- Battle of Grozny (1999–2000)
Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Siege of Grozny
caption=
partof=Second Chechen War
place=Grozny ,Chechnya
date=December 25 1999 -February 6 2000
result=Capture of Grozny by Russia, Chechen withdrawal
combatant1= Chechen militia
combatant2=
commander1=
commander2=Aslan Maskhadov Aslambek Ismailov †Shamil Basayev Ruslan Gelayev Khunkarpasha Israpilov †
strength1=About 50,000 [ [http://leav-www.army.mil/fmso/documents/Rusn_leslrn.htm Russian Lessons Learned From the Battles For Grozny] ]
strength2=Russian estimates [ [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/chechnya2-5.htm Phase Two - The Ground Campaign - October-November 1999] ] of 3,000 to 6,000 [http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/europe/9911/22/russia.chechnya/ Russian commanders predict Chechen forces will abandon Grozny] ,CNN , November 22, 1999]
casualties1=Russans claimed 368 killed and 1,469 wounded among the regular forces [ [http://www.russiajournal.com/node/6773 Reports of a mass grave in Chechnya] ,Reuters , 2001-02-26] plus 700 Chechen militia losses
casualties2=~470 (Chechen claim) to more than 1,500 (Russian claim) [ru icon [http://www.memo.ru/hr/hotpoints/N-Caucas/ch99/021105/021105k_5.htm Крупнейшие операции российских войск в Чечне] , "Kommersant ", 5 March 2002] killed
casualties3=Thousands of civilian casualties
campaignThe 1999-2000 battle of Grozny was thesiege and assault of the Chechencapital Grozny by theRussia n forces, lasting from late 1999 to early 2000.The siege and fighting left the capital devastated like no other
Europe an city sinceWorld War II , and in 2003 theUnited Nations called Grozny the most destroyed city on Earth. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/6414603.stm Scars remain amid Chechen revival] ,BBC News , 3 March 2007]Prelude
On
October 15 1999 , Russian forces took control of a strategic ridge withinartillery range of the Chechen capital Grozny after mounting an intensetank and artillerybarrage against Chechen separatists. Russian forces reportedly made several attempts to seize positions on the outskirts of the capital, but were rebuffed two kilometers from Grozny.On
December 4 1999 , the commander of Russian forces in the North Caucasus, GeneralViktor Kazantsev , claimed that Grozny was "fullyblockade d" by Russian troops. Gen.Anatoly Kvashnin , chief of the army's general staff, predicted the rebels would abandon the Chechen capital, urged to withdraw by the civilians fearing widespread destruction.Tactics
Federal forces
Supported by a powerful air force, the
Russian army vastly outnumbered and out gunned the Chechenirregular s, comprising around 3,000 to 6,000 fighters, and was considerably larger than the Russian force that had problems in Chechnya during theFirst Chechen War . In addition, Russia's tactics in this second campaign were drastically different.The strategy in 1999 was to hold back tanks, armoured personnel carriers (APCs) and subject the entrenched Chechens to an intensive
barrage of heavy artillery andaerial bombardment before engaging them with relatively small groups ofinfantry , many with someurban combat training. Even while Chechen capital ofGrozny was surrounded by late November 1999, more than two additional weeks of shelling andbombing were required before Russian troops were able to claim a foothold within any part of the heavily fortified city.In a surprising and threatening move, the federal forces relied heavily on
fuel air explosive s and tactical missiles (SCUD and SS-21 Scarab). These systems suppressed the Chechens both physically and psychologically and these assets were used to attack fighters hiding in basements. Such fire strikes were designed for maximum psychological pressure-to demonstrate the hopelessness of further resistance against a foe that could strike with impunity and that was invulnerable to countermeasures. TheTOS-1 (amultiple rocket launcher withthermobaric warhead s mounted on aT-72 tankchassis ) played a particularly prominent role in the assault.Chechen rebel forces
Russian soldiers met fierce resistance from Chechen rebel fighters intimately familiar with the city, which was transformed into a
fortress city under the leadership of field commanderAslambek Ismailov . Grozny's Chechen defenders built a system ofbunker s behindapartment building s, laidland mine s throughout the city, placedsnipers on rooftops, and withstood the heavy Russianbombardment for the chance to come to grips with the enemy in an environment of their choosing.The rebels spent an effort on digging
trenches and antitank ditches for the city's defense. Chechen fighters used the trenches to move between houses and as sniper positions, attacking the Russians as they focused on the tops of buildings or on windows. The first-story windows and doors were boarded up or mined, making it impossible to simply walk into a building.Chechen fighters used the weather conditions to step up attacks on federal troops. Well-organized bands of no more than 15 rebel fighters moved freely about the city, often sneaking behind Russian lines and attacking unsuspecting soldiers from the rear. The impressive mobility of the Chechen force included escape routes from interconnected firing positions and use of the
sewer network to move about the city; they stated that they did not usebody armor because it slowed them down.Pro-Russian militia and civilians
In November, the
Kremlin appointedBeslan Gantamirov , formermayor of Grozny, as head of the pro-Moscow Chechen State Council . Gantamirov was justpardon ed byRussian President Boris Yeltsin and released from a 6-year sentence forembezzling federal funds to rebuild Chechnya in 1995-1996; he was chosen to lead a pro-Russian Chechen militia force in the upcoming battle. Then interior ministerVladimir Rushailo refused to supply Chechen troops with APCs, mortars orsniper rifle s, limiting their combat arsenal to "obsoleteAK-47 s which jammed after a few shots". In the wake of the Grozny siege, Rushailo publicly accused Gantamirov of accepting "anyvolunteers into the ranks of the Chechen militia including rebel fighters". [cite web
url=http://www.iwpr.net/?p=crs&s=f&o=160910&apc_state=henicrs2001
title= Grozny's Maverick Mayor Resigns
date=
accessdate=2006-06-10] However, the Chechen militia went on to play a pivotal role in the siege of Grozny, suffering more than 700 casualties during the fighting.The majority of the city's civilian population fled, leaving the streets mostly deserted. However, as many as 40,000 civilians, many of them
ethnic Russians, often the elderly, poor, andinfirm , remained trapped in Grozny basements during the Russian siege of the city, suffering from the bombing, cold and hunger. OnDecember 3 1999 , about 40 people died when civilianconvoy attempting to leave besieged areas via Russian-guardedsafe corridor s was fired on by a group of masked troops at aroadblock , wounded survivors reported. [cite web
url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/549893.stm
title= Russians fired on refugees
date=
accessdate=2006-06-10]December 5 ultimatum
On
December 5 ,1999 , Russian planes, which had been dropping bombs on Grozny, switched toleaflet s with an ominous warning from the general staff: Fact|date=April 2008The Russian forces outside of the Grozny apparently planned to attack the city with a heavy air and artillery bombardment, intending to level the city to the extent where it is impossible for the rebels to defend it. The Russians set a
deadline , urging residents of Grozny to leave byDecember 11 1999 .Fact|date=April 2008Russian commanders prepared a corridor to allow safe passage for those wishing to escape Grozny, but reports from the war zone suggested few people were using it when it opened on December 11, while desperate refugees who got away were telling stories of bombing and shelling and brutality. [cite web
url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/558198.stm
title= Refugees fear Grozny assault
date=
accessdate=2006-06-10 ] Russia put the number of people remaining in Grozny at 15,000, while a group of Chechenexile s inGeneva confirmed other reports estimating the civilian population at 50,000. The Russian troops repeatedly fired on the refugees fleeing through a designated corridor. [ [http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/ENGEUR460461999 FOR THE MOTHERLAND Reported grave breaches of international humanitarian law. Persecution of ethnic Chechens in Moscow.] ]Russia officially withdrew the
ultimatum in the face of international outrage by theUnited States , theEuropean Union (theUnited Kingdom foreign secretaryRobin Cook "wholeheartedly condemned" the Russian move: "We condemn vigorously what Milosevic did inKosovo and we condemn vigorously what Russia is doing in Chechnya", he said [cite web
url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/554075.stm
title=UK condemns Chechnya ultimatum
date=
accessdate=2006-06-10 ] ) and human rights groups, but the heavy bombardment of the city continued as the Russian forces prepared for the assault.Russian offensive
torming of Grozny
Russian ground troops advanced slowly toward the center from three directions. Russian ground forces met stiff resistance from rebel fighters as they advanced, beginning a slow, neighborhood-by-neighborhood ground invasion with fighting focused on a strategic hill overlooking the city. By
December 13 1999 , Russian troops regained control of Chechnya's mainairport in a GroznyKhankala suburb, which was a main Russianmilitary base during the first war and was one of the first targets hit by warplanes at the start of the current conflict.On
December 14 1999 , more than one hundred soldiers were reported killed when an armored column of Russian troops was ambushed and trapped inMinutka Square . [cite web
url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/566842.stm
title=Russians ambushed in Grozny
date=
accessdate=2006-06-10 ] The reports by theReuters andAssociated Press correspondents were vehemently denied by the Russian government.Fighting was concentrated in the eastern outskirts of Grozny, with
reconnaissance teams entering the capital to identify rebel positions. The strategy appears to be to draw fire from rebels, then pull back and pound the Chechen positions with artillery androcket fire, while the command of federal forces hoped to take the city byNew Year's Day .Public support for the war, which was previously overwhelming, appeared to fade as casualties mounted. The government came in for increasing criticism in the tightly controlled Russian media for understating casualty figures. [cite web
url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/monitoring/media_reports/595521.stm
title=Russia media criticize Chechen campaign
date=
accessdate=2006-06-10 ] OnJanuary 3 2000 , Russian GeneralValentin Astaviyev said on state television that Russian forces had suffered only three dead in the past 24 hours; but the commander of an Interior Ministry unit in Grozny toldAgence France-Presse that 50 men had been killed in the previous 48 hours.By January 2000, Russia's heavy bombardments had finally begun to take their toll. Using multiple rocket launchers and massed tank and artillery fire, the Russians flattened large parts of Grozny in preparation for a mass assault.
On
January 2 2000 , Chechen fighters attacked and destroyed a Russian armoured column which entered the village ofDuba-Yurt a day before. OnJanuary 4 ,2000 , Chechen fighters in Grozny had launchedcounter attack s and broken through Russian lines in at least two places, temporarily seizing the village ofAlkhan-Kala .cite web
url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/592919.stm
title=Russian army battered in Grozny
date=6 January, 2000
accessdate=2006-06-10 ] Both sides accused each other of launching chemical attacks. Claim of chemical attacks may have originated from observation of unburnt remnants of gaseous explosive fromTOS-1 thermobaric missiles.Rebel relief attacks
On Monday,
January 10 2000 , Chechen forces outside Grozny launched a majorcounteroffensive , [ [http://iwpr.net/?p=crs&s=f&o=162021&apc_state=henicrs2000 The Chechens' Surprise] ] briefly recapturing major towns of Shali, Argun and Gudermes, and opening a new supply corridor to the besieged capital. They also ambushed and destroyed a supply convoy nearDzhalka , on the Argun-Gudermes road, as well a number of other convoys and relief forces, inflicting heavy losses on the surprised Russianrear troops.The commander for the North Caucasus, General Kazantsev, said mistakes by "soft-hearted" Russian Interior Ministry officials had allowed the rebels to counter-attack; he said from now on only boys under the age of 10, old men over the age of 60, and girls and women would be considered as
refugees . [cite web
url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/598554.stm
title=Chechens 'break Grozny siege'
date=
accessdate=2006-06-10] An Interior Ministry spokesman said 26 Russian soldiers had died in the period of 24 hours, the heaviest one-day official death toll since fighting began in September.Climax of the battle
By mid-January tens of thousands of Russian soldiers began an advance on central Grozny from three directions. During this fighting, possession of several suburbs and key buildings adjoining the city center changed hands several times while the small bands of rebel fighters were cutting off Russian units from the main forces.
On
January 15 2000 , 58 Chechen fighters were reported killed as they attempted break through Russian lines and flee Grozny towards the mountains. [cite web
url=http://archives.cnn.com/2000/WORLD/europe/01/15/russia.chechnya.01/
title=Russia steps up attacks, reports fresh gains in Chechnya
date=
accessdate=2007-08-11 ]On
January 19 2000 , Chechen snipers killed the MVDMajor-General Mikhail Malofayev , one of the commanders of the invasion of Grozny, in a major setback for the Russian forces. Russian troops were unable to recover his body until five days later.Fact|date=April 2008On
January 21 2000 , one Russian unit lost 20 men killed in north-west Grozny when rebels sneaked throughsewage tunnels to attack them from the rear. [cite web
url=http://archives.cnn.com/2000/WORLD/europe/01/21/chechnya.01/
title=Chechens use tunnels, snipers to stop Russians in Grozny
date=
accessdate=2006-06-10 ]On
January 26 ,2000 , the Russian government announced that 1,173servicemen had been killed in Chechnya since October [cite web
url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/618971.stm
title= Russia admits heavy casualties
date=
accessdate=2006-06-10] - a more than double rise from 544 killed reported 19 days earlier, onJanuary 6 2000 , with just 300 killed reported onJanuary 4 . [cite web
url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/monitoring/media_reports/595521.stm
title= Russia media criticise Chechen campaign
date=
accessdate=2006-06-10 ]However, with their
supply routes interdicted by an increasingly effective Russianblockade ,ammunition running low and their losses mounting, the Chechenleadership decided that taking on the Russians in frontal combat was becoming too costly. In a meeting in a bunker in central Grozny the rebel commanders decided on a desperate gamble to break through three layers of Russian forces and into the mountains. Chechen PresidentAslan Maskhadov evacuated earlier to the secret headquarters post somewhere in the south of Chechnya.Fact|date=April 2008Chechen breakout
About 1,000-1,500 fighters under
Ruslan Gelayev withdrew first leaving the city without order, and leaving other rebel forces exposed.The main Chechen forces began to escape on the last day of January and first day of February among a violent
winter storm , after an attempt to bribe their way out. A reconnaissance party they sent ahead never returned, but the commanders decided to leave anyway. [http://archive.southcoasttoday.com/daily/02-00/02-05-00/a08wn065.htm Minefield massacre decimates Chechens] ] As some 4,000 [ [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20000204/ai_n14286875 Fleeing Chechen rebels pledge to recapture Grozny] , "The Independent ", Feb 4, 2000] rebel fighters and some civilians [ [http://www.cdi.org/russia/johnson/4105.html#7 Colin McMahon, GROZNY RETREAT: A WALK THROUGH BLOOD AND FLESH.] ] broke out, moving in a southwesterly direction, they were met with heavy artillery fire.The main column of some 2,000 fighters, several hundred non-combatants and 50 Russian
prisoners of war , led byShamil Basayev , hit aminefield between the city and the village of Alkhan-Kala. The Russian forces ambushed them with ground forces as they were crossing a bridge across the Sunzha River. As Russian artillery barrages homed in on their position, several of the Chechens' field commanders personally led their retreating fighters in a charge across theminefield s.Volunteer s were asked to run ahead of the main force to clear a path for their retreating comrades, shouting "Meet you in paradise". Scores of Chechen rebel fighters were killed this way, including several prominent Chechen commanders generalKhunkarpasha Israpilov and Aslambek Ismailov, the mastermind behind the defense of Grozny, and the city'smayor Lecha Dudayev , all of whom decided to lead the column to encourage their men. The rebels say they lost about 400 fighters in the minefield at Alkhan-Kala, [ [http://archives.cnn.com/2000/WORLD/europe/02/04/russia.chechnya.01/index.html Russia may withdraw some troops from Chechnya] ,CNN , February 4, 2000] including 170 killed. Two hundred were maimed, including Basayev [cite web
url=http://www.iwpr.net/?p=crs&s=f&o=161774&apc_state=henicrs2000
title= Chechen 'Spirits' Haunt Russians
date=
accessdate=2006-06-10] andAbdul-Malik Mezhidov . In all, at least 600 people were killed and wounded during the bloody escape.In Grozny itself, the Russian generals initially refused to admit that the Chechens had escaped from the blockaded city, saying that fierce fighting continued within the city. Russian Chechnya
spokesman and Putin's aideSergei Yastrzhembsky said, "If they left Grozny, we would have informed you."cite web
url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/626959.stm
title= Chechen fighters 'abandon Grozny'
date=
accessdate=2006-06-10] Later, Russian GeneralViktor Kazantsev asserted that as many as 500 rebels were killed. [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F03E1D9163EF934A35751C0A9669C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all Russian Troops Capture What Remains of Grozny] ]After fighting involving Russian armoured vehicles on the outskirts of the village, the Alkhan-Kala itself was hit with the
OTR-21 Tochka ballistic missile s with acluster munition swarhead s, the weapons previously used against Grozny, which reportedly killed and wounded many inhabitants. [ [http://mcc.org/clusterbombs/resources/research/death/chapter3.html Cluster Munitions Use by Russian Federation Forces in Chechnya] ] A number of wounded fighters, includingKhadzhi-Murat Yandiyev , were left in the village and captured by the Russians later.On
February 4 2000 , in an attempt to stop the Chechen retreat, Russian forces bombed the village of Katyr-Yurt, and then a civilian convoy underwhite flag s trying to leave the settlement during a lull in the bombardment. Up to 20,000 refugees desperately fled an intense bombardment there that commenced following the arrival of large numbers of fighters in the village. The bombing lasted for two days and at least 170 civilians died while many more were injured (according to the later reports 343 people were killed). [ [http://www.guardian.co.uk/russia/article/0,2763,191798,00.html Revealed: Russia's worst war crime in Chechnya] , "The Guardian ", March 5 2000]A rebel post-operative war council was held in the village of
Alkhan-Yurt , where it was decided that the Chechen forces would retreat into the inaccessibleVedeno and Argungorge s in the southern mountains to carry on aguerrilla warfare against the Russians. The rebels then scattered into the southern mountains to continue the war.Several hundred (often said 500) rebel fighters remained in the heavily booby-trapped ruins of Grozny, lying low and harassing Russians with occasional sniper fire.
Aftermath
The next day after the breakout, the Russians began "mopping" of the ruined city.
Because of dangers of snipers, mines and
unexploded ordnance it was not untilFebruary 6 2000 , that the Russians were able to raise the Russian flag above the city centre. Many heavily damaged or mined buildings were blown up, including all high-rise buildings around Minutka Square. [ [http://www.time.com/time/europe/photoessays/grozny/ Witness to Madness] ]The
United Nations workers who entered the city with the first convoy of international aid discovered "a devastated and still insecure wasteland littered with grenades and bodies". There were some 21,000 civilians still in Grozny. [ [http://archives.cnn.com/2000/WORLD/europe/03/03/russia.chechnya.01/ Rebel ambush leaves 37 Russians dead in Chechnya] ,CNN , March 3, 2000] The losses among the city's population were never counted. Most of the corpses were cleared in 2000 through 2001, [ [http://www.time.com/time/photoessays/grozny/ruins.html In the Ruins of Grozny] ] but onemass grave dating from the time of battle (57 fighters and civilians) was discovered in 2006 in the former Kirov Park area of Grozny. [ [http://www.watchdog.cz/index.php?show=000000-000005-000003-000013&lang=1 Mass grave discovered in Grozny contains bodies of guerrillas and civilians] ]On
February 21 2000 , Russian forces held amilitary parade to mark the Defender of the Fatherland's Day (formerly Soviet Army Day) and to symbolize the supposed final defeat of the Chechen rebel forces. RussianDefense Minister Igor Sergeyev said during the ceremony that "the final phase" of the operation to "destroy band formations and terrorist groups that were trying to tear down Russia" had been completed. [ [http://www.jamestown.org/publications_details.php?volume_id=23&issue_id=1726&article_id=16887 RUSSIAN TROOPS HOLD VICTORY PARADE IN CHECHEN CAPITAL.] ]In March, the Russian army began to allow refugees to return to the city.
Estimated 500 (1,000 according to the separatists [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/642946.stm Fighting in key Chechen gorge] ,
BBC News , 14 February, 2000] ) rebel fighters remained in the city and more returned later with the civilians, hiding in underground communication tunnels and basements of damaged buildings by day, and emerging by night to plantimprovised explosive device s on the streets or to fire at a Russian positions. OnJune 6 2000 , Russian police and special forces units were reported to have began a majorcounter insurgency operation aimed against the rebel forces in the city, but the bombings and clashes in the city continued.These, however, became more sporadic as the years passed. By 2007, the rebel attacks in the capital became a rare occurrence. [ [http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSL1973096820070419?feedType=RSS Gunmen attack Grozny checkpoint, injure 6 Russians] ,
Reuters , Apr 19, 2007]ee also
*
Battle of Grozny References
External links
* [http://www.rand.org/pubs/monograph_reports/MR1289/MR1289.ch3.pdf RETURN TO GROZNY: 1999–2000]
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