On December 8, 1991, by signing the Belovezhsky Agreement, the collapse of the Soviet Union was formalized. Perhaps one of the most severe consequences of this collapse was the Chechen war. It began on December 11, 1994 after President Yeltsin signed a decree "On measures to ensure the rule of law, law and order and public security on the territory of the Chechen Republic," according to which federal troops entered the territory of the "rebellious" North Caucasian Autonomous Republic.