“The Second Chechen War” is the name of the counter-terrorism operation in the North Caucasus. In fact, it became a continuation of the First Chechen War of 1994-1996.

Causes of the war

The first Chechen war, which ended with the Khasavyurt agreements, did not bring noticeable improvements to the territory of Chechnya. The period 1996-1999 in the unrecognized republic is generally characterized by a deep criminalization of all life. The federal government has repeatedly appealed to the President of Chechnya A. Maskhadov with a proposal to provide assistance in the fight against organized crime, but has not found understanding.

Another factor influencing the situation in the region was the popular religious and political movement - Wahhabism. Supporters of Wahhabism began to establish the power of Islam in the villages - with clashes and shooting. In fact, in 1998, a low-intensity civil war was fought, in which hundreds of fighters participated. This trend in the republic was not supported by the administration, but it did not experience any particular opposition from the authorities. Every day the situation became more and more aggravated.

In 1999, militants from Basayev and Khattab tried to carry out a military operation in Dagestan, which was the main reason for starting a new war. At the same time, terrorist attacks were carried out in Buinaksk, Moscow and Volgodonsk.

Progress of hostilities

1999

year 2000

year 2009

When planning an invasion of the territory of Dagestan, the militants hoped for the support of the local population, but they showed desperate resistance. Federal authorities proposed to the Chechen leadership to conduct a joint operation against Islamists in Dagestan. It was also proposed to eliminate the bases of illegal groups.

In August 1999, Chechen gangs were driven out of the territory of Dagestan, and their pursuit by federal troops began on the territory of Chechnya. For some time there was relative calm.

Maskhadov's government verbally condemned the bandits, but in reality did not take any measures. Taking this into account, Russian President Boris Yeltsin signed a decree “On measures to increase the effectiveness of counter-terrorism operations in the North Caucasus region of the Russian Federation.” This decree was aimed at the destruction of gangs and terrorist bases in the republic. On September 23, federal aviation began bombing Grozny, and already on September 30, troops entered the territory of Chechnya.

It should be noted that in the years after the First Chechen War, the training of the federal army increased noticeably, and already in November the troops approached Grozny.

The federal government has also made adjustments to its actions. The Mufti of Ichkeria, Akhmad Kadyrov, went over to the side of the federal forces, condemning Wahhabism and speaking out against Maskhadov.

On December 26, 1999, an operation to eliminate gangs in Grozny began. The fighting continued throughout January 2000, and only on February 6 was the complete liberation of the city announced.

Some of the militants managed to escape from Grozny, and a guerrilla war began. Fighting activity gradually decreased, and many believed that the Chechen conflict had died down. But in 2002-2005, militants carried out a number of cruel and daring measures (hostage-taking in the Theater Center on Dubrovka, schools in Beslan, a raid in Kabardino-Balkaria). Subsequently, the situation practically stabilized.

Results of the Second Chechen War

The main result of the Second Chechen War can be considered the relative calm achieved in the Chechen Republic. An end was put to the criminal rampant that had terrorized the population for ten years. The drug trade and slave trade were eliminated. And it is very important that in the Caucasus it was not possible to implement the plans of the Islamists to create world centers of terrorist organizations.

Today, during the reign of Ramzan Kadyrov, the economic structure of the republic has practically been restored. Much has been done to eliminate the consequences of hostilities. The city of Grozny has become a symbol of the rebirth of the republic.

Plan
Introduction
1 Background
2 Character
3 Chronology
3.1 1999
3.1.1 Aggravation of the situation on the border with Chechnya
3.1.2 Attack on Dagestan
3.1.3 Aerial bombing of Chechnya
3.1.4 Start of ground operation

3.2 2000
3.3 2001
3.4 2002
3.5 2003
3.6 2004
3.7 2005
3.8 2006
3.9 2007
3.10 2008
3.11 2009

4 Aggravation of the situation in the North Caucasus in 2009
5 Command
6 Victims
7 Conflict in art, cinema, music
7.1 Films and TV series
7.2 Songs and music

Bibliography
Second Chechen War

Introduction

The second Chechen war (officially called the counter-terrorist operation (CTO) - military operations on the territory of Chechnya and the border regions of the North Caucasus. Began on September 30, 1999 (the date of the entry of Russian troops 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 developed into a smoldering conflict, which actually continues to this day.From 0 o'clock on April 16, 2009, the CTO regime was abolished.

1. Background

After the signing of the Khasavyurt agreements and the withdrawal of Russian troops in 1996, there was no peace and tranquility in Chechnya and the surrounding regions.

Chechen criminal structures made business with impunity on mass kidnappings, hostage-taking (including official Russian representatives working in Chechnya), theft of oil from oil 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. Camps were created on the territory of Chechnya to train militants - young people from Muslim regions of Russia. Mine demolition instructors and Islamic preachers were sent here from abroad. Numerous Arab mercenaries 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).

At the beginning of March 1999, Gennady Shpigun, plenipotentiary representative of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs in Chechnya, was kidnapped by terrorists at the Grozny airport. For the Russian leadership, this was evidence that the President of the Chechen Republic, Maskhadov, was unable to independently fight terrorism. The federal center took measures to strengthen the fight against Chechen gangs: self-defense units were armed and police units were strengthened throughout the entire perimeter of Chechnya, the best operatives of units fighting ethnic organized crime were sent to the North Caucasus, several Tochka-U missile launchers were deployed from the Stavropol region ", intended for delivering targeted strikes. An economic blockade of Chechnya was introduced, which led to the fact that the cash flow from Russia began to dry up sharply. Due to the tightening of the regime at the border, it has become increasingly difficult to smuggle drugs into Russia and take hostages. Gasoline produced in clandestine factories has become impossible to export outside Chechnya. The fight against Chechen criminal groups that 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 income of Chechen warlords fell sharply and they had problems purchasing weapons and paying mercenaries. In April 1999, Vyacheslav Ovchinnikov, who successfully led a number of operations during the First Chechen War, was appointed commander-in-chief of the internal troops. 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 gangs to seize an outpost of internal troops on the Chechen-Dagestan border. After this, the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, 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 forays in Stavropol and Dagestan alone, as a result of which several dozen military personnel, law enforcement officers and civilians were killed and injured. Realizing that the strongest groups of federal troops were concentrated in the Kizlyar and Khasavyurt directions, the militants decided to strike at the mountainous part of Dagestan. When choosing this direction, the bandits proceeded from the fact that there were no troops there, and it would not be possible to transfer forces to this inaccessible area in the shortest possible time. In addition, the militants were counting on a possible attack in the rear of federal forces from the Kadar zone of Dagestan, controlled by local Wahhabis since August 1998.

As 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 throughout the world, as well as Arab oil sheikhs and financial oligarchs of the Persian Gulf countries, who are not interested in starting to exploit the oil and gas fields of the Caspian Sea.

On August 7, 1999, a massive invasion of Dagestan by militants was carried out from the territory of Chechnya under the overall command of Shamil Basayev and the Arab mercenary Khattab. The core of the militant group consisted of foreign mercenaries and fighters of the Islamic International Peacekeeping Brigade, associated with Al-Qaeda. The militants' plan to have the population of Dagestan come over to their side failed; the Dagestanis offered desperate resistance to the invading bandits. The Russian authorities proposed that the Ichkerian leadership conduct a joint operation with federal forces against Islamists in Dagestan. It was also proposed to “resolve the issue of liquidating bases, storage and rest areas of illegal armed groups, which the Chechen leadership in every possible way denies.” Aslan Maskhadov verbally condemned the attacks on Dagestan and their organizers and instigators, but did not take real measures to counter them.

Fighting between federal forces and invading militants continued for more than a month, ending with the militants being forced to retreat from the territory of Dagestan back to Chechnya. On these same days - September 4-16 - a series of terrorist attacks - explosions of residential buildings - were carried out in several Russian cities (Moscow, Volgodonsk and Buinaksk).

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, Russian President Boris Yeltsin signed a decree “On measures to increase the effectiveness of counter-terrorism 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-terrorism operation.

On September 23, Russian troops began massive bombing of Grozny and its environs, and on September 30 they entered the territory of Chechnya.

2. Character

Having broken the resistance of the militants by the force of the army and the Ministry of Internal Affairs (the command of the Russian troops successfully uses military tricks, such as, for example, luring militants to minefields, raids on the rear of gangs and many others), the Kremlin relied on the “Chechenization” of the conflict and luring side with some of the elite and former militants. Thus, in 2000, the former supporter of the separatists, the chief mufti of Chechnya, Akhmat Kadyrov, became the head of the pro-Kremlin administration of Chechnya in 2000. The militants, on the contrary, relied on the internationalization of the conflict, involving armed groups 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 sabotage and terrorist activities of the militants decreased significantly. During 2005-2008, not a single major terrorist attack was committed in Russia, and the only large-scale militant operation (Raid on Kabardino-Balkaria on October 13, 2005) ended in complete failure.

3. Chronology

Aggravation of the situation on the border with Chechnya

· June 18 - Chechnya attacked two outposts on the Dagestan-Chechen border, as well as an attack on a Cossack company in the Stavropol Territory. The Russian leadership is closing most of the checkpoints on the border with Chechnya.

· June 22 - for the first time in the history of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, an attempt was made to commit a terrorist attack in its main building. The bomb was defused in time. According to one version, the terrorist attack was a response of Chechen militants to threats from the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Rushailo, to carry out acts of retaliation in Chechnya.

· June 23 - shelling from the side of Chechnya at the outpost near the village of Pervomaiskoye, Khasavyurt district of Dagestan.

· June 30 - Rushailo said: “We must respond to the blow with a more crushing blow; “on the border with Chechnya, the order was given to use preventive strikes against armed gangs.”

· July 3 - Rushailo said that the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs “is beginning to strictly regulate the situation in the North Caucasus, where Chechnya acts as a criminal “think tank” controlled by foreign intelligence services, extremist organizations and the criminal community.” Deputy Prime Minister of the ChRI government Kazbek Makhashev stated in response: “We cannot be intimidated by threats, and Rushailo knows this well.”

· July 5 - Rushailo stated that “early in the morning of July 5, a preemptive strike was launched against concentrations of 150-200 armed militants in Chechnya.”

· July 7 - a group of militants from Chechnya attacked an outpost near the Grebensky Bridge in the Babayurt region of Dagestan. Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation and Director of the FSB of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin said that “Russia will henceforth take not preventive, but only adequate actions in response to attacks in the areas bordering Chechnya.” He emphasized that “the Chechen authorities do not fully control the situation in the republic.”

In 1999, the second Chechen war began, the experience and mistakes of the first war were taken into account and most of them were avoided. Russian troops quickly defeated a 10,000-strong group of heavily armed militants, and then a guerrilla war awaited...

Attack on Dagestan

August 1 - armed detachments from the villages of Echeda, Gakko, Gigatl and Agvali in the Tsumadinsky region of Dagestan, as well as the Chechens supporting them, announced that Sharia rule was being introduced in the region, and it was with the invasion of militants in Dagestan that the second Chechen.
August 2 - near the village of Echeda in the high-mountainous Tsumadinsky region of Dagestan, a military clash occurred between police officers and Wahhabis. Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Dagestan Magomed Omarov flew to the scene of the incident. As a result of the incident, 1 riot policeman and several Wahhabis were killed. According to the local police department, the incident was provoked from Chechnya.
August 3 - as a result of shootouts in the Tsumadinsky region of Dagestan with Islamic extremists who broke through from Chechnya, two more Dagestan police officers and one serviceman of the Russian internal troops were killed. Thus, the losses of the Dagestan police reached four people killed, in addition, two policemen 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 units in Dagestan, which established control over several settlements in the Tsumadinsky region. The Dagestan leadership is asking the federal authorities for weapons for self-defense units that 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 incursions of militants as: “an open armed aggression of extremist forces against the Republic of Dagestan, an open encroachment on the territorial integrity and the foundations of its constitutional system, the life and safety of its inhabitants.”
August 4 - up to 500 militants driven back from the regional center of Agvali dug in at previously prepared positions in one of the mountain villages, but did not put forward any demands and did not enter into negotiations. Presumably they have three employees of the Tsumadinsky regional department of internal affairs who disappeared on August 3. The security ministers and ministries of Chechnya have been transferred to round-the-clock operation. This was done in accordance with the decree of Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov. True, the Chechen authorities deny the connection of these measures with the fighting in Dagestan. At 12.10 Moscow time, on one of the roads in the Botlikh district of Dagestan, five armed people opened fire on a police squad who tried to stop a Niva car for inspection. In the shootout, two bandits were killed and a car was damaged. There were no casualties 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 to be sent to Dagestan. A regrouping of the forces of the internal troops of the Operational Group in the North Caucasus has begun to block the border with Chechnya. It is planned to deploy additional units of the internal troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation in the Tsumadinsky and Botlikhsky regions of Dagestan.

Federal forces in Grozny

August 5 - in the morning, the redeployment of units of the 102nd brigade of internal troops began in the Tsumadinsky district according to the plan for blocking the administrative Dagestan-Chechen border. This decision was made by the commander of the internal troops, Vyacheslav Ovchinnikov, during a trip to the sites of recent military operations. Meanwhile, sources in the Russian special services said that a rebellion 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 was divided into zones of responsibility of field commanders, and hostages were also to be taken in the most crowded places, after which the official authorities of Dagestan were to be asked to resign. However, the official authorities of Makhachkala deny this information.
August 7-September 14 - from the territory of the Chechen Republic of Ichrymia, detachments of field commanders Shamil Basayev and Khattab invaded the territory of Dagestan. Fierce fighting continued for more than a month. The official government of the ChRI, 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 9-25 - Battle for the Donkey Ear height - battles between Wahhabis and Novorossiysk and Stavropol federal forces paratroopers for control of the strategic Donkey Ear height (coordinates: 42°39’59"N 46°8'0"E).
August 12 - Deputy Head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation I. Zubov reported that a letter was sent to the President of the Chechen Republic of Ichristia Maskhadov with a proposal to conduct a joint operation with federal troops against Islamists in Dagestan.
August 13 - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said that “strikes will be carried out on bases and concentrations of militants regardless of their location, including on the territory of Chechnya.”
August 16 - President of the Chechen Republic of Ingushetia Aslan Maskhadov introduced martial law in Chechnya for a period of 30 days, announced the partial mobilization of reservists and participants in the First Chechen War.

Aerial bombing of Chechnya

August 25 - Russian aviation strikes militant bases in the Vedeno Gorge of Chechnya and destroys about a hundred militants. In response to the official protest from the ChRI, the command of the federal forces declares that they “reserve the right to strike militant bases in the territory of any North Caucasus region, including Chechnya.”
September 6-18 - Russian aviation carries out numerous missile and bomb attacks on military camps and militant fortifications in Chechnya.
September 11 - Maskhadov announced general mobilization in Chechnya, second Chechen war flared up with renewed vigor.
September 14 - Putin said that “the Khasavyurt agreements should be subjected to an impartial analysis”, as well as “a strict quarantine should be temporarily introduced” along the entire perimeter of Chechnya.
September 18 - Russian troops block the border of Chechnya from Dagestan, Stavropol Territory, North Ossetia and Ingushetia.
September 23 - Russian aircraft began bombing the capital of Chechnya and its environs. As a result, several electrical substations, a number of oil and gas complex factories, the Grozny mobile communications center, a television and radio broadcasting center, and an An-2 aircraft were destroyed. The press service of the Russian Air Force stated that “aircraft will continue to strike targets that gangs can use in their interests.”
September 27 — Chairman of the Russian Government V. Putin categorically rejected the possibility of a meeting between the Presidents of Russia and the ChRI. “There will be no meetings to let the militants lick their wounds,” he said.

Start of ground operation

September 30 - Vladimir Putin, in an interview with journalists, promised that there would be no new Chechen war. He also stated that “combat operations are already underway, our troops have entered the territory of Chechnya several times, already two weeks ago they occupied commanding heights, liberated them, and so on.” As Putin said, “we need to be patient and do this work - completely clear the territory of terrorists. If this work is not done today, they will return and all the sacrifices made will be in vain.” On the same day, tank units of the Russian army from the Stavropol Territory and Dagestan entered the territory of the Naursky and Shelkovsky regions of Chechnya.
October 1 - The fall of the Mi-8MT of the 85th separate helicopter squadron in the Terekli-Mekteb area (Dagestan) as a result of combat damage after fire from the ground. The helicopter was destroyed, the crew survived.

Shamil Basayev

October 3 - Su-25 of the 368th attack air regiment was shot down by MANPADS in the Tolstoy-Yurt area during a reconnaissance flight. The pilot died.
October 4 - at a meeting of the military council of the ChRI, it was decided to form three directions to repel attacks by federal forces. The western direction was headed by Ruslan Gelayev, the eastern direction by Shamil Basaev, and the central direction by Magomed Khambiev.
October 7 - during the bombing of the village of Elistanzhi, more than 30 civilians, including women and children, were killed, and dozens were injured.
October 8 - massacre in the village of Mekenskaya: 43-year-old militant Akhmed Ibragimov, who was a local resident, shot 34 Russian residents of the village, including 3 children, as well as 1 Meskhetian Turk. The reason for the murder was the refusal of one of the residents to dig trenches. 2 days after the massacre, local elders handed Ibragimov over to the relatives of the victims. At the village meeting, Ibragimov was beaten to death with sticks and crowbars. The local mullah forbade the murderer to be buried.
October 15 - troops of the Western group of General Vladimir Shamanov entered Chechnya from Ingushetia.
October 16 - federal forces occupied a third of the territory of Chechnya north of the Terek River and began the second stage of the anti-terrorist operation, the main goal of which was the destruction of gangs in the remaining territory of Chechnya.
October 18 - Russian troops crossed the Terek.
October 29-November 10 - Battles for Gudermes: field commanders the Yamadayev brothers and the Mufti of Chechnya Akhmat Kadyrov surrendered Gudermes to federal forces.
November 5 - The fall of the Mi-24 of the 85th separate helicopter squadron as a result of combat damage after fire from the ground. The helicopter was destroyed, the crew survived.
November 12 - a bus traveling along the route "Ulyanovsk - Dimitrovgrad - Samara" was blown up. Four passengers were injured.
November 16 - federal forces took control of the settlement of Novy Shatoy.
November 17 - near Vedeno, militants destroyed the reconnaissance group of the 91st battalion of the 31st separate air assault brigade (12 dead, 2 prisoners).
November 18 - according to the NTV television company, federal forces took control of the regional center of Achkhoy-Martan “without firing a single shot.”
November 25 - President of the ChRI Maskhadov addressed the Russian soldiers fighting in the North Caucasus with an offer to surrender and go over to the side of the militants.
December 1 - The fall of the Mi-24 of the 440th separate helicopter regiment in the Mozdok area as a result of combat damage after fire from the ground. The helicopter was destroyed, the crew survived.
December 4-7 - federal forces occupied Argun.
By December 1999, federal forces controlled the entire flat part of Chechnya. The militants concentrated in the mountains (about 3,000 people) and in Grozny.
December 8 - Federal forces occupied Urus-Martan.
December 13 - Mi-8 and Mi-24P (the latter from the 440th separate helicopter regiment) were lost during the operation to rescue the pilot of a crashed Su-25, the Mi-24 was lost as a result of fire from the ground. 6 people from the crews of both helicopters were killed. On the same day, a Su-25 of the 368th attack air regiment crashed in the Bachi-Yurt area for technical reasons (according to other sources, a MANPADS was shot down). The pilot ejected and was rescued.
December 14 - federal forces occupied Khankala.
December 17 - a large landing of federal forces blocked the road connecting Chechnya with the village of Shatili (Georgia).
December 23 - explosion in the district court building in St. Petersburg. 3 people were injured.
December 26, 1999—February 6, 2000—siege of Grozny.

January 5 - federal forces took control of the regional center of Nozhai-Yurt.
January 9 - militant breakthrough in Shali and Argun. Control of federal forces over Shali was restored on January 11, over Argun - on January 13.
January 11 - federal forces took control of the regional center of Vedeno.
January 24 - The fall of a Mi-8MT of the 487th separate helicopter regiment in the Vedeno area as a result of combat damage after fire from the ground. The helicopter was destroyed, the crew survived.
January 27 - during the battles for Grozny, field commander Isa Astamirov, deputy commander of the southwestern front of the militants, was killed.
January 30 - Forced landing of the Mi-24 of the 487th separate helicopter regiment 7 km east of Botlikh, (Dagestan) without fire, with the destruction of the helicopter. The crew survived.
January 31 - Mi-24P of the 85th separate helicopter squadron was shot down in the Khanchanoi area. Both crew members were killed.
February 1 - field commanders Israpilov Khunkar-Pasha and Ismailov Aslanbe were killed during the battles for Grozny. February 4-7 - Russian aircraft bombed the village of Katyr-Yurt. As a result, according to the Memorial human rights center, about 200 people died in the village.
February 5 - Massacre in Novy Aldy.
February 7 - The fall of the Mi-24 of the 55th separate helicopter regiment near the Gisel airfield as a result of combat damage after fire from the ground. The helicopter was destroyed, the crew was injured and hospitalized.

Soldiers of the second Chechen

February 9 - Federal troops blocked an important center of militant resistance - the village of Serzhen-Yurt, and in the Argun Gorge, so famous since the times of the Caucasian War, 380 military personnel landed and occupied one of the dominant heights. Federal troops blocked more than three thousand militants in the Argun Gorge, and then methodically treated them with volume-detonating ammunition.
February 10 - federal forces took control of the regional center Itum-Kale and the village of Serzhen-Yurt.
February 21 - 33 Russian servicemen were killed in a battle near Kharsenoy, including 25 intelligence officers from the Pskov GRU special forces brigade.
February 22-29 - Battle of Shatoy: federal troops took Shatoy. Maskhadov, Khattab and Basayev again escaped the encirclement. First Deputy Commander of the joint group of federal forces, Colonel General Gennady Troshev, announced the end of a full-scale military operation in Chechnya.
February 28 - March 2 - Battle at Height 776 - breakthrough of militants (Khattab) through Ulus-Kert. Death of paratroopers of the 6th parachute company of the 104th regiment.
March 2 - the death of the Sergiev Posad riot police as a result of “friendly fire”.
The crash of the Mi-8 of the 325th separate transport and combat helicopter regiment in the area of ​​the village of Shatoy as a result of a loss of rotor speed on takeoff followed by a hard landing. The pilot's cockpit was knocked off by a blade.
March 5-20 - Battle for the village of Komsomolskoye.
March 12 - in the village of Novogroznensky, terrorist Salman Raduev was captured by FSB officers and brought to Moscow, subsequently sentenced to life imprisonment and died in prison.
March 19 - in the area of ​​​​the village of Duba-Yurt, FSB officers detained the Chechen field commander Salaudin Temirbulatov, nicknamed Tractor Driver, who was later sentenced to life imprisonment.
March 20 - on the eve of the presidential elections, Vladimir Putin visited Chechnya. He arrived in Grozny on a Su-27UB fighter piloted by the head of the Lipetsk aviation center, Alexander Kharchevsky.
March 29 - death of the Perm riot police near the village of Dzhani-Vedeno. More than 40 people died.
April 20 - First Deputy Chief of the General Staff, Colonel General Valery Manilov, announced the end of the military part of the counter-terrorism operation in Chechnya and the transition to special operations.
April 23 - attack on the column of the 51st parachute regiment of the Tula Airborne Division and the military personnel of the 66th operational airborne regiment near the village of Serzhen-Yurt. Losses of Russian military personnel: 16 killed, 7 wounded (1 at the VOP); 7 units of equipment.
May 7 - Su-24MR was shot down by MANPADS in the Benoy-Vedeno area. Both pilots were killed.
May 11 - 19 Russian servicemen were killed as a result of an attack on a convoy of internal troops on the territory of Ingushetia.
May 21 - in the city of Shali, security officers detained (in his own house) one of Aslan Maskhadov’s close associates, field commander Ruslan Alikhadzhiev.
May 23 - in the area of ​​​​the village of Serzhen-Yurt in the Argun Gorge, Abusupyan Movsaev was killed by GRU special forces.
May 31 - explosion in Volgograd on Zhukov Avenue. A detachment of military personnel was going to breakfast. The explosive was fixed to a tree at a height of 1.3 m. Two kilograms of TNT and pieces of thick wire were used as filling. The bomb went off following a signal from the remote control at five minutes past eight. 1 person was killed, 15 were injured.
June 7 - in the village of Alkhan-Yurt (Chechnya), two suicide bombers blew up a truck loaded with explosives near a police building. One of the suicide bombers was a relative of Movsar Barayev, who later seized the building of the theater center on Dubrovka (Moscow) in 2002. 2 policemen were killed, 5 were injured.
June 11 - By decree of the President of the Russian Federation, Akhmat Kadyrov was appointed head of the Chechen administration.
June 12 - Mi-8MT crashed after takeoff in the Khankala area. 4 people died.
July 2 - as a result of a series of terrorist attacks using bombed trucks, more than 30 police officers and federal servicemen were killed. The greatest losses were suffered by employees of the Chelyabinsk Regional Department of Internal Affairs in Argun.
July 9 - explosion at the city market of Vladikavkaz (North Ossetia). The power of the explosive device was 150-200 grams of TNT. As a result of the terrorist attack, 6 people were killed and 18 were injured.
July 25 - Akhmad Kadyrov’s decree banning Wahhabism.
August 4 - in the Sharoi region of Chechnya, a detachment of Arab Mujahideen was destroyed, 21 militants were killed, and the detachment commander Abdusalyam Zurka was seriously wounded and captured. Judging by the documents of those killed, the Mujahideen detachment included Yemenis, Moroccans, and representatives of other Arab countries.
August 6 - Mi-8 was damaged by fire from the ground in the Arshty area and made an emergency landing, presumably burning out. 1 person died.
August 8 - explosion in an underground passage under Pushkin Square in Moscow: 13 people were killed, 132 were injured.
October 1 - the united group of Russian troops in Chechnya, for propaganda purposes, announced that during a military clash in the Staropromyslovsky district of Grozny, field commander Isa Munayev was killed.
October 6 - at 16:03-16:05 four explosions simultaneously occurred in Pyatigorsk and Nevinnomyssk. The first explosion occurred at a bus stop on Gagarin Street near the administration of Nevinnomyssk, the second - the Cossack market of Nevinnomyssk, the third and fourth explosions occurred on the platform of the railway station in Pyatigorsk. As a result of the terrorist attacks, 4 people were killed and 20 were injured.
October 10 - during a special operation in the vicinity of the village of Sharo-Argun, Shatoi region, field commander Baudi Bakuev was killed.
October 29 - a minibus was blown up at the final stop in Budennovsk. The driver was injured.
November 11 - hijacking of a Russian Tu-154 aircraft by a Chechen terrorist during a flight on the Makhachkala-Moscow route. Threatening to detonate an explosive device, he demanded to fly to Israel. After landing at the Israeli military base Uvda, the terrorist surrendered to the authorities.
December 8 - in the city of Pyatigorsk (Stavropol Territory) in the Upper Market area, two cars were simultaneously blown up. As a result of the terrorist attacks, 4 people were killed and 45 were injured. On July 12, 2002, the Stavropol Regional Court found Arasul Khubiev guilty of committing a terrorist attack and sentenced him to life imprisonment.
December 19 - an attempt was made to blow up the building of the commandant's office of the Leninsky district (Grozny, Chechnya). A Ural truck with explosives tried to break through to the building, but was stopped by security. Two criminals escaped, 17-year-old Mareta Dudueva, who was in the truck, was wounded.

January 15 - on the Usorskoye - Mozdok section (North Ossetia), an explosion occurred under the locomotive of a freight train. The rear of the locomotive and the first carriage caught fire. The driver, without slowing down, brought the train to Mozdok, where the fire was extinguished. There were no casualties; the locomotive and the first two cars were damaged. The terrorists attached a bomb to an electric locomotive at one of the stations along the route, where the train stopped for several minutes.
January 23 - Vladimir Putin decided to reduce and partially withdraw troops from Chechnya, naively thinking that the second Chechen war was coming to an end
January 29 - five carriages of a freight train derailed as a result of an explosion under the train at the 2170th kilometer of the Gudermes - Kadi-Yurt section. No harm done. At the site of the emergency, a crater with a diameter of two meters and a depth of 60 centimeters formed, nine sleepers and about two meters of rails were destroyed.
February 5 - in Moscow at 18:50 there was an explosion at the Belorusskaya-Koltsevaya metro station. The explosive device was placed on the platform next to the first carriage of the train under a heavy marble bench. The explosion knocked out powerful lampshades at the station, and cladding fell off the ceiling. As a result of the explosion, 20 people were injured, including two children, but no one died. There are currently no suspects or defendants in the case.
March 11 - at the 2186th kilometer of the North Caucasus Railway, a freight train traveling along the Gudermes - Khasavyurt route was blown up. A third of the carriages were derailed and the railway tracks were destroyed.

Infantryman on a tank, second Chechen war

March 15-16 - three Chechen terrorists took 174 hostages in Istanbul (Turkey) on board a Vnukovo Airlines Tu-154 plane flying to Moscow. The plane landed in Saudi Arabia, where the hostages were freed as a result of the assault. A flight attendant and one terrorist were killed during the assault, two were detained and sentenced to 6 and 4 years in prison.
March 24 - terrorist attack in Mineralnye Vody.
April 19 - bomb explosion at a market in Astrakhan. 8 people were killed, 41 were injured. On suspicion of involvement, law enforcement agencies detained four people - Magomed Isakov, Khadir Khaniev, Maxim Ibragimov and Alexander Shturbe. However, the evidence collected by the prosecutor's office seemed unconvincing to the jury and all four were acquitted. The prosecutor's office appealed the acquittal, and it was overturned by a decision of the Supreme Court.
May 10 - terrorist Abu Jafar, one of the organizers of the ambush on the rear column of the 51st Tula Parachute Regiment in 2000, died in a minefield near Grozny.
June 14 - two Su-25s of the 461st attack air regiment collided with a mountain during a flight in bad weather conditions in the Shatoy area. Both pilots were killed.
June 23-24 - in the village of Alkhan-Kala, a special joint detachment of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the FSB conducted a special operation to eliminate a detachment of militants of field commander Arbi Barayev. 16 militants were killed, including Barayev himself.
June 25-26 - militant attack on Khankala.
July 11 - in the village of Mayrtup, Shalinsky district of Chechnya, during a special operation of the FSB and the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, Khattab's assistant Abu Umar was killed.
July 19 - Mi-8 of the Ministry of Internal Affairs crashed in the Engenoi area. 9 people were killed, 5 more were injured.
July 31 - in the area of ​​​​Nevinnomyssk (Stavropol Territory), Chechen Sultan-Said Idiev seized a bus with 40 people on it. The terrorist was armed with a grenade and a machine gun; he demanded the release of prisoners who hijacked a plane in Makhachkala in 1994. During the assault, the terrorist was killed. One hostage was injured as a result of the explosion of a noise grenade used by special forces.
August 14 - Mi-8 of the Federal Border Service crashed during landing in the Tuskharoy area. 3 people died.
August 15 - Mi-24V of the 487th separate helicopter regiment was shot down by fire from the ground in the Tsa-Vedeno area. Both crew members were killed.
August 19 - in Astrakhan, at the largest Astrakhan market, “Kirovsky,” a powerful explosion occurred at approximately 16.20, as a result of which 8 people were killed and about 60 were injured of varying severity.
August 25 - in the city of Argun, during a special operation by FSB officers, field commander Movsan Suleimenov, nephew of Arbi Barayev, was killed.
September 2 - on the border of Chechnya and Dagestan, near the village of Khindoy, a Mi-8 helicopter (Ministry of Defense) crashed as a result of a malfunction while performing a transport flight. 4 people were killed, 2 were injured.
September 4 - at about 6 o'clock in the morning, a powerful explosion completely disabled one of the branches of the North Caucasus Railway within the boundaries of Makhachkala. Two anti-tank artillery shells were detonated using a timer, creating craters 1 m deep and 1.5 m in diameter. The Baku-Moscow passenger train was running late and thanks to this it did not go downhill.
September 17 - an Mi-8 helicopter with a General Staff commission on board was shot down in Grozny (2 generals and 8 officers were killed).
September 17-18 - militant 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 2 - in the Naursky district of Chechnya, a terrorist attack was committed on the Terek - Naurskaya railway section. When a freight train was traveling along the road, an explosive device went off underneath it. The explosion was of low power and the train did not derail.
November 3 - during a special operation, the influential field commander Shamil Iriskhanov, who was part of Basayev’s inner circle, was killed.
November 10 - Terrorist attack in Vladikavkaz. At the Falloy market in Vladikavkaz, an explosion killed 5 people and injured 66. The investigation recognized the Chechen field commander Abu-Malik as the mastermind of the terrorist attack, and Ruslan Chakhkiev, Akhmet Tsurov and Movsar Temirbaev as the perpetrators. A. Tsurov died in a pre-trial detention center shortly after his arrest in the fall of 2002. On July 11, 2003, R. Chakhkiev was sentenced to 24 years in prison, M. Temirbaev - to 18 years.
November 29 - a female suicide bomber (the widow of a deceased militant) blew herself up in the central square of Urus-Martan (Chechnya) when the district commandant, Major General Heydar Gadzhiev, was there. Gadzhiev was killed and three guards were wounded.
December 1 - Mi-26T of the 325th separate transport and combat helicopter regiment of the North Caucasus Military District. During the flight "Khankala - Mozdok - Egorlykskaya" the engines failed; The helicopter made an emergency landing in the village of Stoderevskaya. 2 people were killed and 16 were injured.
December 15 - In Argun, federal forces killed 20 militants during a special operation.

January 13 — A car and an armored vehicle containing riot police officers were blown up in Dagestan. In the Sovetsky district of Makhachkala, an unidentified explosive device filled with nails and scraps of metal plates went off as a UAZ vehicle and an armored personnel carrier with riot police officers were passing by. The power of the explosion was equivalent to 200 grams of TNT. No one was injured as a result of the incident.
January 18 - Explosion on Ozernaya Street in Makhachkala. A truck carrying military personnel was blown up. The explosive device was planted in the snow near the curb. 8 soldiers of the 102nd brigade of the Internal Troops were killed, 10 people were wounded, second Chechen was very cruel.
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.
January 28 - Mi-8 was hit by automatic weapons fire in the Dyshne-Vedeno area. Made an emergency landing and burned out. Three wounded.
February 3 - Mi-24P of the Federal Border Service disappeared in bad weather conditions in the mountainous regions of Chechnya. All 3 crew members are considered dead, although the militants claimed they were captured.
February 7 - Mi-8 of the 4th Air Force and Air Defense Army crashed after takeoff in Khankala. 7 people were killed, 3 more were injured.
March 20 - as a result of a special operation by the FSB, terrorist Khattab was killed by poisoning.
April 14 - in Vedeno, an MTL-B was blown up, in which there were sappers, cover machine gunners, and an FSB officer. The explosion occurred as a result of false information among the population about the poisoning of a water source by militants. 6 servicemen were killed, 4 were injured. Among the dead is an FSB officer.
April 18 - in his Address to the Federal Assembly, President Vladimir Putin announced the end of the military stage of the conflict in Chechnya.
April 28 - an explosion occurred at the entrance to the Central Market of Vladikavkaz (North Ossetia). The power of the explosive device was 500 grams of TNT. As a result of the terrorist attack, 9 people were killed and 46 were injured.
April 29 - Su-25 crashed in the Vedeno region. The pilot died.
May 9 - a terrorist attack occurred in Kaspiysk during the celebration of Victory Day. 43 people were killed and more than 100 were injured.
July - a black man, British citizen Amir Assadullah, was killed in Chechnya.
July 20 - while flying from North Ossetia to Ingushetia, an MI-8 helicopter crashed into a mountain. All 12 people on board - four crew members and eight military personnel of the Nazran border detachment - were killed. The crashed helicopter was discovered near the administrative border of Ingushetia with North Ossetia. According to preliminary data, the cause of the tragedy was poor weather conditions.
August 6 - in Shatoy, in front of the commandant's office, a GAZ-66 with military personnel was blown up by a landmine. Fire was opened on those who tried to come to their aid. 10 military personnel were killed and 7 were wounded.
August 19 - Chechen separatists using Igla MANPADS shot down a Russian military transport helicopter Mi-26 in the area of ​​the Khankala military base. Of the 147 people on board, 127 died.
August 26 - the famous field commander of the second Chechen war, Aslambek Abdulkhadzhiev, was killed in Shali.
August 31 - Mi-24P of the 487th separate helicopter combat control regiment was shot down by a MANPADS near the village of Beshil-Irzu. Exploded in mid-air, killing both crew members. According to official data, it became the 36th helicopter lost by federal forces in the second Chechen campaign.
September 3 - in the vicinity of Shali, a KamAZ truck with policemen was blown up by a radio-controlled land mine. 8 people were killed, 11 were injured.
September 6 - 3 police UAZ vehicles were ambushed near Itum-Kale. In the shootout, 6 policemen from the Novosibirsk region were killed and 4 were wounded.
September 23-25 ​​- Raid on Ingushetia.
September 26 - Mi-24V of the 55th separate helicopter regiment was shot down by MANPADS in the Galashka area (Ingushetia). Three crew members were killed.
September 27 — In the center of Makhachkala, unknown persons fired machine guns at the official car of the head of the Department for Combating Extremism and Criminal Terrorism of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Dagestan, police colonel Akhverdilav Akilov. The head of the department and his driver were killed.
October 10 - in Grozny, an explosion occurred in the building of the Zavodsky district police department. The explosive device was planted in the office of the head of the department. 25 policemen were killed, about 20 were wounded.
October 17 - Mi-8MTV-2 MVD caught on a power line in the Komsomolskoye area, evading fire from the ground. 3 people died.
October 19 - Terrorist attack in Moscow. A Tavria car bomb exploded near a McDonald's restaurant in southwest Moscow. 1 person was killed, 8 were injured. Subsequently, the perpetrators of the terrorist attack were exposed and in April 2004 sentenced to terms of 15 to 20 years in prison: Aslan and Alikhan Mezhievs, Khampash Sobraliev and Aslan Murdalov, all residents of Chechnya.
October 23-26 - hostage taking in the theater center on Dubrovka in Moscow, 129 hostages died. All 44 terrorists were killed, including Movsar Barayev.
October 28 - between the Chechen settlements of Naurskoye and Terek, a landmine exploded 70 meters in front of a moving train with oil products. However, the driver managed to stop the train and the crash of 51 oil tanks was avoided. The road surface was promptly restored.
October 29 - Mi-8MT of the Ministry of Internal Affairs was shot down in the Khankala area. 4 people died.
November 3 - Mi-8MT of the 487th separate helicopter regiment of the combat command of the Ground Forces) was shot down by a MANPADS near Khankala. 9 people died.
November 11 - Mi-24 crashed in the Khankala area and burned out. There were no casualties.
December 27 - explosion of the Government House in Grozny. As a result of the terrorist attack, more than 70 people were killed. Shamil Basayev took responsibility for the terrorist attack.

On September 30, 2015, Russia launched a military campaign in Syria. After the end of World War II, the USSR and then Russia participated in dozens of military operations in which they suffered losses. From China and Cuba to Angola and Czechoslovakia - where and what the Russian armed forces achieved - in a special project by Kommersant

At the beginning of August 1999, armed clashes began on the border of Dagestan and Chechnya. On August 7, gangs of more than 400 people under the leadership of field commanders Shamil Basayev and Khattab invaded the territory of the Botlikh region of Dagestan from Chechnya. The fighting continued until the end of August, after which federal forces began an assault on the Wahhabi villages of Karamakhi, Chabanmakhi and Kadar in Dagestan.
On the night of September 5, about 2 thousand extremists again crossed the Chechen-Dagestan border. The fighting in Dagestan continued until September 15. By the end of September, up to 90 thousand soldiers and about 400 tanks were concentrated on the border with Chechnya. The combined group of federal forces was commanded by Colonel General Viktor Kazantsev. The separatist forces were estimated at 15–20 thousand militants, up to 30 tanks and 100 armored vehicles.

On October 2, 1999, Russian troops entered Chechnya. They managed to occupy the northern part of Chechnya with minimal losses and take control of the cities of Urus-Martan and Gudermes without a fight.

On December 22, Russian border guards and airborne units landed in the south of the Argun Gorge, blocking the path to Georgia. The assault on Grozny took place in December 1999-January 2000.

On February 1–3, as part of Operation Wolf Hunt, militant groups were lured out of the Chechen capital with the help of disinformation and sent to minefields (the militants lost approximately 1,500 people).

The last major combined arms operation was the destruction of a detachment of militants in the village of Komsomolskoye on March 2–15, 2000 (about 1,200 people were destroyed and captured). On April 20, Deputy Chief of the General Staff Valery Manilov said that the military part of the operation in Chechnya had been completed and now its “special part was being carried out - conducting special operations to complete the defeat of the remaining undead gangs.” It was announced that about 28 thousand military personnel would be stationed in the republic on a permanent basis, including the advanced units of the 42nd motorized rifle division, 2.7 thousand border guards, and nine battalions of internal troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation.

Moscow has relied on resolving the conflict by attracting some of the local elites to its side. On June 12, 2000, by decree of the President of the Russian Federation, Akhmat Kadyrov, a former close associate of Maskhadov and the Mufti of Ichkeria, was appointed head of the administration of the Chechen Republic.

Since the spring-summer of 2000, the militants switched to guerrilla actions: shelling, mining of roads, terrorist attacks. Terrorist activity quickly spread beyond the republic. Militants took hostages at the Nord-Ost musical in Moscow, organized a bombing of a government building in Grozny (2002), an explosion at the Wings rock festival in Tushino (2003), suicide bombings in the Moscow metro and on board passenger planes (2004) .

On May 9, 2004, Akhmat Kadyrov was killed in an explosion at the Dynamo stadium in Grozny.
Interview of Vladimir Putin to Sergei Dorenko (1999)
On September 1, 2004, the most notorious terrorist attack in Russian history was committed - the taking of more than 1 thousand hostages at a school in Beslan. The attack killed 334 people.

On October 13, 2005, militants made their last major attack - up to 200 people attacked 13 objects in Nalchik, including the airport, FSB and police buildings. 95 militants were killed and 71 were detained over the next year.

On July 10, 2006, Shamil Basayev, who took responsibility for the attack on Nalchik and a number of other high-profile terrorist attacks, was killed during a special operation by the FSB in Ingushetia. By that time, many separatist leaders had already been killed, including the President of Ichkeria Aslan Maskhadov.

In 2007, Ramzan Kadyrov, the son of Akhmat Kadyrov, came to power in Chechnya.

From 00:00 on April 16, 2009, the counter-terrorist operation regime on the territory of the Chechen Republic was canceled. The message from the National Anti-Terrorism Committee stated that from now on, measures to combat terrorism in Chechnya will be carried out by local law enforcement agencies, as in other regions of the country. This moment is considered the official end of the second Chechen war.

The total losses of security forces during the active phase of hostilities (from October 1999 to December 23, 2002) amounted to 4,572 dead and 15,549 wounded. According to Ministry of Defense statistics, from 1999 to September 2008, 3,684 military personnel were killed in the line of duty in Chechnya. According to the Main Personnel Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the losses of internal troops in August 1999-August 2003 amounted to 1,055 people. The losses of the Chechen Ministry of Internal Affairs, according to data for 2006, were estimated at 835 people killed. It was also reported that in 1999–2002, 202 FSB officers were killed in Chechnya. The total losses of Russian law enforcement agencies can be estimated at at least 6 thousand people.

According to the OGV headquarters, 15.5 thousand militants were killed in 1999–2002. From 2002 to 2009, security forces reported the elimination of about 2,100 more members of illegal armed groups: the bulk in 2002 (600) and 2003 (700). Separatist leader Shamil Basayev in 2005 estimated militant losses at 3,600 people. The human rights organization Memorial in 2004 estimated civilian casualties at 10–20 thousand people, Amnesty International in 2007 - up to 25 thousand dead.

As a result of the second Chechen campaign, Russia managed to completely take control of the territory of the republic and provide a government loyal to the center. At the same time, the terrorist organization “Caucasus Emirate” was formed in the region, with the goal of creating an Islamist state on the territory of all the Caucasian republics of the Russian Federation. After 2009, the gang underground organized a number of major terrorist attacks in the country (explosions in the Moscow metro in 2010, at Domodedovo airport in 2011, at a train station and in a trolleybus in Volgograd in 2013). The counter-terrorism operation regime is periodically introduced in the territories of the republics of the region.

Territory: Chechen Republic
Period: August 1999-April 2009
Duration: 9.5 years
Participants: Russia / Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, “Caucasus Emirate”
USSR/Russian forces involved: joint group of troops numbering up to 100 thousand people
Losses: more than 6 thousand people, of which 3.68 thousand were military personnel of the Ministry of Defense (as of September 2008)
Supreme Commander-in-Chief: Boris Yeltsin
Conclusion: two Chechen wars helped to “pacify” Chechnya, but turned the entire North Caucasus into a powder keg

The first Chechen war of 1994-1996: briefly about the causes, events and results. The Chechen wars claimed many lives.

But what initially caused the conflict? What happened in those years in the troubled southern regions?

Causes of the Chechen conflict

After the collapse of the USSR, General Dudayev came to power in Chechnya. Large reserves of weapons and property of the Soviet state ended up in his hands.

The general's main goal was the creation of an independent republic of Ichkeria. The means used to achieve this goal were not entirely loyal.

The regime established by Dudayev was declared illegal by the federal authorities. Therefore, they considered it their duty to intervene. The struggle for spheres of influence became the main cause of the conflict.

Other reasons stemming from the main one:

• Chechnya's desire to secede from Russia;
• Dudayev's desire to create a separate Islamic state;
• Chechen dissatisfaction with the invasion of Russian troops;
• The source of income for the new government was the slave trade, trade in drugs and oil from the Russian pipeline passing through Chechnya.

The government sought to regain power over the Caucasus and restore lost control.

Chronicle of the first Chechen war

The first Chechen campaign began on December 11, 1994. It lasted almost 2 years.

It was a confrontation between federal troops and the forces of an unrecognized state.

1. December 11, 1994 - entry of Russian troops. The Russian army advanced from 3 sides. The very next day, one of the groups approached settlements located near Grozny.
2. December 31, 1994 – storming of Grozny. The fighting began a few hours before the New Year. But at first luck was not on the side of the Russians. The first assault failed. There were many reasons: poor preparedness of the Russian army, uncoordinated actions, lack of coordination, the presence of old maps and photographs of the city. But attempts to take the city continued. Grozny came under full Russian control only on March 6.
3. Events from April 1995 to 1996 After the capture of Grozny, it was gradually possible to establish control over most of the lowland territories. In mid-June 1995, a decision was made to postpone hostilities. However, it was violated many times. At the end of 1995, elections were held in Chechnya, which were won by a protege from Moscow. In 1996, the Chechens attempted to attack Grozny. All attacks were repelled.
4. April 21, 1996 – death of the separatist leader Dudayev.
5. On June 1, 1996, a truce was declared. According to the conditions, there should have been an exchange of prisoners, the disarmament of militants and the withdrawal of Russian troops. But no one wanted to give in, and fighting began again.
6. August 1996 – Chechen operation “Jihad”, during which the Chechens took Grozny and other significant cities. The Russian authorities decide to conclude a truce and withdraw troops. The first Chechen war ended on August 31, 1996.

Consequences of the first Chechen campaign

Brief results of the war:

1. Following the results of the first Chechen war, Chechnya remained independent, but no one still recognized it as a separate state.
2. Many cities and settlements were destroyed.
3. Earning income through criminal means has begun to occupy a significant place.
4. Almost the entire civilian population fled their homes.

There was also a rise in Wahhabism.

Table “Losses in the Chechen War”

It is impossible to name the exact number of losses in the first Chechen war. Opinions, assumptions and calculations vary.

The approximate losses of the parties look like this:

In the “Federal Forces” column, the first figure is the calculations immediately after the war, the second is the data contained in the book on the wars of the 20th century, published in 2001.

Heroes of Russia in the Chechen war

According to official data, 175 soldiers who fought in Chechnya received the title of Hero of Russia.

Most military personnel who took part in hostilities received their rank posthumously.

The most famous heroes of the first Russian-Chechen war and their exploits:

1. Victor Ponomarev. During the battles in Grozny, he covered the sergeant with himself, which saved his life.
2. Igor Akhpashev. In Grozny, he neutralized the main firing points of Chechen thugs with a tank. After which he was surrounded. The militants blew up the tank, but Akhpashev fought in the burning car until the last. Then detonation occurred and the hero died.
3. Andrey Dneprovsky. In the spring of 1995, Dneprovsky’s unit defeated the Chechen militants who were at the height of the fortification. Andrei Dneprovsky was the only one killed in the ensuing battle. All the other soldiers of this unit survived all the horrors of the war and returned home.

Federal troops did not achieve the goals set in the first war. This became one of the reasons for the second Chechen war.

Combat veterans believe that the first war could have been avoided. Opinions differ about which side started the war. Is it true that there was a possibility of a peaceful resolution of the situation? Here the assumptions are also different.