Battle of Grozny (March 1996)

Last updated
Second Battle of Grozny
Part of the First Chechen War
DateMarch 6–8, 1996
Location
Grozny, Chechnya
43°19′N45°41′E / 43.31°N 45.69°E / 43.31; 45.69
Result
  • Russia victory
  • Chechen attack repulsed
Belligerents
Flag of Russia.svg Russia Flag of Chechen Republic of Ichkeria.svg Chechen Republic of Ichkeria
Commanders and leaders
Strength
UnknownRussian claim:
700 to 1,500 fighters [1]
Unofficial data:
130-150 fighters [2]
Casualties and losses
Official figure:
70+ killed [1] [3]
53-259 wounded [1] [3]
40 missing [1] 		Russian claim:
190 fighters killed [1]

The Second Battle of Grozny, also known as Operation Retribution, was a three-day surprise attack by Chechen fighters who stormed the capital city of Grozny that was occupied by Russian Armed Forces.

Contents

Background

By June 1995 the Chechens had lost all the major cities and towns. On General Aslan Maskhadov's orders, the Chechen resistance shifted from conventional warfare to guerrilla warfare, relying on the mountains. [4]

Battle

On March 6, 1996, Chechen fighters launched a surprise attack on Grozny, striking from three directions and encircling outlying Russian posts and local pro-Moscow Chechen police stations, catching Russian troops off guard, inflicting significant losses, overrunning much of it and capturing weapons and ammunition stores. The attack was supposedly intended to show that the Chechens could still operate against Russian forces. [5]

Aftermath

Three days later, after the Chechens left the city, fighting in the Grozny continued for several more days; the Russian units that entered Grozny periodically engaged in battle with one another, mistaking each other for the enemy. [1]

President Dzokhar Dudayev allegedly called the attack a "little harassing operation". The attack was only a rehearsal for a much larger operation that took place in August 1996. [5]

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Грозный. 6 марта 1996 года. Операция чеченских боевиков «Возмездие»". 6 March 2019.
  2. ↑ According to a broadcast by the radiostation Radio Rossii on 6 March 1996
  3. 1 2 "Первая чеченская война: Срыв мирных переговоров (осень 1995-лето 1996)". www.voinenet.ru. Archived from the original on 12 April 2010. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
  4. ↑ Billingsley, Dodge (2013). Fangs of the Lone Wolf: Chechen Tactics in the Russian-Chechen War 1994-2009. Helion, Limited. p. 12.
  5. 1 2 Gall, Carlotta; de Waal, Thomas (1997). Chechnya: A Small Victorious War. pp. 312–313.

Sources

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chechnya</span> Republic of Russia in the North Caucasus

Chechnya, officially the Chechen Republic, is a republic of Russia. It is situated in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe, between the Caspian Sea and Black Sea. The republic forms a part of the North Caucasian Federal District, and shares land borders with Georgia to its south; with the Russian republics of Dagestan, Ingushetia, and North Ossetia–Alania to its east, north, and west; and with Stavropol Krai to its northwest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">First Chechen War</span> 1994–96 invasion of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria by the Russian Federation

The First Chechen War, also referred to as the First Russo-Chechen War, was a struggle for independence waged by the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria against the Russian Federation from 11 December 1994 to 31 August 1996. This conflict was preceded by the battle of Grozny in November 1994, during which Russia covertly sought to overthrow the new Chechen government. Following the intense Battle of Grozny in 1994–1995, which concluded with a pyrrhic victory for the Russian federal forces, Russia's subsequent efforts to establish control over the remaining lowlands and mountainous regions of Chechnya were met with fierce resistance and frequent surprise raids by Chechen guerrillas. The recapture of Grozny in 1996 played a part in the Khasavyurt Accord (ceasefire), and the signing of the 1997 Russia–Chechnya Peace Treaty.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Second Chechen War</span> 1999–2009 conflict in Chechnya and the North Caucasus

The Second Chechen War took place in Chechnya and the border regions of the North Caucasus between the Russian Federation and the breakaway Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, from August 1999 to April 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aslan Maskhadov</span> Chechen politician and military commander

Aslan (Khalid) Aliyevich Maskhadov was a Soviet and Chechen politician and military commander who served as the third president of the unrecognized Chechen Republic of Ichkeria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shamil Basayev</span> Chechen militant (1965–2006)

Shamil Salmanovich Basayev, also known by his kunya "Abu Idris", was a Chechen guerilla leader who served as a senior military commander in the breakaway Chechen Republic of Ichkeria. He held the rank of brigadier general in the Armed Forces of Ichkeria, and was posthumously declared generalissimo. As a military commander in the separatist armed forces of Chechnya, one of his most notable battles was the separatist recapture of Grozny in 1996, which he personally planned and commanded together with Aslan Maskhadov. He also masterminded several of the worst terrorist attacks that occurred in Russia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Grozny (1994–1995)</span> 1994–95 invasion of the Chechen capital by Russia during the First Chechen War

The First Battle of Grozny was the Russian Army's invasion and subsequent conquest of the Chechen capital, Grozny, during the early months of the First Chechen War. The attack would last from December 1994 to March 1995, which resulted in the military occupation of the city by the Russian Army and rallied most of the Chechen nation around the government of Dzhokhar Dudayev.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ruslan Gelayev</span> Chechen military commander

Ruslan (Khamzat) Germanovich Gelayev was a prominent commander in the Chechen resistance movement against Russia, in which he played a significant, yet controversial, military and political role in the 1990s and early 2000s. Gelayev was commonly viewed as an abrek and a well-respected, ruthless fighter. His operations spread well beyond the borders of Chechnya and even outside the Russian Federation and into Georgia. He was killed while leading a raid into the Russian Republic of Dagestan in 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chechen Republic of Ichkeria</span> Former unrecognized country (1991–2000)

The Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, known simply as Ichkeria, and also known as Chechnya, was a de facto state that controlled most of the former Checheno-Ingush ASSR from 1991 to 2000 and has been a government-in-exile since.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Grozny (1999–2000)</span> Battle during the Second Chechen War

The 1999–2000 battle of Grozny was the siege and assault of the Chechen capital Grozny by Russian forces, lasting from late 1999 to early 2000. This siege and assault of the Chechen capital resulted in the widespread devastation of Grozny. In 2003, the United Nations designated Grozny as the most destroyed city on Earth due to the extensive damage it suffered. The battle had a devastating impact on the civilian population. It is estimated that between 5,000 and 8,000 civilians were killed during the siege, making it the bloodiest episode of the Second Chechen War.

The Battle of Grozny of August 1996, also known as Operation Jihad or Operation Zero Option, when Chechen fighters regained and then kept control of Chechnya's capital Grozny in a surprise raid. The Russian Federation had conquered the city in a previous battle for Grozny that ended in February 1995 and subsequently posted a large garrison of federal and republican Ministry of the Interior (MVD) troops in the city.

The November 1994 Battle of Grozny was a covert attempt by Russian Intelligence services to oust the Chechen government of Dzhokhar Dudayev, by seizing the Chechen capital of Grozny. The attack was conducted by armed formations of the opposition Provisional Council, led by Umar Avturkhanov, with a clandestine support of Russian Federation armor and aircraft on 26 November 1994. The fighting subsided after the first 10 hours, with the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria decisively repelling the assault.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle for Height 776</span> 2000 battle in the Second Chechen War

The Battle for Height 776, part of the larger Battle of Ulus-Kert, was an engagement in the Second Chechen War that took place during fighting for control of the Argun River gorge in the highland Shatoysky District of central Chechnya, between the villages of Ulus-Kert and Selmentauzen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vakha Arsanov</span> Chechen divisional general and politician (1950–2005)

Vakha Khamidovich Arsanov was a Chechen divisional general and politician who was Vice President of Ichkeria from 1997 to 2001.

The Samashki massacre was the mass murder of Chechen civilians by Russian Forces in April 1995 during the First Chechen War. Hundreds of Chechen civilians died as result of a Russian cleansing operation and the bombardment of the village. Most of the victims were shot in cold blood at close range or killed by grenades thrown into basements where they were hiding. Others were burned alive or were shot while trying to escape their burning houses. Much of the village was destroyed and the local school blown up by Russian forces as they withdrew. The incident attracted wide attention in Russia and abroad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Presidential Palace, Grozny</span> Former building in Grozny, Chechnya, Russia

The Presidential Palace in Grozny was a building in the center of the Chechen capital Grozny. The building became a symbol of resistance for the supporters of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria during the early stages of the conflict in Chechnya. The building was damaged by repeated artillery and air strikes. The Russian army demolished it completely in 1996.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2014 Grozny clashes</span> 2014 attack by Islamist militants in Grozny, Chechnya, Russia

On 4 December 2014, a group of armed militants of the jihadist organization Caucasus Emirate attacked a traffic police checkpoint outside the city of Grozny, Chechnya, Russia. The militants then entered the city and occupied the "Press House" building in the city center and a nearby school.

The Chechen Republic, commonly known as Chechnya, is a federal republic of Russia that has been noted in several roles during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Kadyrovite forces have fought alongside the Russian forces, while several Chechen armed volunteer formations are fighting on the Ukrainian side. International observers have noted a number of comparisons between the invasion and the First and Second Chechen Wars.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.