The War of Dagestan began on August 7 , 1999 , during which the Islamic International Brigade ( IIPB ) began an unsuccessful incursion into the neighboring Russian republic of Dagestan in favor of the Shura of Dagestan which sought independence from Russia . In September , a series of apartment bombs that killed around 300 people in several Russian cities , including Moscow , were blamed on the Chechen separatists . Some journalists contested the official explanation , instead blaming the Russian Secret Service for blowing up the buildings to initiate a new military campaign against Chechnya . In response to the bombings , a prolonged air campaign of retaliatory strikes against the Ichkerian regime and a ground offensive that began in October 1999 marked the beginning of the Second Chechen War . Much better organized and planned than the first Chechen War , the Russian military took control over most regions . The Russian forces used brutal force , killing 60 Chechen civilians during a mop-up operation in Aldy , Chechnya on February 5 , 2000 . After the re-capture of Grozny in February 2000 , the Ichkerian regime fell apart
apartment bombs
Russian apartment bombings
Chechnya