Invasion of militants in Dagestan. Fighting in the Novolaksky district. August invasion of Dagestan by militants (1999) Battle for the “TV tower”

Militant invasion of Dagestan (1999)

Exactly 20 years ago, on August 7, 1999, militants led by Shamil Basayev and Khattab invaded the territory of Dagestan. Fighting continued in the republic for more than a month. And just this year, Russia signed a law granting militias from Dagestan opposing militants the status of combat veterans.

Background

After the signing of the Khasavyurt Agreements in 1996 and the withdrawal of Russian troops from Chechnya, Salafi Islam (Wahhabism) rapidly turned into a noticeable military-political force in the republic. This was facilitated by the course of the President of Ichkeria Zelimkhan Yandarbiev towards the accelerated Islamization of the Chechen state.

Not all Chechen leaders welcomed this course. In particular, Aslan Maskhadov, who served as prime minister during Yandarbiev’s reign, was against the hasty declaration of Islam as the state religion. However, at the beginning of 1999, Maskhadov himself, while serving as president and trying to strengthen his position, introduced “full Sharia rule” in Chechnya.

In April 1998, the Congress of the Peoples of Ichkeria and Dagestan took place in Grozny ( KNID, ), the chairman of which was elected the famous Chechen field commander Shamil Basayev. The purpose of creating the organization was stated to be “the liberation of the Muslim Caucasus from the Russian imperial yoke.” And it is under the auspices of Congress ( the organization is recognized as terrorist in Russia, its activities are prohibited by the court - approx. "Caucasian Knot") armed formations were created, which became the main striking force during the invasion of Dagestan.

In Dagestan itself, attempts to dissociate itself from Russia under Islamist slogans were made a year before the raid by militants from Chechnya.

In the spring of 1998, the Islamic Shura of Dagestan was created. It included representatives of Salafi jamaats, several ulama and imams of mosques in mountainous Dagestan, who belong to supporters of “traditional” Islam.

IN In August 1998, local Salafis in Karamakhi, Chabanmakhi and Kadar (Buinaksky district) declared that these villages were uniting into an independent community, the life of which was regulated by the Sharia court and shura. A checkpoint was set up on the road leading to Chabanmakhi, and a green Muslim flag was hung on one of the mountains. A sign was installed nearby with a warning: “Sharia law applies in this territory.” Thus,was created in the Kadar GorgeWahhabi autonomous enclave known as the Kadar Zone.

One of the leaders of the Dagestan Islamists, Bagautdin Kebedov (Magomedov), expressed the opinion that the government of Dagestan is in a state of “shirk” (paganism) and called himself an adherent of the Islamic state. The prototype of such a state, from the point of view of the “Wahhabis,” was a separate Islamic territory in the Kadar zone.

In September 1998, the head of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, Sergei Stepashin, held negotiations with Islamist leaders. Having visited the village of Karamakhi, the minister said: “I would warn everyone against labeling them ‘Wahhabis’, ‘extremists’. We have freedom of religion. ... we will all help you peacefully, I give you my word of honor. No one will fight with the civilian population.” Stepashin promised not to take forceful action against the community in exchange for the surrender of the weapons they had. The weapons were not surrendered, but until August 1999 the authorities did not take any measures to suppress the enclave.

On August 1, 1999, a week before the large-scale invasion from Chechnya, the introduction of Sharia rule was also announced in the villages of Echeda, Gakko, Gigatli and Agvali in the Tsumadinsky district.

Beginning of the invasion

The massive penetration of Chechen militants into Dagestan began on August 7, 1999. On this day, more than a thousand armed fighters from Chechnya entered the territory of the republic. The villages of Ansalta, Rakhata, Shoroda and Godoberi in the Botlikh district were immediately captured, and over the next few days other settlements in the Botlikh and Tsumadinsky districts were captured.

The core of the illegal armed formation group consisted of foreign mercenaries and fighters "Islamic International Peacekeeping Brigade", created under the auspices of the KNID ( the organization is recognized as terrorist in Russia, its activities are prohibited by the court - approx. "Caucasian Knot") and associated with al-Qaeda. The group was led by Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev and an Islamist military leader originally from Saudi Arabia known as Khattab. (Khattab himself lived for some time in the village of Karamakhi in the mid-1990s. A native of the village, Darginka Fatima Bidagova was one of his wives.)

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.

Appointment of Vladimir Putin as head of government

On August 8, the head of the Russian government, S. Stepashin, visited Dagestan. The next day he was dismissed. At a meeting of the Presidium of the Cabinet of Ministers on the day of his resignation, Stepashin said: “The situation is very difficult, perhaps we can really lose Dagestan.”

Stepashin's place as head of government was taken by FSB director Vladimir Putin. On August 9, appointing Putin as acting Prime Minister, President Yeltsin expressed the hope that this very person will be elected as the new head of state in a year.

Displacement of militants into Chechnya

On August 11, a military operation began to push back militants from Dagestan. At the same time, not only Russian security forces, but also Dagestani militias took the side of the federal center. The militia was led by the Deputy Chairman of the Government of Dagestan, Gadzhi Makhachev. The militia involved the paramilitary Avar organization “Popular Front of Dagestan named after Imam Shamil”, headed by Makhachev.

Artillery and aviation were used against the militants. On August 12, the first reports were receivedrumors about the air bombing of illegal armed formation bases in Chechnya, and a day later - about the short-term advance of columns of Russian armored vehicles into Chechen territory.

On August 12, Deputy Head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation I. Zubov announced that a letter had been sent to the President of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria Maskhadov with a proposal to conduct a joint operation with federal troops againsttive Islamists in Dagestan. He also suggested that Maskhadov “resolve the issue of liquidating bases, storage and rest areas of illegal armed groups, which the Chechen leadership is trying to disavow in every possible way.”

On August 16, Maskhadov introduced a state of emergency in the republic. And on the same day, at a rally in Grozny, he said:“We have nothing to do with what is happening in Dagestan, and regard this as a purely internal matter of Russia.” The resolution of the meeting stated that “neither the leadership nor the people of Chechnya are responsible for the actions of individual volunteers,” and Russia was accused of seeking to use Dagestan “as a springboard for unleashing a bloody war in Chechnya.”

On August 24, the command of the United Group of Forces in the North Caucasus reported that federal troops had liberated the last villages captured by militants - Tando, Rakhata, Shoroda, Ansalta, Ziberkhali and Ashino. Shamil Basayev with the surviving militants went to Chechnya.

On August 25, the Russian Air Force launched its first bombing attacks on Chechen villages near Grozny, where, according to intelligence reports, Basayev and Khattab had bases.

Liquidation of the enclave in the Kadar zone

On August 29, after the end of the fighting in the Botlikh region, a military operation began to liquidate the Wahhabi enclave in the Kadar zone. The operation was led by the Commander-in-Chief of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, Colonel General V. Ovchinnikov and the Minister of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Dagestan, Major General A. Magomedtagirov.

On August 31, the villages of Karamakhi, Chabanmakhi, Kadar, Durangi, adjacent farmsteads and Mount Chaban were blocked by federal units. Since the mountain heights and approaches to villages were mined by militants, the area was cleared with the help of artillery and aviation from federal forces. Both sides of the conflict suffered losses. .

As a result of the operation in the Kadar zone, 1,850 houses of local residents were completely destroyed.

Fighting in the Novolaksky district

On September 5, about 2 thousand militants under the command of Basayev and Khattab again crossed the Chechen-Dagestan 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, according to the military, they bombed exclusively militant formations heading to help in Dagestan.

On September 7, federal troops, Ministry of Internal Affairs forces and Dagestani militias stopped the advance of militants 5 km from the city of Khasavyurt.

On September 14, federal forces recaptured the village of Tukhchar, Novolaksky district. A cleanup was carried out in the regional center of Novolakskoye, the villages of Shushiya and Akhar.

According to eyewitnesses, operating in the Novolaksky region, federal forces relied on the support of the population and felt like liberators. In this regard, the situation was different from the Kadar zone. After all, in the “Wahhabi” enclave, the security forces felt themselves “not liberating their own territory, but rather occupying a hostile one.”

Completion of the campaign in Dagestan

On September 15, Russian Defense Minister Igor Sergeev reported that the territory of Dagestan had been completely liberated.

After ousting the militants from Dagestan, Russian troops continued to fight in Chechnya.

On September 29, 1999, negotiations between the Chairman of the State Council of Dagestan Magomedali Magomedov and the President of Chechnya Aslan Maskhadov were to take place in Khasavyurt. However, the meeting was disrupted. According to the official version, the negotiations did not take place due to the fact that local residents blocked the road in the area of ​​Khasavyurt and the Dagestan-Chechen border, not allowing both the Chechen delegation and Magomedali Magomedov’s motorcade to enter the regional center. The protesters opposed such negotiations, saying that Aslan Maskhadov should have met with the Dagestan side when militants from Chechnya attacked Dagestan.

Magomedali Magomedov himself also condemned the Chechen leader for not expressing his attitude towards the attack by militants on the Dagestan regions from Chechnya. However, as a result of the negotiations, Maskhadov should have publicly condemned the act of armed invasion of Dagestan and handed over to law enforcement agencies the Dagestani Islamist leaders Adallo Aliyev, Sirazhutdin Ramazanov, Bagautdin Magomedov (Kebedov) and Magomed Tagaev. In addition, it was planned to discuss measures to organize joint work to combat banditry, terrorism and crime.

When discussing the reasons for the breakdown of the meeting, the media put forward different versions. The picket of local residents, according to some sources, was organized with the direct participation of the head of the Khasavyurt administration, Saygidpasha Umakhanov. And either Umakhanov got out of the control of Makhachkala, or Magomedali Magomedov himself did not strive to get to the meeting due to some unexpected circumstances.

Magomedov went to meet with Maskhadov on the instructions of Prime Minister Putin, that is, the failed meeting actually became a disruption of the federal center’s plans to resolve the situation around Chechnya.

Before the incident, the Russian prime minister expressed hope that the leadership of Chechnya would “show constructivism and a desire for business dialogue,” and also “declare its readiness to liberate its territory from international gangs.” However, after the meeting broke down, Vladimir Putin’s entourage hastened to declare that the leader of Dagestan should only have listened to Maskhadov and received first-hand information, but the powers of Moscow’s official representative in the negotiations with Grozny were not delegated to him.

Subsequently, in an interview with Kommersant Vlast magazine, an unnamed Dagestan minister said that the meeting between Magomedov and Maskhadov was disrupted by Akhmat Kadyrov, who was “friends with Umakhanov.”

Terrorist attacks

The armed invasion of Dagestan by militants was accompanied by a series of terrorist attacks in Russian cities. As a result of the explosions of residential buildings in September 1999, 315 people were killed.

The first explosion occurred in the early morning of September 4 in the Dagestan city of Buinaksk, in a house where mostly military families lived (64 dead). The next day, another bomb planted near the Buinaksk military hospital was defused. This was followed by two explosions in Moscow - on Guryanov Street (109 dead) and on Kashirskoye Highway (124 dead). On September 16, a truck filled with explosives was blown up near a residential building in Volgodonsk (18 dead).

In addition, on August 31, 1999, an explosion occurred in an underground shopping complex on Manezhnaya Square in Moscow, which killed one person and injured several dozen. The explosion, initially declared a criminal showdown, was later reclassified as a terrorist attack.

On September 22, 1999, in Ryazan, several people were seen placing bags of hexogen in a residential building. According to the official version, these were exercises organized by the FSB.

Consequences of the invasion

During the Dagestan campaign, 275 Russian soldiers and officers were killed and 937 were wounded. In addition, 37 militiamen were killed and over 720 were wounded. The militants' losses amounted to about 2,500 people.

On September 19, 1999, Dagestan adopted the law “On the prohibition of Wahhabi and other extremist activities on the territory of the Republic of Dagestan,” which prohibited the propaganda of the ideology and practice of Wahhabism in the republic. Similar regulations were also adopted in Ingushetia, Karachay-Cherkessia, Kabardino-Balkaria and Chechnya. However, none of these legislative acts contain specific mention of the characteristics of Wahhabism.

Three months after the liberation of Dagestan, on December 19, 1999, the next elections of State Duma deputies were held in Russia. The Unity party, supported by Vladimir Putin, took second place (23% of the votes), only slightly behind the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (24%). On December 31, 1999, President Yeltsin left office early. On March 26, 2000, in the presidential elections, Vladimir Putin won the first round.

The last president of Ichkeria, Doku Umarov, in 2007 announced the creation of the Islamic state “Caucasus Emirate” in the North Caucasus. Dagestan and Chechnya were included in the components of this self-proclaimed entity. In Russia and the United States, the Caucasus Emirate organization is recognized as terrorist.

The counter-terrorism operation (CTO) in Chechnya continued in its active phase until the summer of 2000. The pro-Russian administration created in the republic was headed by Akhmat Kadyrov. The CTO regime was completely abolished in Chechnya only in April 2009. In some settlements of Dagestan, the CTO regime is sometimes introduced to this day.

According to the results of a Levada Center poll conducted in 2004, 2007, 2009 and 2010, Russians mostly believe that the militant invasion of Dagestan in 1999 was made possible by those who wanted to “profit” from this war.

Dagestan militias sought the status of combat veterans in court. Thus, in 2013, the Kazbekovsky District Court granted the claim of nineteen residents of Dagestan who asked to recognize their status as combat veterans.

Such a bill was adopted only in 2019. On July 23, the draft amendments to the law on veterans were adopted by the State Duma, and on July 26 - by the Federation Council. The original draft law envisaged only non-material benefits, but during the discussion in the State Duma it was supplemented with provisions on material ones. On August 3, it was signed by the President of Russia.

Notes

1. Kudryavtsev A.V. “Wahhabism”: problems of religious extremism in the North Caucasus // Central Asia and the Caucasus. - No. 9. - 2000.
2. Shermatova S. So-called Wahhabis // Chechnya and Russia: societies and states. M.: Polinform-Talburi, 1999.
3. Islamic revolution in Dagestan // Kommersant, 08/18/1998.
4. Wahhabism // Caucasian Knot.
5. News // RTR, 09/03/1998. (Quoted from: Cherkasov A. Tango over the abyss // Polit.ru, 09/07/2004.)
6. From Dagestan to Moscow via Grozny // Kommersant Power, 02.08.2004.
7. From Dagestan to Moscow via Grozny // Kommersant Power, 02.08.2004.
8. Terrorist Organization Profile // National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism, University of Maryland.
9. Roshchin M. Fundamentalism in Dagestan and Chechnya // Otechestvennye zapiski, No. 5 (14), 2003.
10. The mystery of the black Arab // Interlocutor, No. 40, 10/14/1999.
11. From Dagestan to Moscow via Grozny // Kommersant Power, 02.08.2004.
12. ITAR-TASS, 08/09/1999.
13. Program "Today" // NTV, 09.08.1999.
14. During the period of the militant invasion, Gadzhi Makhachev was appointed special commissioner of the State Council and the government of the Republic of Dagestan for the Botlikh region. (Gadzhi Makhachev was appointed Deputy Chairman of the Government of the Republic of Dagestan. - RIA "Dagestan", 09/23/2013)
15. From Dagestan to Moscow via Grozny // Kommersant Power, 02.08.2004.
16. Dagestan: who and when // Rossiyskaya Gazeta.
17. A state of emergency has been introduced in Chechnya // ORT, 08/16/1999.
18. From Dagestan to Moscow via Grozny // Kommersant Power, 02.08.2004.
19. Temporary press center of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation in Dagestan, 1999.
20. From Dagestan to Moscow via Grozny // Kommersant Power, 02.08.2004.
21. Homeland of War // Izvestia, 05.29.2003.
22. Press center of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, 09/07/14.
23. Dagestan: chronicle of the conflict // Independent Military Review, 09/18/1999.
24. Press conference of representatives of the Memorial society: “The invasion of Dagestan and its consequences: humanitarian aspects”, 09/27/1999.
25. From Dagestan to Moscow via Grozny // Kommersant Power, 02.08.2004.
26. Thus, the planned content of the failed meeting was described in Nezavisimaya Gazeta. () Similar information was reported by the Kommersant newspaper. (The Chechen “peaceful landing” in Dagestan was met fully armed // Kommersant, 09/30/1999.) Lenta.ru outlined the expected agenda for the negotiations in a slightly different form. According to materials from Lenta.ru, at the meeting three questions were supposed to be raised with Maskhadov: "1. Recognition of the fact of aggression from Chechnya; 2. Extradition of the bandits, regardless of their nationality - Chechen or Dagestan; 3. Joint measures to ensure the security of the administrative border." (The meeting of the leaders of Dagestan and Chechnya failed // Lenta.ru, 09.29.1999.)
27. Magomedov did not meet with Maskhadov // Nezavisimaya Gazeta, 09.30.1999.
28. Magomedov did not meet with Maskhadov // Nezavisimaya Gazeta, 09.30.1999.
29. The meeting of the leaders of Dagestan and Chechnya failed // Lenta.ru, 09.29.1999.
30. Magomedov did not meet with Maskhadov // Nezavisimaya Gazeta, 09.30.1999.
31. Magomedov did not meet with Maskhadov // Nezavisimaya Gazeta, 09.30.1999.
32. “Magomedali Magomedovich cannot remove me” // “Kommersant Power”, 08/30/2004.
33. Chronicle of terror // Website of the Human Rights Center "Memorial".
34. Newsletter No. 28. The war in Chechnya and its echo. Chronicle of Terror // Website "HRC Memorial".
35. For the period August 2 – September 20, 1999 (Dagestan: chronicle of terror (1996-2014) // Caucasian Knot.)
36. Data from the regional public organization "Union of Persons Participating in the Defense of the Constitutional System "Dagestan - 1999" (ROO "Dagestan-1999").
37. Data from the General Staff of the Russian Defense Ministry. Losses in Dagestan and in the border zone for the period from August 2, 1999 to May 4, 2000. (Losses of Russian troops and militants in Chechnya // Kommersant Power, 05/10/2000.)
38. From Dagestan to Moscow via Grozny. - "Kommersant Power", 02.08.2004.
39. “Why did the invasion of Chechen militants into Dagestan in August 1999 become possible, which served as the beginning of the second “Chechen war”?” // Levada Center website.

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Dagestan, 1999

In Dagestan, the situation was complicated by the confrontation between numerous ethnic clans defending their financial interests in conditions of widespread corruption. The result of the aggravation of the socio-economic situation in the republic was the strengthening of the Wahhabis. Although this religious movement was banned in the republic, the ranks of its supporters continued to grow, especially at the expense of young people.

In May 1998, the Wahhabis of the Kadar zone of the Buinaksky region of the republic (the villages of Karamakhi, Chabanmakhi and the Kadar farm) expelled the local administration, closed the police station and set up armed checkpoints at the entrance to populated areas. Official Makhachkala was ready to suppress the “rebellion,” but the federal leadership, fearing the outbreak of a civil war in Dagestan, preferred to resolve controversial issues through negotiations. As a result, local jamaats (Islamic communities) were guaranteed a kind of “religious autonomy”, and the authorities pledged not to interfere in their internal affairs. The Wahhabis of the Kadar zone, in turn, guaranteed their non-participation in any anti-constitutional protests. It is worth noting that they kept their word.

Despite the Kremlin's serious concerns, the war did not start here. On August 2, 1999, in the Tsumadinsky mountain region of Dagestan, the first clashes between law enforcement officers and local Wahhabis took place. At first, the events did not inspire fear: the enemy clearly did not have serious combat experience, in addition, a reinforced battalion of internal troops (about 500 people) was urgently transferred to the area, which stabilized the situation.

At the same time, a reinforced airborne battalion (700 military personnel) with assigned armored vehicles was sent to the Botlikh region located to the north. His task was to cover the regional center and the only road connecting the Tsumadinsky district with Central Dagestan. If Botlikh was captured by militants, it could easily be blocked, and the Russian battalion of internal troops in Agvali would be cut off from the main forces.

On August 6, the paratroopers arrived in Botlikh, but the border with Chechnya in this direction remained uncovered. As a result, the detachments of Basayev and Khattab, numbering up to 2.5 thousand militants, entered the villages of Ansalta, Rakhata, Tando, Shoroda, Godoberi on August 7 without a fight. The militants’ immediate task was to get the federal side to withdraw two battalions from Agvali and Botlikh in order to ease military pressure on radical Islamists in the border regions of Dagestan. At least, this is the demand that Shamil Basayev presented during negotiations with the head of the district administration as a condition for the withdrawal of his troops.

Another, more global goal, undoubtedly, was to “explode” the situation in the republic by imposing a protracted guerrilla war on Russia. However, Basayev's calculation did not come true.

Russian sources reflect the military operations on the territory of Dagestan in August-September 1999 as extremely successful and victorious for the federal side. But if you pay attention to the details of the events, it becomes obvious that the effectiveness of the Russian army remained at the level of the end of the first campaign.

After all, even operating in fairly favorable conditions (the absence of a full-scale guerrilla war) and having a clear advantage in manpower and heavy weapons, the federal forces could not cope with the enemy for a month and a half!

Moreover, Basayev, after lengthy battles, managed to retreat to Chechnya, avoiding defeat.

The losses of the federal troops were quite significant, both in personnel and equipment. Thus, in just 3 days (from August 9 to 11), Russian aviation lost 3 helicopters. Moreover, they were not shot down (the militants actually did not have effective means of combating aircraft), but were destroyed on the field site using anti-tank guided missiles.

Having actually lost the “lightning war”, Russian generals chose an easier target - Wahhabi villages in the Buynaksky region of Dagestan (the so-called Kadar zone). Surely the Dagestani leadership contributed to this decision: the enclave of the armed Islamic opposition, even if it did not support Sh. Basayev in the outbreak of war, had long irritated official Makhachkala.

But here, too, the “exemplary special operation” did not work out. Buinaksky district is located in Central Dagestan and does not have common borders with neighboring republics. Residents of neighboring settlements for the most part did not support the Wahhabis. Thus, the Islamists of the Kadar zone had no chance of either breaking into Chechnya or receiving serious outside help. Nevertheless, federal forces encountered very serious resistance. It was eventually broken, but it took 2 weeks (from August 29 to September 12, 1999) to defeat the enemy group (up to 1 thousand militants according to official data).

Russian generals tried to explain such a long siege by the presence of powerful underground fortifications among the defenders, erected in advance. But Novaya Gazeta journalist Yu. Shchekochikhin, who visited these villages after the end of hostilities, did not find anything like this.

While the Russian group stormed Karamakhi and Chabanmakhi, the “defeated” Basayev and Khattab struck again at the republic. Detachments under their command numbering up to 2 thousand people again crossed the border with Dagestan and occupied the villages of Tukhchar, Gamiyakh (Khasavyurt district), as well as Ahar, Chapaevo (Novolaksky district) and the regional center of Novolakskoye. Chechen detachments reached the line 5 km southwest of Khasavyurt (the second largest city of the republic).

In the regional center of Novolakskoye, more than 60 local police officers and Lipetsk riot police were blocked. A battle ensued that lasted about a day. An armored group was sent to help those surrounded, but stopped by Chechen grenade launchers, it was unable to break through.

According to official data, the Lipetsk riot police emerged from the encirclement on their own with minimal losses - 2 killed and 6 wounded. The total official figure for Russian losses during the battle in Novolakskoye is 15 killed and 14 wounded. Probably, this figure does not take into account the 15 dead soldiers from the armored group who tried to break the blockade from the outside.

The fighting in the Novolaksky district lasted a week and a half and was extremely fierce. When the ring around villages in the Kadar zone began to shrink, the federal command attempted to recapture the regional center of Novolakskoye, but the offensive floundered. The troops suffered heavy losses. In particular, the 15th Armavir special forces detachment of internal troops was simply bled dry in these battles; out of 150 personnel, it lost 34 killed and 78 wounded. The story with “friendly fire” repeated itself; this detachment suffered part of its losses (9 killed and 36 wounded) as a result of... twice erroneously carried out air strikes. However, after Russian troops occupied Karamakhi and Chabanmakhi on September 12, the fighting in the Novolak direction did not last long. Already on September 14, the regional center of the same name was returned by federal forces.

In total, during the one and a half month battles in August-September 1999, the official losses of the federal forces amounted to 280 people killed and 987 wounded; enemy losses were estimated at 1.5–2 thousand killed militants. The Russian security forces managed to achieve a real result in the Buynaksky region of Dagestan - the Wahhabi group in the villages of Karamakhi, Chabanmakhi, Kadar ceased to exist. At the same time, in the regions bordering Chechnya, it was not possible to encircle and destroy the Chechen detachments; after the battles in the Botlikhsky (August) and Novolaksky (September) regions, enemy groups of at least 1.5 thousand militants each retreated to the territory of Chechnya.

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Dagestan and the second Chechen campaign Already at the moment of signing the Khasavyurt Agreement in 1996, it was clear that the conflict would not end there. There was a real danger of the spread of separatism and Islamic terrorism throughout the North Caucasus. And at the beginning

From the author's book

1999 GARF. F. 8131. Op. 37. D. 2350. L. 25, 56–57.

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 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.

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