Not So Peaceful

As the anniversary of the 1991 August Coup Attempt comes up people continue to claim that the collapse of the Soviet Union in December 1991 was peaceful. That is not the case. In one night an estimated 9 million former Soviet citizens suddenly found themselves living in a foreign country (ie. not the one they were ethnically-tied to) and had to flee for their lives with just what they could carry. Millions of other former Soviet citizens not threatened for their lives but still had to make the long trek to their new ethnic country without any government or international help.Below are the major events that happened around the Soviet Union and the different countries of the former Soviet Union from 1986 to Present-day.

-          December 1986: Jeltoqsan: 200 Kazakh civilians killed by Soviet forces.

-          November 1988: Kirovabad Pogrom (Azerbaijani SSR): 130 Armenian civilians killed; 3 Azerbaijani civilians killed; 3 Soviet soldiers killed.

-          1988-1994: Nagorno-Karabakh War: 6,000 Armenian soldiers killed; 1,264 Armenian civilians killed; 500,000 Armenians displaced; 20,000-30,000 Azerbaijani soldiers killed; 763 Azerbaijani civilians killed; 724,000 Azerbaijanis displaced.

-          April 1989: Tbilisi Massacre: 21 Georgian civilians killed by Soviet forces.

-          June 1989: Fergana, Uzbek SSR: 100 civilians killed.

-          July 1989: Sukhumi Riots (Georgian SSR): 18 civilians killed.

-          January 1990: Baku Pogrom (Azerbaijani SSR): 90 Armenian civilians killed.

-          January 1990: Black January (Azerbaijani SSR): 170 Azerbaijani civilians killed; 29 Soviet soldiers killed.

-          February 1990: Dushanbe Riots (Tajik SSR): 26 civilians killed.

-          June 1990: Osh Riots (Kirgizia SSR): 600-1,000 civilians killed.

-          January 1991: January Events (Lithuanian SSR): 14 Lithuanian civilians killed by Soviet forces; 1 Soviet soldier killed by friendly fire.

-          January 1991: The Barricades (Latvian SSR): 4 Latvian civilians killed; 2 Soviet policemen killed.

-          August 1991: Soviet Coup d'état Attempt: 3 anti-Communist civilians killed.

-          1991-1992: South Ossetia War: 1,000 killed overall; 100,000 Ossetians displaced; 23,000 Georgians displaced.

-          1991-1993: Georgia Civil War: 20,000 dead on both sides; 260,000 displaced.

-          December 25,1991: Collapse of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

-          March to July 1992: Transnistria War: 913 Russian soldiers killed; 324 Moldovan soldiers killed;

-          1992-1993: Abkhazia War: 2,220 Russian soldiers killed; 1,820 Abhazian civilians killed; 2,600 Georgian soldiers killed; 30,000 Georgian civilians killed; 250,000 Georgians displaced.

-          1992-1997: Tajikistan Civil War:  20,000 – 60,000 killed and 1.2 million displaced.

-          October 1992 to November 1992: East Prigorodny Conflict (Russia): 542 killed and 30,000- 60,000 Ingush displaced and 9,000 Ossetians displaced.

-          September to October 1993: Russian Constitutional Crisis:  2,000 people killed.

-          1994-1996: First Chechen War (Russia): 3,000 Chechen soldiers killed; 5,372 Russian soldiers killed;  80,000 civilians killed; 500,000 displaced.

-          May 1998: Abkhazia War: 8 Abkhazian soldiers killed; 17 Georgian soldiers killed; 35 Georgian civilians killed; 40,000 Georgians displaced.

-          August to September 1999: Dagestan War (Russia): 275 Russian soldiers killed

-          1999-2009: Second Chechen War (Russia): 16,299 Chechen soldiers killed; 7,425 Russian soldiers killed; 80,000 Chechen civilians killed.

-          2004-2005: Orange Revolution: 1 Ukrainian civilian died of a heart attack.

-          2007-2015: Ingushetia War (Russia): 493 Russian soldiers killed; 871 civilians killed.

-          2008: Russo-Georgian War: 67 Russian soldiers killed; 27 South Ossetian soldiers killed; 365 South Ossetian civilians killed; 30,000 South Ossetians displaced;  1 Abkhazian soldiers killed; 180 Georgian soldiers killed; 224 Georgian civilians killed; 230,000 Georgians displaced.

-          2009-2017: North Caucasus Insurgency (Russia): 1,110 Russian soldiers killed; 2,247 militants killed; 602 civilians killed.

-          2010: Kyrgyzstan Ethnic Clashes: 893 killed and 400,000 displaced.

-          2010-2012: Tajikistan Insurgency: 206 killed.

-          2013-2014: Euromaiden: 780 Euromaiden supporters killed; 17 Ukrainian soldiers killed.

-          2014 Russian Invasion, Occupation and Annexation of Crimea: 1 Russian soldier killed; 2 Ukrainian soldiers killed; 3 civilians killed.

-          2014 to Present: Donbass War: 4,049 Ukrainian soldiers killed; 4,412 Russian soldiers and militants killed; 3,023 Ukrainian civilians killed; 1,414,798 Ukrainians displaced.