Changes

Yeltsin was said to work two hours a day, drunk all the time, and signed what document his [[CIA]] handler put in front of him. Revenues to the state for the export of [[Russian oil]] were said to be 25 cents per barrel.

Yeltsin was said to work two hours a day, drunk all the time, and signed what document his [[CIA]] handler put in front of him. Revenues to the state for the export of [[Russian oil]] were said to be 25 cents per barrel.

Due to [[disarmament]] was sharply reduced Russian influence in [[geopolitics]].  The Russian defense budget reached its nadir of $17 billion in 1994.  Consequently, [[corruption]] spread throughout the [[Russian armed forces]].  It is widely believed that some Russian nuclear "suit case" or "[[dirty bomb]]s may have fallen into the hands of [[terrorists]] during this period{{fact}}, although if this is the case, the terrorists' failure to use any since is somewhat inexplicable.  The armed forces had been withdrawn from most [[Warsaw Pact]] countries under Gorbachev, but were compelled to remain in several of the newly independent Soviet republics to protect Russians and other ethnic [[minorities]].  Indeed, Russians were in the minority in some parts of Russia itself, notably [[Chechnya]]{{fact}}, which had declared its independence around the same time as the [[Baltic states]].

Due to [[disarmament]] was sharply reduced Russian influence in [[geopolitics]].  The Russian defense budget reached its nadir of $17 billion in 1994.  Consequently, [[corruption]] spread throughout the [[Russian armed forces]].  It is widely believed that some Russian nuclear "suit case" or "[[dirty bomb]]s" may have fallen into the hands of [[terrorists]] during this period{{fact}}, although if this is the case, the terrorists' failure to use any since is somewhat inexplicable.  The armed forces had been withdrawn from most [[Warsaw Pact]] countries under Gorbachev, but were compelled to remain in several of the newly independent Soviet republics to protect Russians and other ethnic [[minorities]].  Indeed, Russians were in the minority in some parts of Russia itself, notably [[Chechnya]]{{fact}}, which had declared its independence around the same time as the [[Baltic states]].

On December 11, 1994, Yeltsin authorized an [[invasion]] to restore central government authority in Chechnya.  Unable to match Russia in [[conventional warfare]], the Chechens had by summer 1995 fallen back on [[guerrilla]] and terrorist tactics, including the famous raid led by [[Shamil Basayev]] on [[Budyonnovsk]], which indicated that it would no longer be possible to confine the war to Chechnya.  The latter was probably the most successful mass hostage taking in history{{fact}}; after a failed rescue attempt, Russian forces permitted Basayev and his men to return to Chechnya, where they released approximately 1,000 surviving hostages.  The humiliation of Russian arms was so great that no Russian commander has permitted it to be repeated{{fact}}:  subsequent similar actions such as the [[Beslan school siege of 2004]] have invariably ended with many of the hostages and all or nearly all of the terrorists dead.  Less than eighteen months after the invasion, with at least 40,000 people having been killed on both sides, Yeltsin signed an [[armistice]] and withdrew Russian forces from Chechnya.

On December 11, 1994, Yeltsin authorized an [[invasion]] to restore central government authority in Chechnya.  Unable to match Russia in [[conventional warfare]], the Chechens had by summer 1995 fallen back on [[guerrilla]] and terrorist tactics, including the famous raid led by [[Shamil Basayev]] on [[Budyonnovsk]], which indicated that it would no longer be possible to confine the war to Chechnya.  The latter was probably the most successful mass hostage taking in history{{fact}}; after a failed rescue attempt, Russian forces permitted Basayev and his men to return to Chechnya, where they released approximately 1,000 surviving hostages.  The humiliation of Russian arms was so great that no Russian commander has permitted it to be repeated{{fact}}:  subsequent similar actions such as the [[Beslan school siege of 2004]] have invariably ended with many of the hostages and all or nearly all of the terrorists dead.  Less than eighteen months after the invasion, with at least 40,000 people having been killed on both sides, Yeltsin signed an [[armistice]] and withdrew Russian forces from Chechnya.