MOSCOW  Russia officially ended what it called its counterterrorism operation in the southern region of Chechnya on Thursday with an announcement that carried symbolic weight as the end of a decade of Muslim separatist battles for independence.

The announcement also underscored the success of Chechnya’s strongman president, Ramzan A. Kadyrov, in establishing a fragile stability that has, among other things, allowed rebuilding to begin in Grozny, the obliterated capital. But critics charge that the peace has been achieved through campaigns of unsparing brutality that have included human rights violations.

Russia’s National Antiterrorist Committee said in a statement that the decision was made “to guarantee conditions for the further normalization of the situation in the republic and for the development of its social and economic spheres.”

The committee did not mention troop withdrawals, though Russian officials said they would now have more legal leeway to scale down the number of federal military and security forces. While the violence in Chechnya has declined, it seemed likely that many troops and security forces could remain for some time.