The Second Chechen War was started in response to the invasion of Dagestan by the Chechen armed units, and the Russian apartment bombings which Russia blamed on Chechen separatists. The campaign largely reversed the outcome of the First Chechen War, in which the region gained de facto independence. Much better organised and planned than in the first Chechen War, the military actions by the Russian Federal forces enabled them to re-establish control over most regions and to re-capture Grozny in February 2000. The Ichkerian regime fell apart. Russia was successful in installing a pro-Moscow Chechen regime, and the most prominent separatist leaders died including former President Aslan Maskhadov and radical warlord Shamil Basayev.