Second military campaign in Chechnya. The war in Chechnya is a black page in the history of Russia. Units and types of equipment used in combat operations

In Chechnya, Russian troops fought under the tsars, when the Caucasus region was just part of Russian Empire. But in the nineties of the last century, a real massacre began there, the echoes of which have not subsided to this day. The Chechen war in 1994-1996 and in 1999-2000 - two disasters Russian army.

Prerequisites for the Chechen wars

The Caucasus has always been a very difficult region for Russia. Issues of nationality, religion, and culture have always been raised very sharply and were resolved in far from peaceful ways.

After it collapsed in 1991 Soviet Union, V Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic On the basis of national and religious hostility, the influence of the separatists increased, as a result of which the Republic of Ichkeria was self-proclaimed. She entered into confrontation with Russia.

In November 1991, Boris Yeltsin, then the President of Russia, issued a decree “On the introduction of a state of emergency on the territory of the Chechen-Ingush Republic.” But this decree was not supported in the Supreme Council of Russia, due to the fact that most of the seats there were occupied by Yeltsin’s opponents.

In 1992, on March 3, Dzhokhar Dudayev said that he would enter into negotiations only when Chechnya received complete independence. A few days later, on the twelfth, the Chechen parliament adopted a new constitution, self-proclaiming the country as a secular independent state.

Almost immediately all government buildings, all military bases, all strategically important objects were captured. The territory of Chechnya completely came under the control of the separatists. From that moment on, legitimate centralized power ceased to exist. The situation got out of control: the trade in arms and people flourished, drug trafficking passed through the territory, bandits robbed the population (especially the Slavic ones).

In June 1993, soldiers from Dudayev's personal guard seized the parliament building in Grozny, and Dudayev himself proclaimed the emergence of a “sovereign Ichkeria” - a state that he completely controlled.

A year later, the First Chechen War (1994-1996) will begin, which will mark the beginning of a whole series of wars and conflicts that have become, perhaps, the bloodiest and most brutal throughout the entire territory of the former Soviet Union.

First Chechen: the beginning

In 1994, December eleventh, Russian troops three groups entered the territory of Chechnya. One entered from the west, through North Ossetia, another through Mozdok, and the third group from the territory of Dagestan. Initially, command was entrusted to Eduard Vorobyov, but he refused and resigned, citing complete unpreparedness for this operation. Later, the operation in Chechnya will be headed by Anatoly Kvashnin.

Of the three groups, only the Mozdok group was able to successfully reach Grozny on December 12th - the other two were blocked in different parts Chechnya by local residents and partisan detachments militants. A few days later, the remaining two groups of Russian troops approached Grozny and blocked it from all sides, with the exception of the southern direction. Until the start of the assault from this side, access to the city would be free for militants; this later influenced the siege of Grozny by federal forces.

Storm of Grozny

On December 31, 1994, the assault began, which claimed many lives of Russian soldiers and remained one of the most tragic episodes in Russian history. About two hundred units of armored vehicles entered Grozny from three sides, which were almost powerless in the conditions of street fighting. There was poor communication between the companies, which made it difficult to coordinate joint actions.

Russian troops are stuck on the streets of the city, constantly falling under the crossfire of militants. Battalion Maikop brigade, which advanced the furthest to the city center, was surrounded and was almost completely destroyed along with its commander, Colonel Savin. Petrakuvsky Battalion motorized rifle regiment, who went to the “Maikopians” to the rescue, after two days of fighting, numbered about thirty percent of the original composition.

By the beginning of February, the number of attackers was increased to seventy thousand people, but the assault on the city continued. It was not until the third of February that Grozny was blocked from the south and encircled.

On March 6, part of the last detachments of Chechen separatists was killed, others left the city. Grozny remained under the control of Russian troops. In fact, little remained of the city - both sides actively used both artillery and armored vehicles, so Grozny was practically in ruins.

In the rest of the area there were continuous local battles between Russian troops and militant groups. In addition, the militants prepared and carried out a series (June 1995) in Kizlyar (January 1996). In March 1996, militants made an attempt to recapture Grozny, but the assault was repelled by Russian soldiers. And Dudayev was liquidated.

In August, the militants repeated their attempt to take Grozny, this time they were successful. Many important objects in the city were blocked by the separatists, and Russian troops suffered very heavy losses. Along with Grozny, the militants took Gudermes and Argun. On August 31, 1996, the Khasavyurt Agreement was signed - the First Chechen War ended with huge losses for Russia.

Human losses in the First Chechen War

The data varies depending on which side is doing the counting. Actually, this is not surprising and it has always been this way. Therefore, all options are provided below.

Losses in the Chechen War (table No. 1 according to the headquarters of the Russian troops):

The two numbers in each column indicating the losses of Russian troops are two headquarters investigations that were conducted a year apart.

According to the Committee of Soldiers' Mothers, the consequences of the Chechen war are completely different. The number of people killed there alone is about fourteen thousand.

Losses in the Chechen War (Table No. 2) of militants according to Ichkeria and a human rights organization:

Among the civilian population, Memorial put forward a figure of 30-40 thousand people, and Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation A. I. Lebed - 80,000.

Second Chechen: main events

Even after the signing of the peace agreements, Chechnya did not become calmer. Militants were in charge, there was a brisk trade in drugs and weapons, people were kidnapped and killed. There was anxiety on the border between Dagestan and Chechnya.

After a series of kidnappings of major businessmen, officers, and journalists, it became clear that the continuation of the conflict in a more acute phase was simply inevitable. Moreover, since April, small groups of militants began to probe the weak points of the defense of Russian troops, preparing an invasion of Dagestan. The invasion operation was led by Basayev and Khattab. The place where the militants planned to strike was in the mountainous zone of Dagestan. There, the small number of Russian troops was combined with the inconvenient location of the roads, along which reinforcements could not be transferred very quickly. On August 7, 1999, militants crossed the border.

The main striking force of the bandits were mercenaries and Islamists from Al-Qaeda. The fighting continued for almost a month with varying success, but finally the militants were driven back to Chechnya. At the same time, the bandits carried out a number of terrorist attacks in different cities Russia, including Moscow.

As a response, on September 23, a powerful shelling of Grozny began, and a week later, Russian troops entered Chechnya.

Human losses in the Second Chechen War among Russian military personnel

The situation changed, and Russian troops now played a dominant role. But many mothers never saw their sons.

Losses in the Chechen War (table No. 3):

In June 2010, the commander in chief of the Ministry of Internal Affairs cited the following figures: 2,984 killed and about 9,000 wounded.

Militant losses

Losses in the Chechen War (table No. 4):

Civilian casualties

According to officially confirmed data, as of February 2001, over a thousand civilians were killed. In the book by S.V. Ryazantsev “Demographic and migration portrait of the North Caucasus” the losses of the parties in the Chechen war are called five thousand people, although we're talking about already about 2003

Judging by the assessment of the Amnesty International organization, which calls itself non-governmental and objective, there were about twenty-five thousand civilian deaths. They can count for a long time and diligently, but when asked: “How many actually died in the Chechen war?” - hardly anyone will give an intelligible answer.

Results of the war: peace conditions, restoration of Chechnya

While the Chechen war was going on, the loss of equipment, enterprises, land, any resources and everything else was not even considered, because people always remain the main ones. But the war ended, Chechnya remained part of Russia, and the need arose to restore the republic practically from ruins.

Huge amounts of money were allocated for Grozny. After several assaults, there were almost no entire buildings left there, and on this moment it is a big and beautiful city.

The economy of the republic was also raised artificially - it was necessary to give time for the population to get used to the new realities, so that new factories and farms could be built. Roads, communication lines, and electricity were needed. Today we can say that the republic has almost completely emerged from the crisis.

Chechen wars: reflected in films, books

Dozens of films were made based on events that took place in Chechnya. Many books have been published. Now it is no longer possible to understand where are the fictions and where are the real horrors of war. The Chechen war (like the war in Afghanistan) claimed too many lives and swept through an entire generation, so it simply could not remain unnoticed. Russia's losses in the Chechen wars are colossal, and, according to some researchers, the losses are even greater than in the ten years of war in Afghanistan. Below is a list of films that show us most deeply tragic events Chechen campaigns.

• documentary film of five episodes "Chechen Trap";
• "Purgatory";
• "Cursed and Forgotten";
• "Prisoner of the Caucasus".

Many fiction and journalistic books describe the events in Chechnya. For example, the now famous writer Zakhar Prilepin fought as part of the Russian troops, who wrote the novel “Pathologies” specifically about this war. Writer and publicist Konstantin Semenov published a series of stories "Grozny Stories" (about the storming of the city) and the novel "We were betrayed by our homeland." Vyacheslav Mironov’s novel “I Was in This War” is dedicated to the storming of Grozny.

Video recordings made in Chechnya by rock musician Yuri Shevchuk are widely known. He and his group "DDT" performed more than once in Chechnya in front of Russian soldiers in Grozny and at military bases.

Conclusion

The State Council of Chechnya published data from which it follows that between 1991 and 2005, almost one hundred and sixty thousand people died - this figure includes militants, civilians, and Russian soldiers. One hundred sixty thousand.

Even if the numbers are exaggerated (which is quite likely), the volume of losses is still simply colossal. Russia's losses in the Chechen wars are a terrible memory of the nineties. The old wound will ache and itch in every family that lost a man there, in the Chechen war.

The article briefly talks about the second Chechen war - military operation Russia on the territory of Chechnya, which began in September 1999. Large-scale hostilities continued until 2000, after which the operation moved into a relatively calm phase, consisting of the liquidation of individual bases and terrorist detachments. The operation was officially canceled in 2009.

1. Move two Chechen war
2. Results of the second Chechen war

Causes of the second Chechen war

• After the withdrawal of Russian troops from Chechnya in 1996, the situation in the region remained turbulent. A. Maskhadov, the head of the republic, did not control the actions of the militants, and often turned a blind eye to their activities. The slave trade flourished in the republic. In Chechnya and neighboring republics, Russian and foreign citizens were kidnapped, for whom militants demanded a ransom. Those hostages who for some reason could not pay the ransom were subject to the death penalty.
• Militants were actively involved in thefts from a pipeline passing through the territory of Chechnya. The sale of oil, as well as the clandestine production of gasoline, has become a significant source of income for the militants. The territory of the republic has become a transit point for drug trafficking.
• The difficult economic situation and lack of jobs forced the male population of Chechnya to go over to the side of the militants in search of income. A network of bases for training militants was created in Chechnya. The training was supervised by Arab mercenaries. Chechnya occupied a huge place in the plans of Islamic fundamentalists. She was meant to the main role in destabilizing the situation in the region. The republic was supposed to become a springboard for an attack on Russia and a breeding ground for separatism in neighboring republics.
• Russian authorities were concerned about the increasing number of kidnappings and the supply of drugs and clandestine gasoline from Chechnya. Great importance had a Chechen oil pipeline, which was intended for large-scale transportation of oil from the Caspian region.
• In the spring of 1999, a number of tough measures were taken to improve the situation and suppress the activities of militants. Chechen self-defense units have strengthened significantly. Arrived from Russia the best specialists on counter-terrorism activities. The Chechen-Dagestan border has virtually become a militarized zone. The conditions and requirements for crossing the border have been significantly increased. On Russian territory, the struggle between Chechen groups financing terrorists has intensified.
• This dealt a serious blow to the militants’ income from the sale of drugs and oil. They had problems paying Arab mercenaries and buying weapons.

Progress of the second Chechen war

• Back in the spring of 1999, due to the aggravation of the situation, Russia launched a helicopter missile strike on militant positions on the river. Terek. According to available information, they were preparing a large-scale offensive.
• In the summer of 1999, a number of preparatory attacks by militants were carried out in Dagestan. As a result, the most vulnerable points in positions were identified Russian defense. In August, the main forces of militants invaded the territory of Dagestan under the leadership of Sh. Basayev and Khattab. The main striking force were Arab mercenaries. Residents put up stubborn resistance. The terrorists could not resist the Russian army, which was many times superior to them. After several battles they were forced to retreat back. K ser. September, the borders of the republic were surrounded by the Russian army. At the end of the month, Grozny and its environs are bombed, after which the Russian army enters the territory of Chechnya.
• Russia's further actions are to combat the remnants of gangs on the territory of the republic, with an emphasis on attracting the local population. A broad amnesty is announced for participants in the terrorist movement. The head of the republic becomes a former enemy - A. Kadyrov, who creates combat-ready self-defense units.
• In order to improve the economic situation, large financial flows were sent to Chechnya. This was to stop the recruitment of poor people by terrorists. Russia's actions have led to certain successes. In 2009, the cessation of the counter-terrorism operation was announced.

Results of the second Chechen war

• As a result of the war, relative calm was finally achieved in the Chechen Republic. The drug trade and slave trade were almost completely eliminated. The plans of the Islamists to transform the North Caucasus into one of the world centers of the terrorist movement were thwarted.

On September 30, 1999, the first units of the Russian army entered the territory of Chechnya. The Second Chechen War or - officially - the counter-terrorism operation - lasted almost ten years, from 1999 to 2009. Its beginning was preceded by the attack of militants Shamil Basayev and Khattab on Dagestan and a series of terrorist attacks in Buinaksk, Volgodonsk and Moscow, which occurred from September 4 to 16, 1999.

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Russia was shocked by a series of monstrous terrorist attacks in 1999. On the night of September 4, a house in the military town of Buynaksk (Dagestan) was blown up. 64 people were killed and 146 were injured. In itself, this terrible crime could not shake up the country; similar precedents in the North Caucasus have become a common occurrence over the years. last years. But subsequent events showed that now the residents of neither Russian city, including the capital, cannot feel completely safe. The next explosions occurred in Moscow. On the night of September 9-10 and September 13 (at 5 a.m.), two apartment buildings located on the street were blown up along with the sleeping residents. Guryanov (109 people were killed, more than 200 were injured) and on Kashirskoye Highway (more than 124 people were killed). Another explosion occurred in the center of Volgodonsk ( Rostov region), 17 people died here, 310 were injured and injured. According to the official version, the terrorist attacks were carried out by terrorists who were trained in Khattab's sabotage camps on the territory of Chechnya.

These events dramatically changed the mood in society. The average person, faced with an unprecedented threat, was ready to support any forceful action against the breakaway republic. Unfortunately, few people paid attention to the fact that the terrorist attacks themselves became an indicator of the biggest failure of the Russian special services, which were unable to prevent them. In addition, it is difficult to completely exclude the version of involvement of the FSB in the explosions, especially after the mysterious events in Ryazan. Here on the evening of September 22, 1999, bags with hexogen and a detonator were discovered in the basement of one of the houses. On September 24, local security officers detained two suspects, and it turned out that they were active FSB officers from Moscow. Lubyanka urgently announced “conducted anti-terrorism exercises,” and subsequent attempts to independently investigate these events were suppressed by the authorities.

Regardless of who was behind the mass murder of Russian citizens, the Kremlin took full advantage of the events that took place. Now it was no longer a question of protecting Russian territory proper in the North Caucasus, or even of a blockade of Chechnya, reinforced by the bombing that had already begun. The Russian leadership, with some delay, began to implement the plan prepared back in March 1999 for the next invasion of the “rebel republic.”

On October 1, 1999, federal forces entered the territory of the republic. Northern regions(Naursky, Shelkovskoy and Nadterechny) were occupied almost without a fight. The Russian leadership decided not to stop at the Terek (as originally planned), but to continue the offensive across the flat part of Chechnya. At this stage, in order to avoid major losses (which could bring down the rating of Yeltsin’s “successor”), the main emphasis was placed on the use of heavy weapons, which allowed the federal forces to avoid contact battles. In addition to this, the Russian command used negotiation tactics with local elders and field commanders. The former were forced to force the Chechen detachments to leave populated areas, threatening, otherwise, massive air and artillery strikes. The latter were offered to go over to the side of Russia and jointly fight the Wahhabis. In some places this tactic was successful. On November 12, the commander of the Vostok group, General G. Troshev, occupied Gudermes, the second largest city of the republic, without a fight; local field commanders, the Yamadayev brothers (two of the three) went over to the side of the federal forces. And the commander of the “West” group, V. Shamanov, preferred forceful methods of resolving problems that arose. Thus, the village of Bamut was completely destroyed as a result of the November assault, but the regional center of Achkhoy-Martan Russian units They occupied it without a fight.

The “carrot and stick” method used by the federal group worked flawlessly for another reason. In the flat part of the republic, the defense capabilities of the Chechen army were extremely limited. Sh. Basayev was well aware of the advantage of the Russian side in firepower. In this regard, he defended the option of the Chechen army withdrawing to the southern mountainous regions of the republic. Here, federal forces, deprived of the support of armored vehicles and limited in the use of aviation, would inevitably face the prospect of contact battles, which the Russian command stubbornly tried to avoid. The opponent of this plan was Chechen President A. Maskhadov. While continuing to call on the Kremlin for peaceful negotiations, he did not want to surrender the capital of the republic without a fight. Being an idealist, A. Maskhadov believed that large one-time losses during the assault on Grozny would force Russian leadership start peace negotiations.

In the first half of December, federal forces occupied almost the entire flat part of the republic. Chechen troops concentrated in mountainous areas, but a fairly large garrison continued to hold Grozny, which, during stubborn and bloody battles, was captured by Russian troops in early 2000. This ended the active phase of the war. In subsequent years, Russian special forces, together with local loyal forces, were engaged in clearing the territories of Chechnya and Dagestan from the remaining gangs of formations.

The problem of the status of the Chechen Republic by 2003–2004. leaves the current political agenda: the republic returns to the political and legal space of Russia, takes its position as a subject Russian Federation, with elected authorities and a procedurally approved republican Constitution. Doubts about the legal validity of these procedures are unlikely to seriously change their results, which depend decisively on the ability of the federal and republican authorities to ensure the irreversibility of Chechnya's transition to the problems and concerns of peaceful life. Two serious threats remain within the framework of such a transition: (a) indiscriminate violence on the part of federal forces, again tying the sympathies of the Chechen population to the cells/practices of terrorist resistance and thereby increasing the dangerous “occupation effect” - the effect of alienation between [Russia] and [ Chechens] as “parties to the conflict”; and (b) the establishment in the republic of a closed authoritarian regime, legitimized and protected by federal authorities and alienated from broad layers/territorial or teip groups of the Chechen population. These two threats are capable of cultivating the soil in Chechnya for the return of mass illusions and actions related to the separation of the republic from Russia.

The head of the republic becomes the Mufti of Chechnya, who defected to Russia, Akhmat Kadyrov, who died on May 9, 2004 as a result of a terrorist attack. His successor was his son, Ramzan Kadyrov.

Gradually, with the cessation of foreign funding and the death of underground leaders, the militants' activity decreased. The federal center has sent and continues to send large amounts of money to help and restore peaceful life in Chechnya. Units of the Ministry of Defense and internal troops Ministry of Internal Affairs, maintaining order in the republic. It is not yet clear whether the Ministry of Internal Affairs troops will remain in Chechnya after the abolition of the CTO.

Assessing the current situation, we can say that the fight against separatism in Chechnya has successfully ended. However, the victory cannot be called final. North Caucasus is a rather restless region in which various forces, both local and supported from abroad, are operating, seeking to fan the flames of a new conflict, so the final stabilization of the situation in the region is still far away.

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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 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. The regrouping of internal troops has begun Task Force in the North Caucasus 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. Official government 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 Ichrysos 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 in Chechnya general mobilization, 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 promised in an interview with journalists 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, but 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 - mass murder in the village of Mekenskaya: 43-year-old militant Akhmed Ibragimov, who was 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 CRI 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, but 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. 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 building district court 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, but 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 Khanchanoy 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 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 was triggered by a signal from the remote control 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 police officers Chelyabinsk region 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 commander of the detachment, 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. The explosion injured 20 people, including two children, but no one died. Suspects and accused in the case in currently No.
March 11 - at the 2186th kilometer of the North Caucasus railway A cargo 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 combined 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 stun 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, FSB officers killed field commander Movsan Suleimenov, nephew of Arbi Barayev.
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 passed 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 found in the area of ​​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 landmine. 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 combat control regiment Ground Forces) 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.

The Second Chechen War also had an official name - the counter-terrorist operation in the North Caucasus, or CTO for short. But the common name 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 deployment 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 attacks. In subsequent years, the second Chechen war took on the character of local skirmishes between separatists and Russian soldiers. The year 2009 was marked by the official abolition of the CTO regime.
The second Chechen war brought a lot of destruction. Photographs taken by journalists demonstrate this perfectly.

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 to return. However, peace was never established in Chechnya.
Criminal structures have significantly intensified their activities. They made an impressive business from such a criminal act as kidnapping for ransom. Their victims included both Russian journalists and official representatives, and members of foreign public, political and religious organizations. The bandits did not hesitate to kidnap people who came to Chechnya for the funerals of loved ones. Thus, 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 oil theft, drug trafficking, and the production and distribution of counterfeit money. They committed outrages and kept the civilian population in fear.

In March 1999, the authorized representative of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs for Chechen affairs, G. Shpigun, was captured at the Grozny airport. This blatant case showed the complete inconsistency of the President of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria 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 to fight gangs. From the side of the Stavropol Territory, a number of missile launchers were deployed, intended for delivering targeted ground strikes. It was also introduced economic blockade. The flow of cash injections from Russia has sharply decreased. In addition, it has become increasingly difficult for bandits to smuggle goods abroad narcotic drugs and take hostages. There was nowhere to sell the gasoline produced in underground factories. In mid-1999, the border between Chechnya and Dagestan turned into a militarized zone.

The gangs did not abandon their attempts to unofficially seize power. Groups led by Khattab and Basayev made forays into the territory of Stavropol and Dagestan. As a result, dozens of military personnel 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. Thus began the second Chechen war.

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 had 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 contrary, relied on giving the conflict an international character, calling on representatives of radical Islam from all over the world to participate in it.

By 2005, terrorist activity had decreased significantly. Between 2005 and 2008, there were no major attacks on civilians or clashes with official troops. However, in 2010, a number of tragic terrorist acts occurred (explosions in the Moscow metro, at Domodedovo airport).

Second Chechen War: Beginning

On June 18, the ChRI carried out two attacks at once on the border in the direction of Dagestan, as well as on a company of Cossacks in the Stavropol region. After this, most of the checkpoints into 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 the existence of this ministry. The bomb was discovered and promptly defused.

On June 30, the Russian leadership gave permission to use military weapons against gangs on the border with CRI.

Attack on the Republic of Dagestan

On August 1, 1999, the armed detachments 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 ChRI provoked a fierce clash between Wahhabis and riot police. As a result, several people died on both sides.

On August 3, a shootout occurred between police officers and Wahhabis in the Tsumadinsky district of the river. Dagestan. There were some losses. Shamil Basayev, one of the leaders of the Chechen opposition, declares the creation of an Islamic shura, which had its own troops. They established control over several regions in Dagestan. Local authorities of the republic are asking the center to issue military weapons to protect civilians from terrorists.

The next day, the separatists were driven back from the regional center of Agvali. More than 500 people dug in in positions that had been prepared in advance. They made no demands and did not enter into negotiations. It became known that they were holding three policemen.

At noon on August 4, on the road in the Botlikh district, a group of armed militants opened fire on a squad of Ministry of Internal Affairs officers who were trying to stop a car for an inspection. As a result, two terrorists were killed, and there were no casualties among the security forces. By locality Kekhni was dealt two powerful missile and bomb attacks by Russian attack aircraft. 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 attack is being prepared on the territory of Dagestan. 600 militants were going to penetrate into the center of the republic through the village of Kekhni. They wanted to seize Makhachkala and sabotage the government. However, representatives of the center of Dagestan denied this information.

The period from August 9 to August 25 was remembered for the battle for the Donkey Ear height. The militants fought with paratroopers from Stavropol and Novorossiysk.

Between September 7 and September 14, large groups led by Basayev and Khattab invaded from Chechnya. The devastating battles 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 18, Russian aviation continues its massive bombing of separatist concentration areas. Despite the protest of the Chechen authorities, the security forces say that they will act as necessary in the fight against terrorists.

On September 23, the forces of central aviation bombed Grozny and its environs. As a result, power plants, oil plants, a mobile communications center, and radio and television buildings were destroyed.

On September 27, V.V. Putin rejected the possibility of a meeting between the presidents of Russia and Chechnya.

Ground operation

Since September 6, Chechnya has been under martial law. Maskhadov calls on his citizens to declare gazavat to Russia.

On October 8, in the village of Mekenskaya, militant Akhmed Ibragimov shot 34 people of Russian nationality. Three of them were children. At the village meeting, Ibragimov was beaten to death with sticks. The mullah forbade his body to be buried.

The next day they occupied a third of the CRI territory and moved on to the second phase of hostilities. The main goal is the destruction of gangs.

On November 25, the President of Chechnya appealed to Russian soldiers to surrender and be taken prisoner.

In December 1999, Russian military forces liberated almost all of Chechnya from militants. About 3,000 terrorists dispersed across the mountains and also hid in Grozny.

Until February 6, 2000, the siege of the capital of Chechnya continued. After the capture of Grozny, massive fighting came to an end.

Situation in 2009

Despite the fact that the counter-terrorism operation was officially stopped, the situation in Chechnya did not become calmer, but on the contrary, it worsened. Incidents of explosions have become more frequent, and militants have become more active again. In the fall of 2009, a number of operations were carried out aimed at destroying gangs. The militants respond with major terrorist attacks, including in Moscow. By mid-2010, there was an escalation of the conflict.

Second Chechen War: results

Any military action causes damage to both property and people. Despite the compelling reasons for the second Chechen war, the pain from the death of loved ones cannot be relieved or forgotten. According to statistics, 3,684 people were lost on the Russian side. 2,178 representatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation were killed. The FSB lost 202 of its employees. More than 15,000 terrorists were killed. The number of civilians killed during the war is not precisely established. According to official data, it is about 1000 people.

Cinema and books about war

The fighting did not leave artists, writers, and directors indifferent. The photographs are dedicated to such an event as the second Chechen war. There are regular exhibitions where you can see works reflecting the destruction left behind by the fighting.

The second Chechen war still causes 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".