Many wars have been written in the history of Russia. Most of them were liberating, some began on our territory, and ended far beyond its borders. But there is nothing worse than such wars, which were started as a result of the illiterate actions of the country's leadership and led to horrific results because the authorities were solving their own problems, not paying attention to the people.

One of such sad pages in Russian history is the Chechen war. This was not a confrontation between two different peoples. In this war, there was no absolute right. And the most amazing thing is that this war still cannot be considered over.

Prerequisites for the start of the war in Chechnya

It is hardly possible to speak briefly about these military campaigns. The era of perestroika, so pompously announced by Mikhail Gorbachev, marked the collapse of a huge country, consisting of 15 republics. However, the main difficulty for Russia was also in the fact that, left without satellites, it faced internal fermentations of a nationalist character. The Caucasus turned out to be especially problematic in this respect.

Back in 1990, the National Congress was established. This organization was headed by Dzhokhar Dudayev, a former major general of aviation in the Soviet Army. The Congress set its main goal - secession from the USSR, in the future it was supposed to create the Chechen Republic, independent from any state.

In the summer of 1991, a situation of dual power developed in Chechnya, since both the leadership of the Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic itself and the leadership of the so-called Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, proclaimed by Dudayev, acted.

This state of affairs could not exist for a long time, and the same Dzhokhar and his supporters in September seized the republican television center, the Supreme Soviet and the House of Radio. This was the beginning of the revolution. The situation was extremely fragile, and its development was facilitated by the official collapse of the country, carried out by Yeltsin. After the news that the Soviet Union no longer existed, Dudayev's supporters announced that Chechnya was seceding from Russia.

The separatists seized power - under their influence, parliamentary and presidential elections were held in the republic on October 27, as a result of which power was completely in the hands of ex-General Dudayev. A few days later, on November 7, Boris Yeltsin signed a decree stating that a state of emergency was being introduced in the Chechen-Ingush Republic. In fact, this document became one of the reasons for the beginning of the bloody Chechen wars.

At that time, there were quite a lot of ammunition and weapons in the republic. Some of these reserves have already been seized by the separatists. Instead of blocking the situation, the leadership of the Russian Federation allowed it to get out of control even more - in 1992, the head of the Ministry of Defense Grachev handed over half of all these reserves to the militants. The authorities explained this decision by the fact that it was no longer possible to withdraw weapons from the republic at that time.

However, during this period, there was still an opportunity to stop the conflict. An opposition was created that opposed Dudayev's rule. However, after it became clear that these small detachments could not withstand the militant formations, the war was practically already on.

Yeltsin and his political supporters could no longer do anything, and from 1991 to 1994 it was actually an independent republic from Russia. Here, its own authorities were formed, there was its own state symbols. In 1994, when Russian troops entered the territory of the republic, a full-scale war broke out. Even after the resistance of Dudayev's militants was suppressed, the problem was never finally resolved.

Speaking about the war in Chechnya, it should be borne in mind that the blame for its unleashing, first of all, was the illiterate leadership, first of the USSR, and then of Russia. It was the weakening of the internal political situation in the country that led to the shattering of the outskirts and the strengthening of nationalist elements.

As for the essence of the Chechen war, there is a conflict of interests and the inability to govern a huge territory on the part of first Gorbachev and then Yeltsin. In the future, people who came to power at the very end of the twentieth century had to untie this tangled knot.

First Chechen War 1994-1996

Historians, writers and filmmakers are still trying to assess the scale of the horrors of the Chechen war. No one denies that it caused enormous damage not only to the republic itself, but to the whole of Russia. However, it should be borne in mind that the nature of the two campaigns was quite different.

During the Yeltsin era, when the first Chechen campaign of 1994-1996 was unleashed, Russian troops could not act smoothly and smoothly enough. The country's leadership was solving its own problems, moreover, according to some information, many profited from this war - arms were supplied to the territory of the republic from the Russian Federation, and the militants often earned money by demanding large ransoms for hostages.

At the same time, the main task of the Second Chechen War of 1999-2009 was the suppression of bandit formations and the establishment of constitutional order. It is clear that if the goals of both campaigns were different, then the course of action was significantly different.

On December 1, 1994, air strikes were carried out on airfields located in Khankala and Kalinovskaya. And already on December 11, Russian units were brought into the territory of the republic. This fact marked the beginning of the First Campaign. The entrance was carried out immediately from three directions - through Mozdok to, through Ingushetia and through Dagestan.

By the way, at that time, Eduard Vorobyov was in charge of the Ground Forces, but he immediately resigned, considering it unreasonable to lead the operation, since the troops were completely unprepared for full-scale hostilities.

At first, the Russian troops advanced quite successfully. The entire northern territory was occupied by them quickly and without any special losses. From December 1994 to March 1995, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation stormed Grozny. The city was built up quite densely, and Russian units were simply stuck in shootings and attempts to take the capital.

Russian Defense Minister Grachev hoped to take the city very quickly and therefore did not spare human and technical resources. Researchers estimate that more than 1,500 Russian soldiers and many civilians in the republic have died or gone missing near Grozny. Armored vehicles also suffered serious damage - almost 150 units were out of order.

Nevertheless, after two months of fierce fighting, federal troops nevertheless took Grozny. The participants in the hostilities later recalled that the city was destroyed almost to the ground, this is also confirmed by numerous photographs and video documents.

During the assault, not only armored vehicles were used, but also aviation and artillery. There were bloody battles on almost every street. During the operation in Grozny, the militants lost more than 7,000 people and, under the leadership of Shamil Basayev, on March 6 were forced to finally leave the city, which came under the control of the Russian Armed Forces.

However, the war, which brought deaths to thousands of not only armed, but also civilians, did not end there. Fighting continued first on the plains (from March to April), and then in the mountainous regions of the republic (from May to June 1995). Argun, Shali, Gudermes were sequentially taken.

The militants responded with terrorist acts carried out in Budennovsk and Kizlyar. After varying successes of both sides, a decision was made to negotiate. And as a result, on August 31, 1996, they were imprisoned. According to them, federal troops were leaving Chechnya, the infrastructure of the republic was to be restored, and the question of an independent status was postponed.

Second Chechen campaign 1999-2009

If the country's authorities hoped that by reaching an agreement with the militants, they had solved the problem and the battles of the Chechen war were in the past, then everything turned out to be wrong. For several years of a dubious truce, the bandit formations have only accumulated strength. In addition, more and more Islamists from Arab countries penetrated the territory of the republic.

As a result, on August 7, 1999, Khattab and Basayev's militants invaded Dagestan. Their calculation was based on the fact that the Russian government at that time looked very weak. Yeltsin practically did not lead the country, the Russian economy was in deep decline. The militants hoped that they would side with them, but they put up serious resistance to the bandit groups.

The reluctance to let Islamists into their territory and the help of federal troops forced the Islamists to retreat. True, this took a month - the militants were knocked out only in September 1999. At that time, Chechnya was led by Aslan Maskhadov, and, unfortunately, he was not able to exercise full control over the republic.

It was at this time, angry that it was not possible to break Dagestan, that the Islamist groups began to carry out terrorist acts on the territory of Russia. In Volgodonsk, Moscow and Buinaksk, terrible terrorist acts were committed, which claimed dozens of lives. Therefore, among those killed in the Chechen war, it is necessary to include those civilians who never thought that it would come to their families.

In September 1999, a decree was issued "On measures to improve the effectiveness of counterterrorist operations in the North Caucasus region of the Russian Federation" signed by Yeltsin. And on December 31, he announced his resignation from the presidency.

As a result of the presidential elections, power in the country passed to a new leader - Vladimir Putin, whose tactical abilities the militants did not take into account. But at that time, Russian troops were already on the territory of Chechnya, again bombed Grozny and acted much more competently. The experience of the previous campaign was taken into account.

December 1999 is another of the painful and terrible pages of the war. The Argun Gorge was otherwise called the "Wolf Gate" - one of the largest in length in the Caucasus gorges. Here, the landing and border troops carried out a special operation "Argun", the purpose of which was to recapture a section of the Russian-Georgian border from Khattab's troops, and also to deprive the militants of the path of supplying weapons from the Pankisi Gorge. The operation was completed in February 2000.

Many also remember the feat of the 6th company of the 104th paratrooper regiment of the Pskov Airborne Division. These fighters became real heroes of the Chechen war. They withstood a terrible battle at the 776th height, when they, in the number of only 90 people, managed to hold back over 2,000 militants for a day. Most of the paratroopers died, and the militants themselves lost almost a quarter of their strength.

Despite such cases, the second war, unlike the first, can be called a sluggish one. Perhaps that is why it lasted longer - many things happened over the years of these battles. The new Russian authorities decided to act differently. They refused to conduct active hostilities conducted by federal troops. It was decided to use the internal split in Chechnya itself. Thus, Mufti Akhmat Kadyrov went over to the side of the federals, and more and more situations were observed when ordinary militants laid down their arms.

Putin, realizing that such a war could last indefinitely, decided to use internal political fluctuations and persuade the authorities to cooperate. Now we can already say that he succeeded. The fact that on May 9, 2004 the Islamists committed a terrorist attack in Grozny, aimed at intimidating the population, also played a role. The explosion thundered at the Dynamo stadium during a concert dedicated to Victory Day. More than 50 people were injured, and Akhmat Kadyrov died from his injuries.

This controversial act of terrorism brought very different results. The population of the republic was finally disappointed in the militants and rallied around the legitimate government. A young man was appointed to replace his father, who understood the futility of Islamist resistance. Thus, the situation began to change for the better. If the militants relied on attracting foreign mercenaries from abroad, the Kremlin decided to use national interests. Residents of Chechnya were very tired of the war, so they already voluntarily sided with the pro-Russian forces.

The counterterrorist operation, introduced by Yeltsin on September 23, 1999, was canceled by President Dmitry Medvedev in 2009. Thus, the campaign was officially ended, since it was not called a war, but a WHO. However, can it be considered that veterans of the Chechen war can sleep peacefully if local battles are still taking place and terrorist attacks are carried out from time to time?

Results and consequences for the history of Russia

Hardly anyone can today give a concrete answer to the question of how many people died in the Chechen war. The problem is that any calculations will only be approximate. During the aggravation of the conflict before the First Campaign, many people of Slavic origin were repressed or forced to leave the republic. During the years of the First Campaign, many fighters died on both sides, and these losses also defy accurate calculation.

If the military losses can still be more or less calculated, then no one was involved in clarifying the losses on the part of the civilian population, except perhaps human rights activists. Thus, according to the official data available today, the 1st war claimed the following number of lives:

• Russian soldiers - 14,000;
• militants - 3,800 people;
• the civilian population is between 30,000 and 40,000.

If we talk about the Second Campaign, then the results of the death toll are as follows:

• federal troops - about 3,000;
• militants - from 13,000 to 15,000 people;
• civilian population - 1000 people.

It should be borne in mind that these numbers are very different depending on which organizations are reporting them. For example, when discussing the results of the second Chechen war, official Russian sources speak of a thousand civilian deaths. At the same time, Amnesty International (an international non-governmental organization) cites completely different figures - about 25,000 people. The difference in this data, as you can see, is huge.

The result of the war can be called not only the impressive numbers of casualties among the killed, wounded, and missing people. It is also a destroyed republic - after all, many cities, first of all, Grozny, were subjected to artillery shelling and bombing. The entire infrastructure was practically destroyed in them, so Russia had to rebuild the capital of the republic from scratch.

As a result, today Grozny is one of the most beautiful and modern. Other settlements of the republic were also rebuilt.

Anyone who is interested in this information can find out what happened in the territory from 1994 to 2009. There are many films about the Chechen war, books and various materials on the Internet.

However, those who were forced to leave the republic, lost their relatives and health - these people hardly want to immerse themselves in what they have already experienced. The country was able to withstand this most difficult period of its history, and once again proved that it is more important for them - dubious calls for independence or unity with Russia.

The history of the Chechen war has not yet been fully understood. Researchers will be looking for documents on casualties among the military and civilians for a long time, and will double-check the statistics. But today we can say: the weakening of the top and the desire for disunity always lead to dire consequences. Only the strengthening of state power and the unity of people can end any confrontation so that the country can live in peace again.

20 years later: the main thing about the Second Chechen war

20 years ago, on September 30, 1999, Russian troops entered the territory of Chechnya. This is how the hostilities began and lasted 10 years (until August 2009) in Chechnya and the border regions of the North Caucasus, known as the Second Chechen War, the Second Chechen Campaign or Counter-Terrorist Operations (CTO) in the North Caucasus region.

Although officially a new war in Chechnya began in 1999, in fact, after the conclusion of the peace agreements in Khasavyurt in 1996, the violence in the Caucasus did not stop. For three conditionally peaceful years after the end of the First Chechen War, a series of terrorist attacks and attacks by militants took place on the territory of Russia, abductions and murders of people continued.

The beginning of the war

The reason for the start of the Second Chechen War was the attempted invasion of militants led by field commanders Shamil Basayev and Khattab into Dagestan. At the same time, there was a series of explosions of residential buildings: in Buinaksk, Moscow and Volgodonsk.

As political analyst Alexei Malashenko notes, the war was instrumental for the Russian government and "was supposed to consolidate Putin in power," who just then took over as head of state as acting president.

In early September, the Russian leadership decided to conduct a military operation to destroy the militants on the territory of Chechnya.

On September 23, Russian President Boris Yeltsin signed a decree "On Measures to Improve the Efficiency of Counter-Terrorist Operations in the North Caucasus Region of the Russian Federation." The decree provided for the creation of a United Group of Forces in the North Caucasus (UGV) to conduct a counter-terrorist operation. On the same day, Russian troops began massive bombing raids on Grozny and its environs.

Active combat phase

The ground military operation on the territory of Chechnya began on September 30, 1999. For half a month, federal forces managed to occupy a third of the territory of Chechnya north of the Terek River, and in November-December they took Gudermes, Achkhoy-Martan, Argun, Urus-Martan, Khankala, Shali.

The start of the second war in Chechnya coincided with the beginning of the presidency of Vladimir Putin. The command of the Russian troops was carried out, in particular, by Viktor Kazantsev, Gennady Troshev, Alexander Baranov. The forces of the Chechen separatists were led by the president of the unrecognized Ichkeria Aslan Maskhadov and field commanders - Shamil Basayev, Ruslan Gelayev, Magomed Khambiev, Salman Raduev, Arbi Barayev, Khattab and others.

Russian troops managed to surround and blockade Grozny by the beginning of November 1999, but until February 6, 2000, fierce fighting continued in the capital of the republic.

An unexpected attack by a detachment of Chechen militants on Shali and Argun in early 2000 and the danger of complete encirclement by federal forces forced Putin to announce the suspension of the offensive. With the release of Shali and Argun, the fighting continued. In early February 2000, Chechen fighters, trying to break out of the encirclement, lost many people in minefields. Shamil Basayev, who was in charge of the breakthrough, was seriously wounded after being blown up by an anti-personnel mine. In January-February 2000, Russian troops captured Nozhai-Yurt, Vedeno, Serzhen-Yurt, Argun Gorge, Itum-Kali and Shatoi.

In March 2000, Ruslan Gelayev's militants blocked in the Argun Gorge were able to capture the village of Komsomolskoye. The Russian command launched a large-scale military operation and managed to regain control over the village only at the cost of huge losses. Gelayev, together with the backbone of his detachment, managed to escape from the encirclement.

On April 20, 2000, the first deputy chief of the Russian General Staff, Valery Manilov, announced that the CTO military unit in Chechnya was completed. On January 23, 2001, President Putin decided to partially withdraw Russian troops from the republic. The former supreme mufti of the separatist Ichkeria, Akhmat Kadyrov, was appointed head of Chechnya.

10 years in CTO mode

In the period after the termination of the full-scale military operation in April 2000, people continued to die on the territory of Chechnya and in neighboring regions. Both Russian units and the pro-Kremlin Chechen forces - Kadyrovtsy, as well as special battalions "East" and "West" under the command of the brothers Yamadayev and Said-Magomed Kakiyev fought against the militants.

The militants continued the war, switching to the tactics of guerrilla warfare and terror. Only in the first year after the abolition of the CTO, there were five bombings on the railway, six terrorist attacks with casualties among the civilian population. Militants carried out several major raids, including an attack on Chechnya's second largest city, Gudermes, in September 2001 and an attack by Gelayev's militants in Ingushetia in September 2002. The largest terrorist attacks of this period were the seizure of the theater center on Dubrovka in Moscow (2002) and a school in Beslan in North Ossetia (2004). As a result of the terrorist attack in Grozny in May 2004, the head of the republic, Akhmat Kadyrov, was killed.

At the end of 2003, Ruslan Gelayev's attempt to get into the Pankisi Gorge (Georgia) through the territory of Dagestan led to a two-month armed confrontation with the use of heavy equipment and aircraft. The result was the death of most of the militants, including Gelayev himself.

In March 2005, Aslan Maskhadov was killed during a special operation by the FSB in the village of Tolstoy-Yurt. Doku Umarov, who led the militants, announced in 2007 the abolition of Ichkeria and the formation of the Caucasus Emirate (banned in Russia by the court as a terrorist organization).

On January 31, 2006, Vladimir Putin announced that it was possible to speak of the end of the counter-terrorist operation in Chechnya. However, three more years passed before the chairman of the NAC, Alexander Bortnikov, fulfilling Dmitry Medvedev's instructions, abolished the CTO regime on the territory of Chechnya on April 16, 2009.

According to the human rights organization Amnesty International, the Second Chechen War was accompanied by systematic violations of human rights, including extrajudicial executions and torture, committed both by members of the security forces and by Chechen fighters. Most of these crimes still go unpunished, although in some cases the victims managed to get compensation from the Russian government according to the decisions of the European Court.

With the abolition of CTO, the attacks of militants both in Chechnya and beyond its borders did not stop. Explosions continued to thunder in Russian cities.

Victims and memory

The hostilities and terrorist attacks were accompanied by large human casualties among the military personnel of the federal group of troops, activists of the Chechen armed formations and civilians of the republic.

The total losses of the Russian power departments (Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Internal Affairs, FSB) amounted to more than 6,000 people perished. According to the UGV headquarters, 15,500 militants were killed in 1999-2002. Over the subsequent period, from 2002 to 2009, the security forces reported the liquidation of about 2,100 more members of illegal armed groups. The leader of the militants, Shamil Basayev, said in 2005 that the losses of Chechens amounted to no more than 3,600 people.

According to the human rights organization Memorial, the number of civilians killed during the second war is from 10 to 20 thousand, and about 5 thousand are missing.

And 20 years later, the second Chechen war is presented by federal TV channels as the beginning of Russia's struggle against international terrorism. And in Chechnya, the anniversary of the outbreak of the second war is not remembered at the official level.

Notes (edit)

1. Nine floors of death // Kommersant, 19.11.2006; The railway station in Armavir was blown up by Chechen terrorists // Kommersant, 04.06.1997; Chechen terrorists wanted to start a war // Kommersant, 24.07.1999; Raids of Chechen fighters // Kommersant, 17.08.2002.
2. Chechnya of the victorious Putin // Radio Liberty, 09/30/2014.
3. Telephone conversation between Boris Yeltsin and Bill Clinton on September 8, 1999. Decryption // Kommersant, 09/01/2018
4. The text of the decree is available at http://www.kremlin.ru/acts/bank/14427
5. Chechnya of the victorious Putin // Radio Liberty, 09/30/2014
6. Russian troops will destroy the militants beyond the Terek // Lenta.ru, 18.10.1999.
7. Chechnya: Chronicle of the Conflict // Nezavisimaya Gazeta, 05.11.1999; Welcome to Chechnya. Welcome to hell // The Guardian, 10.12.1999; Chronicle of the Second Chechen War // Results, 15.08.2000.
8. The militants finally untied the hands of the Russian military // Nezavisimaya gazeta, 11.01.2000.
9. Federal forces took the Minutka square in Grozny // Lenta.ru, 20.01.2000.
10. Shamil Basayev: Russia's enemy number one // BBC Russian Service, 01.11.2002.
11. Federal troops blocked more than three thousand militants in the Argun gorge // Lenta.ru, 02/09/2000.
12. Did Gelaev manage to leave Komsomolskoye? // Lenta.ru, 03/10/2000; In Komsomolsk during the fighting, 50 soldiers were killed and 500 militants were destroyed // Lenta.ru, 03/20/2000; In Komsomolskoye, about 1,500 militants held the defense // Lenta.ru, 04/07/2000; Russian flag "flies in key village" // BBC.com, 21.03.2000.
13. Unfinished War // Kommersant, 31.05.2005.
14. The Russian army surrendered Chechnya to the Federal Security Service // Kommersant, 23.01.2001.
15. Russian Federation: Violations Continue, Justice Is Silent // Amnesty International, July 2005.
16. 20 years since the beginning of the second Chechen war // Interfax, 08/07/2019
17. Results of the counter-terrorist operation in Chechnya // Kommersant, 17.04.2009
18. Losses of the civilian population in the Chechen wars // Memorial, 10.12.2004

	Chechnya, then the entire North Caucasus
	The invasion of militants into Dagestan, explosions of residential buildings
	Victory of the federal troops: 1 - Restoration of the territorial integrity of the Russian Federation 2 - Actual liquidation of the CRI 3 - The militants switched to insurgent activities
Opponents
Russian Federation	Islamic State of Dagestan
	Caucasian Emirate
	Foreign fighters
	Al-qaeda
Commanders
Boris Yeltsin	Aslan Maskhadov †
Vladimir Putin	Abdul-Halim Saidulaev †
	Doku Umarov (wanted)
Victor Kazantsev	Ruslan Gelaev †
Gennady Troshev	Shamil Basayev †
Vladimir Shamanov	Vakha Arsanov †
Alexander Baranov	Arbi Baraev †
Valentin Korabelnikov	Movsar Barayev †
Anatoly Kvashnin	Abdul-Malik Mezhidov †
Vladimir Moltenskoy	Suleiman Elmurzaev †
Akhmad Kadyrov †	Khunkar-Pasha Israpilov †
Ramzan Kadyrov	Salman Raduev †
Dzhabrail Yamadaev †	Rappani Khalilov †
Sulim Yamadaev †	Aslambek Abdulkhadzhiev †
Said-Magomed Kakiev	Aslanbek Ismailov †
	Vakha Dzhenaraliev †
	Akhmed Evloev
	Khattab †
	Abu al-Walid †
	Abu Hafs al-Urdani †
Forces of the parties
80,000 military personnel	22,000 fighters
More than 6,000 dead	Over 20,000 killed

(officially called counter-terrorist operation in the North Caucasus (WHO) is a common name for military operations on the territory of Chechnya and the border regions of the North Caucasus. It began on September 30, 1999 (the date of the entry of the Russian Armed Forces into Chechnya). The active phase of hostilities lasted from 1999 to 2000, then, as the Russian Armed Forces established control over the territory of Chechnya, it grew into a smoldering conflict that actually continues to this day. From 0:00 on April 16, 2009, the CTO regime was canceled.

Background

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

Chechen criminal structures did business with mass kidnapping with impunity. Hostage-taking for the purpose of ransom took place on a regular basis - both Russian officials and foreign citizens who worked in Chechnya - journalists, humanitarian workers, religious missionaries and even people who came to the funerals of relatives. In particular, in Nadterechny district in November 1997, two citizens of Ukraine were seized who had come to the funeral of their mother, in 1998 in the neighboring republics of the North Caucasus, Turkish builders and businessmen were regularly abducted and taken to Chechnya, in January 1998 in Vladikavkaz / North Ossetia / abducted French citizen, representative of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees Vincent Kostel. He was released in Chechnya 11 months later; on October 3, 1998, four employees of the British firm Granger Telecom were abducted in Grozny, and in December they were brutally killed and beheaded). The bandits profited from the theft of oil from 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. On the territory of Chechnya, camps were set up to train militants - young people from the Muslim regions of Russia. Mine blasting instructors and Islamic preachers were sent here from abroad. Numerous Arab volunteers began to play a significant role in the life of Chechnya. Their main goal was to destabilize the situation in the Russian regions neighboring Chechnya and spread the ideas of separatism to the North Caucasian republics (primarily Dagestan, Karachay-Cherkessia, Kabardino-Balkaria).

In early March 1999, at the Grozny airport, terrorists abducted the plenipotentiary representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation in Chechnya, Gennady Shpigun. For the Russian leadership, this was evidence that the President of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria Maskhadov is not able to independently fight terrorism. The federal center took measures to strengthen the fight against Chechen bandit formations: self-defense detachments were armed and police units were reinforced along the entire perimeter of Chechnya, the best operatives of units for combating ethnic organized crime were sent to the North Caucasus, several Tochka-U missile launchers were deployed from the Stavropol Territory. "Designed to inflict point strikes. An economic blockade of Chechnya was introduced, which led to the fact that the cash flow from Russia began to dramatically dry up. Due to the tightening of the border regime, it has become increasingly difficult to transport drugs to Russia and take hostages. Gasoline produced in clandestine factories has become impossible to export outside Chechnya. The fight against Chechen criminal groups, which actively financed the militants in Chechnya, was also intensified. In May-July 1999, the Chechen-Dagestan border turned into a militarized zone. As a result, the incomes of the Chechen warlords fell sharply and they had problems purchasing weapons and paying mercenaries. In April 1999, Vyacheslav Ovchinnikov was appointed commander-in-chief of the internal troops, who successfully led a number of operations during the First Chechen War. In May 1999, Russian helicopters launched a missile attack on the positions of Khattab militants on the Terek River in response to an attempt by bandit formations to seize an outpost of internal troops on the Chechen-Dagestan border. After that, Interior Minister Vladimir Rushailo announced the preparation of large-scale preventive strikes.

Meanwhile, Chechen gangs under the command of Shamil Basayev and Khattab were preparing for an armed invasion of Dagestan. From April to August 1999, conducting reconnaissance in force, they made more than 30 sorties in Stavropol and Dagestan alone, as a result of which several dozen military personnel, law enforcement officers and civilians were killed and injured. Realizing that the strongest groupings of federal troops are concentrated in the Kizlyar and Khasavyurt directions, the militants decided to strike at the mountainous part of Dagestan. When choosing this direction, the bandit formations proceeded from the fact that there were no troops there, and it would not be possible to transfer forces to this hard-to-reach area in the shortest possible time. In addition, the militants counted on a possible blow to the rear of the federal forces from the Kadar zone of Dagestan, which has been controlled by local Wahhabis since August 1998.

As the researchers note, the destabilization of the situation in the North Caucasus was beneficial to many. First of all, Islamic fundamentalists seeking to spread their influence throughout the world, as well as Arab oil sheikhs and financial oligarchs of the Persian Gulf countries, who are not interested in starting the exploitation of oil and gas fields in the Caspian.

On August 7, 1999, a massive invasion of Dagestan by militants was carried out from the territory of Chechnya under the general command of Shamil Basayev and the Arab field commander Khattab. The core of the militant group was made up of foreign mercenaries and fighters from the Islamic International Peacekeeping Brigade, associated with Al-Qaeda. The militants' plan to go over to their side of the population of Dagestan failed, the Dagestanis put up desperate resistance to the invading bandits. The Russian authorities offered the Ichkerian leadership to conduct a joint operation with the federal forces against the Islamists in Dagestan. It was also proposed "to resolve the issue of eliminating the bases, storage and resting places of illegal armed formations, from which the Chechen leadership in every possible way refuses." Aslan Maskhadov verbally condemned the attacks on Dagestan and their organizers and inspirers, but did not take real measures to counter them.

For more than a month, federal forces fought the invading militants, which ended in the militants being forced to retreat from Dagestan back to Chechnya. On the same days - September 4-16 - in several cities of Russia (Moscow, Volgodonsk and Buinaksk) a series of terrorist acts were carried out - explosions of residential buildings.

Considering Maskhadov's inability to control the situation in Chechnya, the Russian leadership decided to conduct a military operation to destroy the militants on the territory of Chechnya. On September 18, the borders of Chechnya were blocked by Russian troops.

On September 23, Russian President Boris Yeltsin signed a decree "On Measures to Improve the Efficiency of Counter-Terrorist Operations in the North Caucasus Region of the Russian Federation." The decree provided for the creation of a Joint Group of Forces in the North Caucasus to conduct a counter-terrorist operation.

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

Character

Having broken the resistance of the militants with the forces of army units and internal troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (the command of the Russian troops successfully uses military tricks, such as, for example, luring militants into minefields, raids on the enemy's rear, and many others), the Kremlin has relied on the "Chechenization" of the conflict and poaching part of the elite and former members of the Chechen armed formations to their side. Thus, in 2000, a former supporter of the separatists, the chief mufti of Chechnya, Akhmat Kadyrov, became the head of the pro-Kremlin administration of Chechnya. The militants, on the contrary, relied on the internationalization of the conflict, involving armed detachments of non-Chechen origin in their struggle. By the beginning of 2005, after the destruction of Maskhadov, Khattab, Barayev, Abu al-Walid and many other field commanders, the intensity of the sabotage and terrorist activities of the militants had significantly decreased. During 2005-2008, not a single major terrorist act was committed in Russia, and the only large-scale operation of the militants (the Raid on Kabardino-Balkaria on October 13, 2005) ended in complete failure. However, since 2010, there have been several major terrorist attacks, the Terrorist attack in Vladikavkaz (2010), the Terrorist attack at Domodedovo airport).

In 2005, KGB General Philip Bobkov described the actions of the Chechen resistance: "These operations are not much different from the hostilities of the Israelis before the creation of their state in Palestine, and then the Palestinian extremists in Israel or now the Albanian armed formations in Kosovo."

Chronology

1999

Aggravation of the situation on the border with Chechnya

Attack on Dagestan

• August 1 - Armed detachments from the villages of Echeda, Gakko, Gigatl and Agvali of the Tsumadinsky region of Dagestan, as well as the Chechens supporting them, announced that Sharia rule was being introduced in the region.
• August 2 - A clash between police and Wahhabis took place in the vicinity of the village of Echeda in the high-mountainous Tsumadinsky region of Dagestan. Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Dagestan Magomed Omarov flew to the scene. As a result of the incident, 1 riot policeman and several Wahhabis were killed. According to the local police department, the incident was provoked by Chechnya.
• August 3 - As a result of shootings in the Tsumadinsky district of Dagestan with Islamic extremists who broke through from Chechnya, two more Dagestani police officers and one serviceman of the Russian internal troops were killed. Thus, the losses of the Dagestan militia reached four people killed, in addition, two militiamen were wounded and three more were missing. Meanwhile, one of the leaders of the Congress of the Peoples of Ichkeria and Dagestan, Shamil Basayev, announced the creation of an Islamic Shura, which has its own armed detachments in Dagestan, which established control over several settlements of the Tsumadinsky region. The Dagestani 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 sorties of the militants as: "open armed aggression of extremist forces against the Republic of Dagestan, an open encroachment on the territorial integrity and the foundations of its constitutional order, the life and safety of residents."
• 4 August - Up to 500 militants, thrown away from the regional center of Aghvali, dug in at prepared positions in one of the mountain villages, but they do not put forward any demands and do not enter into negotiations. Presumably, they have three employees of the Tsumadinsky regional department of internal affairs, who disappeared on August 3. The power ministers and ministries of Chechnya have been put on a round-the-clock basis. This was done in accordance with the decree of the President of Chechnya, Aslan Maskhadov. True, the Chechen authorities deny any connection between these measures and the hostilities in Dagestan. At 12.10 am Moscow time, on one of the roads in the Botlikh District of Dagestan, five armed people opened fire on the side of the police, who tried to stop the Niva car for inspection. In the shootout, two bandits were killed and a car damaged. There are no victims among the security forces. Two Russian attack aircraft inflicted a powerful missile and bomb attack on the village of Kenkhi, where a large detachment of militants was prepared for dispatch to Dagestan. A regrouping of the forces of the internal troops of the Operational Group in the North Caucasus began to close the border with Chechnya. In the Tsumadinsky and Botlikhsky districts of Dagestan, it is planned to deploy additional units of the internal troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation.
• August 5 - In the morning, the redeployment of units of the 102nd brigade of the internal troops began in the Tsumadinsky district in accordance with the plan to close the administrative Dagestan-Chechen border. This decision was made by the commander of the internal troops Vyacheslav Ovchinnikov during a trip to the places of recent hostilities. Meanwhile, sources in the Russian special services said that a mutiny was being prepared in Dagestan. According to the plan, a group of 600 militants was transferred to Dagestan through the village of Kenkhi. According to the same plan, the city of Makhachkala will be divided into areas of responsibility of field commanders, as well as the taking of hostages in the most crowded places, after which the official authorities of Dagestan will be asked to resign. However, the official authorities of Makhachkala deny this information.
• August 7 - September 14 - detachments of field commanders Shamil Basayev and Khattab invaded Dagestan from the territory of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria. Fierce fighting continued for over a month. The CRI official government, unable to control the actions of various armed groups on the territory of Chechnya, dissociated itself from the actions of Shamil Basayev, but did not take practical action against him.
• August 12 - Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation I. Zubov said that a letter was sent to the President of CRI Maskhadov with a proposal to conduct a joint operation with federal troops against Islamists in Dagestan.
• August 13 - Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin said that "strikes will be delivered on bases and clusters of militants, regardless of their location, including on the territory of Chechnya."
• August 16 - President of the CRI Aslan Maskhadov introduced martial law in Chechnya for a period of 30 days, announced a partial mobilization of reservists and participants in the First Chechen War.

Aerial bombardment of Chechnya

• 25 August - Russian aviation strikes at militant bases in the Vedeno Gorge of Chechnya. In response to an official protest from the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, the command of the federal forces declares that it "reserves the right to strike at militant bases on the territory of any North Caucasian region, including Chechnya."
• September 6 - 18 - Russian aviation inflicts numerous missile and bomb strikes on military camps and fortifications of militants on the territory of Chechnya.
• September 11 - Maskhadov announced a general mobilization in Chechnya.
• September 14 - Putin said that "the Khasavyurt agreements should be subjected to an impartial analysis," as well as "a temporary strict quarantine should be introduced" along the entire perimeter of Chechnya.
• September 18 - Russian troops blockade the Chechen border from Dagestan, Stavropol Territory, North Ossetia and Ingushetia.
• September 23 - Russian aviation began bombing the capital of Chechnya and its environs. As a result, several power substations, a number of oil and gas factories, a Grozny mobile communications center, a TV and radio broadcasting center, and an An-2 plane were destroyed. The press service of the Russian Air Force said that "the aviation will continue to strike targets that the bandit groups can use to their advantage."
• September 27 - Prime Minister of Russia V. Putin categorically rejected the possibility of a meeting between the Presidents of Russia and the CRI. “There will be no meetings to let the militants lick their wounds,” he said.

Beginning of the ground operation

2000

2001

• January 23 - Vladimir Putin made a decision to reduce and partially withdraw troops from Chechnya.
• June 23-24 - in the village of Alkhan-Kala, a special combined detachment of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the FSB conducted a special operation to eliminate a detachment of militants of the field commander Arbi Barayev. 16 militants were killed, including Barayev himself.
• June 25-26 - militants attack on Khankala
• July 11 - in the village of Mayrtup, Shali district of Chechnya, during a special operation by the FSB and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, Khattab's assistant Abu Umar was killed.
• August 25 - in the city of Argun, during a special operation, FSB officers killed field commander Movsan Suleimenov, nephew of Arbi Barayev.
• September 17 - in Grozny, a Mi-8 helicopter with a General Staff commission on board was shot down (2 generals and 8 officers were killed).
• September 17-18 - militants attack on Gudermes: the attack was repulsed, as a result of the use of the Tochka-U missile system, a group of more than 100 people was destroyed.
• November 3 - during a special operation, an influential field commander, Shamil Iriskhanov, who was part of Basayev's inner circle, was killed.
• December 15 - 20 militants were killed by federal forces in Argun during a special operation.

2002

• January 27 - An Mi-8 helicopter was shot down in the Shelkovsky district of Chechnya. Among the dead were Lieutenant General Mikhail Rudchenko, Deputy Minister of the Interior of the Russian Federation, and Major General Nikolai Goridov, commander of the internal troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Chechnya.
• March 20 - as a result of a special operation by the FSB, the terrorist Khattab was killed by poisoning.
• April 18 - in his Address to the Federal Assembly, President Vladimir Putin announced the end of the military stage of the conflict in Chechnya.
• May 9 - a terrorist attack took place in Kaspiysk during the Victory Day celebrations. 43 people were killed, more than 100 were injured.
• August 19 - Chechen separatists from Igla MANPADS shot down a Russian military transport helicopter Mi-26 near the Khankala military base. Of the 147 people on board, 127 died.
• August 25 - the well-known field commander Aslambek Abdulkhadzhiev was killed in Shali.
• September 23 - Raid on Ingushetia (2002)
• October 10 - an explosion occurred in the building of the Zavodskoy District ROVD in Grozny. The explosive device was planted in the office of the head of the department. 25 policemen were killed, about 20 were wounded.
• October 23 - 26 - hostage-taking at the theater center on Dubrovka in Moscow, 129 hostages were killed. All 44 terrorists were killed, including Movsar Barayev.
• December 27 - explosion of the Government House in Grozny. As a result of the terrorist attack, over 70 people were killed. Shamil Basayev claimed responsibility for the attack.

2003

• May 12 - in the village of Znamenskoye, Nadterechny district of Chechnya, three suicide bombers carried out a terrorist attack in the area of ​​the buildings of the administration of the Nadterechny district and the FSB of the Russian Federation. The KamAZ car, packed with explosives, demolished the barrier in front of the building and exploded. 60 people were killed, more than 250 were injured.
• May 14 - in the village of Ilskhan-Yurt, Gudermes region, a suicide bomber blew herself up in a crowd at the celebration of the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad, where Akhmat Kadyrov was present. 18 people were killed, 145 people were injured.
• June 5 - a suicide bomber blew herself up next to a passenger bus carrying airbase employees on their way to a military base in Mozdok. 16 people died on the spot. Later, four more died from their wounds.
• July 5 - a terrorist attack in Moscow at the Wings rock festival. 16 people were killed, 57 were injured.
• August 1 - The bombing of a military hospital in Mozdok. A KamAZ army truck loaded with explosives rammed the gate and exploded near the building. There was one suicide bomber in the cockpit. The death toll was 52 people.
• September 3 - a terrorist attack in the Kislovodsk-Minvody electric train on the Podkumok-Belyi Ugol stretch, railway tracks were blown up using a land mine: 5 people were killed and 20 were injured.
• November 23 - Three kilometers east of Serzhen-Yurt, GRU special forces destroyed a gang of mercenaries from Germany, Turkey and Algeria, numbering about 20 people.
• December 5 - a suicide bombing attack on the Kislovodsk-Minvody electric train in Yessentuki: 41 people died, 212 were injured.
• December 9 - a suicide bombing attack near the National Hotel (Moscow).
• December 15, 2003 - February 28, 2004 - Raid on Dagestan by a detachment under the command of Ruslan Gelayev.

2004

• February 6 - a terrorist attack in the Moscow metro, on the stretch between the stations "Avtozavodskaya" and "Paveletskaya". 39 people were killed, 122 were injured.
• February 28 - famous field commander Ruslan Gelayev was mortally wounded during a shootout with border guards
• April 16 - Abu al-Walid al-Hamidi, the leader of foreign mercenaries in Chechnya, was killed during the shelling of the Chechen mountains
• May 9 - in Grozny, at the Dynamo stadium, where the Victory Day parade was held, at 10:32 a powerful explosion thundered on the newly renovated VIP tribune. At that moment, the President of Chechnya Akhmat Kadyrov, the Chairman of the State Council of the Chechen Republic Kh. Isaev, the commander of the United Group of Forces in the North Caucasus General V. Baranov, the Minister of Internal Affairs of Chechnya Alu Alkhanov and the military commandant of the republic G. Fomenko were on it. Directly in the explosion, 2 people died, 4 more died in hospitals: Akhmat Kadyrov, Kh. Isaev, Reuters journalist A. Khasanov, a child (whose name was not disclosed) and two Kadyrov's security officers. In total, 63 people, including 5 children, were injured from the explosion in Grozny.
• June 21 - 22 - Raid on Ingushetia
• 12-13 July - a large detachment of militants captured the village of Avtury, Shali District
• August 21 - 400 militants attacked Grozny. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Chechnya, 44 people were killed and 36 seriously wounded.
• August 24 - Explosions of two Russian passenger airliners, killing 89 people.
• August 31 - a terrorist attack near the metro station "Rizhskaya" in Moscow. 10 people were killed, more than 50 people were injured.
• September 1 - 3 - the terrorist act in Beslan, as a result of which 334 people died, 186 of whom were children.
• October 7 - in a battle to the north of the settlement of Niki-Khita, Kurchaloyevsky district, an African American Khalil Rudvan, an instructor-demolitionist, was destroyed.

2005

• February 18 - as a result of a special operation in the Oktyabrsky district of Grozny, the forces of the PPS-2 detachment destroyed the "emir of Grozny" Yunadi Turchaev, the "right hand" of one of the leaders of the terrorists Doku Umarov.
• March 8 - In the course of a special operation of the FSB in the village of Tolstoy-Yurt, President of the CRI Aslan Maskhadov was liquidated.
• May 15 - former vice-president of CRI Vakha Arsanov was killed in Grozny. Arsanov and his accomplices, being in a private house, fired at a police patrol and were destroyed by the arriving reinforcements.
• May 15 - Rasul Tambulatov (Volchek), the “emir” of the Shelkovsky district of the Chechen Republic, was destroyed in the Dubovsky forest of the Shelkovsky district as a result of a special operation of the Interior Ministry troops.
• June 4 - Cleaning up in the village of Borozdinovskaya
• October 13 - An attack by militants on the city of Nalchik (Kabardino-Balkaria), as a result of which, according to Russian authorities, 12 civilians and 35 members of the security forces were killed. Destroyed, according to various sources, from 40 to 124 militants.

2006

• January 31 - Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a press conference that at the present time we can talk about the end of the counter-terrorist operation in Chechnya.
• February 9-11 - in the village of Tukui-Mekteb in the Stavropol Territory, 12 militants of the so-called. "Nogai battalion of the Armed Forces of the CRI", the federal forces lost 7 people killed. During the operation, the federal side actively uses helicopters and tanks.
• March 28 - Sultan Geliskhanov, the former head of the ChRI state security department, voluntarily surrendered to the authorities in Chechnya.
• June 16 - “President of CRI” Abdul-Halim Sadulayev was destroyed in Argun
• July 4 - in Chechnya, a military convoy is attacked near the village of Avtury in the Shali region. Representatives of the federal forces report 6 killed servicemen, the bandits - more than 20.
• July 9 - The Kavkaz Center website of Chechen militants announced the creation of the Ural and Volga fronts as part of the CRI Armed Forces.
• July 10 - in Ingushetia, one of the terrorist leaders, Shamil Basayev, was destroyed as a result of a special operation (according to other sources, he was killed due to careless handling of explosives)
• July 12 - On the border of Chechnya and Dagestan, the police of both republics destroy a relatively large but poorly armed gang of 15 militants. 13 bandits were killed, 2 more were detained.
• August 23 - Chechen militants attacked a military convoy on the Grozny-Shatoi highway, not far from the entrance to the Argun Gorge. The convoy consisted of a Ural vehicle and two escort armored personnel carriers. As reported in the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Chechen Republic, four servicemen of the federal forces were wounded as a result.
• November 7 - in the area of ​​the village of Dai, Shatoi region, a gang of S.-E. Dadaev killed seven riot police from Mordovia.
• November 26 - Abu Khafs al-Urdani, the leader of foreign mercenaries in Chechnya, was killed in Khasavyurt. Together with him, 4 more militants were killed.

2007

• April 4 - in the vicinity of the village of Agish-batoy, Vedeno region of Chechnya, one of the most influential leaders of the militants, the commander of the Eastern Front of ChRISuleiman Ilmurzaev (call sign "Khairulla"), who was involved in the assassination of Chechen President Akhmat Kadyrov, was killed.
• June 13 - in the Vedeno region, on the Verkhniye Kurchali-Belgatoy road, militants shot at a convoy of police vehicles.
• July 23 - a battle near the village of Tazen-Kale in the Vedensky District between the Vostok battalion of Sulim Yamadayev and a detachment of Chechen fighters led by Doku Umarov. The death of 6 militants is reported.
• September 18 - as a result of a counter-terrorist operation in the village of Novy Sulak, "Amir Rabbani" - Rappani Khalilov was destroyed.
• October 7 - Doku Umarov announced the abolition of the CRI and its transformation into "vilayat Nokhchiycho of the Caucasus Emirate"

2008

• January - during special operations in Makhachkala and the Tabasaran region of Dagestan, at least 9 militants were killed, and 6 of them were part of the grouping of field commander I. Mallochiev. On the part of the security forces, no one was killed in these clashes. At the same time, during the clashes in Grozny, the Chechen militia killed 5 militants, among them was the field commander U. Techiev, the "emir" of the capital of Chechnya.
• March 19 - an armed attack by militants was carried out on the village of Alkhazurovo. As a result, seven people were killed, five law enforcement officers and two civilians.
• May 5 - a military vehicle was blown up by a land mine in the suburb of Grozny, the village of Tashkola. 5 policemen were killed, 2 were wounded.
• June 13 - night outing of militants in the village of Benoi-Vedeno
• September 2008 - major leaders of the illegal armed groups of Dagestan, Ilgar Mallochiev and A. Gudaev, were killed, up to 10 militants in total.
• December 18 - a battle in the city of Argun, 2 policemen were killed and 6 wounded. From the side of the militants in Argun, 1 person was killed.
• December 23-25 ​​- a special operation of the FSB and the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the village of Verkhniy Alkun in Ingushetia. Field commander Vakha Dzhenaraliev, who fought against federal troops in Chechnya and Ingushetia since 1999, was killed, his deputy Khamkhoev was killed, a total of 12 militants were killed. 4 bases of illegal armed groups were liquidated.
• June 19 - Said Buryatsky announced his joining the underground.

2009

• April 15 is the last day of the counter-terrorist operation regime.

Aggravation of the situation in the North Caucasus in 2009

Despite the official cancellation of the counter-terrorist operation on April 16, 2009, the situation in the region did not become calmer, rather the opposite. The militants waging a partisan war have become more active, and the number of terrorist attacks has increased. Since the fall of 2009, a number of large-scale special operations have been carried out to eliminate bandit formations and militant leaders. In response, a series of terrorist attacks were committed, including, for the first time in a long time, in Moscow.

Fighting clashes, terrorist attacks and police operations are actively taking place not only on the territory of Chechnya, but also on the territory of Ingushetia, Dagestan, and Kabardino-Balkaria. In some territories, the CTO regime was repeatedly introduced temporarily.

Beginning on May 15, 2009, Russian security forces intensified operations against militant groups in the mountainous regions of Ingushetia, Chechnya and Dagestan, which triggered a retaliatory intensification of terrorist activities by the militants. At the end of July 2010, there are all signs of an escalation of the conflict and its spread to the surrounding regions.

Command

Heads of the Regional Operational Headquarters for the Counter-Terrorist Operation in the North Caucasus (2001-2006)

The Regional Operations Headquarters (ROSH) was created by the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of January 22, 2001 No. 61 "On measures to combat terrorism in the North Caucasus region of the Russian Federation."

• German Ugryumov (January - May 2001)
• Anatoly Yezhkov (June 2001 - July 2003)
• Yuri Maltsev (July 2003 - September 2004)
• Arkady Yedelev (September 2004 - August 2006)

In 2006, on the basis of the ROSh, the Operational Headquarters of the Chechen Republic was created to conduct a counter-terrorist operation.

Commanders of the Joint Group of Forces (Forces) for Counter-Terrorist Operations in the North Caucasus Region of the Russian Federation (since 1999)

The united group was formed by the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of September 23, 1999 No. 1255c "On measures to increase the effectiveness of counter-terrorist operations in the North Caucasian region of the Russian Federation."

• Victor Kazantsev (September 1999 - February 2000)
• Gennady Troshev (acting February - March 2000, commander April - June 2000)
• Alexander Baranov (acting March 2000)
• Alexander Baranov (acting July - September 2000, Commander September 2000 - October 2001, September 2003 - May 2004)
• Vladimir Moltenskoy (acting May - August 2001, commander October 2001 - September 2002)
• Sergey Makarov (acting July - August 2002, commander October 2002 - September 2003)
• Mikhail Pankov (acting May 2004)
• Vyacheslav Dadonov (acting June 2004 - July 2005)
• Evgeny Lazebin (July 2005 - June 2006)
• Evgeny Baryaev (June - December 2006)
• Jacob Nedobitko (December 2006 - January 2008)
• Nikolay Sivak (January 2008 - August 2011)
• Sergey Melikov (since September 2011)

Conflict in literature, cinema, music

Books

• Alexander Karasev. Traitor. Ufa: Vagant, 2011, 256 p. ISBN 978-5-9635-0344-7.
• Alexander Karasev. Chechen stories. M .: Literaturnaya Rossiya, 2008, 320 p. ISBN 978-5-7809-0114-3.
• Zherebtsova, Polina Viktorovna. Diary of Zherebtsova Polina. Detective Press, 2011, 576 pp. ISBN 978-5-89935-101-3
• Vyacheslav Mironov. "I was in that war."

Films and series

• War is a feature film.
• Alexandra is a feature film.
• Throw March is a feature film.
• Caucasian Roulette is a feature film.
• Male work (8 part film).
• Storm Gates (4-episode film).
• Special Forces (TV series).
• I have the honor (TV series).
• Destructive force-3 "Tensile strength" (1st - 4th series)
• Distrust is a documentary.
• Alive (film, 2006) - feature film
• Breakthrough (film, 2006) - feature film

Songs and Music

The songs are dedicated to the second Chechen war:

• "Lube"- "After the war" (2000), "Soldier" (2000), Come on ... (2002)
• Yuri Shevchuk- Star (2006), Smoke (2009)
• Timur Gordeev- Tell me, Major, We are going home
• Timur Mutsuraev- "Khava Baraeva" (a view from the militants' side)
• Igor Rasteryaev- "Song about Yura Prishchepny" (2011)
• Nikolay Anisimov- The Rooks Have Arrived (2010)

• On February 2, 2003, in Grozny, a car with the head of the Oktyabrsky District Department of Internal Affairs Major Visit Erznukayev was blown up by a radio-controlled land mine. He died.
• 
  On March 26, 2003, an infantry fighting vehicle was blown up in Chechnya during the movement of an army column. Four servicemen were killed, three were wounded.
• On May 18, 2003, in Vedeno, militants attacked a patrol of the local police department. The head of the ROVD Shahid Muguev was killed in the battle.
• On June 6, 2003, soldiers of the commandant's company were ambushed by militants in Argun. The deputy military commandant of Chechnya, Colonel Ayud Yusupov, and two servicemen were killed in the battle.
• On July 12, 2003, an engineering reconnaissance group was ambushed by militants near the Chechen village of Borzoi. The KamAZ car was blown up and then fired upon. 9 servicemen were killed, five were wounded.
• On July 29, 2003, a KamAZ military vehicle was blown up at the entrance to the village of Galashki in Ingushetia. As a result of the terrorist attack, five servicemen were killed and two were wounded.
• On August 1, 2003, a military hospital was blown up in Mozdok (North Ossetia). 50 people were killed, 82 were injured.
• On August 14, 2003, in the Vedeno region, as a result of the explosion of an armored personnel carrier of the 46th brigade of the Interior Ministry of the Russian Federation, five people were killed, three were injured.
• On September 8, 2003, in the village of Chervlenaya, the ataman of the Tersko-Grebensky department of the Tersk Cossack army, Mikhail Senchikov, was killed.
• On September 15, 2003, in the Ingush city of Magas, a car filled with explosives was blown up near the building of the RF FSB Administration for Ingushetia. As a result of the terrorist attack, three FSB officers were killed, 29 people were injured.
• On October 13, 2003 in Grozny, the deputy head of the operational-search bureau of the North-Caucasian operational department of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation for Chechnya, police colonel Zhelaudi Mezhiev, was killed. His car was ambushed by militants.
• November 14, 2003 in the village of Troitskaya (Ingushetia) during
  An explosion thundered when the police were checking a private house. Perished
  five policemen, seven people were wounded.
• November 23, 2003 in the center of Grozny seriously wounded
  Deputy Head of the Investigation Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Chechnya
  Lieutenant Colonel of Justice Musa Sabirov.
• On January 25, 2004, militants in the Shatoisky district of Chechnya
  blew up a land mine during the passage of the column of the 42nd
  motorized rifle division. Four soldiers were killed, another
  four are injured.
• On March 15, 2004, an army "Ural" was blown up by a land mine in the Kurchaloevsky district of Chechnya. Three servicemen were killed, 12 were wounded.
• On April 12, 2004, in the Shali region of Chechnya, an army convoy of three Ural trucks and an escort armored personnel carrier was fired at by militants from grenade launchers and automatic weapons on the Shali-Serzhen-Yurt highway. 5 servicemen were killed, 9 more were wounded.
• On April 13, 2004, the head of the Nozhai police department was killed in Chechnya.
  Yurtovsky district and two policemen.
• On May 18, 2004, an armored personnel carrier-80 was blown up by a land mine near the village of Alkhan-Yurt in the Urus-Martan region of Chechnya. Eight servicemen of the internal troops and three employees of the Alkhan-Yurt police station were killed.
• On the night of June 22, 2004, as a result of an armed attack by bandit formations on Ingushetia, 90 people were killed, including 62 law enforcement officers.
• On July 13, 2004, in a battle with bandits in the Chechen village of Avtury, 10 policemen were killed, 11 were taken hostage by the militants.

Based on materials from ITAR-TASS

The conflict, dubbed the Second Chechen War, occupies a special place in the history of modern Russia. Compared with the First Chechen War (1994-1996), this conflict was aimed at solving the same problem: the establishment by military force of state power and constitutional order in the region, control over which was established by supporters of separatism.

At the same time, the situation that developed in the period between the two "Chechen" wars has changed both in Chechnya itself and at the level of the federal government in Russia. Therefore, the Second Chechen War proceeded in different conditions and was able, albeit dragging on for almost 10 years, to end with a positive result for the Russian government.

Reasons for the start of the Second Chechen War

In short, the main reason for the Second Chechen War was the mutual dissatisfaction of the parties with the results of the previous conflict and the desire to change the situation in their favor. The Khasavyurt agreements, which ended the First Chechen War, provided for the withdrawal of federal troops from Chechnya, which meant the complete loss of Russian control over this territory. At the same time, there was no legal question of any "independent Ichkeria": the question of the status of Chechnya was only postponed until December 31, 2001.

The official power of the self-proclaimed Chechen Republic of Ichkeria (CRI), headed by Aslan Maskhadov, did not receive diplomatic recognition from any country and, at the same time, was rapidly losing influence within Chechnya itself. Three years after the first military conflict, the territory of the CRI has become a base not only for criminal gangs, but also for radical Islamists from Arab countries and Afghanistan.

It was these forces, controlled only by their "field commanders" and having found powerful military and financial support from outside, by the beginning of 1999 openly declared their refusal to obey Maskhadov. The same paramilitary groups began to actively trade in abductions for the purpose of subsequent ransom or slavery, drug trafficking and the organization of terrorist attacks, despite the proclaimed Sharia norms.

For the ideological substantiation of their actions, they used Wahhabism, which, combined with aggressive methods of implanting it, turned into a new extremist movement. Under this cover, radical Islamists, having established themselves in Chechnya, began to expand their influence to neighboring regions, destabilizing the situation in the entire North Caucasus. At the same time, individual incidents escalated into more and more large-scale armed clashes.

Parties to the conflict

In the new confrontation that arose between the Russian authorities and the CRI, the most active side was the militarized formations of the Islamist Wahhabis led by their "field commanders", the most influential among whom were Shamil Basayev, Salman Raduev, Arbi Barayev and a native of Saudi Arabia Khattab. The number of militants controlled by radical Islamists was assessed as the most massive among the armed formations operating in the CRI, covering 50-70% of their total number.

At the same time, a number of Chechen teips (tribal clans), while remaining committed to the idea of ​​“independent Ichkeria,” did not want an open military conflict with the Russian authorities. Maskhadov followed this policy until the beginning of the conflict, but then he could count on maintaining the status of the official power of the CRI and, accordingly, continue to convert this position into a source of income for his teip, which controls the key oil companies of the republic, and only on the side of the opponents of the Russian government. Under his control, armed formations numbering up to 20-25% of all militants operated.

In addition, the supporters of the teips led by Akhmat Kadyrov and Ruslan Yamadayev, who, back in 1998, entered into an open conflict with the Wahhabis, were a significant force. They could rely on their own armed formations, covering up to 10-15% of all Chechen fighters, and in the Second Chechen War they sided with the federal troops.

In the upper echelon of Russian power, important changes took place shortly before the start of the Second Chechen War. On August 9, 1999, Russian President Boris Yeltsin announced the appointment of FSB Director Vladimir Putin to the post of head of government, publicly presenting him as a further successor to his post. For Putin, little known at that time, the invasion of Islamist militants into Dagestan, and then the terrorist attacks with the explosions of residential buildings in Moscow, Volgodonsk and Buinaksk, for which the responsibility was assigned to the Chechen gangs, became a weighty reason to strengthen their power through a large-scale counter-terrorist operation (CTO) ...

Since September 18, the borders of Chechnya have been blocked by Russian troops. The presidential decree on the conduct of CTO was promulgated on September 23, although the first movements of the army, internal troops and the FSB, included in the grouping of federal forces in the North Caucasus, began at least two days earlier.

Combat tactics from both sides

In contrast to the Chechen war of 1994-1996, for the second military campaign in Chechnya, the federal group more often resorted to new tactics, which consisted of using an advantage in heavy weapons: missiles, artillery, and especially aviation, which the Chechen fighters did not have. ... This was facilitated by the significantly increased level of training of the troops, in the manning of which it was possible to achieve a minimum involvement of conscripts. Of course, it was unrealistic to fully replace conscripts with servicemen on a contract basis in those years, but in most cases the “voluntary-order” mechanism with contracts for a “combat mission” covered conscripts who had already served for about a year.

Federal troops widely used methods of arranging various ambushes (usually practiced only by special forces in the form of reconnaissance and shock groups), including:

• waiting ambushes at 2-4 of the possible paths of movement of the militants;
• mobile ambushes, when only observation groups were located in convenient places, and assault groups were located in the depths of the operation area;
• drive-by ambushes, in which a demonstrative attack was aimed at pushing the militants to the site of another ambush, often equipped with mine traps;
• decoy ambushes, where a group of servicemen openly performed any actions to attract the enemy's attention, and mines or main ambushes were set up along the path of his approach.

According to the calculations of Russian military specialists, one of such ambushes, having 1-2 ATGM complexes, 1-3 grenade launchers, 1-2 machine gunners, 1-3 snipers, 1 BMP and 1 tank, was capable of defeating a "standard" bandit group of up to 50 -60 people with 2-3 armored vehicles and 5-7 vehicles without reservation.

The Chechen side included hundreds of experienced militants who were trained under the guidance of military advisers from Pakistan, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia in methods of various sabotage and terrorist actions, including:

• avoiding direct clashes in open areas with superior forces;
• skillful use of terrain, setting up ambushes in tactically advantageous places;
• overwhelming attacks on the most vulnerable targets;
• quick change of bases;
• rapid concentration of forces to solve important tasks and their dispersal in the event of the threat of blocking or defeat;
• use as a cover for civilians;
• hostage-taking outside the zone of armed conflict.

Militants widely used mine explosive devices to restrict the movement of troops and sabotage, as well as the actions of snipers.

Units and types of equipment used in hostilities

The start of the war was preceded, like the actions of the US and Israeli armies in similar conditions, by massive rocket and artillery shelling and air strikes on enemy territory, the targets of which were strategic objects of the economy and transport infrastructure, as well as fortified positions of the troops.

In the future, the CTO was attended not only by the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, but also by servicemen of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and employees of the FSB. In addition, special forces units of all Russian "power" departments, separate airborne brigades, including those assigned to the Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, were actively involved in participation in hostilities.

Second Chechen War 1999-2009 became a place for testing by the army and special units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of some new types of small arms, albeit in relatively modest quantities. Among them:

1. 9-mm silent automatic machine AS "Val" with folded stock;
2. 9-mm silent VSS Vintorez sniper rifle;
3. 9-mm automatic silent pistol APB with a stock;
4. RGO and RGN grenades.

In terms of military equipment in service with the federal forces, military experts awarded the best marks to helicopters, which, in fact, reflected the Soviet experience of successful operations in Afghanistan. Among the Russian troops, equipped with well-proven modern technology, electronic intelligence units should also be noted.

At the same time, the tanks, represented by the T-72 models in modifications AB, B, B1, BM and a small number of T-80 BV, having successfully conquered the open area, again suffered sensitive losses (49 out of about 400) in street battles in Grozny ...

Chronology of the war

The question of when exactly the Second Chechen War began remains open among specialists. A number of publications (mostly earlier in time) generally unite the First and Second Chechen Wars, considering them to be two phases of the same conflict. Which is inappropriate, since these conflicts differ significantly in their historical conditions and the composition of the opposing sides.

More weighty arguments are given by those who consider the beginning of the Second Chechen War the invasion of Chechen Islamist militants into Dagestan in August 1999, although this can also be considered a local conflict not directly related to the operations of federal troops on the territory of Chechnya. At the same time, the "official" date of the beginning of the entire war (September 30) is tied to the beginning of the ground operation in the territory controlled by the CRI, although strikes on this territory followed from September 23.

From 5 to 20 March, over 500 militants, having seized the village of Komsomolskoye in the Urus-Martan district, attempted to break through the ring of federal troops blocking and then storming this settlement. Almost all of them were killed or captured, but the backbone of the bandit formation was able to escape from the encirclement under their cover. After this operation, the active phase of the actions of the troops in Chechnya is considered completed.

The storming of Grozny

On November 25-28, 1999, Russian troops blocked Grozny, leaving the "humanitarian corridor", which was nevertheless subject to periodic air attacks. The command of the federal forces has officially announced the decision to abandon the assault on the capital of the Chechen Republic, deploying troops 5 kilometers from the city. Aslan Maskhadov left Grozny with his headquarters on November 29.

Federal forces entered individual residential areas on the outskirts of the Chechen capital on December 14, maintaining the "humanitarian corridor". On December 26, the active stage of the operation to take the city under the control of Russian troops began, which at first developed without much opposition, especially in the Staropromyslovsky district. Only on December 29, fierce battles began for the first time, which resulted in noticeable losses of the "federals". The pace of the offensive slowed slightly, but the Russian army continued to clear the next residential areas of militants, and on January 18 they were able to seize the bridge over the Sunzha River.

The capture of another strategically important point - the area of ​​Minutka Square - continued during several assaults and fierce counterattacks by militants from January 17 to 31. The turning point of the storming of Grozny was the night of January 29-30, when the main forces of the armed formations of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria with a group of up to 3 thousand people led by well-known "field commanders", having suffered significant losses, broke through along the Sunzha river towards the mountainous regions of Chechnya.

In the following days, federal troops, which had previously controlled just over half of the city, completed its liberation from the remnants of the militants, meeting resistance mainly from a few enemy sniper ambushes. With the capture of the Zavodskoy district on February 6, 2000, Putin, by that time the acting president of the Russian Federation, announced the victorious completion of the storming of Grozny.

Guerrilla war 2000-2009

Many militants managed to escape from the besieged capital of the Chechen Republic, their leadership announced the beginning of a partisan war on February 8. After that, and until the official end of the offensive of the federal troops, only two cases of long-term large-scale clashes were noted: in the villages of Shatoi and Komsomolskoye. After March 20, 2000, the war finally entered the partisan stage.

The intensity of hostilities at this stage was steadily declining, periodically escalating only in moments of individual cruel and daring terrorist attacks that occurred in 2002-2005. and committed outside the conflict zone. The hostage-taking in Moscow's "Nord-West" and in the Beslan school, and the attack on the city of Nalchik were staged as a demonstration by Islamist militants that the conflict is far from over soon.

The period from 2001 to 2006 was often accompanied by reports from the Russian authorities about the elimination by the special services of one of the most famous "field commanders" of Chechen fighters, including Maskhadov, Basayev and many others. Ultimately, a long-term decrease in tension in the region made it possible on April 15, 2009 to end the CTO regime on the territory of the Chechen Republic.

Results and truce

In the period after an active military operation, the Russian leadership made a bet on the massive attraction of civilians and former Chechen fighters to their side. The most prominent and influential figure among the former opponents of the federal troops during the First Chechen War was the Mufti of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria Akhmat Kadyrov. Having earlier condemned Wahhabism, in the current conflict he actively showed himself during the peaceful transition of Gudermes under the control of the "federals", and then headed the administration of the entire Chechen Republic after the end of the Second Chechen War.

Under the leadership of A. Kadyrov, who was elected President of the Chechen Republic, the situation in the republic quickly stabilized. At the same time, Kadyrov's activities made him a central target for militant attacks. On May 9, 2004, he died after a terrorist attack during a mass event at the Grozny stadium. But the authority and influence of the teip of the Kadyrovs remained, as evidenced by the election of the son of Akhmat Kadyrov, Ramzan, to the post of President of the republic, who continued the course of cooperation between the Chechen Republic and the federal government.

Total death toll on both sides

The official statistics on casualties following the results of the Second Chechen War caused a lot of criticism and is far from being fully accurate. However, the information resources of the militants who took refuge abroad and individual representatives of the Russian opposition reported completely inaccurate data on this score. Mostly based on assumptions.

Terrible in our time

After the end of active hostilities in Chechnya, it became necessary to restore the republic from almost ruins. This was especially true of the capital of the republic, where, after several assaults, almost no whole buildings remained. Serious funding was allocated for this from the federal budget, sometimes reaching 50 billion rubles a year.

In addition to residential and administrative buildings, social facilities and urban infrastructure, great attention was paid to the restoration of cultural centers and historical monuments. Some of the buildings in the center of Grozny in the area of ​​Mira Street were restored in the same form as they were at the time of construction in the 1930s-1950s.

By now, the capital of the Czech Republic is a modern and very beautiful city. One of its new symbols of the city is the "Heart of Chechnya" mosque, erected after the war. But the memory of the war remains: in the decoration of Grozny for its 201st anniversary in the fall of 2010, installations with black and white photographs of these places, destroyed after the hostilities, appeared.

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