Armed conflicts with russia’s participation from 1991 to the full-scale invasion of Ukraine and resulting losses of these interventions.
The rf propaganda traditionally promotes the narrative that russia never attacks but only defends and liberates. The practices of russian military involvement indicate that russia usually supports one side of the conflict; nevertheless, to create the status of a peacekeeper, it sometimes helps the other side. However, russia’s presence has always led only to escalating regional conflicts:
The Yugoslav wars (1991-2001)
From 1992 to 2003, 1.6 thousand russian peacekeepers as part of the UN forces were deployed in Yugoslavia. In 1999, about 4 thousand russian peacekeepers were sent to Kosovo. Losses – 12 people.
The Georgian Civil War or South Ossetian War (12.1991-01.1993).
The russian military not only participated in the war, but also supplied weapons to Abkhazia and Georgia before the conflict. Before the civil war started, the rf armed Georgian, Ossetian and Abkhaz insurgents, i.e., provided weapons to all sides to intensify the conflict.
More than 2 thousand volunteers from different Caucasian republics were killed in hostilities and another 2.5 thousand were wounded. The Georgian side lost about 169 soldiers, 947 were wounded. Russia lost 46 out of 500 of its servicemen. Among the civilian population of Georgia, 224 civilians were killed, 15 disappeared, and 547 were wounded.
Russia’s interference resulted in political instability in the region, periodic financial, economic and social crises for decades.
Armed conflict in Transnistria (11.1990-07.1992)
During the military conflict, the Republic of Moldova lost 286 people, and the Transnistrian Moldavian Republic (TMR) – 826, including 310 civilians. And the russian 14th Guards Army, under Oleksandr Lebed’s command, lost 21 soldiers and 3 officers out of 6 battalions of more than 3 thousand soldiers.
The international community recognizes the Transnistrian region as part of Moldova, but Moldova has no control over Transnistria. At the same time, the independence of the “Transnistrian Moldovan Republic” has been recognized by other self-proclaimed republics of the post-Soviet space – Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Nagorno-Karabakh.
The war in Abkhazia (08.1992-09.1993)
Russia deployed 1800 troops to Abkhazia, 73 of whom were killed. During the hostilities, about 16 thousand people out of 537 thousand population of the pre-war Abkhazia were killed. Up to 250 thousand became refugees. Numerous mines have remained on Abkhazia’s territory, killing about 700 people. Russia officially recognized the independence of the Republic of Abkhazia and established diplomatic relations with it.
The Tajikistani Civil War (05.1992-06.1997)
33600 Russian military servicemen took part in the war in Tajikistan, including 26.6 thousand from the Ministry of Defense and 7 thousand from the FSB. 302 people were killed, including 104 border guards. Tajikistan and the United Tajik Opposition Forces lost more than 60 thousand people during the war.
By the end of the war, Tajikistan was in complete devastation and was thrown back in time for a decade. About 1.2 million people became refugees inside and outside the country.
The first Chechen war (12.1994-08.1996)
According to official data, the losses of the russian army in the First Chechen War amounted to 4379 killed, 1906 missing and 19794 wounded. According to the russian Committee of Soldiers’ Mothers, there were more than 14 thousand dead and missing (this indicates that the russian authorities are concealing the actual losses).
According to various sources, the losses of the Chechen side are estimated at 10-15 thousand people. Russia insists that they killed 17391 Chechen soldiers. The number of killed Chechen civilians is estimated at 40 thousand civilians.
The second Chechen war (08.1999-04.2009)
During 1999-2009, about 7400 russian servicemen were killed: 3725 servicemen of the rf Armed Forces, over 2085 servicemen of the Interior Ministry, 106 GRU and FSB officers, 1072 Chechen and Dagestani loyalists. 600 russian civilians were killed in Chechen terrorist attacks on the territory of russia. The number of dead civilians in Chechnya is estimated at more than 50,000. Losses of Chechen insurgents – 14,113 killed.
The armed conflict in South Ossetia and the Russo-Georgian war (08.2008)
It is estimated that 67 russian servicemen were killed in Georgia, 283 were wounded and three people were reported missing.
At the same time, the official losses of the Georgian army amounted to 410 soldiers and 14 police officers, up to 2 thousand civilians were wounded. More than 118 thousand people became refugees as a result of the conflict. 19 thousand russian servicemen were involved.
The annexation of Crimea (from 02.2014)
About 25 thousand rf servicemen participated in the annexation of Crimea, with no official losses among them.
The number of internally displaced persons from Crimea officially reaches about 49 thousand people, and according to unofficial estimates, there are more than 100 thousand people. Along with geopolitical, military and domestic political consequences, the annexation of Crimea is associated for Ukraine with economic losses. Two-thirds of the military fleet has also been lost.
The war in Donbas (from 04.2014)
Ukraine’s losses in 2014-2021 amounted to more than 13 thousand killed and more than 30 thousand wounded. There is a large number of refugees from the Eastern part of Ukraine. Total losses of russia: according to the UN, in 2019 among the militants of ORDLO 5650 were killed, 12 500-13 500 were wounded.
The rf’s military operation in Syria (from 09.2015)
More than 68.5 thousand russian servicemen took part in the war in Syria. According to various estimates, the losses amounted to 283 people, as well as 19 planes and helicopters. The war in Syria has caused a humanitarian crisis of unprecedented scale. Almost half a million civilians were killed and more than half of the population – 12 million citizens – were forced to leave their homes. Today 90% of Syrians live below the poverty line.
The second Karabakh war (from 11.2020)
In 44 days, the Azerbaijani army occupied a significant part of the territories that had been under the control of Armenian forces since 1994. About 7 thousand soldiers and more than 160 civilians were killed and hundreds of people were wounded. The fighting stopped with moscow’s mediation when the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia signed an agreement drafted by putin.
According to the agreement, russia sent about 2000 soldiers, 90 armored personnel carriers and 370 pieces of military equipment to the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh to monitor the ceasefire, assuming the role of a peacekeeper. Even though the agreement stipulates the exact number of soldiers and military equipment, russian tanks, combat helicopters and “Grad” rocket launchers have been spotted in the region.
Protests in Kazakhstan (01.2022)
At the request of the President of Kazakhstan in January 2022, russia sent 1480 Airborne troops to Kazakhstan to suppress protests. In fact, it was a public demonstration to the whole world of the russian security forces’ readiness to invade Ukraine and quickly seize or destroy decision-making centers.
Thus, there are two types of “peacekeeping” from russia. One is to start a war near its own borders with the formal aim of protecting “brotherly nations”. And another manifestation of russian “peacekeeping” is to get involved in someone else’s internal conflict on someone’s side, most often on the side of the government, significantly strengthening the ally. In particular, the Syrian campaign showed the effectiveness of russian troops in supporting weak non-democratic governments.
Previously, russia’s participation in military conflicts involved official law enforcement agencies and the russian army. However, in recent years, the kremlin has been using private military companies. In total, there are about 20 PMCs operating in russia’s interests, which function in more than 15 countries in Africa, the CIS and the Middle East.
The most notorious PMCs among them are: “Wagner”, “MAR”, “Moran Security Group”, “Patriot”, “Shield” (Syria, CAR), “Aurora” (Syria, based in Crimea), “E.N.O.T Corp” (so-called LNR, DNR; Belarus, Serbia).
Currently, russian mercenaries are expanding rf’s military presence in Africa. They provide military assistance to the governments in Libya, Sudan, Central African Republic, Madagascar and Mozambique. Mercenaries arrive in these countries to combat, mentor, manipulate elections and extract natural resources.
In this way, the kremlin implements its policy of military interventionism, paying a low political and financial price for it, as official moscow denies its connection with the PMC.
