Guerrilla phase of the Second Chechen War (2000)
Encyclopedia
May
- May 4 - The Russian military command said special forcesSpecial forcesSpecial forces, or special operations forces are terms used to describe elite military tactical teams trained to perform high-risk dangerous missions that conventional units cannot perform...
troops have ambushAmbushAn ambush is a long-established military tactic, in which the aggressors take advantage of concealment and the element of surprise to attack an unsuspecting enemy from concealed positions, such as among dense underbrush or behind hilltops...
ed a columnColumnA column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a vertical structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. For the purpose of wind or earthquake engineering, columns may be designed to resist lateral forces...
of Chechen insurgents near the southern village of AvturyAvturyAvtury is a village in Shalinsky District of the Chechen Republic, Russia, located on the Khulkhulau River, east of Shali. Population:...
, killing at least 18 of them; casualty figures were impossible to confirm independently. The command said the Russians opened fire with machine gunMachine gunA machine gun is a fully automatic mounted or portable firearm, usually designed to fire rounds in quick succession from an ammunition belt or large-capacity magazine, typically at a rate of several hundred rounds per minute....
s and then called-up artilleryArtilleryOriginally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
strikes in the ambush. Meanwhile, the rebels also claimed to have killed 12 Russian federalGovernment of RussiaThe Government of the Russian Federation exercises executive power in the Russian Federation. The members of the government are the prime minister , the deputy prime ministers, and the federal ministers...
soldiers in attacks in the areas of Urus-MartanUrus-MartanUrus-Martan is a town and the administrative center of Urus-Martanovsky District of the Chechen Republic, Russia, located on the Martan River. The town is located in the central part of the republic, to the southwest of the capital Grozny. Population:...
, ShelkovskayaShelkovskayaShelkovskaya is a rural locality and the administrative center of Shelkovskoy District of the Chechen Republic, Russia. Population:...
and ShatoyShatoyShatoy or Shatoi is a village in the Chechen Republic, Russia. It is the administrative center of Shatoysky District. Population: 1,771 . It is the home village of underground rebel President Doku Umarov. Geographical location: ....
.
- May 10 - Chechen rebels claimed to have trapped a Russian unit and killed 34 soldiers, losing four men. Russian officials denied the claim.
- May 11 - Eighteen Russian army soldiers were killed and three wounded in an automatic weapons attack on a convoyGalashki ambushGalashki ambush took place of May 11, 2000, when the separatist militants from the group of Shamil Basayev, led by a Galashki native Ruslan Khuchbarov, attacked and destroyed a convoy of the Russian Interior Ministry paramilitary forces in the Republic of Ingushetia...
near the village of GalashkiGalashkiGalashki is a village in Sunzhensky District of the Republic of Ingushetia, Russia, located on the left bank of the Sunzha River near the border with the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania...
in IngushetiaIngushetiaThe Republic of Ingushetia is a federal subject of Russia , located in the North Caucasus region with its capital at Magas. In terms of area, the republic is the smallest of Russia's federal subjects except for the two federal cities, Moscow and Saint Petersburg...
.
- May 27 - Four servicemen from the Russian Interior Ministry were killed in Chechnya's Nozhay-Yurtovsky District when a convoy of federal forces came under a rebel attack.
- May 28 - Three Chechen policemen were killed and three were injured in a bomb and automatic weapons attack on a UAZUAZUAZ , Ulyanovsky Avtomobilny Zavod is an automobile manufacturer based in Ulyanovsk, Russia which manufactures off-road vehicles, buses and trucks. It is best known for its Model 469 jeep, which has seen wide use as a military vehicle in Russia and around the world...
car.
- May 31 - Sergei Zveryev, Russia's second highest-ranking officialOfficialAn official is someone who holds an office in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority .A government official or functionary is an official who is involved in public...
in Chechnya, was killed by a remote-controlled bomb in the Chechen capital GroznyGroznyGrozny is the capital city of the Chechen Republic, Russia. The city lies on the Sunzha River. According to the preliminary results of the 2010 Census, the city had a population of 271,596; up from 210,720 recorded in the 2002 Census. but still only about two-thirds of 399,688 recorded in the 1989...
. The city MayorMayorIn many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
Supyan Makhchayev, who was with Zveryev, was injured in the bombing, while his assistant was killed.
June
- June 5 - Four Chechen guerrillas were killed during a military operation in the Shalinsky DistrictShalinsky District, Chechen RepublicShalinsky District is an administrative and municipal district , one of the fifteen in the Chechen Republic, Russia. Its administrative center is the town of Shali...
of Chechnya.
- June 6 - Two female suicide bomberFemale suicide bomberThough the majority of suicide bombers have been male, female suicide bombers have carried out a number of attacks.-History:Female suicide bombers have been employed in several conflicts, by a variety of organizations, against both military and civilian targets.*In Lebanon on April 9, 1985, Sana'a...
s, including the cousin of Arbi BarayevArbi BarayevArbi Alautdinovich Barayev , nicknamed "The Terminator", was a renegade Chechen warlord often accused of clandestine links with the Russian special services...
, detonated a truck bomb at a Russian commander's headquarters in Alkhan-Yurt, killing 2 soldiers as the Russian police and special forces units have begun a large-scale security operation in Grozny. Meanwhile, Ilyas AkhmadovIlyas AkhmadovIlyas Khamzatovich Akhmadov served as the foreign minister of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria. He currently resides in the United States, where he was granted political asylum.-Biography:...
, Chechnya's unrecognised foreign ministerForeign ministerA Minister of Foreign Affairs, or foreign minister, is a cabinet minister who helps form the foreign policy of a sovereign state. The foreign minister is often regarded as the most senior ministerial position below that of the head of government . It is often granted to the deputy prime minister in...
, announced in WashingtonWashington, D.C.Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
that the separatists want to end "this useless war" with Russia.http://www.cdi.org/russia/johnson/4352.html##1 The commander of VDV Georgy ShpakGeorgy ShpakGeorgy Ivanovich Shpak was the governor of Ryazan Oblast, Russia from 2004-2008.He was the commander of the Airborne Troops from 1996 to 2003. He was elected for the Rodina bloc.-References:...
responded with a statement that the estimated 2,500 active insurgent fighters should be not presented an offer to capitulate but "exterminated" at any cost.
- June 11 - Suicide attack by the former Russian soldier who convertConvertThe convert or try, in American football known as "point after", and Canadian football "Point after touchdown", is a one-scrimmage down played immediately after a touchdown during which the scoring team is allowed to attempt to score an extra one point by kicking the ball through the uprights , or...
ed to Islam in the captivity kills two OMONOMONOMOH is a generic name for the system of special units of militsiya within the Russian and earlier the Soviet MVD...
troops at the security checkpoint.
- June 12 - Rebel forces in Grozny succeeded in planting explosives in an army vehicle without the knowledge of the Russian soldier who drove it. The vehicle blew up at an army position. Russian agencies reported the deaths of two policemen, while the foreign Mujahideen’s official news agency al-Qoqaz reported the deaths of 27 Russian elite soldiers.
- June 16 - Eight Russian soldiers were killed during a Chechen attack on their column in the Kirov settlement, western Grozny. Two Chechen police officers working for Russian authorities were found beheaded.
- June 20 - One Russian serviceman was killed and two officers were wounded during a rebel attack on a federal police station in Grozny.
- June 27 - Two days of fighting left 12 Russians dead and up to 60 rebels killed according to Russian officials.
- June 30 - Nine Russian soldiers were killed and seven were wounded when their vehicle detonated a land mineLand mineA land mine is usually a weight-triggered explosive device which is intended to damage a target—either human or inanimate—by means of a blast and/or fragment impact....
on the outskirts of the village of Avtury, Shalinsky District.
July
- July 2 - Nine Russian soldiers were killed and seven others wounded in a landmine explosion near Chechnya's village of Avtury, Russian presidential aide on Chechnya Sergey YastrzhembskySergey YastrzhembskySergey Vladimirovich Yastrzhembsky , born December 4, 1953, Moscow, is a Russian Federation politician and diplomat born into a Polish family, Jastrzębski vel Jastrzembski...
told reporters. He also denied media reports that about 40-50 federal soldiers were killed in the five-day battle near Serzhen-Yurt, saying the federal force has lost only 13 killed and 18 wounded. Gen. Gennady TroshevGennady TroshevGennady Nikolayevich Troshev was a Russian Colonel General in the Russian military and formerly the commander of the North Caucasus Military District, including Chechnya, during the Second Chechen War...
said that that over 100 rebels were killed.
- July 2-July 3 - Chechen insurgents launched five suicide bomb attacks into Russian military and police headquartersHeadquartersHeadquarters denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the top of a corporation taking full responsibility managing all business activities...
and barracksBarracksBarracks are specialised buildings for permanent military accommodation; the word may apply to separate housing blocks or to complete complexes. Their main object is to separate soldiers from the civilian population and reinforce discipline, training and esprit de corps. They were sometimes called...
within 24 hours, killing or injuring more than 150 peopleJuly 2000 Chechnya suicide bombingsThe July 2000 Chechnya suicide bombings happened on July 2-July 3, 2000, when Chechen insurgents launched five suicide bomb attacks on the Russian military and police headquarters and barracks within 24 hours...
, including 26 OMON troops killed and 81 wounded.
- July 8 - At least six Russian soldiers died during clashes with Chechen guerrillas near the villages of Borzoy and Khalkeloy, in Argun gorge.
- July 15 - Chechen rebels attacked the Khankala base housing the Russian military headquarters outside Grozny.
- July 18 - Reports said 18 Russian soldiers and two guerrillas perished following an ambush near the village of Zhani-Vedeno. Guerrilla leader Nasruddin Bazhiyev surrendered to security forces in Chechnya.
- July 19 - Seven Russian servicemen were killed in four attacks in Chechnya.
- July 21 - Four Russian soldiers were killed when a land mine blew up their truck in the Shalinsky District of Chechnya.
- July 24 - At least two members of the Russian forces were killed and 34 were injured when their vehicles were attacked with two land mines in Grozny.
- July 25 - Guerrillas killed five Russian policemen and injured another three during a fire fight in Argun, while a bold daylight ambush on truck convoy killed several soldiers in Grozny.http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4196/is_20000725/ai_n10635204
- July 29 - An unidentified sniper killed Dalkhan Khozhayev, deputy of the guerrilla commander Ruslan Gelayev, in the village of Kulary.
August
- August 4 - Russia reported that Chechen rebels had decapitatedDecapitationDecapitation is the separation of the head from the body. Beheading typically refers to the act of intentional decapitation, e.g., as a means of murder or execution; it may be accomplished, for example, with an axe, sword, knife, wire, or by other more sophisticated means such as a guillotine...
two Russian colonels, who had been seized earlier in the Vedensky District.
- August 7 - The Russian government announced the defectionDefectionIn politics, a defector is a person who gives up allegiance to one state or political entity in exchange for allegiance to another. More broadly, it involves abandoning a person, cause or doctrine to whom or to which one is bound by some tie, as of allegiance or duty.This term is also applied,...
of Ibragim KhultygovIbragim KhultygovIbragim "Ibby" Khultygov is a Chechen-Russian politician and paramilitary commander, and a former counter-intelligence and security chief for the separatist government in Chechnya....
, a former counter-intelligenceCounter-intelligenceCounterintelligence or counter-intelligence refers to efforts made by intelligence organizations to prevent hostile or enemy intelligence organizations from successfully gathering and collecting intelligence against them. National intelligence programs, and, by extension, the overall defenses of...
chief for the separatist government in Chechnya. Chechen rebels claimed 11 Russian soldiers in a military convoy were killed by a remote controlled mine.
- August 10 - Five guerrillas and two Russian soldiers died during a fire fight in the mountains south of the village of Verkhny Alkun near the border with Ingushetia.
- August 13 - Six simultaneous explosions in Dagestan killed seven Russian soldiers, including two female intelligenceIntelligence (information gathering)Intelligence assessment is the development of forecasts of behaviour or recommended courses of action to the leadership of an organization, based on a wide range of available information sources both overt and covert. Assessments are developed in response to requirements declared by the leadership...
officers, and injured 15 others. A Russian police station and Russian train in KhasavyurtKhasavyurtKhasavyurt is a city in the Republic of Dagestan, Russia. Population: It was founded in 1846 and granted town status in 1931. The main local industries are food processing, brick making and garment making....
were the targets for two of the bombs.
- August 18 - Chechen rebels killed eight Russian soldiers in several attacks on checkpoints and roadblocks.
- August 26 - A radio-controlled mine exploded in the southern outskirts of Bachi-Yurt killed seven Russian soldiers. Another booby trap near blast near Zhani-Vedeno left two Russian servicemen dead and three others wounded.
September
- September 7 - Four Russian soldiers were killed in a rebel ambush in Grozny.
- September 17 - Attackers gunned down Col. Shamil Azayev, deputy chief of police in Vedeno.
- September 20 - Nineteen Russian soldiers, including 13 from the Defence Ministry and six from the Interior Ministry perished in several operations in Chechnya died, as did at least two guerrillas including an ArabArabArab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
.
- September 30 - Eleven Russian soldiers died and another 13 suffered wounds in two clashed with guerrillas in the Minutka Square and the ZavodskoyZavodskoyZavodskoy may refer to:*Zavodskoy City District, name of several city districts in Russia*Zavodskoy , name of several inhabited localities in Russia...
district in Grozny.
October
- October 6 - Russia said approximately 150 guerrillas surrendered to authorities along with their commander Vakhid Shakarov.
- October 7 - Russia said its troops killed guerrilla commander Baudin Bakuyev in the Shatoysky DistrictShatoysky DistrictShatoysky District is an administrative and municipal district , one of the fifteen in the Chechen Republic, Russia. Its administrative center is the rural locality of Shatoy. District's population: 13,155 . Population of Shatoy accounts for 13.5% of the district's population....
while five Russian soldiers perished in a clash with the rebels in Avtorkhanovsky City District of Grozny.
- October 8 - The ambush a UAZUAZUAZ , Ulyanovsky Avtomobilny Zavod is an automobile manufacturer based in Ulyanovsk, Russia which manufactures off-road vehicles, buses and trucks. It is best known for its Model 469 jeep, which has seen wide use as a military vehicle in Russia and around the world...
patrol vehicle killed two policemen and injured three in Ingushetia.
- October 9 - Three Russian soldiers were shot to death in Urus-Martan.
- October 11 - Six Russian servicemen were killed and 10 wounded in an ambush in the town of Dzhani-Vedeno and a mine attack on a truck near the village of Beloreche. Meanwhile the Russian air force hit rebel positions in the southern mountains.
- October 12 - A powerful car bombCar bombA car bomb, or truck bomb also known as a Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Device , is an improvised explosive device placed in a car or other vehicle and then detonated. It is commonly used as a weapon of assassination, terrorism, or guerrilla warfare, to kill the occupants of the vehicle,...
went off outside OktyabrskyOktyabrskyOktyabrsky , Oktyabrskaya or Oktyabskoye may refer to:*Oktyabrsky District, name of several districts in the countries of the former Soviet Union*Oktyabrsky Okrug, name of various divisions in Russia...
city district police stationPolice stationA police station or station house is a building which serves to accommodate police officers and other members of staff. These buildings often contain offices and accommodation for personnel and vehicles, along with locker rooms, temporary holding cells and interview/interrogation rooms.- Facilities...
in the capital Grozny, killing at least 15, including prosecutorProsecutorThe prosecutor is the chief legal representative of the prosecution in countries with either the common law adversarial system, or the civil law inquisitorial system...
s, and wounding 22 people.
- October 17 - Mines planted by Chechen rebels killed four Russian soldiers.
- October 24 - Insurgents killed at least 13 Russian soldiers and wounding 24 in three separate attacks using mine-and-gun ambushed in Grozny and two in smaller towns, an official in the pro-Moscow's administration said.
- October 29 - A bomb blast in a Café Elita in the village of Chiri-Yurt killed at least eight people, including at least seven Russian soldiers; five other servicemen were wounded in the explosion while three people were wounded when a radio-controlled mine went off at a Russian military checkpoint in Grozny, the Russian military reported.
November
- November 1 - Chechen rebels killed 14 Russian soldiers in a series of raids.
- November 1 - According to the Russian sources, Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov had been wounded and Maskhadov's driver and two members of his escort were killed in a shooting near the settlement of Alleroy.
- November 11 - Russian general Gennady TroshevGennady TroshevGennady Nikolayevich Troshev was a Russian Colonel General in the Russian military and formerly the commander of the North Caucasus Military District, including Chechnya, during the Second Chechen War...
told a television audience that 31 Russian troops were killed in recent clashes with the rebels; Troshev said the fighting was in the Argun gorge south of Grozny, and that the Russian soldiers were badly outnumbered when attacked by 1,000 Chechen fighters. An earlier Chechen ambush killed 20 Russian soldiers.
- November 19 - Seven Russian soldiers were killed and 10 wounded in several attacks by Chechen rebels.
- November 23 - Four Russian soldiers were killed and 18 wounded in a series of Chechen rebel attacks.
- November 26 - Chechen guerrillas killed a colonel and one other Russian soldier in Sernovodsk near the border with Ingushetia, while two policemen died in an explosion in Gudermes.
- November 27 - Grozny's central market was entirely destroyed by Russian armored vehicles the first day of the Muslim holy month of RamadanRamadanRamadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, which lasts 29 or 30 days. It is the Islamic month of fasting, in which participating Muslims refrain from eating, drinking, smoking and sex during daylight hours and is intended to teach Muslims about patience, spirituality, humility and...
. Pro-Moscow Chechen said that in November alone, 18 Russian soldiers were killed in or disappeared from the market.
December
- December 9 - Two car bombs killed 21 and wounded over 50 civilians leaving the mosque in the village of Alkhan-Yurt, with the separatists and federal authorities blaming each other for the atrocity; the Russian command indicated Arbi BarayevArbi BarayevArbi Alautdinovich Barayev , nicknamed "The Terminator", was a renegade Chechen warlord often accused of clandestine links with the Russian special services...
indicated in ordering the attacks. Russian military said a firefight and a mine blast left at least seven Russian servicemen dead and eight wounded, while its forces detained more than 50 persons and discovered an arms depot.
- December 10 - Alkhan-Kala administration deputy head Zura Koliyeva and her husband discovered gunned down in the village. A car bomb in Grozny misses the Chechen head of the RAO UES Nurdin Usamov.
- December 12 - A bodyguard of Akhmad Kadyrov, the leader of the pro-Russian government in Chechnya, shot dead in the village of Bachi-Yurt; Chechen fighters said that they had assassinated the head of the Kadyrov's bodyguard. Interior Ministry said federal forces in Chechnya have destroyed 58 illegal refineries which funded militants and arrested a number of Chechen policemen suspected of aiding them.
- December 13 - Rebels claim having killed at least 34 soldiers, including at least 17 in a surprise attack on the Russian command building in Shali and 17 in two other attacks. Two decapitated bodies discovered by local residents in the Achkhoy-Martanovsky District of Chechnya. Russia said two soldiers, Khorolya and Serotetto captured on December 2 near VladikavkazVladikavkaz-Notable structures:In Vladikavkaz, there is a guyed TV mast, tall, built in 1961, which has six crossbars with gangways in two levels running from the mast structure to the guys.-Twin towns/sister cities:...
in North Ossetia, have been released in Chechnya as a result of a special operation. Four army servicemen were detained in Dagestan for illegal trafficking of firearms and ammunition.
- December 14 - The bodies of eight people bearing evidence of having been beaten and gunshot wounds with their hands tied were discovered near the Chechen village of Mesker-Yurt; local residents recognised them as the men who had disappeared after the mopping-up operation in the village of Germenchuk. Russian law enforcement agencies have found over 16,000 stolen cars in Chechnya in 2000, spokesman said.
- December 15 - Two killed when a military prosecutor's car was blown up by a land mine, the internal affairs department said. The Russian Interior Ministry command paraded to reporters four federal servicemen Sudnev, Kartapolov, Terentyev and Igoshev, who they said were released from Chechen captivity.
- December 16 - Chechen fighters claimed killing more than 27 Russian soldiers in several clashes including an attack on a military base in Shatoyevsky District.
- December 17 - Two Chechen policemen were killed along with two rebel fighters during a guerrilla attack on city hallCity hallIn local government, a city hall, town hall or a municipal building or civic centre, is the chief administrative building of a city...
in Grozny, local law enforcement officials said; in a separate incident, a Russian soldier was killed and two others wounded in a rebel grenade attack in the city. Grozny mayor Bislan Gantamirov commented that the capital "is full of rebels" who have a relative freedom of action. The Chechen separatist Supreme ShuraShuraShura is an Arabic word for "consultation". The Quran and Muhammad encourage Muslims to decide their affairs in consultation with those who will be affected by that decision....
has declared war on the Chechen Republic's oil industry, issuing an order that impels Chechens "to blast and set on fire all trains carrying oil and petroleum products" and "to destroy railways and bridges through which fuel is transported."
- December 18 - Shirvani Basayev, the brother of rebel leader Shamil Basayev, died of wounds, Putin's spokesman said; Chechen Kavkaz CenterKavkaz CenterThe Kavkaz Center is a privately run website by pro-Chechen which aims to be "a Chechen internet agency which is independent, international and Islamic" that "does not represent the viewpoint of any state structures"...
website denied this. Three bodies of federal servicemen were found near a Russian checkpoint on the Ingush side of the border with Chechnya. Georgian President Eduard ShevardnadzeEduard ShevardnadzeEduard Shevardnadze is a former Soviet, and later, Georgian statesman from the height to the end of the Cold War. He served as President of Georgia from 1995 to 2003, and as First Secretary of the Georgian Communist Party , from 1972 to 1985. Shevardnadze was responsible for many top decisions on...
for the first time admitted that there are Chechen combatants in the Pankisi GorgePankisi GorgeThe Pankisi Gorge or Pankisi is a valley region in Georgia, in the northeastern corner of the country, bordering the Chechnyan republic of the Russian Federation. Administratively, it is included in the Akhmeta district of the Kakheti region...
. Five Russian servicemen detained after firing on civilian vehicles the Kavkaz federal highway in Chechnya in which a bus driver was shot and killed.
- December 19 - Russian Presidential aide Sergey Yastrzhembsky said he rules out the possibility of direct or mediated negotiations with Chechen separatists; in particular, rejected was the mediation offer by the Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky. Lieutanant General Vladimir Bulgakov has refused to replace Lt. Gen. Valery Baranov as the head the joint federal group in Chechnya. Two captured Chechen fighters, Ramzes Gaichayev and Rustam Khalidov, are tried by the Russian court in PyatigorskPyatigorskPyatigorsk is a city in Stavropol Krai on the Podkumok River, about from Mineralnye Vody. Since January 19, 2010 it has been the administrative center of the North Caucasian Federal District of Russia...
for "genocideGenocideGenocide is defined as "the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group", though what constitutes enough of a "part" to qualify as genocide has been subject to much debate by legal scholars...
". Three employees of the Georgian Rustavi 2Rustavi 2Rustavi 2 Broadcasting Company , better known as Rustavi 2, is the most successful private television broadcasting company in Georgia. The Rustavi, based in Tbilisi, was founded in 1994 in the town of Rustavi. It is a privately owned free to air terrestrial broadcaster that currently reaches around...
TV were detained for several hours by armed Chechens in Pankisi. In the Russian opinion poll, 50% of respondents answered that the military operations in Chechnya will not fully stop in 2001, while 29% were sure that the military operations will never stop.
- December 29 - 14 Russian soldiers were killed in Chechnya.