The Chechen War is an armed confrontation between the Armed Forces of Russia and the unrecognized Chechen Republic of Ichkeria. These events are among the darkest in recent Russian history. The events unfolded in two campaigns, sometimes two Chechen wars are distinguished: the first from 1994 to 1996, the second from 1999 to 2009.
In the fall of 1991, during a coup d'etat, the parliament of the Chechen-Ingush Republic was ousted from power. At the same time, the Chechen-Ingush Republic was divided into Chechen and Ingush. Elections were held in Chechnya, which were declared illegal by the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR, since they were more a show than an actual election. Thus, separatists led by Dzhokhar Dudayev broke through to power in Chechnya. On October 27, Dudayev was declared president, and on November the independence of Chechnya was proclaimed. Chechnya was named Ichkeria. In the spring of 1992, the republic's constitution was adopted. This state has not been recognized by any state in the world.
Chechnya was in an economic and political crisis: during 1991-1994, the criminal economy flourished (kidnapping and human trafficking, arms trafficking, drug trafficking), there was an armed confrontation between Dudayev and the opposition, ethnic cleansing took place against the non-Chechen population, primarily against the Russians. The Russian leadership tried to impose a state of emergency, but to no avail. Several rounds of negotiations also came to nothing. Chechen leaders wanted the central authorities to recognize an independent Chechnya. Meanwhile, Chechen fighters were seizing weapons, military depots, and this took place with the consent of the Russian Defense Minister Grachev.
On December 11, 1994, Russian troops entered the territory of Chechnya. started. The army came from three directions and was aimed at Grozny. On New Year's Eve, the troops began to storm Grozny. On February 22, 1995, the city was taken, and the movement of Russian troops deep into Chechnya began. By the summer of 1995, Dudaev's troops were in a very difficult situation. On June 14, a hostage-taking took place in Budenovsk (Stavropol Territory), which led to the start of negotiations between the Russian authorities and the separatists and a delay in hostilities on the part of Russia. In April 1996, the leader of the Chechen fighters, Dudaev, was eliminated. In August 1996, the separatists managed to capture Grozny. On August 31, 1996, the parties signed an agreement called the Khasavyurt agreements. Under the terms of the treaty, an armistice was declared, the withdrawal of Russian troops from Chechnya, the question of independence was postponed until 2001.
After the end of the first campaign, a regime was established in Chechnya characterized by a criminal economy, drug trafficking, arms trade), officially sanctioned by blood feud, genocide of people of non-Chechen nationality. The ideas of Islamic extremists were spreading in the republic, Chechen fighters are carrying out terrorist acts outside the territory of Chechnya in Russia. In August 1999, separatist troops led by Basayev and Khattab invaded Dagestan. Russian troops repel the attack and enter Chechnya.
The second Chechen war begins with the battles with Basayev and Khattab. On September 30, 1999, troops entered Chechnya. The end of this war is considered to be April 16, 2009, when the CTO regime was abolished in Chechnya. It is sometimes said that the Chechen war is still going on.
The war caused enormous damage to the Russian people. This is, first of all, expressed in the human losses of Russian soldiers and officers, as well as civilians. The losses cannot be accurately calculated. The data vary from 10 to 26 thousand killed soldiers. In any case, the Russian-Chechen war has become a personal tragedy for a huge number of people.
The second Chechen war also had an official name - the counter-terrorist operation in the North Caucasus, or CTO for short. But it is the common name that is more known and widespread. The war affected almost the entire territory of Chechnya and the adjacent regions of the North Caucasus. It began on September 30, 1999, with the introduction of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. The most active phase can be called the years of the second Chechen war from 1999 to 2000. This was the peak of the attacks. In the following years, the second Chechen war took on the character of local clashes between separatists and Russian soldiers. 2009 was marked by the official abolition of the CTO regime.
The second Chechen war brought a lot of destruction. The photographs taken by journalists are the best evidence of this.
Background
The first and second Chechen wars have a small time gap. After the Khasavyurt agreement was signed in 1996, and Russian troops were withdrawn from the republic, the authorities expected calm. However, peace has never been established in Chechnya.
Criminal structures have significantly stepped up their activities. They were doing impressive business on such a criminal act as kidnapping for ransom. Their victims were both Russian journalists and officials, as well as members of foreign public, political and religious organizations. The bandits did not disdain the abduction of people who came to Chechnya for the funeral of loved ones. So, in 1997, two citizens of Ukraine were captured, who arrived in the republic in connection with the death of their mother. Businessmen and workers from Turkey were regularly captured. Terrorists profited from the theft of oil, drug trafficking, the manufacture and distribution of counterfeit money. They rampaged and frightened civilians.
In March 1999, G. Shpigun, an authorized representative of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs for Chechnya, was captured at the Grozny airport. This egregious case showed the entire inconsistency of the CRI President Maskhadov. The federal center decided to strengthen control over the republic. Elite operational units were sent to the North Caucasus, the purpose of which was the fight against bandit formations. From the side of the Stavropol Territory, a number of missile launchers were displayed, designed to deliver pinpoint ground strikes. An economic blockade was also introduced. The flow of cash infusions from Russia has declined sharply. In addition, it became more and more difficult for the bandits to transport drugs abroad and take hostages. The gasoline produced in the clandestine factories had nowhere to sell. In mid-1999, the border between Chechnya and Dagestan turned into a militarized zone.
The bandit formations did not abandon their attempts to seize power unofficially. Groups led by Khattab and Basayev made forays into the territory of Stavropol and Dagestan. As a result, dozens of servicemen and police officers were killed.
On September 23, 1999, Russian President Boris Yeltsin officially signed a decree on the creation of the United Group of Forces. Its goal was to conduct a counter-terrorist operation in the North Caucasus. This is how the second Chechen war began.
The nature of the conflict
The Russian Federation acted very skillfully. with the help of tactical techniques (luring the enemy into a minefield, surprise raids on small settlements), significant results were achieved. After the active phase of the war passed, the main goal of the command was to establish a truce and attract the former leaders of the gangs to their side. The militants, on the other hand, relied on giving the conflict an international character, calling for the participation of representatives of radical Islam from all over the world.
By 2005, terrorist activity had dropped significantly. Between 2005 and 2008, there were no major attacks on civilians or clashes with official forces. However, in 2010 there were a number of tragic terrorist acts (explosions in the Moscow metro, at the Domodedovo airport).
Second Chechen War: Beginning
On June 18, from the CRI, two attacks were made at once on the border in the direction of Dagestan, as well as on a company of Cossacks in the Stavropol Territory. After that, most of the checkpoints to Chechnya from Russia were closed.
On June 22, 1999, an attempt was made to blow up the building of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of our country. This fact was noted for the first time in the entire history of this ministry. The bomb was found and promptly defused.
On June 30, the Russian leadership gave permission to use military weapons against gangs on the border with the CRI.
Attack on the Republic of Dagestan
On August 1, 1999, the armed groups of the Khasavyurt region, as well as the citizens of Chechnya supporting them, announced that they were introducing Sharia rule in their region.
On August 2, militants from the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria provoked a violent clash between Wahhabis and riot police. As a result, several people died on both sides.
On August 3, a shootout took place between police and Wahhabis in the Tsumadinsky district of the r. Dagestan. Not without losses. Shamil Basayev, one of the leaders of the Chechen opposition, announces the creation of an Islamic shura, which had its own troops. They established control over several areas in Dagestan. The local authorities of the republic ask the center to issue military weapons to protect civilians from terrorists.
The next day, the separatists were driven back from the regional center of Aghvali. More than 500 people dug in at positions that had been prepared in advance. They did not put forward any demands and did not enter into negotiations. it became known that they were holding three policemen.
At noon on August 4, a group of armed militants opened fire on a road in the Botlikh District on the road of the Botlikh District, along with Interior Ministry officers who were trying to stop the car for inspection. As a result, two terrorists were killed, but no losses were observed among the security forces. Two powerful missile and bomb strikes by Russian attack aircraft were carried out on the settlement of Kehni. It was there, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, that a detachment of militants stopped.
On August 5, it becomes known that a major terrorist act is being prepared on the territory of Dagestan. 600 militants were going to penetrate the center of the republic through the village of Kehni. They wanted to seize Makhachkala and sabotage power. However, representatives of the center of Dagestan denied this information.
The period from 9 to 25 August was remembered for the battle for the Donkey Ear Hill. The militants fought with paratroopers from Stavropol and Novorossiysk.
In the period from September 7 to 14, large groups led by Basayev and Khattab invaded Chechnya. The devastating fighting continued for about a month.
Air bombing of Chechnya
On August 25, Russian armed forces attacked terrorist bases in the Vedeno Gorge. More than a hundred militants were killed from the air.
In the period from September 6 to September 18, Russian aviation continues mass bombing of the separatists' gathering places. Despite the protest of the Chechen authorities, the security officials say they will act as necessary in the fight against terrorists.
On September 23, the forces of the central aviation bombarded Grozny and its environs. As a result, power plants, oil factories, a mobile communications center, radio and television buildings were destroyed.
On September 27, Vladimir Putin rejected the possibility of a meeting between the presidents of Russia and Chechnya.
Ground operation
Martial law has been in effect in Chechnya since September 6. Maskhadov calls on his citizens to declare gazavat to Russia.
On October 8, in the village of Mekenskaya, militant Ibragimov Akhmed shot 34 people of Russian nationality. Of these, three were children. At the gathering of the village, Ibragimov was beaten to death with sticks. Mulla forbade the burying of his body.
The next day, they occupied a third of the territory of the CRI and moved on to the second phase of hostilities. The main goal is the destruction of bandit formations.
On November 25, the President of Chechnya appealed to Russian soldiers to surrender and go into captivity.
In December 1999, the military forces of Russia liberated almost all of Chechnya from militants. About 3,000 terrorists scattered over the mountains and also hid in Grozny.
The siege of the capital of Chechnya continued until February 6, 2000. After the capture of Grozny, massive battles came to naught.
Situation in 2009
Despite the fact that the counter-terrorist operation was officially terminated, the situation in Chechnya did not become calmer, but, on the contrary, worsened. Cases of explosions became more frequent, and the militants again became more active. In the fall of 2009, a number of operations were carried out aimed at destroying bandit formations. The militants are responding with major terrorist attacks, including in Moscow. By mid-2010, the conflict was escalating.
Second Chechen war: results
Any hostilities cause damage to property and people. Despite the compelling reasons for the second Chechen war, the pain from the death of loved ones cannot be alleviated or forgotten. According to statistics, 3,684 people were lost from Russia. 2178 representatives of the RF Ministry of Internal Affairs were killed. The FSB lost 202 of its employees. More than 15,000 people were killed among the terrorists. The number of civilians who died during the war is not exactly established. According to official data, it is about 1000 people.
Movies and books about the war
The fighting did not leave indifferent artists, writers and directors. Dedicated to such an event as the second Chechen war, photographs. Exhibitions are regularly held, where you can see works reflecting the destruction left after the battles.
The second Chechen war is still causing a lot of controversy. The film "Purgatory", based on real events, perfectly reflects the horror of that period. The most famous books were written by A. Karasev. These are "Chechen Stories" and "Traitor".
Armed conflict in 1994-1996 (first Chechen war)
The Chechen armed conflict in 1994-1996 - military operations between the Russian federal troops (forces) and the armed formations of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, created in violation of the legislation of the Russian Federation.
In the fall of 1991, in the conditions of the beginning of the collapse of the USSR, the leadership of the Chechen Republic announced the state sovereignty of the republic and its secession from the USSR and the RSFSR. The organs of Soviet power on the territory of the Chechen Republic were dissolved, the effect of the laws of the Russian Federation was canceled. The formation of the armed forces of Chechnya began, headed by the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the President of the Chechen Republic, Dzhokhar Dudayev. Defense lines were built in Grozny, as well as bases for sabotage warfare in mountainous areas.
The Dudayev regime had, according to the calculations of the Ministry of Defense, 11-12 thousand people (according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, up to 15 thousand) regular troops and 30-40 thousand people of the armed militia, of which 5 thousand were mercenaries from Afghanistan, Iran, Jordan, the republics of the North Caucasus and etc.
On December 9, 1994, Russian President Boris Yeltsin signed Decree No. 2166 "On Measures to Suppress the Activities of Illegal Armed Formations on the Territory of the Chechen Republic and in the Ossetian Ingush Conflict Zone". On the same day, the Government of the Russian Federation adopted Resolution No. 1360, which provided for the disarming of these formations by force.
On December 11, 1994, the advance of troops began in the direction of the Chechen capital - the city of Grozny. On December 31, 1994, by order of the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation, troops began an assault on Grozny. Russian armored convoys were stopped and blocked by the Chechens in different parts of the city, the combat units of the federal forces that entered Grozny suffered heavy losses.
(Military encyclopedia. Moscow. In 8 volumes 2004)
The further course of events was extremely negatively influenced by the failure of the eastern and western groupings of troops, and the internal troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs also failed to fulfill the assigned task.
Fighting hard, federal troops took Grozny by February 6, 1995. After the capture of Grozny, the troops began to destroy illegal armed groups in other settlements and in the mountainous regions of Chechnya.
From April 28 to May 12, 1995, in accordance with the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation, a moratorium on the use of armed force in Chechnya was implemented.
Illegal armed formations (IAF), using the negotiating process that had begun, carried out the redeployment of part of the forces from mountainous regions to the locations of Russian troops, formed new groups of militants, fired at checkpoints and positions of federal forces, organized terrorist acts of an unprecedented scale in Budennovsk (June 1995), Kizlyar and Pervomaisky (January 1996).
On August 6, 1996, after heavy defensive battles, the federal troops left Grozny after suffering heavy losses. The illegal armed groups also entered Argun, Gudermes and Shali.
On August 31, 1996, agreements on the cessation of hostilities were signed in Khasavyurt, which ended the first Chechen war. After the conclusion of the agreement, the troops were withdrawn from the territory of Chechnya in the shortest possible time from September 21 to December 31, 1996.
On May 12, 1997, the Treaty on Peace and Principles of Relations between the Russian Federation and the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria was signed.
The Chechen side, not observing the terms of the agreement, led the line for the immediate withdrawal of the Chechen Republic from Russia. Terror against the employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and representatives of local authorities intensified, attempts to rally around Chechnya on an anti-Russian basis the population of other North Caucasian republics.
Counterterrorist operation in Chechnya in 1999 2009 (second Chechen war)
In September 1999, a new phase of the Chechen military campaign began, which was called the counter-terrorist operation in the North Caucasus (CTO). The reason for the start of the operation was the massive invasion of Dagestan on August 7, 1999 from the territory of Chechnya by militants under the general command of Shamil Basayev and the Arab mercenary Khattab. The group included foreign mercenaries and Basayev's militants.
For more than a month, federal forces fought with the invading militants, which ended with the militants being forced to retreat from Dagestan back to Chechnya.
On the same days - 4 September 16 - in several cities of Russia (Moscow, Volgodonsk and Buinaksk) a series of terrorist acts was carried out - the explosions of residential buildings.
Considering Maskhadov's inability to control the situation in Chechnya, the Russian leadership decided to conduct a military operation to destroy the militants on the territory of Chechnya. On September 18 the borders of Chechnya were blocked by Russian troops. On September 23, the President of the Russian Federation issued a decree "On Measures to Increase the Efficiency of Counter-Terrorist Operations in the North Caucasus Region of the Russian Federation," providing for the creation of a Joint Group of Troops (Forces) in the North Caucasus to conduct CTO.
On September 23, Russian aircraft began bombing the capital of Chechnya and its environs. On September 30, a ground operation began - armored units of the Russian army from the Stavropol Territory and Dagestan entered the territory of the Naursky and Shelkovsky regions of the republic.
In December 1999, the entire flat part of the territory of the Chechen Republic was liberated. The militants concentrated in the mountains (about 3,000 people) and settled in Grozny. On February 6, 2000, Grozny was taken under the control of federal forces. To fight in the mountainous regions of Chechnya, in addition to the eastern and western groupings operating in the mountains, a new grouping "Center" was created.
On February 25-27, 2000, "West" units blocked Kharsena, and the "East" grouping closed the militants in the Ulus-Kert, Dachu-Borzoi, Yaryshmardy areas. Ulus-Kert was released on March 2.
The last large-scale operation was the elimination of Ruslan Gelayev's group in the area of \u200b\u200bthe village. Komsomolskoye, which ended on March 14, 2000. After that, the militants switched to sabotage and terrorist methods of warfare, and the federal forces opposed the terrorists with the actions of special forces and the operations of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
During the CTO in Chechnya in 2002, a hostage-taking was committed in Moscow at the Theater Center on Dubrovka. In 2004, a hostage-taking was committed at school number 1 in the city of Beslan in North Ossetia.
By the beginning of 2005, after the destruction of Maskhadov, Khattab, Barayev, Abu al-Walid and many other field commanders, the intensity of the sabotage and terrorist activities of the militants significantly decreased. The only large-scale operation of the militants (the raid on Kabardino-Balkaria on October 13, 2005) ended in failure.
From midnight on April 16, 2009, the National Anti-Terrorism Committee (NAC) of Russia, on the instructions of President Dmitry Medvedev, canceled the CTO regime on the territory of the Chechen Republic.
The material was prepared based on information from open sources
First Chechen war |
|
Chechnya, also partially Ingushetia, Dagestan, Stavropol Territory |
|
Khasavyurt agreements, withdrawal of federal troops from Chechnya. |
|
Territorial changes: |
De facto independence of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria. |
Opponents |
|
Russian Armed Forces |
Chechen separatists |
Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia |
|
Commanders |
|
Boris Yeltsin |
Dzhokhar Dudaev † |
Forces of the parties |
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95,000 troops (February 1995) |
3000 (Republican Guard), 27000 (regular units and militia) |
War losses |
|
About 5,500 dead and missing (according to official figures) |
17 391 dead and captured (Russian data) |
First Chechen war (Chechen conflict 1994-1996, First Chechen campaign, Restoring constitutional order in the Chechen Republic) - hostilities between the government forces of Russia (Armed Forces and the Ministry of Internal Affairs) and the unrecognized Chechen Republic of Ichkeria in Chechnya and some settlements of the neighboring regions of the Russian North Caucasus with the aim of taking control of the territory of Chechnya, on which the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria was proclaimed in 1991. Often referred to as the "first Chechen war," although the conflict was officially called "measures to maintain constitutional order." The conflict and the events preceding it were characterized by a large number of victims among the population, military and law enforcement agencies, facts of genocide of the non-Chechen population in Chechnya were noted.
Despite certain military successes of the Armed Forces and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, the results of this conflict were the defeat and withdrawal of federal troops, massive destruction and casualties, the de facto independence of Chechnya before the second Chechen conflict and a wave of terror that swept across Russia.
Background to the conflict
With the beginning of "perestroika" in various republics of the Soviet Union, including Checheno-Ingushetia, various nationalist movements became more active. One of these organizations was the National Congress of the Chechen People, created in 1990, which aimed at the secession of Chechnya from the USSR and the creation of an independent Chechen state. It was headed by the former general of the Soviet Air Force Dzhokhar Dudayev.
"Chechen revolution" 1991
On June 8, 1991, at the II session of the OKChN, Dudayev proclaimed the independence of the Chechen Republic Nokhchi-cho; thus, a dual power developed in the republic.
During the "August putsch" in Moscow, the leadership of the Chechen-Ingush ASSR supported the GKChP. In response, on September 6, 1991, Dudayev announced the dissolution of the republican state structures, accusing Russia of "colonial" policy. On the same day, Dudayev's guards stormed the building of the Supreme Soviet, the television center and the House of Radio.
More than 40 deputies were beaten, and the chairman of the Grozny city council, Vitaly Kutsenko, was thrown out of the window, as a result of which he died. After that, Ruslan Khasbulatov, Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR, sent them a telegram: "I was pleased to learn about the resignation of the Republic's Armed Forces." After the collapse of the USSR, Dzhokhar Dudayev announced the final withdrawal of Chechnya from the Russian Federation.
On October 27, 1991, presidential and parliamentary elections were held in the republic under the control of separatists. Dzhokhar Dudayev became the president of the republic. These elections were declared illegal by the Russian Federation.
On November 7, 1991, Russian President Boris Yeltsin signed a decree on the introduction of a state of emergency in Checheno-Ingushetia. After these actions of the Russian leadership, the situation in the republic sharply deteriorated - supporters of the separatists surrounded the buildings of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the KGB, military camps, and blocked railway and air hubs. In the end, the introduction of the state of emergency was thwarted and the withdrawal of Russian military units and units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs began from the republic, which was finally completed by the summer of 1992. The separatists began to seize and loot military depots. Dudaev's forces got a lot of weapons: 2 rocket launchers of the ground forces, 4 tanks, 3 infantry fighting vehicles, 1 armored personnel carrier, 14 lightly armored tractors, 6 aircraft, 60 thousand small arms and a lot of ammunition. In June 1992, Russian Defense Minister Pavel Grachev ordered to transfer to the Dudayevites half of all weapons and ammunition available in the republic. According to him, this was a forced step, since a significant part of the "transferred" weapons had already been captured, and there was no way to take out the rest due to the lack of soldiers and echelons.
The collapse of the Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (1991-1992)
The separatist victory in Grozny led to the collapse of the Chechen-Ingush ASSR. Malgobeksky, Nazranovsky and most of the Sunzhensky region of the former Chechen-Ingush ASSR formed the Republic of Ingushetia within the Russian Federation. Legally, the Chechen-Ingush ASSR ceased to exist on December 10, 1992.
The exact border between Chechnya and Ingushetia has not been demarcated and to date (2010) has not been defined. During the Ossetian-Ingush conflict in November 1992, Russian troops entered the Prigorodny region of North Ossetia. Relations between Russia and Chechnya have escalated sharply. The Russian high command suggested at the same time solving the "Chechen problem" by force, but then the entry of troops into the territory of Chechnya was prevented by the efforts of Yegor Gaidar.
The period of de facto independence (1991-1994)
As a result, Chechnya became de facto independent, but not legally recognized by any country, including Russia, as a state. The republic had state symbols - a flag, coat of arms and anthem, authorities - the president, parliament, government, secular courts. The creation of a small Armed Forces was supposed, as well as the introduction of its own state currency - nahara. In the constitution adopted on March 12, 1992, CRI was described as an "independent secular state", its government refused to sign a federal agreement with the Russian Federation.
In fact, the state system of the CRI turned out to be extremely ineffective and in the period 1991-1994 it was rapidly criminalized.
In 1992-1993, over 600 premeditated murders were committed on the territory of Chechnya. For the period of 1993, 559 trains were attacked at the Grozny branch of the North Caucasian Railway, with full or partial looting of about 4 thousand wagons and containers worth 11.5 billion rubles. For 8 months of 1994, 120 armed attacks were carried out, as a result of which 1156 wagons and 527 containers were looted. Losses amounted to over 11 billion rubles. In 1992-1994, 26 railway workers were killed as a result of armed attacks. The current situation forced the Russian government to make a decision to stop traffic on the territory of Chechnya from October 1994.
A special trade was the production of false advice notes, for which more than 4 trillion rubles were received. Hostage-taking and the slave trade flourished in the republic - according to Rosinformtsentr, in total, since 1992, 1,790 people have been kidnapped and illegally held in Chechnya.
Even after that, when Dudayev stopped paying taxes to the general budget and banned Russian intelligence officers from entering the republic, the federal center continued to transfer funds from the budget to Chechnya. In 1993, 11.5 billion rubles were allocated to Chechnya. Until 1994, Russian oil continued to flow to Chechnya, while it was not paid for and was resold abroad.
The period of Dudayev's rule is characterized by ethnic cleansing against the entire non-Chechen population. In 1991-1994, the non-Chechen (primarily Russian) population of Chechnya was subjected to murder, attacks and threats from the Chechens. Many were forced to leave Chechnya, being expelled from their homes, abandoning or selling apartments to Chechens at low prices. In 1992 alone, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, 250 Russians were killed in Grozny, and 300 were missing. The morgues were filled with unidentified corpses. Widespread anti-Russian propaganda was fueled by the relevant literature, direct insults and calls from the government tribunes, and desecrations of Russian cemeteries.
1993 political crisis
In the spring of 1993 in CRI, the contradictions between President Dudayev and the parliament sharply escalated. On April 17, 1993, Dudayev announced the dissolution of the parliament, the constitutional court and the Ministry of Internal Affairs. On June 4, armed Dudayevites under the command of Shamil Basayev seized the building of the Grozny city council, which hosted parliamentary and constitutional court sessions; thus, a coup d'etat took place in CRI. Amendments were made to the constitution adopted last year, and Dudayev's personal power regime was established in the republic, which lasted until August 1994, when legislative powers were returned to parliament.
Formation of the anti-Dudaev opposition (1993-1994)
After the coup d'etat on June 4, 1993, in the northern regions of Chechnya, not controlled by the separatist government in Grozny, an armed anti-Dudaev opposition was formed, which began an armed struggle against the Dudayev regime. The first opposition organization was the Committee for National Salvation (KNS), which carried out several armed actions, but was soon defeated and disintegrated. It was replaced by the Provisional Council of the Chechen Republic (VSChR), which proclaimed itself the only legal authority on the territory of Chechnya. The HSCR was recognized as such by the Russian authorities, who provided him with all kinds of support (including weapons and volunteers).
The beginning of the civil war (1994)
Since the summer of 1994, hostilities have unfolded in Chechnya between government troops loyal to Dudayev and the forces of the opposition Provisional Council. Troops loyal to Dudaev carried out offensive operations in the Nadterechny and Urus-Martan districts controlled by the opposition forces. They were accompanied by significant losses on both sides, tanks, artillery and mortars were used.
The forces of the parties were approximately equal, and neither of them was able to prevail in the struggle.
In Urus-Martan alone, in October 1994, the Dudayevites lost 27 people killed, according to the opposition. The operation was planned by the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria A. Maskhadov. The commander of the opposition detachment in Urus-Martan B. Gantamirov lost from 5 to 34 people killed, according to various sources. In Argun in September 1994, a detachment of the opposition field commander R. Labazanov lost 27 people killed. The opposition, in turn, carried out offensive actions in Grozny on September 12 and October 15, 1994, but each time it retreated without achieving decisive success, although it did not suffer large losses.
On November 26, oppositionists unsuccessfully stormed Grozny for the third time. At the same time, a number of Russian servicemen who "fought on the side of the opposition" under a contract with the Federal Counterintelligence Service were captured by Dudaev's supporters.
The course of the war
Entry of troops (December 1994)
Even before the announcement of any decision by the Russian authorities, on December 1, Russian aviation struck the Kalinovskaya and Khankala airfields and disabled all the planes at the disposal of the separatists. On December 11, 1994, the President of the Russian Federation Boris Yeltsin signed Decree No. 2169 "On measures to ensure legality, law and order and public safety on the territory of the Chechen Republic."
On the same day, units of the United Group of Forces (UGV), consisting of units of the Ministry of Defense and Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, entered the territory of Chechnya. The troops were divided into three groups and entered from three different sides - from the west (from North Ossetia through Ingushetia), the northwest (from the Mozdok region of North Ossetia, directly bordering Chechnya) and the east (from the territory of Dagestan).
The eastern group was blocked in the Khasavyurt district of Dagestan by local residents - Chechens-Akkins. The western group was also blocked by local residents and came under fire near the village of Barsuki, however, using force, it nevertheless broke through into Chechnya. The most successful was the Mozdok group, already on December 12, approached the village of Dolinsky, located 10 km from Grozny.
Near Dolinsky, Russian troops came under fire from the Chechen rocket artillery "Grad" and then fought for this settlement.
A new offensive by the UGV units began on December 19. The Vladikavkaz (western) grouping blocked Grozny from the west, bypassing the Sunzhensky ridge. On December 20, the Mozdok (northwestern) grouping took Dolinsky and blocked Grozny from the northwest. The Kizlyar (eastern) group blocked Grozny from the east, and the paratroopers of the 104th airborne division blocked the city from the Argun Gorge. At the same time, the southern part of Grozny was not blocked.
Thus, at the initial stage of hostilities, in the first weeks of the war, Russian troops were able to occupy the northern regions of Chechnya practically without resistance.
The storming of Grozny (December 1994 - March 1995)
Despite the fact that Grozny still remained unblocked from the southern side, the storming of the city began on December 31, 1994. About 250 units of armored vehicles entered the city, extremely vulnerable in street battles. Russian troops were poorly trained, there was no interaction and coordination between the various units, and many soldiers had no combat experience. The troops did not even have maps of the city and normal communications.
The western grouping of forces was stopped, the eastern one also retreated and did not take any action until January 2, 1995. In the northern direction, the 131st separate Maykop motorized rifle brigade and the 81st Petrakuvsky motorized rifle regiment, under the command of General Pulikovsky, reached the railway station and the Presidential Palace. There they were surrounded and defeated - the losses of the Maikop brigade amounted to 85 people killed and 72 missing, 20 tanks were destroyed, the brigade commander Colonel Savin was killed, more than 100 servicemen were taken prisoner.
The eastern group under the command of General Rokhlin was also surrounded and bogged down in battles with separatist units, but, nevertheless, Rokhlin did not give the order to retreat.
On January 7, 1995, the "North-East" and "North" groupings were united under the command of General Rokhlin, and Ivan Babichev became the commander of the "West" grouping.
Russian troops changed tactics - now, instead of the massive use of armored vehicles, they used maneuverable airborne assault groups, supported by artillery and aviation. Fierce street fighting broke out in Grozny.
The two groups moved to the Presidential Palace and by January 9 occupied the building of the Oil Institute and the Grozny airport. By January 19, these groups met in the center of Grozny and seized the Presidential Palace, but the detachments of Chechen separatists withdrew across the Sunzha River and took up defensive positions on Minutka Square. Despite the successful offensive, Russian troops controlled only about a third of the city at that time.
By the beginning of February, the number of UGVs had been increased to 70,000. General Anatoly Kulikov became the new commander of the UGV.
Only on February 3, 1995 was the "South" grouping formed and the implementation of the plan to blockade Grozny from the southern side began. By February 9, Russian units reached the border of the federal highway "Rostov-Baku".
On February 13, in the village of Sleptsovskaya (Ingushetia), negotiations were held between the commander of the UGV Anatoly Kulikov and the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria Aslan Maskhadov on the conclusion of a temporary truce - the parties exchanged lists of prisoners of war, and both sides were given the opportunity to take out the dead and wounded from the streets of the city. The truce, however, was violated by both sides.
In the 20th of February, street fighting continued in the city (especially in its southern part), but the Chechen detachments, deprived of support, gradually retreated from the city.
Finally, on March 6, 1995, a detachment of militants of the Chechen field commander Shamil Basayev retreated from Chernorechye, the last region of Grozny controlled by the separatists, and the city finally came under the control of Russian troops.
In Grozny, a pro-Russian administration of Chechnya was formed, headed by Salambek Khadzhiev and Umar Avturkhanov.
As a result of the storming of Grozny, the city was virtually destroyed and turned into ruins.
Establishment of control over the plains of Chechnya (March - April 1995)
After the storming of Grozny, the main task of the Russian troops was to establish control over the flat regions of the rebellious republic.
The Russian side began to conduct active negotiations with the population, convincing local residents to expel militants from their settlements. At the same time, Russian units occupied dominant heights over villages and cities. Thanks to this, on March 15-23, Argun was taken, on March 30 and 31, the cities of Shali and Gudermes were taken without a fight, respectively. However, the militants' detachments were not destroyed and freely left the settlements.
Despite this, local battles took place in the western regions of Chechnya. On March 10, battles for the village of Bamut began. On April 7-8, a combined detachment of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, consisting of the Sofrinskaya brigade of internal troops and supported by SOBR and OMON detachments, entered the village of Samashki (Achkhoy-Martanovsky district of Chechnya) and entered into battle with the militants. It was alleged that the village was defended by more than 300 people (the so-called "Abkhaz battalion" of Shamil Basayev). The losses of militants amounted to more than 100 people, Russian - 13-16 people were killed, 50-52 wounded. During the battle for Samashki, many civilians were killed and this operation caused a great resonance in Russian society and increased anti-Russian sentiments in Chechnya.
On April 15-16, the decisive assault on Bamut began - Russian troops managed to enter the village and gain a foothold on the outskirts. Then, however, the Russian troops were forced to leave the village, since now the militants occupied the commanding heights over the village, using the old missile silos of the Strategic Missile Forces, designed for conducting a nuclear war and invulnerable to Russian aviation. A series of battles for this village continued until June 1995, then the fighting was suspended after the terrorist attack in Budyonnovsk and resumed in February 1996.
By April 1995, Russian troops occupied almost the entire flat territory of Chechnya and the separatists focused on sabotage and partisan operations.
Establishment of control over the mountainous regions of Chechnya (May - June 1995)
From April 28 to May 11, 1995, the Russian side announced the suspension of hostilities on its part.
The offensive resumed only on May 12. The attacks of Russian troops fell on the villages of Chiri-Yurt, which covered the entrance to the Argun gorge and Serzhen-Yurt, located at the entrance to the Vedeno gorge. Despite the significant superiority in manpower and equipment, the Russian troops got bogged down in the enemy's defense - it took General Shamanov a week of shelling and bombing to take Chiri-Yurt.
Under these conditions, the Russian command decided to change the direction of the strike - instead of Shatoi to Vedeno. Militant units were pinned down in the Argun gorge and on June 3 Vedeno was taken by Russian troops, and on June 12 the regional centers Shatoi and Nozhai-Yurt were taken.
Also, as in the lowland areas, the separatist forces were not defeated and were able to withdraw from the abandoned settlements. Therefore, even during the "truce", the militants were able to transfer a significant part of their forces to the northern regions - on May 14 the city of Grozny was fired upon by them more than 14 times.
Terrorist act in Budyonnovsk (June 14-19, 1995)
On June 14, 1995, a group of Chechen militants of 195 people, led by field commander Shamil Basayev, entered the territory of the Stavropol Territory (Russian Federation) in trucks and stopped in the city of Budennovsk.
The first object of the attack was the building of the GOVD, then the terrorists took over the city hospital and drove the captured civilians into it. In total, the terrorists held about 2,000 hostages. Basayev put forward demands to the Russian authorities - the cessation of hostilities and the withdrawal of Russian troops from Chechnya, negotiations with Dudaev through the mediation of UN representatives in exchange for the release of the hostages.
Under these conditions, the authorities decided to storm the hospital building. Due to information leakage, terrorists managed to prepare to repel the assault, which lasted four hours; as a result, the special forces recaptured all corps (except for the main one), freeing 95 hostages. The losses of the special forces amounted to three people killed. On the same day, an unsuccessful second assault attempt was made.
After the failure of forceful actions to free the hostages, negotiations began between the then Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Viktor Chernomyrdin and field commander Shamil Basayev. The terrorists were provided with buses, on which they, together with 120 hostages, arrived in the Chechen village of Zandak, where the hostages were released.
The total losses of the Russian side, according to official data, amounted to 143 people (of which 46 were members of the security forces) and 415 wounded, the loss of terrorists - 19 killed and 20 wounded.
Situation in the republic in June - December 1995
After the terrorist attack in Budyonnovsk, from June 19 to June 22, the first round of negotiations between the Russian and Chechen parties took place in Grozny, at which it was possible to achieve the introduction of a moratorium on hostilities for an indefinite period.
From June 27 to June 30, the second stage of negotiations took place there, at which an agreement was reached on the exchange of prisoners "all for all", the disarmament of the CRI units, the withdrawal of Russian troops and the holding of free elections.
Despite all the agreements concluded, the ceasefire was violated by both parties. Chechen units returned to their villages, but not as members of illegal armed groups, but as “self-defense units”. Local battles took place throughout Chechnya. For some time, the emerging tension was managed through negotiations. Thus, on August 18-19, Russian troops blockaded Achkhoy-Martan; the situation was resolved at the talks in Grozny.
On August 21, a detachment of fighters of the field commander Alaudi Khamzatov captured Argun, but after heavy shelling by Russian troops left the city, into which Russian armored vehicles were then brought in.
In September, Achkhoy-Martan and Sernovodsk were blocked by Russian troops, since there were militant detachments in these settlements. The Chechen side refused to leave the occupied positions, since, according to them, these were “self-defense units” that had the right to be in accordance with the agreements reached earlier.
On October 6, 1995, an attempt was made against the commander of the United Group of Forces (UGV), General Romanov, as a result of which he ended up in a coma. In turn, “retaliation strikes” were delivered against the Chechen villages.
On October 8, an unsuccessful attempt was made to eliminate Dudaev - an air strike was delivered to the village of Roshni-Chu.
Before the elections, the Russian leadership decided to replace the heads of the pro-Russian administration of the republic, Salambek Khadzhiev and Umar Avturkhanov, with the former head of the Chechen-Ingush ASSR Dokka Zavgaev.
On December 10-12, the city of Gudermes, occupied by Russian troops without resistance, was captured by the detachments of Salman Raduev, Khunkar-Pasha Israpilov and Sultan Geliskhanov. On December 14-20, there were battles for this city, and about a week of "cleansing" operations were needed for the Russian troops to finally take Gudermes under their control.
On December 14-17, elections were held in Chechnya, which were held with a large number of violations, but nevertheless, they were recognized as valid. Supporters of the separatists announced in advance about boycotting and non-recognition of the elections. Dokku Zavgaev won the elections, receiving over 90% of the votes; at the same time, all servicemen of the UGA took part in the elections.
Terrorist attack in Kizlyar (January 9-18, 1996)
On January 9, 1996, a detachment of 256 militants under the command of field commanders Salman Raduev, Turpal-Ali Atgeriev and Khunkar-Pasha Israpilov raided the city of Kizlyar (Republic of Dagestan, Russian Federation). The initial target of the militants was a Russian helicopter base and an armory. The terrorists destroyed two Mi-8 transport helicopters and took several hostages from among the soldiers guarding the base. The Russian military and law enforcement agencies began to move to the city, so the terrorists seized the hospital and the maternity hospital, driving about 3,000 more civilians there. This time, the Russian authorities did not give the order to storm the hospital, so as not to increase anti-Russian sentiments in Dagestan. During the negotiations, it was possible to agree on the provision of buses to the militants to the border with Chechnya in exchange for the release of the hostages, who were supposed to be dropped off at the very border. On January 10, a convoy with militants and hostages moved to the border. When it became clear that the terrorists would leave for Chechnya, the bus convoy was stopped by warning shots. Taking advantage of the confusion of the Russian leadership, the militants seized the village of Pervomayskoye, disarming the police checkpoint there. From 11 to 14 January, negotiations were held, on January 15-18, an unsuccessful assault on the village took place. In parallel with the assault on Pervomaiskiy, on January 16, in the Turkish port of Trabzon, a group of terrorists seized the passenger ship "Avrasia" with threats to shoot Russian hostages if the assault was not stopped. After two days of negotiations, the terrorists surrendered to the Turkish authorities.
The losses of the Russian side, according to official data, amounted to 78 people killed and several hundred wounded.
Militants attack on Grozny (March 6-8, 1996)
On March 6, 1996, several detachments of militants attacked Grozny, which was controlled by Russian troops, from various directions. The militants seized the Staropromyslovsky district of the city, blockaded and fired at Russian checkpoints and checkpoints. Despite the fact that Grozny remained under the control of the Russian armed forces, the separatists, when retreating, took with them supplies of food, medicine and ammunition. According to official figures, the losses of the Russian side amounted to 70 killed and 259 wounded.
Fight near the village of Yaryshmardy (April 16, 1996)
On April 16, 1996, a column of the 245th motorized rifle regiment of the Russian Armed Forces, moving to Shatoi, was ambushed in the Argun Gorge near the village of Yaryshmardy. The operation was led by field commander Khattab. The militants knocked out the head and trailing convoy of the vehicle, thus the convoy was blocked and suffered significant losses.
Liquidation of Dzhokhar Dudayev (April 21, 1996)
From the very beginning of the Chechen campaign, the Russian special services have repeatedly tried to eliminate the President of the CRI, Dzhokhar Dudayev. Attempts to dispatch killers ended in failure. We managed to find out that Dudayev often speaks on the satellite phone of the Inmarsat system.
On April 21, 1996, the Russian AWACS A-50 aircraft, on which equipment for bearing the satellite phone signal was installed, received an order to take off. At the same time, Dudaev's cortege left for the area of \u200b\u200bthe village of Gekhi-Chu. Unfolding his phone, Dudayev contacted Konstantin Borov. At that moment, the signal from the phone was intercepted and two Su-25 attack aircraft took off. When the planes reached the target, two missiles were fired at the motorcade, one of which hit the target directly.
By a closed decree of Boris Yeltsin, several military pilots were awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation.
Negotiations with separatists (May-July 1996)
Despite some successes of the Russian Armed Forces (the successful liquidation of Dudayev, the final capture of the settlements of Goiskoye, Stary Achkhoy, Bamut, Shali), the war began to take on a protracted nature. In the context of the upcoming presidential elections, the Russian leadership decided to once again negotiate with the separatists.
On May 27-28, a meeting of the Russian and Ichkerian (headed by Zelimkhan Yandarbiev) delegations took place in Moscow, at which they managed to agree on an armistice from June 1, 1996 and an exchange of prisoners. Immediately after the end of negotiations in Moscow, Boris Yeltsin flew to Grozny, where he congratulated the Russian military on the victory over the "rebellious Dudayev regime" and announced the abolition of military duty.
On June 10, in Nazran (Republic of Ingushetia), during the next round of negotiations, an agreement was reached on the withdrawal of Russian troops from the territory of Chechnya (with the exception of two brigades), the disarmament of separatist detachments, and the holding of free democratic elections. The question of the status of the republic was temporarily postponed.
The agreements concluded in Moscow and Nazran were violated by both sides, in particular, the Russian side was in no hurry to withdraw its troops, and the Chechen field commander Ruslan Khaikhoroev took responsibility for the explosion of a regular bus in Nalchik.
On July 3, 1996, the current President of the Russian Federation, Boris Yeltsin, was re-elected as President. The new Secretary of the Security Council Alexander Lebed announced the resumption of hostilities against the militants.
On July 9, after the Russian ultimatum, hostilities resumed - aviation struck the militant bases in the mountainous Shatoisky, Vedensky and Nozhai-Yurtovsky regions.
Operation Jihad (6-22 August 1996)
On August 6, 1996, detachments of Chechen separatists, numbering from 850 to 2,000, again attacked Grozny. The separatists did not aim at capturing the city; they blocked administrative buildings in the city center and fired on checkpoints and checkpoints. The Russian garrison under the command of General Pulikovsky, despite the significant superiority in manpower and equipment, could not hold the city.
Simultaneously with the storming of Grozny, the separatists also captured the cities of Gudermes (taken by them without a fight) and Argun (Russian troops held only the commandant's office building).
According to Oleg Lukin, it was the defeat of the Russian troops in Grozny that led to the signing of the Khasavyurt ceasefire agreements.
Khasavyurt agreements (August 31, 1996)
On August 31, 1996, representatives of Russia (Chairman of the Security Council Alexander Lebed) and Ichkeria (Aslan Maskhadov) in the city of Khasavyurt (Republic of Dagestan) signed an armistice agreement. Russian troops were completely withdrawn from Chechnya, and the decision on the status of the republic was postponed until December 31, 2001.
Peacekeeping initiatives and activities of humanitarian organizations
On December 15, 1994, the Mission of the Commissioner for Human Rights in the North Caucasus began to operate in the conflict zone, which included deputies of the State Duma of the Russian Federation and a representative of Memorial (later called the Mission of Public Organizations under the leadership of S. A. Kovalev) ... The Kovalev Mission did not have official powers, but acted with the support of several human rights public organizations, coordinated the work of the Mission by the Memorial Human Rights Center.
On December 31, 1994, on the eve of the storming of Grozny by Russian troops, Sergei Kovalev, as part of a group of State Duma deputies and journalists, negotiated with Chechen militants and parliamentarians in the presidential palace in Grozny. When the assault began and Russian tanks and armored personnel carriers began to burn in the square in front of the palace, civilians took refuge in the basement of the presidential palace, and soon wounded and captured Russian soldiers began to appear there. Correspondent Danila Galperovich recalled that Kovalev, being at the headquarters of Dzhokhar Dudaev among the militants, "was almost all the time in the basement room equipped with army radio stations," offering Russian tankers "to leave the city without firing if they indicated a route." According to journalist Galina Kovalskaya, who was there, after being shown burning Russian tanks in the city center,
According to the Institute for Human Rights headed by Kovalev, this episode, as well as the entire human rights and anti-war position of Kovalev, became the reason for a negative reaction from the military leadership, representatives of state authorities, as well as numerous supporters of the "state" approach to human rights. In January 1995, the State Duma adopted a draft resolution, in which his work in Chechnya was recognized as unsatisfactory: as Kommersant wrote, "because of his 'unilateral position' aimed at justifying illegal armed groups."
In March 1995, the State Duma removed Kovalev from the post of Commissioner for Human Rights in Russia, according to Kommersant, "for his statements against the war in Chechnya."
Representatives of various non-governmental organizations, deputies and journalists traveled to the conflict zone as part of the Kovalev mission. The mission was engaged in collecting information about what is happening in the Chechen war, was engaged in the search for missing persons and prisoners, helped to release Russian servicemen who were captured by Chechen fighters. For example, the Kommersant newspaper reported that during the siege by Russian troops of the village of Bamut, Khaikharoev, who commanded the militant detachments, promised to execute five prisoners after each shelling of the village by Russian troops, but under the influence of Sergei Kovalev, who participated in negotiations with field commanders Khaikharoev gave up these intentions.
Since the beginning of the conflict, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has launched an extensive victim assistance program, providing over 250,000 internally displaced persons with food parcels, blankets, soap, warm clothing and plastic covers in the first months. In February 1995, of the 120,000 inhabitants remaining in Grozny, 70,000 were completely dependent on ICRC assistance.
In Grozny, the water supply and sewerage system were completely destroyed, and the ICRC hastily set about providing the city with drinking water. In the summer of 1995, about 750,000 liters of chlorinated water every day, calculated to meet the needs of more than 100,000 residents, was transported in tank trucks to 50 distribution points throughout Grozny. Over the next year, 1996, more than 230 million liters of drinking water were produced for the inhabitants of the North Caucasus.
In Grozny and other cities of Chechnya, free canteens were opened for the most vulnerable segments of the population, in which 7,000 people were provided with hot food every day. More than 70,000 schoolchildren in Chechnya received books and school supplies from the ICRC.
During 1995-1996, the ICRC carried out a number of programs to help victims of the armed conflict. Its delegates visited about 700 people detained by federal forces and Chechen militants in 25 places of detention in Chechnya itself and neighboring regions, delivered to addressees more than 50,000 letters on Red Cross letterheads, which became the only opportunity for separated families to establish contacts with each other, so how all communications were interrupted. The ICRC provided medicines and medical supplies to 75 hospitals and medical institutions in Chechnya, North Ossetia, Ingushetia and Dagestan, participated in the rehabilitation and provision of medicines to hospitals in Grozny, Argun, Gudermes, Shali, Urus-Martan and Shatoi, and provided regular assistance to homes for the disabled and children's homes. shelters.
In the fall of 1996, in the village of Novye Atagi, the ICRC equipped and opened a hospital for war victims. For three months of operation, the hospital received more than 320 people, 1,700 people received outpatient care, and almost six hundred surgical operations were performed. On December 17, 1996, an armed attack was carried out on the hospital in Novye Atagi, as a result of which six of its foreign employees were killed. After that, the ICRC was forced to withdraw foreign staff from Chechnya.
In April 1995, an American specialist in humanitarian operations, Frederick Cuney, together with two Russian doctors from the Russian Red Cross Society and an interpreter, organized humanitarian aid in Chechnya. Kewney was trying to negotiate a truce when he went missing. There is reason to believe that Kewney and his Russian associates were captured by Chechen militants and executed by order of Rezvan Elbiyev, one of the counterintelligence leaders of Dzhokhar Dudayev, since they were mistaken for Russian agents. There is a version that this was the result of a provocation by the Russian special services, which thus dealt with Kewney by the hands of the Chechens.
Various women's movements ("Soldier's Mothers", "White Headscarf", "Women of the Don" and others) worked with military personnel - participants in military operations, released prisoners of war, wounded, and other categories of victims of hostilities.
Outcome
The result of the war was the signing of the Khasavyurt agreements and the withdrawal of Russian troops. Chechnya again became de facto independent, but de jure unrecognized by any country in the world (including Russia) as a state.
The destroyed houses and villages were not restored, the economy was exclusively criminal, however, it was criminal not only in Chechnya, so, according to the former deputy Konstantin Borovoy, kickbacks in the construction business on contracts of the Ministry of Defense, during the First Chechen War, reached 80% from the amount of the contract. Due to ethnic cleansing and hostilities, almost all of the non-Chechen population left (or were killed) in Chechnya. An interwar crisis and the growth of Wahhabism began in the republic, which later led to the invasion of Dagestan, and then to the beginning of the Second Chechen War.
Losses
According to the data released by the UGV headquarters, the losses of the Russian troops amounted to 4103 people killed, 1231 - missing / deserted / prisoners, 19 794 wounded. According to the Committee of Soldiers' Mothers, the losses amounted to at least 14,000 people killed (documented deaths according to the mothers of soldiers killed). However, it should be borne in mind that the data of the Committee of Soldiers' Mothers include only the losses of conscripts, excluding the losses of contract servicemen, soldiers of special units, etc. The losses of militants, according to the Russian side, amounted to 17,391 people. According to the chief of staff of the Chechen units (later the President of the CRI) A. Maskhadov, the losses of the Chechen side amounted to about 3000 people killed. According to the HRC Memorial, the losses of the militants did not exceed 2,700 killed. The number of civilian casualties is not known for certain - according to the human rights organization Memorial, they amount to up to 50 thousand people killed. The Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation A. Lebed estimated the loss of the civilian population of Chechnya at 80,000 people perished.
Commanders
Commanders of the United Group of Federal Forces in the Chechen Republic
- Mityukhin, Alexey Nikolaevich (December 1994)
- Kvashnin, Anatoly Vasilievich (December 1994 - February 1995)
- Kulikov, Anatoly Sergeevich (February - July 1995)
- Romanov, Anatoly Alexandrovich (July - October 1995)
- Shkirko, Anatoly Afanasevich (October - December 1995)
- Tikhomirov, Vyacheslav Valentinovich (January - October 1996)
- Pulikovsky, Konstantin Borisovich (acting July - August 1996)
In art
Films
- "Cursed and Forgotten" (1997) is a feature film by Sergei Govorukhin.
- "60 hours of the Maikop brigade" (1995) - a documentary film by Mikhail Polunin about the "New Year" assault on Grozny.
- "Checkpoint" (1998) - a feature film by Alexander Rogozhkin.
- Purgatory (1997) is a naturalistic feature film by Alexander Nevzorov.
- Prisoner of the Caucasus (1996) is a feature film by Sergei Bodrov.
- DDT in Chechnya (1996): part 1, part 2
Music
- "Dead city. Christmas "- a song about the" New Year "assault on Grozny by Yuri Shevchuk.
- The song of Yuri Shevchuk is dedicated to the first Chechen war. Boys were dying.
- The songs "Lube" are dedicated to the first Chechen war: "Batyanya Kombat" (1995), "Demobilization Soon" (1996), "Step March" (1996), "Ment" (1997).
- Timur Mutsurayev - Almost all of his work is dedicated to the First Chechen War.
- Songs about the First Chechen War occupy a significant part of the work of the Chechen bard Imam Alimsultanov.
- The song of the Dead Dolphins group - Dead City is dedicated to the first Chechen war.
- Blue berets - "New Year", "Reflections of an officer at the hotline telephone", "Two turntables on Mozdok".
Books
- "Prisoner of the Caucasus" (1994) - story (novella) by Vladimir Makanin
- Chechen Blues (1998) is a novel by Alexander Prokhanov.
- Pervomaika (2000) - a story by Albert Zaripov. The story of the storming of the village of Pervomayskoye in the Republic of Dagestan in January 1996.
- Pathologies (novel) (2004) is a novel by Zakhar Prilepin.
- I was in this war (2001) - a novel by Vyacheslav Mironov. The plot of the novel is built around the storming of Grozny by federal troops in the winter of 1994/95.
Chechnya, then the entire North Caucasus |
|
Militants invaded Dagestan, explosions of residential buildings |
|
Federal Troops Victory: |
|
Opponents |
|
Russian Federation |
Islamic State of Dagestan |
Caucasian Emirate |
|
Foreign fighters |
|
Al-qaeda |
|
Commanders |
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Boris Yeltsin |
Aslan Maskhadov † |
Vladimir Putin |
Abdul-Halim Saidulaev † |
Doku Umarov (wanted) |
|
Victor Kazantsev |
Ruslan Gelaev † |
Gennady Troshev |
Shamil Basayev † |
Vladimir Shamanov |
Vakha Arsanov † |
Alexander Baranov |
Arbi Baraev † |
Valentin Korabelnikov |
Movsar Baraev † |
Anatoly Kvashnin |
Abdul-Malik Mezhidov † |
Vladimir Moltenskoy |
Suleiman Elmurzaev † |
Akhmad Kadyrov † |
Khunkar-Pasha Israpilov † |
Ramzan Kadyrov |
Salman Raduev † |
Dzhabrail Yamadaev † |
Rappani Khalilov † |
Sulim Yamadaev † |
Aslambek Abdulkhadzhiev † |
Said-Magomed Kakiev |
Aslanbek Ismailov † |
Vakha Dzhenaraliev † |
|
Akhmed Yevloyev |
|
Khattab † |
|
Abu al-Walid † |
|
Abu Hafs al-Urdani † |
|
Forces of the parties |
|
80,000 military personnel |
22,000 fighters |
More than 6,000 dead |
More than 20,000 killed |
(officially called counter-terrorist operation in the North Caucasus (WHO) is the common name for military operations on the territory of Chechnya and the border regions of the North Caucasus. It began on September 30, 1999 (the date of the entry of the Russian Armed Forces into Chechnya). The active phase of hostilities lasted from 1999 to 2000, then, as the Russian Armed Forces established control over the territory of Chechnya, it grew into a smoldering conflict, which actually continues to this day. From 0:00 on April 16, 2009, the CTO regime was canceled.
Background
After the signing of the Khasavyurt agreements and the withdrawal of Russian troops in 1996, peace and tranquility in Chechnya and the regions adjacent to it did not come.
Chechen criminal structures with impunity did business on mass kidnappings. Hostage-taking for the purpose of ransom took place on a regular basis - both Russian officials and foreign citizens who worked in Chechnya - journalists, humanitarian workers, religious missionaries and even people who came to the funerals of relatives. In particular, in Nadterechny district in November 1997, two citizens of Ukraine who had come to the funeral of their mother were captured, in 1998 in the neighboring republics of the North Caucasus, Turkish builders and businessmen were regularly abducted and taken to Chechnya, in January 1998 in Vladikavkaz / North Ossetia / abducted French citizen, representative of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees Vincent Kostel. He was released in Chechnya 11 months later; on October 3, 1998, four employees of the British firm Granger Telecom were abducted in Grozny, and in December they were brutally killed and beheaded). The bandits profited from the theft of oil from pipelines and oil wells, the production and smuggling of drugs, the issuance and distribution of counterfeit banknotes, terrorist attacks and attacks on neighboring Russian regions. On the territory of Chechnya, camps were set up to train militants - young people from Muslim regions of Russia. Mine blasting instructors and Islamic preachers were sent here from abroad. Numerous Arab volunteers began to play a significant role in the life of Chechnya. Their main goal was to destabilize the situation in the Russian regions neighboring Chechnya and spread the ideas of separatism to the North Caucasian republics (primarily Dagestan, Karachay-Cherkessia, Kabardino-Balkaria).
In early March 1999, at the Grozny airport, terrorists abducted the plenipotentiary representative of the Russian Interior Ministry in Chechnya, Gennady Shpigun. For the Russian leadership, this was evidence that the President of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria Maskhadov is not able to fight terrorism on his own. The federal center took measures to strengthen the fight against Chechen bandit formations: self-defense detachments were armed and police units were reinforced along the entire perimeter of Chechnya, the best operatives of units for combating ethnic organized crime were sent to the North Caucasus, several Tochka-U missile launchers were deployed from the Stavropol Territory. »Designed for inflicting point strikes. An economic blockade of Chechnya was introduced, which led to the fact that the cash flow from Russia began to dramatically dry up. Due to the tightening of the regime on the border, it has become increasingly difficult to transport drugs to Russia and take hostages. Gasoline produced in clandestine factories has become impossible to export outside Chechnya. The fight against Chechen criminal groups, which actively financed militants in Chechnya, was also intensified. In May-July 1999, the Chechen-Dagestan border turned into a militarized zone. As a result, the incomes of the Chechen warlords fell sharply and they had problems purchasing weapons and paying mercenaries. In April 1999, Vyacheslav Ovchinnikov was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Internal Troops, who successfully led a number of operations during the First Chechen War. In May 1999, Russian helicopters launched a missile attack on the positions of Khattab militants on the Terek River in response to an attempt by bandit groups to seize the outpost of internal troops on the Chechen-Dagestan border. After that, Interior Minister Vladimir Rushailo announced the preparation of large-scale preventive strikes.
Meanwhile, Chechen gangs under the command of Shamil Basayev and Khattab were preparing for an armed invasion of Dagestan. From April to August 1999, conducting reconnaissance in force, they made more than 30 sorties in Stavropol and Dagestan alone, as a result of which several dozen servicemen, law enforcement officers and civilians were killed and injured. Realizing that the strongest groupings of federal troops are concentrated in the Kizlyar and Khasavyurt directions, the militants decided to strike at the mountainous part of Dagestan. When choosing this direction, the gangs proceeded from the fact that there were no troops there, and it would not be possible to transfer forces to this hard-to-reach area in the shortest possible time. In addition, the militants counted on a possible blow to the rear of the federal forces from the Kadar zone of Dagestan, which has been controlled by local Wahhabis since August 1998.
As the researchers note, the destabilization of the situation in the North Caucasus was beneficial to many. First of all, Islamic fundamentalists seeking to spread their influence over the whole world, as well as Arab oil sheikhs and financial oligarchs of the Persian Gulf countries who are not interested in starting the exploitation of oil and gas fields in the Caspian.
On August 7, 1999, a massive invasion of militants into Dagestan was carried out from the territory of Chechnya under the general command of Shamil Basayev and the Arab field commander Khattab. The core of the militant group was made up of foreign mercenaries and fighters from the Islamic International Peacekeeping Brigade, associated with Al-Qaeda. The plan of the militants to go over to their side of the population of Dagestan failed, the Dagestanis put up desperate resistance to the invading bandits. The Russian authorities offered the Ichkerian leadership to conduct a joint operation with the federal forces against the Islamists in Dagestan. It was also proposed "to resolve the issue of eliminating bases, storage and resting places of illegal armed formations, from which the Chechen leadership in every possible way denies itself." Aslan Maskhadov verbally condemned the attacks on Dagestan and their organizers and inspirers, but did not take real measures to counteract them.
For more than a month, federal forces fought the invading militants, which ended with the militants being forced to retreat from Dagestan back to Chechnya. On the same days - September 4-16 - in several cities of Russia (Moscow, Volgodonsk and Buinaksk) a series of terrorist acts was carried out - the explosions of residential buildings.
Taking into account Maskhadov's inability to control the situation in Chechnya, the Russian leadership decided to conduct a military operation to destroy the militants on the territory of Chechnya. On September 18 the borders of Chechnya were blocked by Russian troops.
On September 23, Russian President Boris Yeltsin signed a decree "On Measures to Increase the Efficiency of Counter-Terrorist Operations in the North Caucasus Region of the Russian Federation." The decree provided for the creation of a Joint Group of Forces in the North Caucasus to conduct a counter-terrorist operation.
On September 23, Russian troops began massive bombing raids on Grozny and its environs; on September 30, they entered Chechnya.
Character
Having broken the resistance of the militants with the forces of army units and internal troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (the command of the Russian troops successfully uses military tricks, such as, for example, luring militants into minefields, raids on the enemy's rear, and many others), the Kremlin has relied on the "Chechenization" of the conflict and poaching part of the elite and former members of the Chechen armed formations to their side. Thus, in 2000, Akhmat Kadyrov, a former separatist supporter, Chief Mufti of Chechnya, became the head of the pro-Kremlin administration of Chechnya. The militants, on the contrary, relied on the internationalization of the conflict, involving armed detachments of non-Chechen origin in their struggle. By the beginning of 2005, after the destruction of Maskhadov, Khattab, Barayev, Abu al-Walid and many other field commanders, the intensity of the sabotage and terrorist activities of the militants significantly decreased. In 2005-2008, not a single major terrorist act was committed in Russia, and the only large-scale operation of the militants (the Raid on Kabardino-Balkaria on October 13, 2005) ended in complete failure. However, since 2010 there have been several major terrorist attacks, the Terrorist attack in Vladikavkaz (2010), the Terrorist attack at Domodedovo airport).
In 2005, KGB General Philip Bobkov characterized the actions of the Chechen resistance: "These operations are not much different from the hostilities of the Israelis before the creation of their state in Palestine, and then Palestinian extremists in Israel or now Albanian armed formations in Kosovo."
Chronology
1999
Aggravation of the situation on the border with Chechnya
Attack on Dagestan
- August 1 - Armed detachments from the villages of Echeda, Gakko, Gigatl and Agvali of the Tsumadinsky region of Dagestan, as well as the Chechens supporting them, announced that Sharia rule was being introduced in the region.
- August 2 - A clash between police and Wahhabis took place in the vicinity of the village of Echeda in the high-mountainous Tsumadinsky region of Dagestan. Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Dagestan Magomed Omarov flew to the scene. As a result of the incident, 1 riot policeman and several Wahhabis were killed. According to the local police department, the incident was provoked by Chechnya.
- August 3 - As a result of shootings in the Tsumadinsky district of Dagestan with Islamic extremists who broke through from Chechnya, two more Dagestani police officers and one serviceman of the Russian internal troops were killed. Thus, the losses of the Dagestan militia reached four people killed, in addition, two militiamen were wounded and three more were missing. Meanwhile, one of the leaders of the Congress of the Peoples of Ichkeria and Dagestan, Shamil Basayev, announced the creation of an Islamic Shura, which has its own armed detachments in Dagestan, which established control over several settlements in the Tsumadinsky region. The Dagestani leadership is asking the federal authorities for weapons for self-defense units, which are planned to be created on the border of Chechnya and Dagestan. This decision was made by the State Council of the People's Assembly and the Government of the Republic. The official authorities of Dagestan qualified the sorties of militants as: "open armed aggression of extremist forces against the Republic of Dagestan, an open encroachment on the territorial integrity and the foundations of its constitutional order, the life and safety of residents."
- 4 August - Up to 500 militants thrown back from the regional center of Aghvali dug in at prepared positions in one of the mountain villages, but they do not put forward any demands and do not enter into negotiations. Presumably, they have three employees of the Tsumadinsky regional department of internal affairs, who disappeared on August 3. The power ministers and ministries of Chechnya have been put on a 24-hour basis. This was done in accordance with the decree of the President of Chechnya, Aslan Maskhadov. True, the Chechen authorities deny any connection between these measures and the hostilities in Dagestan. At 12.10 am Moscow time, on one of the roads in the Botlikh district of Dagestan, five armed people opened fire on the side of the police, who tried to stop the Niva car for inspection. In the shootout, two bandits were killed and a car damaged. There are no victims among the security forces. Two Russian attack aircraft launched a powerful missile and bomb attack on the village of Kenkhi, where a large detachment of militants was prepared for dispatch to Dagestan. A regrouping of the internal troops of the Operational Group in the North Caucasus began to close the border with Chechnya. In the Tsumadinsky and Botlikhsky districts of Dagestan, it is planned to deploy additional units of the internal troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation.
- August 5 - In the morning, the redeployment of units of the 102nd brigade of the internal troops began in the Tsumadinsky district in accordance with the plan to close the administrative Dagestan-Chechen border. This decision was made by the commander of the internal troops Vyacheslav Ovchinnikov during a trip to the places of recent hostilities. Meanwhile, sources in the Russian special services said that a mutiny was being prepared in Dagestan. According to the plan, a group of 600 militants was transferred to Dagestan through the village of Kenkhi. According to the same plan, the city of Makhachkala will be divided into zones of responsibility of field commanders, as well as the taking of hostages in the most crowded places, after which the official authorities of Dagestan will be asked to resign. However, the official authorities of Makhachkala deny this information.
- August 7 - September 14 - detachments of field commanders Shamil Basayev and Khattab invaded Dagestan from the territory of the CRI. Fierce fighting continued for over a month. The CRI official government, unable to control the actions of various armed groups on the territory of Chechnya, dissociated itself from the actions of Shamil Basayev, but did not take practical action against him.
- August 12 - Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation I. Zubov said that a letter was sent to the President of CRI Maskhadov with a proposal to conduct a joint operation with the federal troops against Islamists in Dagestan.
- August 13 - Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin said that "strikes will be made on bases and clusters of militants regardless of their location, including on the territory of Chechnya."
- August 16 - President of the CRI Aslan Maskhadov introduced martial law in Chechnya for a period of 30 days, announced a partial mobilization of reservists and participants in the First Chechen War.
Aerial bombardment of Chechnya
- August 25 - Russian aircraft strike at militant bases in the Vedeno Gorge of Chechnya. In response to an official protest from the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, the command of the federal forces declares that it "reserves the right to strike at militant bases on the territory of any North Caucasus region, including Chechnya."
- September 6-18 - Russian aviation makes numerous missile and bomb strikes against military camps and fortifications of militants on the territory of Chechnya.
- September 11 - Maskhadov announced a general mobilization in Chechnya.
- September 14 - Putin said that "the Khasavyurt agreements should be subjected to an impartial analysis," as well as "a temporary strict quarantine should be introduced" along the entire perimeter of Chechnya.
- September 18 - Russian troops blockade the Chechen border from Dagestan, Stavropol Territory, North Ossetia and Ingushetia.
- September 23 - Russian aviation began bombing the capital of Chechnya and its environs. As a result, several power substations, a number of oil and gas plants, a Grozny mobile communications center, a TV and radio broadcasting center, and an An-2 plane were destroyed. The press service of the Russian Air Force said that "aviation will continue to strike targets that the bandit groups can use to their advantage."
- September 27 - Russian Prime Minister V. Putin categorically rejected the possibility of a meeting between the Presidents of Russia and the CRI. “There will be no meetings to let the militants lick their wounds,” he said.
Start of ground operation
2000
2001
- January 23 - Vladimir Putin made a decision to reduce and partially withdraw troops from Chechnya.
- June 23-24 - in the village of Alkhan-Kala, a special combined detachment of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the FSB conducted a special operation to eliminate a detachment of militants of the field commander Arbi Barayev. 16 militants were killed, including Barayev himself.
- June 25-26 - militants attack on Khankala
- July 11 - in the village of Mayrtup, Shali district of Chechnya, during a special operation by the FSB and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, Khattab's assistant Abu Umar was killed.
- August 25 - in the city of Argun, during a special operation, FSB officers killed field commander Movsan Suleimenov, nephew of Arbi Barayev.
- September 17 - in Grozny, a Mi-8 helicopter with a General Staff commission on board was shot down (2 generals and 8 officers were killed).
- September 17-18 - militants attack on Gudermes: the attack was repulsed, as a result of the use of the Tochka-U missile system, a group of more than 100 people was destroyed.
- November 3 - during a special operation, an influential field commander, Shamil Iriskhanov, who was part of Basayev's inner circle, was killed.
- December 15 - 20 militants were killed by federal forces in Argun during a special operation.
2002
- January 27 - an Mi-8 helicopter was shot down in the Shelkovsky district of Chechnya. Among the dead were the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, Lieutenant General Mikhail Rudchenko and the commander of the group of internal troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Chechnya, Major General Nikolai Goridov.
- March 20 - as a result of a special operation by the FSB, the terrorist Khattab was killed by poisoning.
- April 18 - in his Address to the Federal Assembly, President Vladimir Putin announced the end of the military stage of the conflict in Chechnya.
- May 9 - a terrorist attack took place in Kaspiysk during the Victory Day celebrations. 43 people died, more than 100 were injured.
- August 19 - Chechen separatists from Igla MANPADS shot down a Russian military transport helicopter Mi-26 near the Khankala military base. Of the 147 people on board, 127 died.
- 25 August - the famous field commander Aslambek Abdulkhadzhiev was killed in Shali.
- September 23 - Raid on Ingushetia (2002)
- October 10 - an explosion occurred in the building of the Zavodskoy District ROVD in Grozny. The explosive device was planted in the office of the head of the department. 25 militiamen were killed, about 20 were wounded.
- October 23 - 26 - hostage-taking at the theater center on Dubrovka in Moscow, 129 hostages were killed. All 44 terrorists were killed, including Movsar Barayev.
- December 27 - explosion of the Government House in Grozny. As a result of the terrorist attack, over 70 people were killed. Shamil Basayev claimed responsibility for the attack.
2003
- May 12 - in the village of Znamenskoye, Nadterechny district of Chechnya, three suicide bombers carried out a terrorist attack in the area of \u200b\u200bthe buildings of the administration of the Nadterechny district and the FSB of the Russian Federation. The KamAZ car, packed with explosives, demolished the barrier in front of the building and exploded. 60 people died, more than 250 were injured.
- May 14 - in the village of Ilskhan-Yurt, Gudermes region, a suicide bomber blew herself up in a crowd at the celebration of the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad, where Akhmat Kadyrov was present. 18 people were killed, 145 people were injured.
- June 5 - a suicide bomber blew herself up next to a passenger bus, in which there were employees of the airbase on their way to the military base in Mozdok. 16 people died on the spot. Later, four more died from their wounds.
- July 5 - terrorist attack in Moscow at the Wings rock festival. 16 people died, 57 were injured.
- August 1 - The bombing of a military hospital in Mozdok. A KamAZ army truck loaded with explosives rammed the gate and exploded near the building. There was one suicide bomber in the cockpit. The death toll was 52.
- September 3 - a terrorist attack in the Kislovodsk-Minvody electric train on the Podkumok-Belyi Ugol stretch, railway tracks were blown up using a land mine: 5 people were killed and 20 were injured.
- November 23 - Three kilometers east of Serzhen-Yurt, GRU special forces destroyed a gang of mercenaries from Germany, Turkey and Algeria, numbering about 20 people.
- December 5 - a suicide bombing attack on the Kislovodsk-Minvody electric train in Yessentuki: 41 people died, 212 were injured.
- December 9 - a suicide bombing attack near the National Hotel (Moscow).
- December 15, 2003 - February 28, 2004 - Raid on Dagestan by a detachment under the command of Ruslan Gelayev.
2004
- February 6 - a terrorist attack in the Moscow metro, on the stretch between the stations "Avtozavodskaya" and "Paveletskaya". 39 people were killed, 122 were injured.
- February 28 - famous field commander Ruslan Gelayev was mortally wounded during a shootout with border guards
- April 16 - Abu al-Walid al-Hamidi, the leader of foreign mercenaries in Chechnya, was killed during the shelling of the Chechen mountains
- May 9 - in Grozny, at the Dynamo stadium, where the Victory Day parade was held, at 10:32 a powerful explosion thundered on the newly renovated VIP tribune. At that moment, the President of Chechnya Akhmat Kadyrov, the Chairman of the State Council of the Chechen Republic Kh. Isaev, the commander of the United Group of Forces in the North Caucasus General V. Baranov, the Minister of Internal Affairs of Chechnya Alu Alkhanov and the military commandant of the republic G. Fomenko were on it. Directly in the explosion, 2 people died, 4 more died in hospitals: Akhmat Kadyrov, Kh. Isaev, journalist of the Reuters agency A. Khasanov, a child (whose name was not disclosed) and two Kadyrov's security officers. In total, 63 people, including 5 children, suffered from the explosion in Grozny.
- June 21 - 22 - Raid on Ingushetia
- 12 - 13 July - a large detachment of militants captured the village of Avtury, Shali District
- August 21 - 400 militants attacked Grozny. According to the Chechen Ministry of Internal Affairs, 44 people were killed and 36 seriously wounded.
- 24 August - Explosions of two Russian passenger airliners, killing 89 people.
- August 31 - a terrorist attack near the Rizhskaya metro station in Moscow. 10 people were killed, more than 50 people were injured.
- September 1 - 3 - the terrorist act in Beslan, as a result of which 334 people died, 186 of whom were children.
- October 7 - in a battle to the north of the settlement of Niki-Khita, Kurchaloyevsky district, an African-American instructor Khalil Rudvan was destroyed.
2005
- February 18 - as a result of a special operation in the Oktyabrsky district of Grozny, the forces of the PPS-2 detachment destroyed the "emir of Grozny" Yunadi Turchaev, the "right hand" of one of the leaders of the terrorists Doku Umarov.
- March 8 - In the course of a special operation of the FSB in the village of Tolstoy-Yurt, President of the CRI Aslan Maskhadov was liquidated.
- May 15 - former vice-president of CRI Vakha Arsanov was killed in Grozny. Arsanov and his accomplices, being in a private house, fired at a police patrol and were destroyed by the arriving reinforcements.
- May 15 - Rasul Tambulatov (Volchek), the “emir” of the Shelkovsky district of the Chechen Republic, was destroyed in the Dubovsky forest of the Shelkovsky district as a result of a special operation of the Interior Ministry troops.
- June 4 - Cleaning up in the village of Borozdinovskaya
- October 13 - An attack by militants on the city of Nalchik (Kabardino-Balkaria), as a result of which, according to Russian authorities, 12 civilians and 35 members of the security forces were killed. Destroyed, according to various sources, from 40 to 124 militants.
2006
- January 31 - Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a press conference that at the present time we can talk about the end of the counter-terrorist operation in Chechnya.
- February 9-11 - in the village of Tukui-Mekteb in the Stavropol Territory, during a special operation, 12 militants of the so-called. Of the “Nogai battalion of the Armed Forces of the CRI”, the federal forces lost 7 people killed. During the operation, the federal side actively uses helicopters and tanks.
- March 28 - Sultan Geliskhanov, the former head of the ChRI state security department, voluntarily surrendered to the authorities in Chechnya.
- June 16 - "President of the CRI" Abdul-Halim Sadulayev was destroyed in Argun
- July 4 - in Chechnya, a military convoy is attacked near the village of Avtury in the Shali region. Representatives of the federal forces report 6 killed servicemen, the bandits - more than 20.
- July 9 - The Kavkaz Center website of Chechen fighters announced the creation of the Ural and Volga fronts as part of the CRI Armed Forces.
- July 10 - in Ingushetia, one of the terrorist leaders, Shamil Basayev, was destroyed as a result of a special operation (according to other sources, he was killed due to careless handling of explosives)
- July 12 - On the border of Chechnya and Dagestan, the police of both republics destroy a relatively large but poorly armed gang of 15 militants. 13 bandits were killed, 2 more were detained.
- August 23 - Chechen fighters attacked a military convoy on the Grozny-Shatoi highway, not far from the entrance to the Argun Gorge. The convoy consisted of a Ural vehicle and two escort armored personnel carriers. As reported in the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Chechen Republic, as a result, four servicemen of the federal forces were wounded.
- November 7 - in the area of \u200b\u200bthe village of Dai, Shatoi district, a gang of S.-E. Dadaev killed seven riot police from Mordovia.
- November 26 - Abu Khafs al-Urdani, the leader of foreign mercenaries in Chechnya, was killed in Khasavyurt. Together with him, 4 more militants were killed.
2007
- April 4 - in the vicinity of the village of Agish-batoy, Vedeno region of Chechnya, one of the most influential leaders of the militants, the commander of the Eastern Front CRISuleiman Ilmurzaev (call sign Khairulla), who was involved in the assassination of Chechen President Akhmat Kadyrov, was killed.
- June 13 - in the Vedeno region, on the Verkhniye Kurchali-Belgatoy road, militants shot at a convoy of police cars.
- July 23 - a battle near the village of Tazen-Kale in the Vedensky District between the Vostok battalion of Sulim Yamadayev and a detachment of Chechen fighters led by Doku Umarov. The death of 6 militants is reported.
- September 18 - as a result of the counter-terrorist operation in the village of Novy Sulak, "Amir Rabbani" - Rappani Khalilov was destroyed.
- October 7 - Doku Umarov announced the abolition of the CRI and its transformation into "vilayat Nokhchiycho of the Caucasus Emirate"
2008
- january - during special operations in Makhachkala and the Tabasaran region of Dagestan, at least 9 militants were killed, and 6 of them were part of the grouping of field commander I. Mallochiev. No one was killed on the part of the security forces in these clashes. At the same time, during the clashes in Grozny, the Chechen militia killed 5 militants, among them was the field commander U. Techiev, the "emir" of the capital of Chechnya.
- March 19 - an armed attack by militants was carried out on the village of Alkhazurovo. As a result, seven people, five law enforcement officers and two civilians were killed.
- May 5 - a military vehicle was blown up by a land mine in the suburb of Grozny, the village of Tashkola. 5 policemen were killed, 2 were wounded.
- June 13 - night outing of militants in the village of Benoy-Vedeno
- september 2008 - major leaders of the illegal armed groups of Dagestan, Ilgar Mallochiev and A. Gudaev, were killed, up to 10 militants in total.
- December 18 - a battle in the city of Argun, 2 policemen were killed and 6 wounded. From the side of militants in Argun 1 person was killed.
- December 23-25 \u200b\u200b- a special operation by the FSB and the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the village of Verkhniy Alkun in Ingushetia. Field commander Vakha Dzhenaraliev, who fought against federal troops in Chechnya and Ingushetia since 1999, was killed, his deputy Khamkhoev, a total of 12 militants were killed. 4 bases of illegal armed groups were liquidated.
- June 19 - Said Buryatsky announced his joining the underground.
2009
- April 15 is the last day of the counter-terrorist operation.
Aggravation of the situation in the North Caucasus in 2009
Despite the official cancellation of the counter-terrorist operation on April 16, 2009, the situation in the region did not become calmer, rather the opposite. Militants waging a guerrilla war have become more active, cases of terrorist acts have become more frequent. Since the fall of 2009, a number of major special operations have been carried out to eliminate bandit formations and militant leaders. In response, a series of terrorist attacks were committed, including, for the first time in a long time, in Moscow.
Fighting clashes, terrorist acts and police operations are actively taking place not only in Chechnya, but also in Ingushetia, Dagestan, and Kabardino-Balkaria. In some territories, the CTO regime was repeatedly introduced temporarily.
Beginning on May 15, 2009, Russian security forces stepped up operations against militant groups in the mountainous regions of Ingushetia, Chechnya and Dagestan, which triggered a retaliatory intensification of terrorist activities by the militants. At the end of July 2010, there are all signs of an escalation of the conflict and its spread to the surrounding regions.
Command
Heads of the Regional Operational Headquarters for the Counter-Terrorist Operation in the North Caucasus (2001-2006)
The Regional Operational Headquarters (ROSH) was created by the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of January 22, 2001 No. 61 "On measures to combat terrorism in the North Caucasus region of the Russian Federation."
- German Ugryumov (January - May 2001)
- Anatoly Yezhkov (June 2001 - July 2003)
- Yuri Maltsev (July 2003 - September 2004)
- Arkady Yedelev (September 2004 - August 2006)
In 2006, on the basis of the ROSH, the Operational Headquarters of the Chechen Republic was created to carry out the counter-terrorist operation.
Commanders of the Joint Group of Forces (Forces) for Counter-Terrorist Operations in the North Caucasian Region of the Russian Federation (since 1999)
The united group was formed by the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of September 23, 1999 No. 1255s "On measures to increase the effectiveness of counter-terrorist operations in the North Caucasus region of the Russian Federation."
- Victor Kazantsev (September 1999 - February 2000)
- Gennady Troshev (acting February - March 2000, commander April - June 2000)
- Alexander Baranov (acting March 2000)
- Alexander Baranov (acting July - September 2000, Commander September 2000 - October 2001, September 2003 - May 2004)
- Vladimir Moltenskoy (acting May - August 2001, commander October 2001 - September 2002)
- Sergey Makarov (acting July - August 2002, commander October 2002 - September 2003)
- Mikhail Pankov (acting May 2004)
- Vyacheslav Dadonov (acting June 2004 - July 2005)
- Evgeny Lazebin (July 2005 - June 2006)
- Evgeny Baryaev (June - December 2006)
- Jacob Nedobitko (December 2006 - January 2008)
- Nikolay Sivak (January 2008 - August 2011)
- Sergey Melikov (since September 2011)
Conflict in literature, cinema, music
Books
- Alexander Karasev. Traitor. Ufa: Vagant, 2011, 256 p. ISBN 978-5-9635-0344-7.
- Alexander Karasev. Chechen stories. M .: Literaturnaya Rossiya, 2008, 320 p. ISBN 978-5-7809-0114-3.
- Zherebtsova, Polina Viktorovna. Diary of Zherebtsova Polina. Detective Press, 2011, 576 pp. ISBN 978-5-89935-101-3
- Vyacheslav Mironov. "I was in that war."
Films and series
- War is a feature film.
- Alexandra is a feature film.
- Throw March is a feature film.
- Caucasian Roulette is a feature film.
- Male work (8 part film).
- Storm Gate (4-episode film).
- Special Forces (TV series).
- I have the honor (TV series).
- Destructive force-3 "Tensile strength" (1st - 4th series)
- Distrust is a documentary.
- Alive (film, 2006) - feature film
- Breakthrough (film, 2006) - feature film
Songs and Music
The songs are dedicated to the second Chechen war:
- "Lube" - "After the war" (2000), "Soldier" (2000), Come on ... (2002)
- Yuri Shevchuk - Star (2006), Smoke (2009)
- Timur Gordeev - Tell me, Major, We're going home
- Timur Mutsuraev - "Khava Baraeva" (a view from the militants)
- Igor Rasteryaev - "Song about Yura Prishchepny" (2011)
- Nikolay Anisimov - The Rooks Have Arrived (2010)