Militant attack on Dagestan August 1999. August militant invasion of Dagestan (1999). Official position of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria

In September 1999, the phase of the Chechen military campaign began, which was called the counter-terrorism operation in the North Caucasus (CTO). The reason for the start of the operation was a massive invasion from the territory of Chechnya under the overall command of an Arab mercenary.

Units of the so-called “Islamic Peacekeeping Brigade” of Basayev and Khattab (according to various sources, numbering from 400 to 1.5 thousand militants) freely entered the Botlikh region of Dagestan and captured five settlements (Ansalta, Rakhata, Tando, Shoroda, Godoberi).

On September 5, 1999, about two thousand militants occupied commanding heights in the Novolaksky region of Dagestan, hoping to capture the cities of Khasavyurt and Buynaksk with subsequent access to Makhachkala. Large forces of illegal armed groups (IAF) concentrated in the Kizlyar direction. The total number of militants on the Dagestan-Chechen border has reached 10 thousand people.

Russian security forces deployed units of the 136th Brigade of the Ministry of Defense, the 102nd Brigade of Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and police units of local and central subordination to the invasion area. The command of the United Group was entrusted to the commander of the North Caucasus Military District, Colonel General Viktor Kazantsev.

On these same days - September 4-16 - a series of terrorist attacks - explosions of residential buildings - were carried out in several Russian cities (Moscow, Volgodonsk and Buinaksk).

In mid-September, the Russian leadership decided to conduct a military operation to destroy militants in Chechnya. On September 18, the borders of Chechnya were blocked by Russian troops.

On September 23, the President of the Russian Federation issued a Decree “On measures to increase the effectiveness of counter-terrorism operations in the North Caucasus region of the Russian Federation,” providing for the creation of a Joint group of troops (forces) in the North Caucasus to conduct counter-terrorism operations.

By September 25, federal forces drove out the illegal armed groups from Dagestan, continuing their liquidation on the territory of Chechnya.

On September 30, a ground operation began - armored units of the Russian army from the Stavropol Territory and Dagestan entered the territory of the Naur and Shelkovsky regions of the republic.

The entire flat part of the territory of the Chechen Republic was liberated. The militants concentrated in the mountains (about 5 thousand people) and settled in Grozny.

On February 7, 2000, Grozny was taken under the control of federal forces. To fight in Chechnya, in addition to the eastern and western groups operating in the mountains, a new group “Center” was created.

The last large-scale operation was the liquidation of a group in the village area (March 5-20, 2000). After this, the militants switched to sabotage and terrorist methods of warfare, and federal forces countered the terrorists with the actions of special forces and operations of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

On April 20, 2000, First Deputy Chief of the General Staff, Colonel General Valery Manilov, announced the end of the military unit of the counter-terrorism operation in Chechnya and the transition to special operations.

In January 2001, the gradual withdrawal of Defense Ministry troops from Chechnya began. It was announced that only the Ministry of Defense (15 thousand people) and the brigade of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (7 thousand people) remained here on a permanent basis. The leadership of the CTO was entrusted to the Federal Security Service (FSB) of the Russian Federation. The primary task was to conduct special operations to destroy the remaining small illegal armed groups and their leaders.

During the CTO in Chechnya in 2002 in Moscow, it was carried out at the Theater Center on Dubrovka. In 2004, a series of terrorist attacks occurred: terrorists blew up a metro car filled with people at the Avtozavodskaya station in Moscow,

On May 9, during festive events in Grozny dedicated to Victory Day, the President of Chechnya was killed in a terrorist attack; in August, female suicide bombers blew up two planes in the air - Tu-154 and Tu-134; on September 1, hostages were taken at school No. 1 of the city Beslan in North Ossetia.

In 2005, after the destruction of Khattab, Abu al-Walid and many other field commanders, the intensity of the militants' sabotage and terrorist activities decreased significantly. The only large-scale operation of the militants (the raid on Kabardino-Balkaria on October 13, 2005) ended in failure.

From midnight on April 16, 2009, the National Anti-Terrorism Committee (NAC) of Russia, on behalf of President Dmitry Medvedev, abolished the CTO regime on the territory of the Chechen Republic.

During two years of active military operations within the framework of the CTO (from October 1999 to October 2001), the losses of federal forces are estimated at 3,438 people killed and 11,661 wounded, the losses of militants are about 11 thousand people.

The irretrievable losses among the civilian population are estimated to be 5.5 thousand people, of which about 4 thousand people were killed. The number of people missing cannot be accurately estimated.

In August 1999, armed gangs led by Basayev and Khattab entered the territory of the Republic of Dagestan. This brazen invasion of militants became the beginning of a bloody war in the republic, in which the people played the first and main role.
Now, 10 years later, when military operations are far behind us, when the political and social situation has changed, it is not difficult to analyze and draw conclusions from the tragic days of August and September 1999. The temporal distance, a paved road stretching from the military events of the late 20th century to the present day, has put everything in its place. Books have already been written about this, and the names of national heroes have become known to the people. Today, on the eve of the 10th anniversary of the defeat of the gangs, it’s time to remember some of them.

How it started
The invasion of militants into the territory of the Botlikh district in August 1999 came as a big surprise both to civilians and to government officials in Dagestan and Russia as a whole. Bagand Kholadaevich Magomedov (First Deputy Mayor of Makhachkala), who was directly involved in the hostilities of that time, characterizes the first days of the then situation as confusion of the authorities. This is the political picture he describes:
- Some executives were then on trips abroad, some were in Moscow, some were simply on vacation. And when Magomedali Magomedovich, Chairman of the State Council, held an emergency meeting, no one could understand what to do. We did not expect such a turn of events. Although, of course, for some time we were in a state of economic and transport blockade in connection with the latest wars in the Chechen Republic, when some Dagestanis went over to the side of gangs. In general, I don’t like the word “militants”. They are not militants. They are real bandits! Although they call themselves champions of freedom, it is impossible to understand for what kind of freedom. People are free, we have a democratic state. It’s just that, apparently, someone didn’t get a piece of the pie, and someone wanted to seize power in the literal sense of the word. And that's it, there is nothing else. Did the people ask them to give him freedom? No. They brazenly invaded the territory of the republic under various slogans that it was necessary to establish Sharia law and create a single imamate of Chechnya and Dagestan. The bandits had one goal - to create a new imamate. They decided that the ground was ready. Indeed, there were supporters of the Wahhabi trend in Dagestan. They held their conferences, distributed literature, and prayed in separate mosques. They were led by Bagaudin Magomedov, a knowledgeable ideologist of Wahhabism and a skilled orator. Their first intentions and desires seemed to be peaceful. They said: why should someone dictate something to us? Traditional Islam calls for almost pagan worship of intermediaries between Allah and the common man. And this quite strongly attracted young people who want nihilism in religion. Among other things, the Kadar Gorge, where the Wahhabi trend was most clearly expressed, was already active. Several villages - Karamakhi, Chabanmakhi, Chankurbe (Kadar itself to a lesser extent) - formed a Sharia enclave. They stopped obeying the police and expelled them altogether, cutting off access to them. They put up their posts, and all secular power structures became illegal for them. This was a harbinger of war. In addition to all this, Khattab married a Kadarka. They had a dream that a Sharia state would be built. With such a base, Basayev became confident that he would be able to capture Dagestan. And the Wahhabis invaded the republic. Their first steps were cunning: they supposedly treated the civilian population in the villages with great respect. They said: we have nothing against you, we came to free you from the captivity of the Russians, from the captivity of the infidels. And those who protect the Russians - the army that serves the authorities - are also traitors. They fought, respectively, with the soldiers. The war went against the Russian army. These days, no one in the republic could understand what to do or how to behave. The center was also in confusion.
While the federal and republican authorities were in a state of bewilderment and stupor, the militants of Basayev and Khattab took village after village - Shoroda, Ansalta, Rakhat. The population of the Botlikh district was in panic. The first to react to the current crime situation was the Administration of the city of Makhachkala, represented by Said Amirov, who, through a radio and television address, called on Dagestanis to stand up for the defense of their homeland, to join the ranks of the people's militia, the International Brigade.
“There were a lot of volunteers,” recalls the chief of staff of the International Brigade, Japar Khalirbagimov, “they were people of different professions, ages, social status, and nationality. About 15 thousand volunteers signed up for the city militia, but the International Brigade accepted only those who knew how to fight, who could be trusted with weapons, and who, due to health reasons and age, could participate in hostilities.”
Thus, about 2.5 thousand people officially signed up for the International Brigade, and 350 volunteers were sent to the scene. The main problem faced by the soldiers of the People's Army was the lack of weapons. “They called first of all those who had their own weapons. We asked people to purchase it if possible. There was no time to beg or persuade the police to hand over weapons. It was necessary to act immediately. Almost everyone who joined the International Brigade was armed. Those who left without weapons were rescued by the police of the Botlikh District Department of Internal Affairs, they provided machine guns, machine guns, sniper rifles, etc.,” says
D. Khalirbagimov.
On August 11, fighters of the combined detachment, of which Shamil Aslanov was appointed commander, left on several buses towards the Botlikh district.

Everything according to the rules of war
The August nights of 1999, according to the recollections of the soldiers, turned out to be gray and rainy. It was as if nature itself sympathized with the tragedy of the Dagestan people. Residents of the Botlikh region, occupied by bandits, did not even think of surrendering their territory. Before the arrival of the International Brigade, they dug trenches, and the local police organized a defense. The fighting in the area was in full swing. “We decided that if we go through Untsukul, an ambush awaits us there. Of course, we wanted to get to our destination as quickly as possible, because we understood the complexity of the situation: there weren’t enough soldiers, there wasn’t enough Russian army. Federal troops on military equipment were slowly moving towards us. We quickly marched through Sergokala, Levashi, Gergebil to Khunzakh, then through Kharakhi we descended to Botlikh. Of course, it was a long journey, but otherwise it would have turned out worse,” says Bagand Kholadaevich.
The combined detachment landed in the Botlikh region at half past nine at night. Immediately upon arrival, the fighters were placed in the gym, where a roll call was held, and company and detachment commanders were appointed.
Then we went to the operational headquarters, which was headed by General S.N. Olenchenko, introduced ourselves and reported on our intentions. “By 12 o’clock at night the first residents came with the message that their village of Miarso was being captured. They were in a panic when they saw the movements of people and equipment. We immediately sent one detachment there. Then we came from the village. Godoberi, reinforcements were also sent there,” recalls Japar Rabadanovich.
It is impossible not to mention the residents of the village of Andi, whose courage turned the tide of all hostilities in Botlikh in 1999. “If they had surrendered the village that night, then through the Red Bridge the bandits would have a road to 4 districts - Akhvakhsky, Gumbetovsky, Tsumadinsky, Tsuntinsky. All transport passes from there, so 4 areas could be blocked at once. And it would be impossible to provide any help,” says B.Kh. Magomedov B.Kh. Having found his bearings, Bagand Kholadaevich gave instructions to immediately send detachments of the International Brigade to the Red Bridge. “We surrounded him, although we knew that next to him there was a coniferous forest in which bandits moved in groups. They wanted to come out from the rear and surround Botlikh. In general, that night they turned out the lights in the village; they knew that they would take Botlikh. They had a plan to enter the village at 4 am. And if they had taken him, then neither helicopters nor weapons would have saved the situation. They moved in two directions: from the village of Andi (Shirvani Basayev) and across the Red Bridge (Shamil Basayev). Shirvani was then ambushed by the Andes. A large number of bandits were then destroyed; those who managed to do so ran away, unable to cross the pass and reach Botlikh,” says Bagand Kholadaevich.
“There were both traitors and provocateurs in this war,” says D.R. Khalirbagimov, chief of staff of the International Brigade. - They met on the very way to the Botlikh region and even in the ranks of volunteers. I remember that on the way to Botlikh, people in uniform approached us. They introduced themselves as police officers and suggested that we take a shortcut to the place of hostilities and follow them. These people aroused our suspicion, and while we contacted the Botlikh district police department to verify the veracity of their intentions, the “law enforcement representatives” disappeared. This played a positive role in our subsequent actions and increased our vigilance.”
The Russian army, which arrived at the scene, repeatedly made attempts to destroy the militants located on Mount Donkey's Ear. This height was the main base for the deployment of terrorist groups, from where the village was constantly shelled. “The first 3 days of action by federal forces were simply a mockery of us civilians. They fired so much, so many shells and bombs were dropped on the occupied areas - it’s impossible to count. Fighters, attack aircraft, and helicopters dropped and dropped bombs. And no effect. It seemed to us that they were doing this in order to report. And at that time the militants were calmly hiding in a huge cave behind the Donkey’s Ear, which housed almost 200 people. After the bombing, they came out and got down to business again. They even knew when the fighters would arrive, and they fired mortars at these poor guys and bombed their helicopters. Before our eyes, a special forces detachment was shot: after the assault, a large helicopter flew over us, over the bridge, over the river and climbed to Donkey Ear. There was no one in the trenches at that time. 14 special forces were landed to “take” Ukho, but before they even had time to land, they were shot right before our eyes. Such senseless actions were then carried out to capture militants by the Russian army, says B.Kh. Magomedov. “Everything changed with the appointment of V. Putin as Prime Minister of the Russian Federation. Federal forces began to act more thoughtfully and carefully. Vladimir Vladimirovich himself later flew to the scene of hostilities.”
The fighters of the International Brigade were greatly assisted by local residents who were well familiar with the surrounding area and the geographical relief of the area. They told the soldiers how best to get to the enemy, how to quickly rid the earth of their presence. Veterans of the Afghan war, who are familiar with the smell of gunpowder and the whistle of bullets, also showed fearlessness and courage in a critical situation for the republic. Among them were Khadulaev Magomed, Gasanov Gasan, Mutalim Mutalim and many others.
“Behind the mountain there was a mortar point that could not be destroyed,” recalls B.Kh. Magomedov, “they fired howitzers and could not hit the target. The Afghans who were in our ranks then simply got into the tank and showed the Russian guys, who did not know their way around the mountainous terrain, how to conduct military operations. With the help of participants in the Afghan war, they suppressed the mortar point and razed it to the ground.”

The end or the beginning?
All the time, while the fierce battles for Botlikh were going on, the volunteers of the International Brigade defended their land with honor and dignity, and finally, the enemy retreated. It would seem that we should be happy, because terrorists, deprived of the opportunity and hope of realizing their plans, are leaving our region, but... “Many were gnawing at the ground out of anger, because we saw how the enemy motorcade, consisting of 60 vehicles, was slowly moving along the pass. Was it really impossible to settle accounts with them then? No! And all because there was betrayal within the troops. Someone needed the war to continue, because war means money. And they left... They left before our eyes,” recalls B.Kh. Magomedov.
The events in the Botlikh region ended, albeit not as dreamed, but the fact remains: the militants were expelled from these regions. And it became absolutely obvious that the people are a powerful patriotic force, whose unity will defeat any war. Armed gangs led by well-known terrorists failed to break the tightly woven threads of the multinational Dagestani people and proclaim their laws here. But, alas, this was not the end of the war; more “bright” and significant events were planned ahead. In September 1999, gangs invaded the territory of the Novolaksky district.

The armed invasion of Chechen militants into Dagestan in 1999 and all the events preceding it on the Dagestan-Chechen border convincingly confirmed that the confrontation in the North Caucasus with the signing of the Khasavyurt Agreements in August 1996 was not over. It acquired slightly different forms and continued to spread actively.

The administrative border with Chechnya and the constituent entities of the Russian Federation adjacent to the rebel republic - Dagestan, Ingushetia, North Ossetia and Stavropol - became the site of an undeclared war. During the first half of 1999 alone, more than 80 armed clashes and bandit attacks took place here. As a result, about 50 and wounded 90 employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. In total, in the North Caucasus in the first half of 1999, the number of victims of terror exceeded 100 , including 50 people who died as a result of an explosion at the Central Market of Vladikavkaz.

Continuous terrorist attacks, kidnappings, as well as internal conflicts in Chechnya and a number of neighboring republics have turned the south of Russia into a front-line zone.

IN May-July 1999The situation on the Chechen-Dagestan border began to deteriorate sharply. The gangs of Shamil Basayev and Emir al-Khattab carried out open reconnaissance in force. Reconnaissance in force was followed by an invasion.

IN early August militant forces numbering up to 1.5 thousand. people in the southern mountainous area crossed the Chechen-Dagestan border and captured several villages in the Tsumadinsky and Botlikhsky regions of Dagestan. There were no federal troops in these settlements, and the local police did not offer resistance to the superior forces of the gangs. Having entered populated areas without any resistance, the bandits invited the local population to leave their villages and those who wanted to fight against the legitimate authorities to join their detachments. Part of the population of the villages, supporting the religious movement of the Wahhabis, welcomed the capture, but the overwhelming number of residents - opponents of extremism - left their homes and left the zone captured by the bandits.

The invading militant groups were formed from Dagestanis who had undergone military training in Chechnya, and from Chechens who, as official Grozny claimed, were volunteers and therefore not under the control of the government. Using the highlands and natural shelters, gang units occupied key heights and in a short time created a defense system that included strongholds, sheltered places for deploying combat groups, warehouses for weapons, ammunition and other materiel.

Russian security forces immediately sent units of the 136th Brigade of the Ministry of Defense, the 102nd Brigade of Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and police units of local and central subordination to the invasion area. The command of the United Group was entrusted to the commander of the North Caucasus Military District, Colonel General V. G. Kazantsev.

Helicopters transferred to the Botlikh airfield immediately began to attack the invasion forces. In an operation that began 8 August, modern aircraft, guided missile weapons, and large-caliber artillery were involved. After aviation and artillery training, the troops began to destroy the gangs.

The invasion force suffered losses in manpower and equipment, and was forced to switch to mobile tactics.

During the first three days of hostilities, federal forces units lost: 11 people. killed and 27 wounded. When militants shelled the Botlikh airfield, the deputy commander of the helicopter regiment, Hero of Russia, Lieutenant Colonel Yuri Naumov was killed, and two helicopters were burned.

Fighting in the Botlikh and Tsumadinsky districts continued 24 August and ended with the expulsion of gangs. After a short pause, with August 29 The liquidation of a militant group concentrated in the so-called Kadar zone of the Buinaksk region began.

Representatives of the gangs surrounded in this zone proposed to begin negotiations on providing them with a corridor to enter Chechnya, to which the command of the federal troops demanded complete disarmament and surrender. These conditions were not accepted by the militants.

On the night of September 5 In the city of Buinaksk, a powerful explosion, organized by terrorists, occurred, as a result of which the house where the families of military personnel of the 136th brigade of the Russian Ministry of Defense lived was destroyed. Died 62 people, mostly women and children, wounded and maimed 146 Human. Near another house in a military town, another charge containing about a ton of explosives was discovered and neutralized.

On the morning of the same day, the militants began an invasion in a new direction. Near 2 thousand extremists in two groups under the command of Basayev and Khattab crossed the Chechen-Dagestan border and occupied commanding heights in the Novolaksky region. The task of their next attack was to capture the cities of Khasavyurt and Buynaksk and reach the approaches to the capital of Dagestan - Makhachkala. Large gangs were also concentrated in the Kizlyar direction.

The total number of militants on the Dagestan-Chechen border was constantly increasing and by the end of September reached 10 thousand people They were armed with several units of armored vehicles, 15 anti-aircraft guns, a large number of heavy small arms, grenade launchers, and mortars.

The core of the group was the so-called Muslim Caucasian Army, which was based on mercenaries from Transcaucasia and the “peacekeeping forces of the Majlis of the peoples of Ichkeria and Dagestan,” subordinate to Basayev. A group of mercenaries from Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Libya and Egypt - members of the Muslim Brotherhood organization, numbering approximately 300 Human.

This rabble of bandits for money was ready to kill anyone, both “infidels” and “Muslims.” The gang formations were small, highly mobile combat units numbering from 150 before 300 people, the main tactics of their actions, as a rule, were raid - withdrawal - regrouping - new raid. They avoided head-on collisions and conducted active reconnaissance, involving women and teenagers for this.

To destroy the invading gangs, significant forces of internal troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs with armored vehicles were transferred to the combat zone. Aviation and artillery carried out a massive bombardment of positions and places where militants gathered. Toward the end 12-th of September in the Kadar combat zone, federal forces completely took control of the villages of Chabanmakhi and Karamakhi, and September 14 The village of Novolakskoye passed into their hands.

Having suffered defeat, Chechen militants made threats against a number of senior Russian officials and, in retaliation for the losses they suffered in the Botlikh and Tsumadinsky regions, carried out a series of terrorist attacks in Moscow and Volgodonsk, which shocked the whole world in terms of the scale of destruction and tragic consequences.

8 September 1999 exactly at midnight in Moscow on the street. Guryanova, 19, an explosion occurred in a 9-story residential building. The shock wave completely destroyed two entrances. Killed - 102, injured and maimed 214 Human. An unknown person, who spoke with a Caucasian accent, called the Central Office of the Interfax agency and said: “What happened in Moscow and Buinaksk is our response to the bombing of peaceful villages in Chechnya and Dagestan.”

September 13, At 5 o'clock in the morning, the capital was again rocked by an explosion. This time the scene of the tragedy was residential building No. 6, building 3 on Kashirskoye Highway. One died under the ruins of an 8-story building completely destroyed by an explosion. 124 person, of them 12 children.

16 of September at 5 hours 57 minutes in the center of Volgodonsk, Rostov region. a powerful explosion ended lives 17 residents of a 9-story building. The number of victims there has reached 480 people, of which 75 children.

The explosions of residential buildings in Buinaksk, Moscow and Volgodonsk, which led to hundreds of casualties, became the largest manifestations of terrorism in the entire history of the USSR and post-Soviet Russia. As a result of the investigations, there was virtually no doubt about the “Chechen trace” of the organizers and perpetrators of these monstrous actions.

Almost until the end of September there were battles with gangs on Dagestan soil. The results for the militants were disappointing. Their hopes for massive support from local residents and the clergy also did not materialize. On the contrary, up to 5 thousand. Dagestan volunteers.

The federal group of troops, through active actions, inflicted significant damage on the militants. From the beginning of August to September 25 front-line and military transport aircraft flew more than 1700 combat missions, 1250 -1300 of which - directly for delivering missile and bomb strikes.

The anti-terrorist operation in Dagestan was completed with the defeat of the gangs and their expulsion.

In those tragic days, Dagestan, and with it the whole country, passed the test of courage and loyalty to their fatherland. It is impossible to imagine what irreversible and tragic consequences the separation of Dagestan from the Russian Federation could lead to. Then, in 1999, the threat of loss of unity and prospects for peaceful life loomed over the republic. In those days of testing, the best qualities inherent in the Dagestan people were especially clearly manifested: patriotism, courage, perseverance, courage, readiness for self-sacrifice in the name of the Motherland!

In fact, the hour of revelation has arrived. Not only the affected residents of the Botlikh, Tsumadinsky and Novolaksky districts, but also all residents of the republic decisively declared that Dagestan was and will remain part of the Russian Federation. They made their choice: to remain with Russia forever. Over 26 thousand Dagestanis joined self-defense units.

Dagestan had personal security - militias. They were directly related to those events. We remember everyone by name! These are Kazbek militias who, having completed a very difficult transition overnight, went to Botlikh and occupied the defense lines. A hundred brave mountaineers stopped a large detachment of well-trained, well-armed Arab fighters.

The feat of the Andians has not been forgotten, who, having learned about the events, from all over the country, from all over the world, came to their villages, to their roots - they took up arms and courageously defended their homeland. There they took an exam not only on courage, but also on loyalty to their republic, their people. It is a well-known fact: the militants offered the Andians to step aside and allow them to pass to other areas, guaranteeing the militia’s life. Instead of agreement, the Andians gave battle!

For courage and heroism shown during counter-terrorism operations, 1988 people were awarded orders and medals of the Russian Federation. Seven Dagestanis were awarded the title of Hero of Russia, five of them posthumously: Zakir Daudov from the village of Verkhneye Kazanishche, Gadzhimurad Nurakhmaev from the village of Ansalta, Mutai Isaev from the village of Novolakskoye, Murtazali Kazanalipov from the village of Andi, Khalid Murachuev from the village of Kuli. Heroes of Russia live and live with us Zagid Zagidov from the village of Kegeri, Dibirgadzhi Magomedov from the village of Godoberi.

We remember everyone! We remember how both the servicemen of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the militia fought in the Novolaksky district.... Dagestan can be proud of its Heroes!

City press service (from media materials)

The second Chechen campaign began with an attack by militants led by Basayev and Khattab on Dagestan. Initially, detachments of Chechen militants entered the territory of the Botlikh region. Active fighting in this direction continued from August 7 to August 23, 1999. During these battles, militant groups were driven into the territory of Chechnya. From August 29 to September 13, Russian troops carried out an operation to capture and destroy the Wahhabi enclave that had formed in the so-called Kadar zone. On September 5, 1999, the detachments of Basayev and Khattab entered Dagestan for the second time, this time the blow was struck in the Novolaksky region of the republic. The strike was supposed to divert the forces of the Russian army and police from the rebellious villages of Karamakhi and Chabanmakhi in the Kadar zone.

The operation, which the militants called “Imam Gamzat-bek,” began on September 5 and lasted until September 14. During this time, government troops were able to completely restore control over the Kadar zone; in a military sense, the operation of Bassayev and Khattab lost all meaning. They were unable to provide significant assistance to the Wahhabis in Karamakhi and Chabanmakhi, and the overwhelming majority of the population of Dagestan did not support the militants, and were ready to defend their republic in their hands. On September 14, government troops regained control over the village of Novolakskoye, and on September 15, 1999, then Russian Defense Minister Igor Sergeev reported to Putin that the entire territory of Dagestan had been completely liberated from Chechen gangs.

Battle for the TV Tower

By the beginning of September 1999, the militants were driven out of the Botlikh district. The only villages of Karamakhi and Chabanmakhi supporting the bandits, which were also a stronghold of Wahhabis from among the local population, were surrounded by the federals. The outcome of the fighting in this direction was obvious. However, the leadership of the militants decided to launch a surprise attack in the Novolaksky region of Dagestan, which had not previously been involved in hostilities. When planning this operation, Basayev and Khattab counted on the fact that the main forces of the Russian troops would be drawn into hostilities in the Kadar zone. They relied on speed of action and surprise, and at the first stage this bore fruit for them.

Militant detachments numbering up to two thousand people, again crossing the border with Dagestan, were able to occupy the border villages of Tukhchar, Gamiyakh (Khasavyurt district), as well as Chapaevo and Akhar (Novolaksky district) and the regional center of Novolakskoye itself. The militants’ breakthrough was stopped only 5 kilometers southwest of Khasavyurt, which was the second largest city in Dagestan. With this strike, the enemy not only tried to pull part of the Russian troops away from the Kadar zone, but also still counted on destabilizing the situation in the republic itself. These plans of the militants failed, and even in the initial phase they encountered certain difficulties.

The battle for the dominant height “Televyshka” near the village of Novolakskoye turned out to be unexpectedly stubborn. From this height, not only the regional center, but also most of the territory’s districts and main roads were clearly visible. For this reason, already on the morning of September 5, 1999, the militants sent several dozen of their fighters to the height. However, it was not possible to take the height immediately, although it was defended by only 6 people - 5 Dagestan police officers of the Novolaksky District Department of Internal Affairs, led by Lieutenant Khalid Murachuev, and one soldier of the internal troops.

The group, which consisted of local police officers, was reinforced by one Russian machine gunner from the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia. From the sounds of gunfire coming from the village, the police realized what was happening in Novolakskoye. Lieutenant Murachuev managed to organize a perimeter defense and distributed the available ammunition. The TV Tower garrison successfully repelled the first attack of the militants with dagger fire at close range. The second and third attacks by militants on the heights also failed. As a result, only 6 fighters held more than 100 militants at the height for 24 hours.

Enemy attacks followed one another, and between attacks the heights were attacked by militants using mortars. In total, the militants launched 7 attacks, which were unsuccessful, leaving the approaches to the heights filled with dead. However, the defenders were also running out of strength. During one of the attacks, a policeman was killed, and in the next a machine gunner was wounded. The two policemen who carried him out were surrounded and captured as they retreated from the heights. And at the height, Lieutenant Murachuev and Junior Sergeant Isaev were still resisting, both of whom were also wounded by that time. They were able to hold out through the night. The last report from above was received in the early morning of April 6, 1999: “The cartridges have run out, Mutei is wounded, he gives grenades, I throw them.” In the end, the militants were able to break into the heights and inflict brutal reprisals on its last seriously wounded defenders. The militants cut off the head of Lieutenant Khalid Murachuev.

Captured militants spoke about the details of the feat of the defenders of the height and their death in September 2000, indicating the burial places of the heroes. In that battle, up to 50 members of illegal gangs were killed and wounded. At the same time, the militants lost a day to take the TV tower height, losing the effect of surprise. The battle at the heights had not yet subsided, and units of Russian troops were already deployed around the village of Novolakskoye. For the courage and heroism that were shown in the performance of their official duty, Lieutenant Khalid Murachuev and Junior Sergeant Mutey Isaev were posthumously presented with the title of Hero of the Russian Federation on January 31, 2002.

Destruction of a checkpoint and execution of Russian military personnel in the village of Tukhchar

On September 5, 1999, during the repeated invasion of Dagestan by militants, they brutally murdered Russian military personnel in the village of Tukhchar. They filmed this murder, which later fell into the hands of federal forces, and the tragedy itself became widely known. A gang of Chechen militants led by Umar Karpinsky was advancing on Tukhchar. The road to the village was covered by a checkpoint manned by Dagestani policemen. A little higher on the mountain stood an infantry fighting vehicle and 13 soldiers from the 22nd separate special purpose brigade of the Russian Interior Ministry from Kalach-on-Don.

Having entered the village of Tukhchar from the rear, the gang members were able to take the village police department and began shelling the heights on which the brigade fighters were located. Quite quickly, a shot from a grenade launcher disabled an infantry fighting vehicle of internal troops, while the gunner died on the spot and the driver was shell-shocked. The soldiers who survived the battle fled to the village, trying to hide from the militants. However, on Karpinsky’s orders, members of his gang conducted a search, inspecting both the village and the surrounding area. In one of the houses, the militants found a shell-shocked BMP driver, and in the basement of another 5 more Russian servicemen. After firing a warning shot at the house from a grenade launcher, they had to surrender.

By order of Umar Karpinsky, the prisoners were taken to a clearing next to the checkpoint. Here the militants executed six prisoners - one senior lieutenant and five conscript soldiers. The militants cut the throats of five Russian servicemen, Karpinsky personally dealt with one of the victims, and another soldier was shot while trying to escape. Later, a video recording of this terrible crime fell into the hands of employees of the operational services of Dagestan. Over time, all participants in this murder were punished. The organizer of the murder and the leader of the militants, Umar Edilsultanov (Karpinsky), was killed 5 months later during an attempt to break out of the militants from Grozny. Another 5 people involved in the murder were sentenced to various prison terms, three of them to life imprisonment.

Fight in Novolakskoye

In the regional center of Novolakskoye, more than 60 employees of the local regional police department, as well as members of the Lipetsk riot police stationed in the village, were blocked by militants. The soldiers did not lay down their arms and fought with the enemy surrounded for about a day. An armored group from the 22nd separate special purpose brigade of the Russian Interior Ministry was sent to the village to help, but it was unable to get through to the encircled people and was stopped by militant fire. According to the version of the commander-in-chief of the internal troops (at that time) General V. Ovchinnikov, he was personally involved in coordinating mortar fire on enemy positions in order to provide the surrounded riot police and police officers with the opportunity to break out of the encirclement.

At the same time, another version was presented by direct participants in those battles; it was published in the magazine “Soldier of Fortune” No. 2 for 2001. That article contained the version of the Lipetsk riot police about the battle for Novolakskoye. According to them, after an unsuccessful attempt was made to release those surrounded with the help of a formed armored group, they were essentially abandoned to their fate. They made the decision to break out of the encirclement on their own, and, according to them, no diversionary mortar strike was carried out by federal forces. According to official data, Lipetsk riot police were able to leave Novolakskoye with minimal losses - 2 killed and 6 wounded. At the same time, the total losses of the Russian side during the battle in Novolaksky officially amounted to 15 people killed and 14 wounded.

In total, during the month and a half of fighting on the territory of Dagestan in August-September 1999, the losses of federal forces, according to official data, amounted to 280 people killed and 987 wounded. The militants' losses were estimated at 1.5-2 thousand killed. However, federal forces were able to achieve real results only in the Buynaksky region of Dagestan, where the Wahhabi group in the Kadar zone was completely defeated. At the same time, in the regions bordering Chechnya, the troops failed to encircle and destroy all the militant detachments that invaded Dagestan, who, after the battles in Botlikhsky (August) and Novolaksky (September), were able to leave for the territory of Chechnya.

Having ousted the militants from the territory of Dagestan, the leadership in the Kremlin was given a choice: to strengthen the border with Chechnya and continue to repel further attacks by Basayev, while at the same time trying to negotiate with the President of Chechnya Maskhadov, or to repeat the force operation on the territory of Chechnya, in order to defeat the militants on their territory, simultaneously solving the problem of returning Chechnya to the Russian Federation. The second option for the development of events was chosen, and the second Chechen campaign began.

Information sources:
http://www.warheroes.ru/hero/hero.asp?Hero_id=7082
http://www.vestnikmostok.ru/index.php?categoryid=17&id_item=154&action=view
http://terroristica.info/node/245
http://otvaga2004.ru/fotoreportazhi/voyny-i-goryachie-tochki/oborona-dagestana-1999
https://ru.wikipedia.org

The first attempts to actually separate some parts of Dagestan from Russia were made back in August 1998, when local Wahhabis announced that the villages of the Buynaksky region Karamakhi, Chabanmakhi and Kadar were uniting into an independent Islamic community that would be governed by an Islamic shura. The Wahhabis set up a checkpoint on the road leading to Chabanmakhi, and hung a green Islamic flag on one of the surrounding heights. In September 1998, Russian Minister of Internal Affairs Sergei Stepashin held negotiations with the leaders of the Wahhabi community. He promised not to take any forceful action against the community in exchange for surrendering the weapons the Wahhabis had. The weapons, according to S. Stepashin himself, were never handed over, but the Wahhabis felt completely calm until August 1999.
Chronology:
On August 1, 1999, the Wahhabis announced the introduction of Sharia rule in the villages of Echeda, Gakko, Gigatli and Agvali in the Tsumadinsky district of Dagestan.
On August 2, a police detachment patrolling the Gigatlinsky pass entered into battle with a group of militants of the field commander Khattab, heading from the direction of Chechnya to the village of Echeda. A policeman was killed in the battle, and the militants were pushed back to the border, killing seven people. On the night of August 3, militants attacked a police detachment near the village of Gigatli. Three policemen died. According to intelligence data, the attackers retreated to the administrative border with Chechnya.
On August 7, 1999, a large-scale Chechen invasion began: more than a thousand militants under the leadership of Shamil Basayev and Khattab invaded Dagestan from Chechnya and captured the villages of Ansalta, Rakhata, Shoroda and Godoberi in the Botlikh region. Within a few days, other villages in the Botlikh and Tsumadinsky districts were captured. On August 8, the head of the Russian government, Sergei Stepashin, visited Dagestan, but this did not help him retain his position as prime minister: on August 9, President Boris Yeltsin dismissed him and appointed him acting. Prime Minister of the FSB Director Vladimir Putin.
On August 10, the “Islamic Shura of Dagestan” distributed an “Address to the Chechen state and people”, “An appeal to the parliaments of Muslims of Ichkeria and Dagestan”, “Declaration on the restoration of the Islamic state of Dagestan” and “Resolution in connection with the occupation of the state of Dagestan”. The documents spoke about the formation of an Islamic state on the territory of the republic. On August 11, a military operation began to oust militants from Dagestan using artillery and aviation. On August 12, the first reports were received about the air bombing of militant bases in Chechnya, and a day later - about the short-term advance of columns of Russian armored vehicles into Chechen territory.
From zero hours on August 16, President of the Chechen Republic of Ichryssia Aslan Maskhadov introduced a state of emergency on the territory of Chechnya. On the same day, the State Duma of the Russian Federation approved V. Putin as prime minister with 233 votes (with the required minimum of 226 votes). On August 17, the commander of the North Caucasus Military District, Viktor Kazantsev, became the head of the military operation in the North Caucasus instead of the commander-in-chief of the internal troops Vyacheslav Ovchinnikov.
On August 24, the command of the United Group of Forces (UGV) in the North Caucasus announced that federal troops had liberated the last villages captured by militants - Tando, Rakhata, Shoroda, Ansalta, Ziberkhali and Ashino. Sh. Basayev with the surviving militants went to Chechnya. On August 25, the Russian Air Force for the first time bombed Chechen villages near Grozny, where, according to military intelligence, the bases of Sh. Basayev and Khattab were located.
On August 27, Prime Minister V. Putin visited the combat area in the Botlikhsky district. Two days later, federal forces, with the support of Dagestani militias, began an assault on one of the Wahhabi strongholds - the village of Karamakhi. On September 1, troops took Karamakhi, and on September 2, another Wahhabi stronghold, the village of Chabanmakhi.
On September 3, the elements intervened in the course of the Dagestan campaign. Heavy fogs and ever-increasing rains took on the character of a disaster. Water interfered not only with artillery and aviation, but also with basic foot movement. In the region of Karamakhi and Chabanmakhi, on September 3, a month's normal amount of precipitation fell. In Makhachkala, vehicle traffic was paralyzed on some streets, several houses were flooded, several substations went out of service, which is why part of the city was left without electricity. As a result, the battles took on a positional character, that is, the troops sat in cover and occasionally fired into the air, “so that the enemy would not fall asleep.”
On September 4, the “active phase” of hostilities resumed. At 10 a.m., aircraft launched two missile and bomb attacks on the positions of Chabanmakhi militants. The artillery was working in the morning. There were reshuffles in the federal forces that resulted from a meeting with the participation of Magomedali Magomedov, Vladimir Rushailo, Anatoly Kvashnin and the commander of the North Caucasus Military District Viktor Kazantsev. The leadership of the combined group of federal troops was entrusted to Kazantsev’s deputy, Gennady Troshev, as explained, in order to “transfer control over the further course of the special operation to representatives of the Russian Ministry of Defense.”
On September 4, 1999, the Second Chechen War was moved deep into Russian territory for the first time: in the early morning, a five-story residential building in the Dagestan city of Buynaksk, where mostly military families lived, was blown up. 64 people were killed and 120 were injured. On September 5, an even more powerful bomb planted near the Buinaksk military hospital was defused. But this terrorist attack turned out to be only a prelude to a new invasion.
On September 5, 1999, about 2 thousand militants under the command of Sh. Basayev and Khattab again crossed the Chechen-Dagestan administrative border and occupied villages and dominant heights in the Novolaksky region of Dagestan. Internal troops and armored vehicles were deployed to the combat zone, and the Russian Air Force carried out a number of combat sorties in the Nozhai-Yurt region of Chechnya, where they bombed militant formations heading to help in Dagestan.
On September 9, during military operations in the area of ​​the villages of Karamakhi and Chabanmakhi, federal troops captured all strategic heights and destroyed more than 50 militants, two mortars, five ammunition depots, three fuel and lubricant depots and five observation posts.
In the Novolaksky district, federal forces are clearing the slopes of Mount Eki-tebe of extremists.
A Su-25 attack aircraft crashes near Buinaksk. The search team manages to evacuate the pilot within 10 minutes. Among the possible reasons for the loss of the aircraft are a technical malfunction or a missile from a MANPADS hitting the attack aircraft.
Near the village of Novochurtakh, Novolaksky district, a shootout occurs between a group of Akkin Chechens and employees of the local police department.
About 150 riot policemen from the Khabarovsk Territory, Primorye and Yakutia are flying to Dagestan.
On September 10, employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Dagestan, after artillery barrage, occupy the village of Gamiakh. In the areas of the settlements of Duchi, Novolakskoye, and Chapaevo, the fighting takes on a positional character.
In the Kadar zone, aviation strikes targets in the villages of Karamakhi and Chabanmakhi. Nine resistance units are suppressed, two ammunition depots, a fuel and lubricants depot, a satellite communications system, two heavy machine guns, 12 vehicles are hit, and up to 50 militants are destroyed.
Minister of Internal Affairs Vladimir Rushailo and Chief of the General Staff Anatoly Kvashnin arrive in Dagestan.
According to Chechen authorities, for the first time since 1996, federal aviation bombed the Bamut area.
September 11 Federal forces, with the support of artillery and aviation, storm the height of 713.5 m dominating Novolaksky. Militants shoot down an Mi-8 spotter helicopter, the crew is shot in the air while trying to escape by parachute.
In the Buynaksky region, the federals capture six militants and destroy three cars.
According to intelligence sources, up to 3 thousand extremists are concentrated in the area of ​​the Dagestan-Chechen border.
Federal aviation is carrying out strikes on militant bases in the Shelkovsky and Serzhen-Yurtovsky regions of Chechnya.
The President of Chechnya announces general mobilization in the republic.
On September 12, militants blocked in Chabanmakhi go on air and ask for a corridor to exit the village, citing the large number of wounded and dead. The command of the joint group of the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Internal Affairs demand surrender and disarmament.
Federal forces completely take control of the villages of Chabanmakhi and Karamakhi.
In the Kadar zone, nine warehouses with weapons and ammunition, a warehouse with clothing and medical equipment were seized.
Representatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs report that since the beginning of hostilities in Dagestan, 157 federal troops have been killed, 645 have been injured, and 20 have gone missing.
The Chechen authorities announce the bombing of the settlements of Ishkhoy-Yurt, Zandak, Gelyani, Serzhen-Yurt, Avtury, and Grebenskaya.
Near Kizlyar, terrorists undermine the railroad bed connecting Dagestan with the rest of Russia. A few hours later the path was restored.
On September 13, positional battles continued in the Novolaksky district in the area of ​​the villages of Novolakskoye, Chapaevo, Akhar, Shushiya. According to local residents, the militants publicly cut off the heads of some prisoners, and impale others.
The rapid reaction brigade of the Siberian Military District, stationed in Kuzbass, numbering about 2 thousand people, is heading to Dagestan.
The transfer of a Northern Fleet marine battalion to the republic is being completed.
On September 14, in the Novolaksky district, near the settlements of Novolakskoye, Ahar, Shushiya, two vehicles with militants and one mortar crew were destroyed by artillery and aviation fire.
At 14.00, federal forces units captured a strategically important height at 715.3 m in the Novolaksky region of Dagestan.
By 17.00 Novolakskoye passes into the hands of the federals. Bandit formations, moving from the Novolaksky district to the territory of Chechnya, take out property stolen from the local population.
A battalion of paratroopers from the 31st Airborne Brigade, reinforced with howitzer artillery and a reconnaissance company, was sent to Dagestan from Ulyanovsk.
During the fighting in the Kadar zone, federal troops destroy 12 fortified firing points, three ammunition depots, four mortars, eight sniper groups and three militant control points.
On September 15, Russian Defense Minister Igor Sergeev reported to V. Putin that the territory of Dagestan was completely liberated from terrorists.
The federals recapture the village of Tukhchar, Novolaksky district, destroy two infantry fighting vehicles and up to 40 militants. After the cleanup, the village is transferred to the local authorities by deed.
A cleanup is underway in the regional center of Novolakskoye, the villages of Shushiya and Ahar. Troops repulse an attempt by militants to break into the village of Tukhchar.
In the Kadar zone, internal troops and police replace army units.
Militants driven to Chechnya are preparing special groups to carry out terrorist attacks in Dagestan. There is a concentration of extremists near the village of Borozdinskaya.
According to the CRI, aviation is carrying out missile and bomb attacks on gangs or militant bases in the city of Shali and the village of Serzhen-Yurt.