During the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Chechnya declared a unilateral independence. After the start in 1992 of a small-scale civil war, the First Chechen War began in earnest in 1994, when Russian forces entered Chechnya to “restore constitutional order”. After a disastrous initial assault on the capital Grozny on New Year’s Eve of 1995 and after nearly two years of fighting, the Russian troops were withdrawn from the republic following a ceasefire agreement in 1996. In August 1999, the Second Chechen War began following the Islamic armed invasion of Dagestan and terrorist bombings of Russian civilian apartments. On October 1, Russian troops entered Chechnya. Grozny was taken after a winter siege that lasted from late 1999 to February 2000. Russia established direct rule of Chechnya in May 2000. After the full-scale offensive which overran the country, guerrilla warfare and terrorist attacks continued for several more years, inflicting heavy casualties on both sides.