Today we will talk about one tragic event that marked the first war in Chechnya (years - 1994 (December) - 1996 (August)). First, we briefly talk about the background of this war.
According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of our country, in Chechnya in 1994-95. about 26 thousand people died: 2 thousand of them are Russian military personnel, about 10-15 thousand are militants, and the rest are civilians. However, General A. Lebed gave a different assessment. According to him, the war in Chechnya brought much greater losses. Her years were marked by huge casualties among the civilian population - about 70-80 thousand people who died. And the losses in the ranks of the federal troops amounted to 6-7 thousand people.
Chechnya is getting out of Russian control
In the post-Soviet space, the border of 1980-1990 was marked by the so-called "parade of sovereignty." This meant that the Soviet republics of various levels (both the Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic and the Soviet Socialist Republic) adopted declarations of sovereignty one after another. In 1990, on June 12, at the first Republican Congress of People's Deputies, the Declaration on State Sovereignty of the RSFSR was also adopted.
On November 23-25 of the same year, the Chechen National Congress was held in Grozny. At it, an Executive Committee was elected, subsequently transformed into OKCHN. Its chairman was Dzhokhar Dudaev, major general. At the congress, a declaration was adopted on the formation of the Chechen Republic of Nokhchi-Cho. In July 1991, at the second congress of OKCHN, it was decided to withdraw from the RSFSR and the USSR.
Dudaev becomes president, breaking relations with the Russian Federation
On November 1, 1991, Dudaev was elected president of Chechnya. On November 10, the OKCHN executive committee decided to break off relations with the Russian state. Since November 1991, the seizure of property and armaments by the internal troops and the Armed Forces and military cities on the territory of the Chechen Republic has already begun. On November 27, the President signed a decree on the nationalization of equipment and weapons of military units located on the territory of the republic. All federal troops left Chechnya by November 8 of the following year, but left a large amount of weapons, equipment and ammunition.
The situation in the region worsened again in the fall of 1992, when the Ossetian-Ingush conflict occurred in the Prigorodny district. Dudaev declared the neutrality of the state, however, Russian troops entered its territory during the period of aggravation of the conflict.
Events of September - December 1994
Since September 1994, active combat operations have been conducted in Chechnya. The forces of the opposition, in particular, carried out the bombing of military installations. The armed forces opposing Dudaev were armed with Su-24 attack aircraft and Mi-24 helicopters without identification marks.
On November 30, 1994, Boris Yeltsin signed Decree No. 2137c, which provided for the elimination of armed units in Chechnya. According to him, from December 1, it was necessary to carry out measures aimed at restoring the rule of law and constitutional legality in the Chechen Republic, begin the liquidation of troops, and negotiate a peaceful settlement of the armed conflict.
On December 11, 1994, the President of the Russian Federation addressed the Russians, in which he stated that the country should solve the problem of the Chechen Republic, one of its constituent entities, and protect its citizens from armed extremism. On the same day, a corresponding decree was signed, and then the Russian troops went to carry out the task. Their goal was Chechnya, the storming of Grozny. Clashes continued throughout December; The city of Grozny, starting from the 18th, was subjected to repeated blows.
On December 26 of the same year, bombardments of villages located in rural areas began.
New Year's storm of Grozny
On the night of December 31, 1994 to January 1, 1995, a New Year's assault took place. The Russian army suffered very heavy losses that night, the most significant since the Great Patriotic War. The death of the motorized rifle Maykop brigade No. 131 was one of the most tragic episodes during the assault. There are still a lot of myths about these events.
The capture of the palace of President Dzhokhar Dudaev was the main task of the upcoming assault. The execution was entrusted to the grouping "North". K.B. Pulikovsky commanded it. It is interesting that the number of all parts that were part of this group is not exactly known. Only official data are available, which probably differ in a big way from the real ones. According to them, the North group included 4,097 people, 211 infantry fighting vehicles, 82 tanks, 64 mortars and guns.
Command Plans
The meeting was held on December 30, 1994. On it, all units received tasks for the assault. On the morning of December 31, the brigade was supposed to go to the old airfield and organize a defense there. The main task of the 81st regiment was to capture the Khmelnitsky-Mayakovsky intersection. And then this unit was supposed to block the building in which the republican committee was located, and then capture the city station. Regiment No. 276 was to occupy the approaches to Sadovoy and wait for further orders here.
Unexpected turn of events
It should be noted that the storming of Grozny on December 31, 1994 was unexpected for everyone. The replenishment of military equipment and people was not carried out by all units, the troops did not manage to work well together. Participant in the assault on Grozny, Sivko Vyacheslav, who commanded the 237th battalion, recalling these events, said that the key mistake was the lack of proper planning and interaction between the units.
However, orders, as you know, are not discussed. On the morning of December 31, 1994 the assault on Grozny was launched. Parts went on a mission. By 11 a.m., the Mayakovsky-Khmelnitsky intersection was captured. However, the 2nd battalion could not break through the Rodina state farm due to the continued fire of the militants. Pulikovsky ordered him to turn back. Here, the 2nd battalion began to carry out another task.
Train Station Events
At the same time, the 131st brigade completed its combat mission, taking up positions on the outskirts of the city, at the old airfield. She began the construction of defensive fortifications. However, she suddenly started off, as one battalion started moving towards the station, and the other went towards the market. A regiment went to Ordzhonikidze Square. One company was left here for cover. Yaroslavtsev, the regiment commander, after some time ordered the chief of staff to bring all the surviving personnel and equipment to the station. So far, the regiment was just starting its movement towards pl. Ordzhonikidze, the convoy was overtaken by the technician of the brigade No. 131, which was then heading to the station. Thus, almost simultaneously both the brigade and the regiment approached him. The latter organized defense at the freight station, and the first battalion took directly to the station. The second battalion also tried to get here, but it was attacked by militants and was forced to stay at the freight station.
After the regiment and brigade organized the defense at the station, they were attacked by large militant forces. Until the departure of the units, clashes continued. Part of the equipment was destroyed, the rest was damaged. However, the soldiers fought until the last ammunition. At first the losses were small. However, the situation suddenly began to deteriorate sharply due to the fact that other units did not fulfill their tasks, could not break into the center.
Blocking of Russian troops in the center of Grozny
At about 2 p.m. on December 31, 1994, the assault on Grozny was continued by new events. The Northeast Group reached the bridge over the Sunzha, which is located in the city center. The troops of the "East" and "West" just as easily moved to the city of Grozny. They met no resistance until noon. And then it began ...
From the upper floors of buildings and basements, machine guns and grenade launchers hit columns of Russian armored vehicles sandwiched in tight streets. The militants fought as if they were studying at military academies, not Russian generals. At first they burned the closing and head machines. The rest were shot slowly. At 6 p.m. in the area of the Lenin Park, the 693rd Motorized Rifle Regiment of the West was surrounded. On the southern outskirts, dense fire stopped the parachute regiments of the 21st Airborne Brigade and the 76th Division. 3.5 thousand militants with fifty tanks and guns at nightfall suddenly attacked the 131st brigade and 81st regiment in columns in the area of the railway station. Together with the two tanks that managed to survive, the remains of these units around midnight began to withdraw, however, they were surrounded and destroyed almost completely. Many people remembered this date for a long time - December 31, 1994. The storming of Grozny brought great losses both among the military and among the civilian population.
Events January 1-2, 1995
On January 1, the command all day tried to help the bloodless groups "North-East" and "North" blocked in the very center of Grozny. But unsuccessfully. The Chechens sent to the rescue troops were given the opportunity to move only along routes that had been shot beforehand. And they mercilessly shot troops. On January 2, the press service of the Russian government announced that the center of Grozny was controlled by federal forces and that the presidential palace was blocked.
The results of the Chechen campaign
The first assault on Grozny did not bring victory. For a long time, the militants resisted. Until August 31, 1996, the war continued. The assault on Grozny was only the beginning of new hostilities. The war was accompanied by terrorist attacks carried out outside Chechnya (Kizlyar, Budennovsk).
The campaign resulted in the Khasavyurt agreements signed on August 31, 1996. On the Russian side, they were signed by Alexander Lebedev, secretary of the security council of our country, and on the part of Chechen fighters, as chief of staff Aslan Maskhadov. Based on the results of these agreements, a decision was made on the so-called "deferred status". This meant that by December 31, 2001 the issue of the status of Chechnya had to be resolved.