Khankala in Chechnya is a military base in Russia, located seven kilometers from the capital of the republic, the city of Grozny. But there is also the Khankala station, through which trains go to Moscow, Volgograd and other cities of Russia.
Location
The city of Khankala in Chechnya is the western suburb of Grozny, located in the North Caucasus, in the very center of the republic. Lies on the left bank of the Argun River and on the right bank of the Sunzha River.
Unlike, for example, the Krasnodar Territory, this region of Chechnya is not protected by mountains, so the climate here is much harsher. Winters are frosty, and summers are hot, arid, as rainfall is irregular.
Khankala village
A military base with an airfield was built in 1949, along with it was built a residential town for military families. It was located next to the station, at which there was a small village. Today, there is also the Khankala station and the military town of Khankala.
The village still has a railway station. The movement of trains is carried out using diesel locomotives, since it is not electrified, due to the dismantling of the contact network during hostilities.
The word "khankala" is translated into Russian as "watchtower." Before the hostilities, it was a suburban rural area of the city of Grozny. Currently, about 7900 people live in the village, more than 83% of them are Russian military and railway station workers. As a matter of fact, only a few houses remain from the former village.
Khankala military base in Chechnya
Khankala is considered the calmest place in the whole of Chechnya, due to the location of the main base of Russian troops in the country here. This is the most guarded object, surrounded by several rows of barbed wire, minefields, periodically located roadblocks along the perimeter of the territory. Even in previous years, the militants did not approach her, preferring to shell from afar.
Strategic military facilities are located here: the joint headquarters of the North Caucasian military district, the FSB service, the hospital, the military prosecutor's office and other federal bodies. The base was created in 2000 in connection with the tragic events in Chechnya. Khankala, in addition to the glorious pages in history, has sad ones.
In September 2001, MI-8 helicopter was shot down here by militants, killing 2 generals and 8 officers. In August 2002, in the Khankala region, an MI-26 helicopter was shot down during landing, with 154 people on board. Only 30 servicemen managed to survive. In September 1995, an MI-8 helicopter with wounded on board was shot down in Khankala in Chechnya, one of them died.
Military airfield
During the Soviet Union, the airfield of the USSR Ministry of Defense was located on the territory of Khankala. Subsequently, it was transferred to the Stavropol Flight School and was used as a training. It was a regiment of training aircraft L-29. In the first Chechen war, they were captured by the militants of D. Dudaev, who wanted to remake them into military ones, but did not have time. They were located on the territory of the Khankala airfield in Chechnya. Photo attached.
Currently, the airfield belongs to the Ministry of Defense of Russia. This is a modern and powerful strategic facility, equipped with modern instruments and devices. An Orthodox chapel built by builders from Ulyanovsk was erected here.
Background to the Chechen conflict
The Chechen Republic of Ichkeria was proclaimed in 1991; President D. Dudaev pursued a course towards separating the CRI from Russia, which did not recognize it. The military operation was carried out in the border areas and on the territory of the unrecognized republic. She had a definition of operation to maintain constitutional order. In everyday life, military operations were called the first Chechen war.
For this war, a characteristic feature was huge casualties among the Russian population, since it was at that time that ethnic cleansing was carried out on persons of non-Chechen nationalities: Russians, Armenians, Jews, Greeks, Tatars and others. The vast majority of the victims were Russians.
Economic and political background
The situation inside Russia and Chechnya was very unfavorable. The power of the presidents was growing. In Chechnya, this led to confrontation between clans and open confrontation and the strengthening of anti-Dudaev positions. It was also necessary to establish relations and establish constitutional order for the circumstances that for the transit of Caspian oil it was necessary to lay an oil pipeline through the territory of Chechnya. Dudaev did not go to negotiations. Nobody could give guarantees of the safety of oil.
Fights for Khankala
In accordance with the Decree of the President of Russia B. Yeltsin, on December 11, 1994, parts of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Defense of Russia entered the territory of Chechnya. After 3 days, namely December 14, missile and bomb strikes were launched at three existing airfields: Grozny, Khankala and Kalinovskaya, where about 250 aircraft of various classes and purposes, from civilian to agricultural, were concentrated.
The battle for Khankala took place from December 24 to 29. As a result, the runway, garden houses and the frontier of the Grozny-Argun road were occupied. In 2000, the military base of Russia was re-created on the territory of Khankala.