 The declaration by Chechnya's Chief Mufti Akhmad Kadyrov that the ChRI was waging a "Jihad" ("struggle") against Russia raised the spectre that Jihadis from other regions and even outside Russia would enter the war.By one estimate, up to 5,000 non-Chechens served as foreign volunteers, motivated by religious and/or nationalistic reasons.Limited fighting occurred in the neighbouring small Russian republic of Ingushetia, mostly when Russian commanders sent troops over the border in pursuit of Chechen fighters, while as many as 200,000 refugees (from Chechnya and the conflict in North Ossetia) strained Ingushetia's already weak economy.