POLITICAL OPPOSITION TO DZHOKHAR DUDAYEV’S REGIME: STRUCTURE, TRANSFORMATION, AND CRISIS (1991-1994)

The article examines the formation, development, and crisis of political opposition to Dzhokhar Dudayev’s regime in the Chechen Republic between 1991 and 1994. The study analyzes the social and political structure of the opposition movement, its transformation from fragmented political dissent into open confrontation, and the reasons for the loss of its political autonomy on the eve of the First Chechen War. Special attention is paid to the internal fragmentation of the opposition, the role of regional and teip-based elites, and the consolidation of part of the opposition with the ruling authorities in the context of external military intervention. The article concludes that the internal political crisis in the Chechen Republic was driven not only by the confrontation between power and opposition but also by the structural weakness of the opposition during the post-Soviet transition.