Opinion of Chechens about past wars. Notes of a militant about the Chechen campaign. Archpriest Sergei Zhigulin

Chechens are a mountain people who are not afraid of death, who love their land and are ready to give their lives for it. Nevertheless, the deputy chairman of the Council of People's Commissars, Lavrenty Beria, ordered in March 1942 to stop the mobilization of soldiers from the Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. But in August of the same year, this order was canceled because the Nazi troops invaded the Caucasus. In total, 18.5 thousand Chechens and Ingush were mobilized during the entire war, among which almost 70% were volunteers. Of these, only five were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union during the war, and four more - in the 80-90s.

Khanpasha Nuradilovich Nuradilov alone was able to stop the German offensive near the village of Zakharovka. He captured 7 Nazis and killed 120. He was not awarded for this feat. And only after he was mortally wounded in the last battle, the reward found a hero. By that time, Nuradilov's account included 920 killed and, according to various sources, 12 or 14 captured Nazis. In addition, he captured 7 machine guns.

Senior Sergeant Abuhazhi Idrisov, who destroyed 349 Nazi soldiers, was also presented for the award only after he was wounded in the head. Moreover, this number of Nazis killed is very inaccurate, since only those whom he killed from his sniper rifle were counted. He also had other Wehrmacht soldiers killed by machine guns.

Another heroic son of the Chechen people, Magomed-Mirzoev Khavadzhi, was one of the first to cross on a raft to the right bank of the Dnieper, thereby ensuring that the soldiers of the 60th Guards Regiment crossed the river. In his last battle, he, wounded three times, destroyed 144 Nazis with machine-gun fire. An ordinary school director, he understood what military honor was, and did not shame the proud name of a Chechen in the face of the enemy.

Beybulatov Irbaykhan Adelkhanovich commanded a rifle battalion during the liberation of Melitopol. In the most difficult conditions of warfare on the city streets, his unit destroyed more than 1000 German soldiers and 7 tanks. The officer himself killed 18 Nazis and knocked out one tank. His three brothers also participated in the battle with him. He became a Hero of the Soviet Union in 1943 posthumously.

Among the Chechens there were those who were first awarded, then repressed, deprived of all awards, which were then returned again. This happened to junior lieutenant Khansultan Chapaevich Dachiev. Having crossed the Dnieper at the end of September 1943, he obtained valuable information about the deployment of German troops, which allowed the division to successfully cross the river two days later. The hero was repressed for a letter to Lavrenty Beria with a request for the rehabilitation of the Chechen people. Dachiev was allegedly convicted of embezzlement for 20 years, but was released at the request of another Hero of the Soviet Union, Movladi Visaitov. In 1985, Dachiev wrote a letter to Mikhail Gorbachev, after which he was returned all the awards and reinstated in the title of Hero of the USSR.

The request of Movladi Visaitov could not be ignored for one simple reason - he was too prominent a person - the first Soviet officer who personally shook hands with General Bolling at the famous meeting on the Elbe, a holder of the Order of the Legionnaires. Prior to that, he miraculously escaped repression in 1944, when he was in the ranks on Red Square, along with another hundred officers - Chechens and Ingush. The order-bearers came with one request - to be listened to and not deported. Already when they were being taken away from the square by the NKVD, they accidentally ran into Marshal Rokossovsky, who ordered the officers to be returned to their unit with their ranks and awards preserved. The dashing cavalryman received a magnificent horse as a gift from the writer Mikhail Sholokhov, which he presented to Bolling. He did not remain in debt and presented Movladi a jeep. In 1990, Visaitov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, to which he did not live only a few months.

There were other heroes who received a high award during and after perestroika:

• Kanti Abdurakhmanov, who with direct fire destroyed a pillbox that stopped the advance of troops west of Vitebsk;
• Magomed Uzuev, who sacrificed his life in the battle for the Brest Fortress, tied himself with grenades and threw himself into a crowd of Nazi soldiers;
• Umarov Movldi, who fell in battle near the village of Skucharevo. He, twice wounded, led the fighters to attack the enemy, outnumbered.

An interesting fact is that not only officers and soldiers from Chechnya, but also the Muslim clergy contributed to the victory over fascism. Yandarov Abdul-Khamid, the heir of Sheikh Solsa-Khadzhi, ordered his murids (disciples) to tie up the fascist saboteur and deliver him to the NKGB. Baudin Arsanov, the heir of Sheikh Deni Arsanov, helped to arrest the German colonel Osman Gube and participated in the liquidation of the gang of Gatsaraev Abdulkhas. Baudin's son, on the orders of his father, personally shot two fascist paratroopers-saboteurs.

Since the time of the Khrushchev “thaw” and especially after the “Perestroika” and “democratization” of the late 20th century, it is generally accepted that the deportation of small peoples during the Great Patriotic War is one of the many crimes of I. Stalin, in a series of many.

Especially, allegedly Stalin hated the "proud highlanders" - Chechens and Ingush. Even, summing up the evidence base, Stalin is a Georgian, and at one time the highlanders annoyed Georgia very much, she even asked for help from the Russian Empire. So the Red Emperor decided to settle old scores, that is, the reason is purely subjective.

Later, a second version appeared - nationalistic, it was put into circulation by Abdurakhman Avtorkhanov (professor at the Institute of Language and Literature). This "scientist", when the Nazis approached Chechnya, went over to the side of the enemy, organized a detachment to fight the partisans. At the end of the war, he lived in Germany, working at Radio Liberty. In his version, the scale of the Chechen resistance is increased in every possible way and the fact of cooperation between the Chechens and the Germans is completely denied.

But this is another "black myth" invented by slanderers to distort.

Actually reasons

- Mass desertion of Chechens and Ingush: in just three years of the Great Patriotic War, 49,362 Chechens and Ingush deserted from the ranks of the Red Army, another 13,389 "valiant highlanders" evaded the draft (Chuev S. North Caucasus 1941-1945. War in the rear. Observer. 2002, No. 2).
For example: at the beginning of 1942, when creating a national division, only 50% of the personnel were called up.
In total, about 10 thousand Chechens and Ingush honestly served in the Red Army, 2.3 thousand people died or went missing. And more than 60 thousand of their relatives evaded military duty.

- Banditry. From July 1941 to 1944, on the territory of the Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, 197 gangs were liquidated by state security agencies - 657 bandits were killed, 2762 were captured, 1113 surrendered voluntarily. For comparison, almost half as many Chechens and Ingush died or were captured in the ranks of the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army. This is without counting the losses of the "highlanders", in the ranks of the Nazi "Eastern battalions".

And taking into account the complicity of the local population, without which banditry is not possible in the mountains, due to the primitive communal psychology of the highlanders, many
"Peaceful Chechens and Ingush" can also be included in the category of traitors. That in wartime, and often in peacetime, is punishable only by death.

- Uprisings of 1941 and 1942.

- Harboring saboteurs. When the front approached the borders of the republic, the Germans began to throw intelligence officers and saboteurs into its territory. The reconnaissance and sabotage groups of the Germans were met by the local population very favorably.

The memoirs of the German saboteur, of Avar origin, Osman Gube (Saidnurov), are very eloquent, he was planned to be appointed Gauleiter (governor) in the North Caucasus:

“Among the Chechens and Ingush, I easily found the right people who were ready to betray, go over to the side of the Germans and serve them.

I was surprised: why are these people unhappy? Chechens and Ingush under Soviet rule lived prosperously, in abundance, much better than in pre-revolutionary times, as I was personally convinced after more than four months of being on the territory of Checheno-Ingushetia.

Chechens and Ingush, I repeat, do not need anything, which was striking to me, recalling the difficult conditions and constant hardships in which mountain emigration found itself in Turkey and Germany. I did not find any other explanation, except that these people from the Chechens and Ingush, with traitorous moods towards their homeland, were guided by selfish considerations, the desire under the Germans to preserve at least the remnants of their well-being, to provide a service, in return for which the occupiers would leave them at least part available livestock and food, land and dwellings.

- Betrayal of local internal affairs bodies, representatives of local authorities, local intelligentsia. For example: Ingush Albogachiev, People's Commissar of Internal Affairs of the Chi ASSR, became a traitor; the heads of the regional police departments Khasaev (Itum-Kalinsky), Isaev (Cheberloevsky), the commander of a separate fighter battalion of the Prigorodny regional department of the NKVD department Ortskhanov and many others.

From their posts, when the front line approached (August-September 1942), two-thirds of the first secretaries of the district committees were thrown, apparently the rest were "Russian-speaking". The first "prize" for betrayal can be awarded to the party organization of the Itum-Kalinsky district, where the first secretary of the district committee Tangiev, the second secretary Sadykov and almost all party workers went into bandits.

How should traitors be punished!?

According to the law, in wartime conditions, desertion and evasion of military service is punishable by execution, as a mitigating measure, a fine.

Banditry, organization of an uprising, cooperation with the enemy - death.

Participation in anti-Soviet underground organizations, storage, complicity in the commission of crimes, harboring criminals, failure to report - all these crimes, especially in war conditions, were punishable by long prison terms.

Stalin, according to the laws of the USSR, had to allow sentences to be brought, according to which over 60 thousand highlanders would be shot. And tens of thousands would receive long terms of imprisonment in institutions with a very strict regime.

From the point of view of legality and Justice, the Chechens and Ingush were punished very lightly and violated the Criminal Code for the sake of humanity and mercy.

And how would millions of representatives of other peoples, who honestly defended their common Motherland, look at the complete “forgiveness”?

Interesting fact! During the operation "Lentil" for the expulsion of Chechens and Ingush in 1944, only 50 people were killed while resisting or trying to escape. The "militant highlanders" did not show any real resistance, "the cat knew whose butter she had eaten." As soon as Moscow demonstrated its strength and firmness, the highlanders obediently set off for assembly points, they knew their guilt.

Another feature of the operation was that Dagestanis and Ossetians were involved in the eviction, they were glad to get rid of restless neighbors.

Contemporary parallels

We must not forget that this eviction did not "cure" the Chechens and Ingush from their "diseases". Everything that was present during the years of the Great Patriotic War - banditry, robberies, bullying of civilians ("not mountaineers"), betrayal of local authorities and security agencies, cooperation with the enemies of Russia (special services of the West, Turkey, Arab states), was repeated in 90- years of the 20th century.

The Russians must remember that no one has yet answered for this, neither the mercenary government in Moscow, which left civilians to their fate, nor the Chechen people. He will have to Answer, sooner or later - both according to the Criminal Code and Justice.

Sources: based on the materials of the book by I. Pykhalov, A. Dyukov. Great slandered war -2. M. 2008.

25 years ago, on December 11, 1994, the first Chechen war began, which was called the restoration of constitutional order (during the second Chechen campaign, this vague “restoration of order” grew into an “anti-terrorist operation”).

The first Chechen war claimed the lives of about 6,000 Russian servicemen (forgive me for this word “about” - it somehow explains a certain ugly order of things: 150 unknown people are buried at the Bogorodskoye cemetery near Moscow, and several hundred lie in the land of Chechnya) and ... tens of thousands of residents of Chechnya (I measure in tens of thousands, because no one has named a real and specific figure for these 25 years).

The main question that analysts ask themselves is: “Was such a violent confrontation inevitable?” Alas, there is no single answer. Some try to make recommendations after the fact. For example: "It was necessary to appoint Dudayev as Deputy Minister of Defense of Russia." Or (in a narrow circle and quietly): "Kill all the leaders of Ichkeria with the help of special services"...

In general, it remained to appoint the opposition. To be honest, the fact that there is an opposition in Chechnya, the same Avturkhanov, I learned (like most residents of Chechnya and Russia) only after the tragic putsch on November 26, 1994. Its early and failed organization in Grozny was led by special services. The Ministry of Defense knew, but had nothing to do with, the recruitment of military personnel from the Taman and Kantemirovskaya divisions by employees of the FSK (Federal Counterintelligence Service - now the FSB). Young recruited officers took part in the coup for an easy part-time job.

True, the exercises have not been conducted for several years. There was no money for this. Even in military academies, students at that time worked part-time as guards (the lucky ones worked in beer stalls). The brave General Vladimir Shamanov, being a student of the Academy of the General Staff, complained to our observer Anna Politkovskaya that there was not enough for cigarettes ...

However, some coup officers had combat experience. In the autumn of 1993, they shot at the building of the Supreme Soviet of Russia (the White House) from tank guns.

The Chechens were not afraid of tanks. They burned them, and putschists - some were destroyed, others were taken prisoner. The brutally suppressed coup raised the authority of Dudayev and the "Ichkerian with a gun." In the eyes of many peaceful Chechens, the “Ichkerian with a gun” no longer looked like a bandit, but a defender of the Chechen people.

Shamil Basayev and his gang, who had been out of work for more than two years after the events in Abkhazia in 1992, were now perceived as a necessity (then the same Russian authorities recruited them to participate in an undeclared war with Georgia). In 1993, Basayev was invited to Dagestan for a forum of national movements, which was held semi-legally (without Moscow's approval). But the leaders of the national movements of Dagestan (Nadyr Khachalaev - Lak, Kazbek Makhachev - Avar, etc.) were dollar millionaires, deputies (both local and Russian parliaments), mayors, crime bosses and ... patriots of Russia. Basayev was not accepted into this circle.

And this useless storming of Grozny on November 26, 1994 made “necessary people” out of criminals and bandits with weapons ...

When, ten days after the failed coup, Chechen leader Dudayev and Russian Defense Minister Grachev met in Sleptsovsk, Ingushetia, there were no prospects for peace. At the end of the tea party, General Grachev asked: “So, war, Dzhokhar?” - "War, Pasha!" General Dudayev also answered in a friendly way. At parting, they took a photo.

But there was something else that explained a lot. Grachev recalled: Dudayev told him that even if they agreed on peace, those guys with machine guns around the house would not let them both out alive.

So the minority (in Chechnya and in Russia) decided to fight. And Basayev, his people and others like them got their chance. And they were used.

And more about Grachev. After the failed coup on November 26, he was indignant at the lack of professionalism of its organizers: tanks are good in the field, but in the city without infantry escort they are an excellent target. It was then that he said his well-known words that he would take Grozny with one airborne regiment ... He later regretted them. When Grachev said at a meeting of the country's top leadership that hostilities should be postponed until spring, Prime Minister Chernomyrdin accused him of cowardice and suggested resigning as defense minister.

And the slaughter began.

The consequences of the Chechen wars are colossal: Russia received the regime that exists today, and Chechnya received Ramzan Kadyrov. And, as the famous writer wisely said: "We will pass this on to our children."

Own correspondent of "Soldier of Fortune" Erkebek Abdulaev talks about how the Chechen militias fought and were going to fight.

After three days of meticulous checks by Chechens in one of the neighboring republics of Chechnya and at intermediate points, on January 18, I was finally taken to Chechnya by their "Ho Chi Minh trail", bypassing the posts of Russian troops. A few nervous hours later, at night with our headlights out, we drove into Grozny through the Southern Corridor.

My driver Aslanbek peered tensely into the darkness. Visibility was already almost zero, and then there was fog. However, in my opinion, it was only to our advantage.

There were often lonely passers-by on the road. There were also armed people, and a “peacekeeper” dragging cans of water on a sled. A small detachment in white camouflage suits stomped in formation.

“Two deaths cannot happen, but one cannot be avoided,” Aslanbek muttered and resolutely stepped on the gas. We drove onto the dam and hopped over potholes, weaving between sinkholes and the mangled remains of cars, some of which were still smoking.

The dam slipped safely and began to climb uphill. Ahead, the reflections of a major fire began to show through the fog: oil storage facilities, set on fire by Russian artillery a month ago, were burning.

Long winded through the streets. Finally we stopped at the gate. We went into a house where several armed bearded men were sitting. Aslanbek whispered something to them, and we set off again. Finally, in the next house we are accommodated for the night. As a guest, I was given a separate room with a luxurious double bed.

In the morning, instead of roosters, we were awakened by artillery preparation. Installations "Grad" thrashed from a nearby mountain. Rockets howled and rustled low over us and burst somewhere nearby in the city. A few minutes later, the shelling ended, and machine-gun bursts rattled in the city, explosions often swelled. Someone attacked someone. Chechen militants did not pay any attention to this. According to them, it is much worse when planes are bombed. And since there is dense cloud cover and thick fog, aircraft do not fly.

People flocked to our residence. The arrival of the correspondent did not go unnoticed. Our house turned out to be something like a small headquarters.

Two excited fighters ran in. Their detachment raided the positions of the Russians. Two installations "Grad" helped a lot. True, the operation was scheduled for five in the morning, and the rocket launchers were late and began shelling at eight (so that's who woke us up!). 18 tanks were destroyed, 12 armored vehicles were captured, including one T-80 tank. No one counted the killed Russian soldiers, there are many of them. Their losses: five killed and seven wounded.

As if to confirm their words, Russian artillery rumbled. It looked like volleys of a battery of self-propelled guns of the Gvozdika type. They hit from the city on the mountain, from where the Chechen "Grads" had recently worked. Shells fly over our house, and explode with sharp pops.

We go out into the street, but because of the fog, nothing is still visible. Aslanbek is concerned. He says that I should get official accreditation from Dudayev's Minister of Information. Russian spotters operate in the city under the guise of civilians and correspondents. The Chechens shoot them on the spot.

We're going to the city. A few blocks later, a Chechen post stops us. You can’t go further: Russian snipers are operating ahead. The Chechens are greatly annoyed by the silent sniper rifles of the Russians. “We can’t pinpoint where they are hitting from,” the militiaman spits in his hearts.

Have to return. At home, I show them the 12th issue of Soldier of Fortune with an article about a screw cutter. They read carefully. One of them, seeing the photo, exclaims: “I have already seen such weapons in our special forces!”

Apparently, these are trophies captured from Russian "colleagues".

Four fighters in white camouflage suits arrive. They are heavily armed: in addition to machine guns for each, they have one RPG-7 and three disposable RPG-26 grenade launchers. Dudaev special forces. The driver of a badly rumpled UAZ was left on the street. He's fiddling with the engine. The soldiers are fed.

Two militias enter. Their group had just returned from downtown. Lost five killed. They managed to pull out three, two remained on the street. Do not let Russian snipers.

Soldiers drink tea and eat fried meat from a frying pan. They discuss what could be done in such a situation. One of the commandos replies that a smoke screen should have been put up.

- And if there are no smoke bombs?

- You can set fire to car tires and roll a dozen into the street ...

The fighters look at each other and, without finishing their meal, hastily leave.

A tall guy comes with a machine gun, in a knitted helmet-mask. Homemade unloading vest bristles with horns with cartridges. Hello. He asks me stereotypical questions that I'm already tired of answering. Slowly pulls off the mask. The face is gray, haggard, a huge bruise on the left cheekbone. The look is cloudy, expressing nothing. Sluggishly eats meat and drinks tea for a long time.

The militia whisper to me that this guy left the battle three days ago. Since January 31, their detachment had been holding a house in the center of Grozny, which was constantly being hit by tanks and flamethrowers. It seems that this repeatedly shell-shocked fighter still has not yet come to his senses. Having eaten, he, as in a slow motion movie, slowly raises his machine gun and, slouching, leaves ...

A noisy crowd pours in. They undress, put their weapons in the corner. Drink tea. They say that they just drove a T-72 tank and an infantry fighting vehicle down the street for an hour, which drove into their area. The fighters remembered how they removed a heavy-caliber KPVT machine gun from a wrecked armored personnel carrier, attached a home-made tripod and adapted some kind of trigger. We decided to test. They gave a turn. The machine gun overturned and crushed the shooter, holding it together with the trigger. The fighter screamed in pain, and the KPVT rumbled into the sky until the cartridges ran out. A couple of ribs would-be arrow broke and crushed the insides.

Another fighter recalled his duel with the SU-25 attack aircraft. He had the last shell left in the anti-aircraft gun cassette, and he had to urgently insert the next clip so as not to stop firing. And the whole calculation fled, because the attack aircraft, having made an anti-aircraft maneuver, dived directly into the position. For endlessly long seconds they held each other at gunpoint. I had to fire the last shell and the plane suddenly rolled to the side. Apparently, he also ran out of ammunition.

A lively conversation ensued about the fight against aviation. The Chechens complained that MANPADS "Strela" and "Igla" do not shoot at Russian aircraft, since they have electronic units of "friend or foe" identification systems installed on them. Therefore, there were even ideas to buy American Stinger missiles abroad.

One of the militias turned to me: “Do you know what Kozyrev and the American Secretary of State were recently talking about in private? What if the Americans gave the Russians the “friend or foe” code of the Stinger? In this case, millions of dollars for the purchase of missiles will go down the drain!

The bearded commando reassured them: “The world has not converged like a wedge on the Americans. We will buy from the British, the French or the Swedes.”

However, the militias were not entirely satisfied with this: “When else will the missiles arrive there? Find an experienced electronics engineer, turn off the identification systems of the Arrows and Eagles, they thought.

I recalled that the Chechens themselves burned six Tunguska missile and artillery systems from the Mozdok brigade, which stormed Grozny on the night of December 31. And they are more serious than the four-barreled Shilok.

The militias threw up their hands: “Who knew that everything would turn out like this. We didn't expect to last that long. Well, maybe a week or two. We had no illusions about this. We didn’t know how to fight: the majority served urgently in the “construction battalion”, and they kept machine guns only during the taking of the oath. Now we've learned a few things."

The Chechen trained regular divisions of the Russian parts were shattered even in the first battles. They were understaffed with militias who had undergone combat testing, mastered captured equipment under the guidance of captured Russian officers. But mostly non-professionals were involved in the battles in Grozny, who went to fight in schools from all the surrounding villages. Small groups, usually five people each, secretly made their way to the rear of the army, delivered a sudden blow and immediately “made their feet”. Sometimes they run into ambushes. Therefore, the number “five” often appeared in the reports of combat losses of the Chechens ...

The commandos answered that Chechen women who had lost their loved ones were also fighting among the militias. According to mountain customs, if all the men in the family die in battle, women take up arms. And it is impossible to refuse them. There are many blondes, both natural, blue-eyed, and dyed. Hence, apparently, the rumors about the Baltic biathletes.

I was also interested in the use of high-precision "smart" weapons. The Chechens remembered only one attempt to use a cruise missile. She flew at low altitude along the bed of the Sunzha River, avoiding obstacles, but her wing caught a tree branch, hit the shore and fell apart without an explosion. The wreckage was immediately filmed by Chechen and Western videographers, and some parts were taken abroad.

The Russians considered Dudayev's decision to withdraw their main forces from Grozny a victory. In fact, with the arrival of spring and warming, epidemics may begin in the city due to the decomposition of uncleaned corpses.

The Russian generals hoped to drive the Chechens out of the city blocks into open fields, but they miscalculated. Those simply flowed to other large cities. Until May, until the forests are covered with foliage and reliably cover them from aircraft, the Chechens cannot fight the enemy in the open.

By autumn, all ground communications of the Russian expeditionary force (regardless of whether it will be the regular army or units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs) may be cut. If by that time the war has not been ended long ago by diplomatic means, its course may turn out to be deplorable for the Russian armed forces.

Erkebek Abdulaev. Soldier of Fortune #4 for 1995

On December 11, 1994, units of the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia entered the territory of Chechnya, fulfilling the decree of President Yeltsin signed two days earlier "On measures to suppress the activities of illegal armed groups on the territory of the Chechen Republic and in the zone of the Ossetian-Ingush conflict." This date is considered the beginning of the First Chechen campaign.

The war that Russia waged with the militants and the government of the self-proclaimed state of Ichkeria claimed tens of thousands of lives. The data varies, and no one can give exact numbers yet. The loss of federal troops killed and missing is just over 5,000 people. The militants, according to various sources, were liquidated and taken prisoner from 17,000 (estimation of the federals) or 3,800 killed (estimation of Chechen sources).

The civilian population suffered the greatest losses, especially if we count not only those who suffered on the territory of Chechnya itself, but also residents of neighboring territories, including the victims of attacks on Budennovsk, Kizlyar and the village of Pervomaiskoye. According to various estimates, 25,000–40,000 people were killed, and this is only for the period from 1994 to 1996.

On the day of the 25th anniversary of the First Chechen campaign, we recall the chronology of events and talk with eyewitnesses about what we remember today about that war.

“Before the storming of Grozny, the military met a few hours before the battle”

Grozny. December 5, 1994 On the eve of the war. Air raids on Grozny have ceased, and rallies continue in front of the presidential palace. Soldiers of the Special Forces Division during prayer. Photo Babushkin A./TASS newsreel

The events in Chechnya have a long history. The independence of the republic was proclaimed even before the August coup, on July 8, 1991. In November of the same year, Boris Yeltsin introduced a state of emergency in Chechnya. At the end of the year, the process of withdrawing Russian troops from the territory of the republic began, which was fully completed by June 1992.
At the same time, there was a looting of military depots left over from the Soviet Union. Some of the weapons were stolen, some were sold, about half of all the weapons the federals were forced to hand over to the Chechen side free of charge.

Thus, in the hands of the militants and the local army, which was created by the President of the Republic Dzhokhar Dudayev, there was a huge amount of weapons and military equipment. Robberies, murders, open confrontation between various political and criminal clans began, from which the local population suffered. It was under the pretext of protecting civilians that federal troops entered Chechnya in December 1994.

In less than a month, having taken several settlements, including Khankala, where the enemy's military airport was located, the federals moved to Grozny. The assault began on the night of December 31st. The attempt to take the city failed. Later, General Lev Rokhlin said: “The operation plan developed by Grachev and Kvashnin became in fact a plan for the death of troops. Today I can state with full confidence that it was not substantiated by any operational-tactical calculations. Such a plan has a well-defined name - an adventure. And given that hundreds of people died as a result of its implementation, this is a criminal adventure.”

Grozny. April 24, 1995. Residents of the city in the basement of a destroyed house. Photo by Vladimir Velengurin / ITAR-TASS

“For me, the First Chechen campaign began in January 1995: in Moscow in the hospital. Burdenko, I saw a tanker who was seriously wounded during the storming of Grozny on New Year's Eve. A young boy, a green lieutenant 1994 of the Kazan Tank School, who immediately fell into this terrible meat grinder. By that time, he had undergone several operations, and more interventions were to come.

His tank was shot down at the crossroads of Mayakovsky Street in the center of Grozny. The militants of the Russian military were already waiting: in all the houses the first floors were blocked, on the upper floors the interior partitions were broken to make it easier to move between firing positions. There were snipers and grenade launchers on the roofs. One of them hit the tank when the soldiers opened the top hatch for a while so as not to suffocate. All three miraculously survived, but were seriously injured.

A characteristic moment of how this operation was being prepared. In an interview, the tanker told me that he met those who would be in his crew just a few hours before the offensive. There was no question of any coherence - they were people from different military districts, a real hodgepodge. There was a catastrophic unpreparedness for combat in urban conditions. But once the Soviet army had a huge experience: this was taught in military universities, books were written about it, all the battles of the Great Patriotic War, from Stalingrad to the battle for Berlin, were analyzed. And in 1994 all this was forgotten. How many guys we lost, how many prisoners were exchanged later.

I learned about the terrible consequences of the New Year's assault on Grozny later, having already been in Chechnya and had time to form my opinion about that war. In 1997, I came across a film taken by the fighters of the Moscow OMON for internal use. This is a service video that has never been published anywhere. In the frame - the fighters who in January 1995 entered the city after the assault to find at least someone alive, but saw only the burned skeletons of our equipment, and in the houses - unarmed soldiers shot by militants. I especially remember this scene: a fighter sees a cardboard box, pushes it, it opens, and cut off human heads roll out from there.

Yuri Kitten

Military observer, in 1994 - correspondent of the newspaper "Red Warrior" of the Moscow Military District

"A soldier's mother wanted to hear that her son was alive"

Grozny. Checkpoint. February 1996 Photo by Pavel Smertin

The federal troops managed to gain a foothold in Grozny later, after the Presidential Palace was taken on January 19, 1995. In February, Dzhokhar Dudayev left the capital with troops under his control and retreated to the south of Chechnya.
The beginning of 1995 took place in the battles for the settlements of Bamut, Gudermes, Shali, Samashki, Achkhoy-Martan. At the end of April, President Yeltsin announced a temporary truce on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the victory in the Great Patriotic War, but it was not strictly observed.

Already on May 12, federal troops launched a massive offensive. In June 1995, the village of Vedeno was taken, which was considered Dudayev's stronghold, then the settlements of Nozhai-Yurt and Shatoi. However, after the terrorist act in Budyonnovsk on July 14-17, during which Shamil Basayev's gang took several thousand hostages, a ceasefire agreement was signed.

During such a lull, Russian and foreign journalists could come to Chechnya. They not only covered the negotiations of the warring parties, but also could move around the republic more freely than during periods of hostilities, visit remote mountainous regions, interview field commanders, and talk with various representatives of the Chechen side in order to find out their point of view on what was happening. .

“When my colleagues and I came in 1995 to cover the negotiations between the federals and representatives of Ichkeria, there were already quite a few soldier mothers in the republic who were looking for their captured sons. Absolutely frantically, fearing nothing, full of hope and at the same time despair, they walked along the Chechen roads.

Usually the women stayed in groups, but one day I saw this scene: several mothers are standing together, and one is at a distance, as if she had been boycotted. Then they explained to me: this woman had just found out that her son was alive and that he was about to be exchanged. And she was embarrassed to look into the eyes of her friends, because she was so happy, her son would be home soon, and there was no news about their children. You see, these mothers - they searched and hoped to the last.

On that trip, a woman approached me and my colleagues and found out that we were going to the mountains, to the Shatoi district, to see the militants. She gave us a photograph of her son, saying that he was last seen somewhere there, and asked to ask if anyone knows about his fate. I complied with her request, and they answered me: "We remember this guy, he was shot." She asked again: right? The man hesitated, said, "Looks exactly right. Probably right." But I didn't get a definitive "yes".

Time has passed. This mother found me already in Moscow, called the editorial office: “Remember, I gave you a photo of my son, did you find out something?” And while I was thinking about how best to tell her (maybe I would have told it like it is), she added: "Is he alive?" And I answered: "Yes, I'm alive. But I can't say exactly where." I don't know if I did the right thing or not. But they never told us for sure that he was shot, they didn’t show his grave. And she so wanted to hear that her son was alive.

Maria Eismont

Lawyer, journalist, in 1995 - correspondent of the newspaper "Segodnya"

"What a joy it is to die for Christ"

Grozny. March 29, 1995. On the streets of the ruined city. Photo by Vladimir Velengurin / ITAR-TASS

Meanwhile, Grozny was occupied by units of internal troops. They patrolled the city, carried guards at checkpoints. But it was only the appearance of "peaceful" time. There was a humanitarian crisis in the city: most of the houses were destroyed, hospitals and schools were damaged, there was no work, it was difficult to buy the simplest products.

Humanitarian aid was supplied to the republic by employees of the International Red Cross. Food rations were also available at the Church of the Archangel Michael. Archpriest Anatoly Chistousov became its rector since March 15, 1995. The church itself was badly damaged as a result of repeated attacks, services were held in the parish house on the territory of the temple.

Less than a year after the events described, Archpriest Anatoly Chistousov and Archpriest Sergei Zhigulin were captured by militants. The Chechens demanded that Father Anatoly renounce the Christian faith, tortured him and shot him on February 14, 1996.

Priest Anatoly Chistousov. Photo by Sergey Velichkin / TASS newsreel

“We had bread brought to us in the evening. And so Father Anatoly offered to perform a fraternal Eucharistic rite over this bread, transforming it with our prayers into the body of Christ. Having performed this sacred act, we divided the bread equally, and from that moment each kept it as a shrine. The last baby I had the opportunity to actually take communion, probably in the fourth or even fifth month of captivity.

I remember Father Anatoly then said: "You'll see, you will be freed, but I won't." I looked at my fellow prisoner and froze: his face was transformed, it became so bright, his eyes shone inexpressibly. Then he said, "What a blessing it is to die for Christ." Realizing that something supernatural was happening at these moments, I nevertheless tried to “ground” the situation, noting: “Is it time to talk about this now? ..” But I immediately broke off: as Christians of the first centuries and as victims of post-revolutionary Russia, we really had the good fortune to suffer for our faith in Christ…”

Archpriest Sergei Zhigulin

Subsequently, he was released, became a monk with the name Philip and received the rank of archimandrite. The photo was taken immediately after the release.

“He had black hair and a completely gray face”

Grozny. February 1996 Photo by Pavel Smertin

At the very end of 1995, the militants managed to win back Argun and Gudermes. New 1996 began with a series of terrorist attacks. On January 9, 1996, a gang of field commander Salman Raduev attacked the city of Kizlyar in Dagestan, capturing over a hundred people in a local hospital.

Retreating to Chechnya, the detachment got involved in a battle near the village of Pervomaiskoye, taking 37 more people in addition to the 165 hostages they already had. On January 19, the militants managed to leave. As a result of this raid, 78 military personnel, employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and civilians of Dagestan were killed, several hundred people were injured of varying severity.

In early March 1996, militants led by Aslan Maskhadov made an attempt to recapture Grozny from the federals, calling this raid Operation Retribution.

“I ended up in Chechnya in February. Our group of journalists was sheltered by officers of the internal troops in the commandant's office of the Zavodskoy district. I could not walk freely around the city: we traveled in an armored personnel carrier, but it often happened that I could not get out of the car and start filming, my escorts did not allow me. So in fits and starts during the week I filmed "peaceful" life in the ruins, which more resembled the scenery of a film about Stalingrad.

One of my escorts was Sergei Nemasev, deputy commander for educational affairs. He walked all the time - I remember it very well then - in boots polished to a shine. Around the mud, mess, here is this spring-winter thawed land, torn apart by tanks, and he has polished boots, despite the fact that no one there has been watching their appearance for a long time, people lived in war, realizing that they could be attacked at any minute. It somehow reassured me, inspired hope.

We became friends. Then I hurriedly left, and a few days later I learned that the militants had attacked Grozny. It was clear that, most likely, my acquaintances from the commandant's office of the Zavodskoy district had died. And in the photos that I took to the editorial office for publication, there were people who are no longer alive.

Three months later, we accidentally met Sergei in Vyatka, in a cafe. I did not immediately recognize him: he had a ... gray face. Completely bled. The hair is black and the face is grey. He survived miraculously. And he told how they were killed there. So I also came out of this cafe a different person.”

Pavel Smertin

Photographer, in 1996 - employee of the newspaper "Vyatsky Krai"

“We don’t need a traitor to the Motherland. Let him stay in Chechnya"

Grozny. The commandant's office of the Zavodskoy district. February 1996 Photo by Pavel Smertin

The first and later the second Chechen campaign revealed a serious problem - human trafficking. Not only captured soldiers fell into the slaves of the field commanders, they kidnapped the military, journalists, foreigners - for the sake of ransom. Young women - for the sake of sexual exploitation. Men - mainly for heavy physical labor. According to various estimates, in 1995 alone, more than a thousand people were enslaved by Chechen fighters.

“In the village of Vedeno, I and many other journalists often stayed at the house of one of the local residents. Of course, he fought on the “other” side, but we didn’t hear anything bad about him, there were no atrocities on him, he didn’t mock prisoners, didn’t torture or shoot anyone, like other militants.

A young guy lived with this man's neighbors, later we learned that he was Russian. A simple story: did not want to fight, got scared, ran away from the unit. I got to some terrible field commander who executed everyone, but this guy was miraculously lucky. Then he was handed over to another commander, he converted to Islam and ended up in this family. There he was not in the position of a slave, the guy was treated normally: he talked, calmly walked around the village, ate with the owners at the same table. Although sad, of course.

He told us: his mother drank, his grandmother brought him up - a strict, Soviet hardening, who for some reason took him to the draft board. He deserted for the first time, escaped and returned home, but his grandmother handed him over again, where he was beaten and sent to Chechnya, where he deserted again.

And in Moscow, this guy had an aunt, he remembered her from childhood and thought that the aunt would have accepted him. The family was ready to let him go, we began to plan this operation. Thinking about how to take it out. Photographed in front of a white sheet, then to make him a fake press ID. The legend was this: he lost his passport and he is with us, the same journalist.

It remains to find an aunt. We returned to Moscow, looked for her, found her, handed over his letter. She listened to us very politely, offered tea. And then she said: “It is unacceptable to betray the Motherland. God is his judge, but we don’t want to know him. We don’t need traitors.” And she wrote him a reply letter, saying that we are very glad that you are alive, but you are a deserter. It was your choice, we can't accept it, do what you want. We arrived there, gave the letter. They told him to leave anyway. But he cried and decided to stay. Said, "That's right, my home is here now."

The first Chechen campaign officially ended on 31 August 1996 with the signing of the Khasavyurt peace agreement by General Alexander Lebed and Aslan Maskhadov. In April of the same year, Dzhokhar Dudayev was killed. After negotiations between his successor Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev and President Yeltsin, a ceasefire agreement was signed, after which, leaving the Chechen delegation virtually hostage in Moscow, Yeltsin flew to Chechnya on a military plane, where, speaking to the Russian troops, he declared: “The war is over. Victory is yours. You defeated the rebellious Dudaev regime."

Military operations and terrorist attacks in Russian cities continued throughout the summer of 1996, however, after the signing of the agreement in Khasavyurt, the federal authorities began to withdraw their forces from the republic in order to re-introduce them three years later, starting the Second Chechen campaign.

“When I came to Khasavyurt with a group of other journalists to cover the signing of the peace agreement, I had a completely opposite feeling: we did not win, this story will continue. On that trip, I had three important meetings, and each one was like a thread into the future.

Firstly, there I saw Khattab for the first time. Then we still did not know much about what kind of person he was, how bloodthirsty he was, and what forces were behind him. Round as a watermelon and rather good-natured face - ordinary, nothing particularly remarkable. All his major atrocities were ahead.

Secondly, on that trip, I met the Pskov paratroopers who were guarding the railway station in the Khankala region. With their commander Sergei Molodov, we communicated very warmly - he was an amazing person and a wonderful conversationalist. Absolutely not a paratrooper appearance, thin, rather strict, but very beloved by his fighters, it was clear how he cared about his subordinates, and how they respected him. Three and a half years later, I saw news about the battle near Ulus-Kert, when a company of Pskov paratroopers held back the onslaught of militants and died. The commander of this company was Sergei Molodov, he was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of Russia.

Finally, the third meeting is an acquaintance with Lyubov Rodionova, the mother of Evgeny Rodionov, who was killed by militants in May 1996 for refusing to remove the cross and convert to Islam. She was a small woman, quiet and modest as a mouse. I have a photo of her: a fragile figure in a headscarf against the background of the ruins of Grozny. She was looking for her son, lying at the feet of the field commanders - Basaev, Gelaev, Khattab. She was sent somewhere, sometimes to certain death - to minefields, swaggered over her grief. But by some miracle she came out alive from everywhere. At the time of our meeting, she had not yet found her son. It was only later that I learned that Zhenya’s remains were given to her in parts: first, the body was exhumed, then the head was returned, which the mother was taking home in an ordinary train, and she was kicked out of the car because of the terrible smell.

1. Yuri Kotenok, “ The rustle of flying armor" - memories of a participant in the battles in Grozny on November 26, 1994, which preceded the entry of troops into Chechnya.

2. Vitaly Noskov, " Chechen stories" - a look at events from the military

3. Polina Zherebtsova, "Ant in a glass jar" - the diary of a 9-year-old girl who lived in Grozny and saw the war through the eyes of a child

4. Madina Elmurzaeva, Diary 1994-1995 - notes of a Chechen nurse who lived and worked in Grozny. Died in the line of duty

5. Photo by Edward Opp, a correspondent for the Kommersant newspaper, an American who came to Russia and saw the war through the eyes of a foreigner