From this point-of-view, terrorism offers the occasion to undermine the state authority and ruin its influence in particular regions.
Olga Oliker points out that the Russians had been engaged into massive urban combat during the 1994-2000 conflicts. Indeed, the Chechens had the necessary means, as stated above, to undergo physically exhausting warfare. At the same time, though, the Oliker points out that the Russian troops also made serious mistakes by firstly underestimating their opponent and secondly by lack of preparedness. More precisely, Oliker points out some mistakes made during the confrontations as "the Russians believed the city was not well defended. They grossly underestimated their enemy and overestimated their own capabilities" (Oliker, 2001). Furthermore, there were clear cut problems of force coordination, among others. In the second intervention, the Russians managed to be more prepared and to have learned from previous mistakes. However, the attitude of the Chechen fighters proved a clear cut case for urban combat as "they knew their cities and prepaed to defend them, many of the rebels had served in the Soviet and Russian armies (...) they were able to maximise the advantages that accrue to the defense in urban terrain, Chechen small...
This was the beginning of the attempts by the International community to consider the Chechen as terrorists. At the moment the U.S. tagged them as part of the terrorist community. Even so, the way in which the Chechens dealt with the ongoing situation with the Russian Federation proves that their organization as well as their motives determines a well established technique for urban combat as well as terrorist attacks, aimed at eventually undermining the state authority to such an extent as to gain independence from the Russian state in the future.
References
Dunlop, John. Russia confronts Chechnya: roots of a separatist conflict. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998.
Oliker, Olga. "Russia's Chechen Wars: 1994-2000. Lessons from Urban combat." Rand Corporation. 2001.
Zurcher, Christoph. The post soviet wars: rebellion, ethnic conflict, and nationhood in the Caucasus. New York: New York University Press, 2007.
