 During the 1994-1996 war, the ways in which he distributed information about the conflict, although crude by the Western standards, were still more professional than those of the Kremlin and the Russian federal forces.In August 1996, Movladi Udugov was appointed the First Deputy Prime Minister of Chechen Republic for state policy and information in the war-time cabinet of Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev who became an acting president after the death of Dudayev.For his role in the Chechen victory in information warfare (and the whole war) Udugov was awarded the Ichkeria's highest medal, Honor of the Nation.