The struggle can be traced back to the Stalin era when hundreds of thousands of Chechens were forcibly displaced to Siberia, according to Bob Ayers, a retired international security analyst.
"When they returned they wanted to reestablish their presence in Chechnya and they saw it as their homeland," said Ayers.
The use of women as suicide bombers or "Black Widows," is one way in which the struggle in Chechnya is different from al Qaeda and more analogous to the military campaign waged by the IRA in Northern Ireland, says Ayers.
"This war is politically motivated, it is not about a religious ideology as in the case of al Qaeda, so everyone participates and it is ultimately irrelevant if you are a man or a woman," said Ayers.
"They are not like al Qaeda who might say women should be hidden away and have no role in attacks."
The "Black Widows" are believed to be made up of women whose husbands, brothers, fathers or other relatives have been killed in the conflict. The women are often dressed head-to-toe in black and wear the so-called "martyr's belt" filled with explosives.
They have beem involved in a number of attacks in Russia and first came to prominence in 2002 when they were part of a group of separatists who threatened to blow up a Moscow theater seized in the middle of a musical.
In the rescue attempt by Russian special forces, 115 hostages and 50 Chechen separatists were killed.
In 2003 two Black Widows were responsible for blasts at a rock concert that killed 14 in Moscow.
Black Widows were also members of the 32-strong group of heavily-armed Chechen rebels who took 1,200 people as hostages in Beslan in 2004. In the ensuing gun battles between the rebels and Russian forces, 334 hostages were killed, many school children. Only one militant survived.
