Guerrilla phase of the Second Chechen War (2001)
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Timeline
The Russian military stated that 499 Russian soldiers were killed in Chechnya in 2001.January
- January 21 - Chechen rebels fought street battles in Gudermes that left six Russian soldiers dead.
- January 24 - 14 Russian soldiers were killed in Chechnya.
- January 27 - Six Russian servicemen have died and 13 have been wounded in fighting in ChechnyaChechnyaThe Chechen Republic , commonly referred to as Chechnya , also spelled Chechnia or Chechenia, sometimes referred to as Ichkeria , is a federal subject of Russia . It is located in the southeastern part of Europe in the Northern Caucasus mountains. The capital of the republic is the city of Grozny...
. The deaths come just days after Russia announced it would reduce its vast military deployment in Chechnya.
February
- February 14–12 soldiers were killed in the attacks on the Russian positions in Chechnya.
- February 18 - Chechen rebels blew a Russian troop train of its tracks and killed three.
- February 23 - Despite stepped up security measures, Chechen rebels killed three Russian servicemen and wounded five on the day marking the anniversary of Joseph StalinJoseph StalinJoseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
's 1944 deportation of the Chechen and Ingush peoples.
April
- April 13 - Shamalu Deniyev, deputy head of the pro-Russian administration in Chechnya, has been killed in a bomb attack on a television studio.
- April 18 - Car of the Russian human rightsHuman rightsHuman rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
activist Victor Popkov was attacked in Chechnya by unknown assailants. On June 2 he died of his wounds in a hospital in KrasnogorskKrasnogorskKrasnogorsk may refer to one of the following:*Krasnogorsk, Moscow Oblast, a city in Moscow Oblast, Russia*Krasnogorsk, Uzbekistan, a town in Uzbekistan...
near Moscow.
- April 25 - At least six Russian policeMilitsiyaMilitsiya or militia is used as an official name of the civilian police in several former communist states, despite its original military connotation...
men were killed and five others wounded when a time bomb ripped through a police building in a Chechen city of GudermesGudermesGudermes is a town in the Chechen Republic, Russia, located on the Sunzha River east of Grozny. Population: 32,000 .Gudermes had a rural locality status until 1941. Later, it became a railroad junction between Rostov-on-Don, Baku, Astrakhan, and Mozdok. Gudermes is home for oil extraction...
. The police station housed an Interior Ministry unit fighting organized crimeOrganized crimeOrganized crime or criminal organizations are transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals for the purpose of engaging in illegal activity, most commonly for monetary profit. Some criminal organizations, such as terrorist organizations, are...
.
- April 26 - Chechen rebel fighting killed at least 17 Russian soldiers and wounded 28.
- April 30 - Eleven Russian soldiers killed and 18 wounded in the weekend attacks.
May
- May 4 - Two Russian soldiers and nine Chechen fighters were reported killed in fighting, while the bodies of five Russian civilians were found in the capital Grozny, according to the government military sources. A prominent Chechnya's religious leader, MullahMullahMullah is generally used to refer to a Muslim man, educated in Islamic theology and sacred law. The title, given to some Islamic clergy, is derived from the Arabic word مَوْلَى mawlā , meaning "vicar", "master" and "guardian"...
Nasruddin Matuyev, was shot dead by two unidentified gunmen when he was returning home from the mosqueMosqueA mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...
in the village of Novye AtagiNovye AtagiNovye Atagi is a village in Shalinsky District of the Chechen Republic, Russia, located twenty kilometres south of Grozny. Population: 8,741 .-External links:**...
.
- May 7 - Chechen fighters attacked a Russian military column which was going to carry out a mopping up operation in ArgunArgun, Chechen RepublicArgun is a town in the Chechen Republic, Russia, located on the Argun River. Population: 22,000 ....
, leaving at least 15 Russian soldiers dead. The heavy fighting in and around the town, during which Russian artillery and military helicopterHelicopterA helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...
s were used, ended on the next day.
- May - Moderate Chechen separatist politician Ruslan Alikhadzhyev abducted and later killed by the Russian forces in Shali.
June
- June 6 - Local administration head of the village Gekhi-Chu Lema Idrisov was killed in the Urus-Martan district; 17 administration officials and six heads of village administrations have been killed in Chechnya in the eight months since January 2001. On June 10 Lukman Madalov, head of the administration of village Valerik in the Achkhoy-MartanAchkhoy-MartanAchkhoy-Martan is a village and the administrative center of Achkhoy-Martanovsky District of the Chechen Republic, Russia. Population:...
district, was shot dead in his house.http://www.watchdog.cz/index.php?show=000000-000005-000001-000182-000001-000006&lang=1 - June 25 - Russian special forces killed Arbi BarayevArbi BarayevArbi Alautdinovich Barayev , nicknamed "The Terminator", was a renegade Chechen warlord often accused of clandestine links with the Russian special services...
, a Chechen crime leader, and up to 20 of his men in a week-long cleansing operation in the village of Alkhan-Kala, near Grozny. Some 800 villagers were taken into the custody.
- June 26 - Russian troops claimed to have killed at least 30 Chechen rebels near the Georgian border.
July
- July 1 - A remote controlled bomb blew up a jeep carrying five policemen in Sernovodsk, Chechnya, killing all of them.
- July 2 - Six Russian army soldiers from the died when their armored personnel carrier was blown up outside the village of Assinovskaya, Ingushetiya.
- July 3 - Three policemen were killed in a bomb and sniper attack in Chechnya, while the Russian forces organized a massive sweep operation in the search of suspected rebel fighters and their accomplices.
- July 20 - A Interior Ministry helicopter explodes near Engenoi, killing nine MVD commandos and wounding five.
- July 22 - Nine troops were killed and 24 wounded wounded in land mine explosions and rebel attacks in Chechnya. Four of them were killed and 11 wounded in a rebel bomb and gunfire attack on a Russian armoured personnel carrier.
August
- August 11 - Six Russian policemen were killed and nine injured in Chechnya by in the blast of remote-controlled bomb detonated under their armoured vehicle. Eleven other soldiers were wounded during a gun battle in the Vedensky District region south-east of Grozny after a convoy came under fire, and military said three of the attackers were killed.
- August 13 - A large force of insurgents attacked the Vedeno region. The fighting, reportedly heaviest since 2000, continued for at least several daysBattle for Vedeno (2001)The 2001 battle for Vedeno was a struggle between Russian federal and Chechen separatist forces for the control of mountainous Vedensky District in south-east of Chechnya...
. There were reports of a shot down Russian helicopters and the use of SCUDScudScud is a series of tactical ballistic missiles developed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War, and exported widely to other countries. The term comes from the NATO reporting name SS-1 Scud which was attached to the missile by Western intelligence agencies...
missiles, as well as wounding of Shamil Basayev.
- August 26 - A military helicopter fired on a group of Chechen policemen, killing two and wounding four in an allegedly deliberate attack.
- August 29 - Insurgent car bomb attack against a Russian military convoy in the village of Oktyabrskoye in Kurchaloyevsky District killed four soldiers and wounded six; the Russian military claimed that it had captured three rebels involved the attack. A night-time blast of a radio-controlled mine placed at a police checkpoint in the Kurchaloi district killed two other soldiers and injured 11 people. Two policemen were killed and three wounded in the coordinated rebel gun attacks in the villages of Tsa-Vedeno and Makhketi.
- August 30 - Two rebel bombings and several gun attacks killed two servicemen and wounded 15 in Chechnya, including two injured when a T-62T-62The T-62 is a Soviet main battle tank, a further development of the T-55. Its 115 mm gun was the first smoothbore tank gun in use.The T-62 was produced between 1961 and 1975. It became a standard tank in the Soviet arsenal, partly replacing the T-55, although that tank continued to be...
was tank blown up by a land mine at the settlement of Gikalovsky.
September
- September 10 - Lecha Kadyrov, a nephew the head of Chechnya’s pro-Moscow administration Akhmad KadyrovAkhmad KadyrovHajji Akhmad Abdulkhamidovich Kadyrov , also spelled Akhmat, was the Chief Mufti of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria in the 1990s during and after the First Chechen War...
, and three of his companions were shot dead near Kurchaloy, east Chechnya, after attackers fired at their car.
- September 17 - Chechen insurgents carried out large coordinated attacks in towns of Gudermes and Argun, in Nozhay-Yurtovsky District, involving between 100 and 400 fighters. At the time of the attacks Gudermes had been functioning as a de factoDe factoDe facto is a Latin expression that means "concerning fact." In law, it often means "in practice but not necessarily ordained by law" or "in practice or actuality, but not officially established." It is commonly used in contrast to de jure when referring to matters of law, governance, or...
capital of Chechnya. An attack at Gudermes left 10 Russian soldiers dead; 15 rebels were reported killed.
- September 17 - A surface-to-air missileSurface-to-air missileA surface-to-air missile or ground-to-air missile is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft or other missiles...
shot down a VIP Mi-8Mil Mi-8The Mil Mi-8 is a medium twin-turbine transport helicopter that can also act as a gunship. The Mi-8 is the world's most-produced helicopter, and is used by over 50 countries. Russia is the largest operator of the Mi-8/Mi-17 helicopter....
helicopter over 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...
, killing Major-General Anatoli Pozdnyakov, member of the General StaffGeneral StaffA military staff, often referred to as General Staff, Army Staff, Navy Staff or Air Staff within the individual services, is a group of officers and enlisted personnel that provides a bi-directional flow of information between a commanding officer and subordinate military units...
of the Russian Armed Forces, Major-General Pavel Varfolomeyev, deputy director of staff of the Defence Ministry of Russia, eight colonelColonelColonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
s, and three crewmembers. (see 2001 Grozny Mi-8 crash2001 Grozny Mi-8 crashThe 2001 Grozny Mil Mi-8 crash in Chechnya killed 13 Russian military personnel, mostly senior military officers including two generals.On September 17, 2001, a surface-to-air missile fired by a special Chechen group targeting Russian commanders downed a VIP Mil Mi-8 helicopter over Grozny, killing...
)
- September 20 - Seven policemen, including local police chief, were killed during an attack between villages Kurchaloi and Mayrtup.
- September 30 - Two policemen were killed and 14 wounded in the rebel attack on police buildings in Kurchaloi.
October
- October 16 - Ten Russian soldiers were killed in Chechnya, including four killed by IEDImprovised explosive deviceAn improvised explosive device , also known as a roadside bomb, is a homemade bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional military action...
s in Grozny, another three in a convoy ambush in southern 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...
and at least two in attacks on the Russian outposts across the republic. In retaliation, Russian aircraft attacked suspected insurgent camps in the mountains and launched a search for suspected militants in several southern villages.
November
- November 29 - A young Chechen woman, Elza Gazuyeva, carried out an assassination attempt on the Urus-Martan military district commandantCommandantCommandant is a senior title often given to the officer in charge of a large training establishment or academy. This usage is common in anglophone nations...
, identified only as General Geydar Gadzhiev, blowing herself up with a hand grenadeHand grenadeA hand grenade is any small bomb that can be thrown by hand. Hand grenades are classified into three categories, explosive grenades, chemical and gas grenades. Explosive grenades are the most commonly used in modern warfare, and are designed to detonate after impact or after a set amount of time...
near a group of Russian soldiers. Gazuyeva had lost a husband, two brothers, and a cousin in the war. Gadzhiev, who was accused of atrocities against civilianCivilianA civilian under international humanitarian law is a person who is not a member of his or her country's armed forces or other militia. Civilians are distinct from combatants. They are afforded a degree of legal protection from the effects of war and military occupation...
s by locals, reportedly had personally summoned Elza to witness her husband's and brother's tortureTortureTorture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
and execution. He and several other soldiers later died of their wounds.http://www.chechentimes.org/en/chechentimes/21/?id=1025http://www.chechentimes.org/en/chechentimes/?id=15195http://www.watchdog.cz/index.php?show=000000-000015-000006-000008&lang=1http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2004-09/10/content_373509_2.htm
December
- December 30 - A four-day battle and cleansing operation in the large village of Tsotsin-Yurt, south of Grozny, reportedly results in dozens of deaths among combatants and civilians, including 11 locals who vanished after being detained by the Russian forces.