in to occupy the area. The war would last, on and off, for nearly three years.

On this day, January 5th, 1997, following a peace accord between the two countries, Russia announced the last of its military forces left Chechnya, marking a formal end to the war.

Unfortunately, despite the peace accord and the tens of thousands of casualties on both sides, hostilities between Russia and Chechnya sparked a second Chechen war just two years after the conclusion of the first. Russian forces officially ended the second war in 2009, but left a portion of the army to help out local police with Chechen insurgents.