Chechen Republic of Ichkeria

The Chechen Republic of Ichkeria (/ɪtʃˈkɛriə/ itch-KERR-ee-ə; Chechen: Нохчийн Республик Ичкери, romanized: Nóxçiyn Respublik Içkeri; Russian: Чеченская Республика Ичкерия, romanized: Chechenskaya Respublika Ichkeriya; abbreviated as "ChRI" or "CRI"), known simply as Ichkeria and colloquially as Chechnya, was a de facto state in Eastern Europe. It controlled most of the former Checheno-Ingush ASSR from 1991 to 2000 and has been a government-in-exile since.

In September–October 1991, supporters of Dzhokhar Dudayev seized power in Chechnya during the Chechen Revolution. Dudayev was subsequently elected president of Chechnya and, in this new position, he proclaimed Chechnya's independence from Russia. The move was welcomed by Georgia's president, Zviad Gamsakhurdia, who was one of the first to congratulate Dudayev on his victory and attended his inauguration as president in Grozny. While Chechnya did not receive backing from the international community, it received support and attention from Georgia, which became its only gateway to the outside world that was not controlled by Moscow. Close ties between Gamsakhurdia and Dudayev led to Russian officials, including Alexander Rutskoy, accusing Georgia of "fomenting unrest in the [Chechen autonomous] republic".

The First Chechen War of 1994–1996 resulted in the victory of the separatist forces. Despite achieving de facto independence from Russia in 1996, Chechnya’s institutions were in ruin. Following the war it experienced an economic collapse and a societal breakdown which it was not able to recover from. The government no longer had the strength to control the armed gangs that plagued the country, freely engaging in kidnappings, violence, and slavery. In November 1997, Chechnya was proclaimed an Islamic republic. The Second Chechen War began in August 1999, with Ichkeria falling and subsequently being forcibly subsumed back under the control of the Russian central government in 2000. An insurgency followed soon thereafter, officially ending in April 2009 after several years of conflict. Since 2000, the Ichkerian government has continued its activities in exile. In October 2022, the Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada voted to recognize the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria as "temporarily occupied" by Russia.