RUSSIA-CHECHNYA

A Russian soldier blocks the street where other soldiers try to take control of the hospital of the town of Budennovsk against Chechen rebels 17 June 1995. Just before the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Chechnya proclaimed independence and in 1992 separated from Ingushetia. The then Russian president Boris Yeltsin launched a military intervention in Chechnya in December 1994 which ended in 1996 with an accord that failed to address the region's final status. A new conflict erupted in October 1999 and has since left at least 4,500 Russian soldiers dead, according to official figures although other groups say the true number is closer to 13,000. There are in some 70,000 Russian soldiers based in the republic, while Moscow estimates the rebel forces at around 1,500 to 5,000. AFP PHOTO HECTOR MATA (Photo by HECTOR MATA / AFP) (Photo by HECTOR MATA/AFP via Getty Images)