Apocalypse

The war that was unleashed was a triumph of brutality over reason. The level of destruction in Chechnya was phenomenal - proof of what heavy weapons and bombs can do to a small place if no regard is taken for civilian casualties. Russian actions on the ground, though less reported, were if anything even more terrible. All armies in all wars do terrible things and the Chechens also committed acts of savagery, as witnessed in the hostage-taking incidents in Budyonnovsk and Pervomaiskoye. But the chaotic, underfed, vicious Russian army did something quite apocalyptic in small Chechnya. It became a war against all Chechens, both those who wanted to stay in Russia and those who did not.

Carlotta Gall and Thomas de Waal, describing the outbreak of the first Chechen War on New Year's Eve, 1994 in Chechnya - Calamity in the Caucasus, New York University Press, 1998.