The First Chechen War, also known as the First Russo-Chechen war, was a war of independence which the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria waged against the Russian Federation from December 1994 to August 1996. The first war was preceded by the Russian Intervention in Ichkeria, in which Russia tried covertly to overthrow the Ichkerian government. After the initial campaign of 1994–1995, culminating in the devastating Battle of Grozny, Russian federal forces attempted to seize control of the rest of the lowlands and the mountainous area of Chechnya, but they faced heavy resistance from Chechen guerrillas and raids on the flatlands. Despite Russia's overwhelming advantages in firepower, manpower, weaponry, artillery, combat vehicles, airstrikes and air support, the Chechen recapture of Grozny in 1996 and the resulting demoralization of Russian forces led Boris Yeltsin's government to declare a ceasefire with the Chechens in 1996, and finally, it signed a peace treaty in 1997.
On 19 August 2002, a group of Chechen Freedom fighters armed with a man-portable air-defense system brought down a Russian Mil Mi-26 helicopter in a minefield, which resulted in the death of 127 Russian soldiers in the greatest loss of life in the history of helicopter aviation. It was also the most deadly aviation disaster ever suffered by the Russian Armed Forces, as well as its worst loss of life in a single day since the 1999 start of 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 lost their lives during the siege, making it the bloodiest episode of the Second Chechen War.
In Chechnya, mass graves containing hundreds of corpses have been uncovered since the beginning of the Chechen wars in 1994. As of June 2008, there were 57 registered locations of mass graves in Chechnya. According to Amnesty International, thousands may be buried in unmarked graves including up to 5,000 civilians who disappeared since the beginning of the Second Chechen War in 1999. In 2008, the largest mass grave found to date was uncovered in Grozny, containing some 800 bodies from the First Chechen War in 1995. Russia's general policy to the Chechen mass graves is to not exhume them.
There were several battles of Grozny:
In 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.
The Battle of Khankala was a failed attempt by the Chechen separatists to counterattack at the strategic position at Khankala from Grozny and Argun using armoured vehicles.
The Alkhan-Kala operation was a zachistka operation by Russian forces in Alkhan-Kala, Chechnya, starting on 25 June 2001, during the Second Chechen War. The week-long sweep of Alkhan-Kala erupted into armed clashes with Chechen separatists, and the initial raid resulted in the death of Arbi Barayev, a high-ranking Chechen insurgent commander and organized crime leader.
The 2007 Shatoy Mi-8 crash occurred on April 27, 2007, when a Russian military Mil Mi-8 helicopter carrying special forces troops and officers crashed in mountainous terrain in southern Chechnya, killing all 20 people on board.
Imampasha Vakharbiyevich Alimsultanov was a popular Chechen bard and folk singer.
The 2001 Grozny Mil Mi-8 crash in Chechnya killed 13 Russian military personnel, mostly senior military officers including two generals.
Khankala is a settlement in Groznensky District of the Chechen Republic, Russia, located to the east of Grozny, the republic's capital. Population: 7,908 (2002 Census).
The Battle of Sunja was a battle between the Russian Empire and Chechen forces of Sheikh Mansur in 1785. The Russian troops under command of Colonel De Pieri were surrounded and defeated by the forces of Sheikh Mansur. De Pieri and 840 Russians and Cossacks were killed, with 162 more taken captive, several hundred injured and the remainder of the Russian forces fleeing through the woods, chased by Chechen fighters.
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Grozny, Chechen Republic, Russia.
The 205th Separate Cossack Motor Rifle Brigade is a mechanized infantry brigade of the Russian Ground Forces. Part of the 49th Combined Arms Army, the brigade is based in Budyonnovsk, Stavropol Krai.
The battle of Khankala happened on 17 February 1807. In this action, the Khankala fortification was taken by storm. Russian forces entered Chechnya from three directions under the command of General of Infantry S. A. Bulgakov. The purpose of the expedition was to establish control over the strategically important Khankala Gorge.
The Timurid invasions of Simsim were a series of military conflicts between the Timurid Empire and the Princedom of Simsim as well as their allies between the years 1386–1437. Due to Simsim's relations with the Golden Horde as well as their support for the Horde during the Tokhtamysh-Timur war, Timur invaded the Princedom and nearly destroyed it, taking away its vassals as well as occupying the lowlands of modern-day Chechnya and Ingushetia. Despite the numerical and technological inferiority, however, resistance continued in the mountains of Simsim, where, after a series of successful counter-campaigns conducted by Surakat and George V of Georgia, the Timurids were driven out of the land. The Avakhar Chechens, separate from Simsim, also took part in this conflict, first on the side of the Timurid Empire, but then went on to show support for their neighbor, thus resulting in Timur's campaign in Avakhar and the devastation of modern-day Dagestan.
In September 1735, an 80,000 strong combined Crimean-Kuban army invaded the Chechen lowlands in order to impose taxation on the Chechens. Only managing to gather 2,000 fighters, prince Aidemir Bardykhanov, ruler of the town Chechen-Aul, managed to defeat the invaders by taking advantage of the terrain and weather.
