Invasion of Dagestan 1999. Invasion of militants into Dagestan

Dagestan as a hot spot was discussed for the first time in 1999. Now it's probably hard to remember what happened in August 1999, but then everything was different. Despite the fact that 13 years have passed, people still do not know everything that happened then. This material is the second in the "Fiery Caucasus" trilogy, and is dedicated to the invasion of militants Basayev and Khattab into Dagestan.

Reference:

, also known as the Dagestan War (in fact, it is considered the beginning of the Second Chechen campaign), - armed clashes that accompanied the entry of the Islamic Peacekeeping Brigade based in Chechnya under the command of Shamil Basayev and Khattab into the territory of Dagestan on August 7 - September 14, 1999. Initially, the detachments militants entered the Botlikhsky (August 7-23), and then into the Novolaksky district of Dagestan (September 5-14).

background

Wahhabism (pure Islam) - a radical offshoot of the Islamic religion, appeared on the territory of Dagestan in the late 1980s. At that time, these were still forbidden circles, however, after some 5-6 years, the Salafis, as the followers of Wahhabism call themselves, declared themselves seriously, and Bagautdin Kebedov, the spiritual leader of the Dagestan Wahhabis, played a key role in this.

Dossier:

Bagautdin Kebedov born 1945 - In Soviet times, he organized a number of illegal circles for the study of Islam. In 1989, Kebedov organized a Muslim community - a jamaat in the city of Kizilyurt. In 1990, he participated in the creation of the All-Union Islamic Renaissance Party. In 1997 he founded the Islamic Community of Dagestan, but in the same year he was forced to flee to Chechnya, where he lived first in Gudermes and then in Urus-Martan. He was one of the organizers of the Islamic Shura of Dagestan. He took an active part in organizing the invasion of militants into Dagestan in 1999, led one of the three - the southern armed formation. Currently on the wanted list.

This "bright comrade", during the First Chechen War, established strong ties with many field commanders, including Khattab. The Wahhabis, to whom Khattab belonged, as well as his supporter, the Chechen field commander Shamil Basayev, gradually began to gain popularity in Ichkeria, where, after the end of the war, a very tense situation developed.

After the conclusion of the treacherous Khasavyurt Accords in August 1996 and the withdrawal of Russian troops, the territory of the self-proclaimed Chechen Republic of Ichkeria became a stronghold of international terrorism and the slave trade. Mercenaries from around the world continued to arrive in the republic.

Despite the Sharia laws that have been in force for more than two years, by the way, the bloody video evidence of which is still drifting across the Internet, the "freedom fighters" who felt their impunity continued to engage in a profitable criminal business. Kidnappings have not stopped either; on the contrary, both official Russian representatives and citizens of foreign countries have become new targets. The bandits do not give preference to any profession or position: journalists, humanitarian workers, and religious missionaries fell into the clutches of militants, not counting workers and builders, and even children. It was possible to escape only by paying a ransom that was too much for the common people.

In addition, on the territory of Ichkeria, many camps were organized for the training of militants who trained new "wolves". By the way, in a short period of time 1997-1999, more than one attack was made on Russian border posts, as well as on the territory of Russia, terrorist attacks continued to thunder.

Militant invasion of Dagestan

However, these very attacks were not just thugs from the main road. The odious leaders of gangs, Chechen Shamil Basayev and Arab Amir Khattab, were preparing a full-scale armed invasion of neighboring Dagestan, or rather, its mountainous part.

Why exactly there? Because at that time, in the mountains of Dagestan, there were practically no regular units, and the transfer of troops was complicated by difficult landscape conditions. Today, video recordings of militants of those times have been preserved. After reviewing them, you come to the conclusion that they prepared carefully, brand new camouflage from the needle. Grenade launchers, mortars, military equipment. I'm not talking about a variety of small arms. The video shows how thousands of militants get to their destination in loaded KAMAZ trucks (!). Where do they get such finances from? Is it really the budget of Ichkeria? No. As we know very well, the sponsorship of the "sacred struggle against the infidels" came from abroad, and from a variety of states. As for the Arab countries, whole rallies gathered there in support of the Chechen brothers in arms. However, the “fighters” had to report to their sponsors, hence the thousands of videos with various explosions, ambushes, shelling, executions, etc., accompanied by heart-rending cries of “Allahu Akbar!”.

Let's return to our "friend" Kebedov. In 1997-98, the Dagestan Wahhabis, outlawed in their homeland, found refuge in the territory of the CRI, by the way, many took an active part in the First Chechen War. Bagautdin Kebedov also showed up in Chechnya. He organized a new Islamic governing body - something like a government in exile and called it the "Islamic shura of Dagestan." Further events began to develop rapidly.

Together with the Chechen field commanders, Kebedov organizes and equips more and more militant groups. And already in April 1998, the founding congress of the "Congress of the Peoples of Ichkeria and Dagestan" was held, the head of this organization was Shamil Basayev, well-known from the First Chechen War. New armed formations of militants are also being formed there, one of which was the Islamic International Peacekeeping Brigade, and the Arab emissary Khattab, again well known to us, became its commander.

During the congress of the organization, issues of the liberation of the Caucasus from the oppression of Russia were discussed, and the leaders of the organization vehemently criticized the Russian leadership in relation to their policy in Dagestan.

Thus, all the threads are woven together. Military preparations for the operation began, again generously paid for from abroad. Since the beginning of 1999, Kebedov's militants infiltrate in small groups into the territory of Dagestan and dissolve in the mountain villages, where they carry out ideological work, and also build military bases and weapons depots.

And in June 1999, the first armed clashes between militants and the Dagestan police began. The leadership of Dagestan insisted on conducting a large-scale military operation. Meanwhile, Kebedov turned to the field commanders for help. As a result, Shamil Basaev, Khattab, the commander of the Islamic Special Purpose Regiment, the well-known kidnapper Arbi Baraev, Ramzan Akhmadov, the commander of the Sharia Guard of the CRI, Abdul-Malik Mezhidov, who is still hiding to this day, and others, in total more than 40 field commanders, agreed to help the ideologist of the Dagestani Wahhabis .

fighting

August 1, 1999- "in order to prevent penetration into the territory of the region and possible provocations by local followers of extremism" a combined police detachment (about 100 people) was sent from Makhachkala to the Tsumadinsky district of Dagestan. The Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic was transferred to the barracks position, and also, 5th of August- the redeployment of the 102nd brigade of internal troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs begins to cover the Chechen-Dagestan border in the Tsumadinsky district.

BUT August 7- militants of the "Islamic peacekeeping brigade" of Basayev and Khattab, numbering from 400 to 500 militants, freely entered the Botlikh region of Dagestan and captured a number of villages (Ansalta, Rakhata, Tando, Shodroda, Godoberi), announcing the start of the operation "Imam Gazi-Magomed" . The video shows the terrorists entering the villages. First of all, in one of the villages, the policeman surrenders his weapon, and he is allowed to go home. Soon, the small population of the village pours out into the street, where Basayev and Khattab, with an important look, hold a kind of “press conference” for the residents, and the militants, having seized the shops, destroy the alcohol. There is nothing surprising here. Accustomed to filming, militants know how to behave during filming in order to appear as “honest liberators”. Basayev appreciated the power of the media back in 1995 in the Budyonnovsk hospital.

8 August- militants captured the villages of Shodrota and Ziberkhali. And the next day, the "Islamic Shura of Dagestan" distributed the "Declaration on the Restoration of the Islamic State of Dagestan" and the "Resolution in connection with the occupation of the State of Dagestan" (these documents are dated August 6). Shura declared the State Council of the Republic of Dagestan deposed and formed an Islamic government. On the territory of several districts of Dagestan, the Shura television channel begins broadcasting calls for gazavat and other ideological materials of the Islamists. Shura officially appointed Shamil Basayev and Arab field commander Khattab as temporary commanders of militant forces in Dagestan.

However, after the capture of the villages, Russia's reaction was immediate. According to the Finmarket news agency, referring to the Vesti program August 9 ex-Prime Minister Sergei Stepashin thanked the Cabinet of Ministers for the work done, while he focused on the situation in Dagestan and the Caucasus, saying that the situation is very difficult. "Perhaps we can lose Dagestan." Then the people of the country understood that everything was serious.

Ordinary Dagestanis, Muslims just like the invading terrorists, took up arms and went to defend their villages. I recall the remark of one militiaman: “Just give us weapons, we will squeeze the militants out of there ourselves!”. Indeed, the footage from August 1999 resembles nothing less than partisans from the Great Patriotic War, when all men, young and old, picking up a variety of weapons, everything that shoots, go to fight.

With August 9 to 18 there are fierce battles for the strategically important height "Donkey's Ear", between the Wahhabis and the Novorossiysk and Stavropol paratroopers of the federal forces (coordinates: 42 ° 39 "59" N 46 ° 8 "0" E). On the part of the federal forces, 2 assaults were undertaken, it came to hand-to-hand combat. The fighting lasted almost 2 weeks, over time, the militants were driven out. As a result of the fighting, the paratroopers lost 13 people killed, including the commander of the battalion of the 108th Guards Parachute Regiment of the 7th Guards Airborne Division, Major Sergei Kostin, who was awarded the Gold Star of the Hero of the Russian Federation (posthumously).

August 16- The State Duma decided “to consider the invasion of illegal armed groups from the territory of the Chechen Republic into the territory of the Republic of Dagestan as a particularly dangerous form of terrorism with the participation of foreign citizens, aimed at separating the Republic of Dagestan from the Russian Federation. During the fighting, the militants manage to knock out a Russian helicopter, with three generals on board, and August 17 repulse the attack of federal troops on the village of Tando. From the federal side: 6 burned infantry fighting vehicles, 34 dead, several dozen wounded.

However, this is where the military successes of the Islamic Peacekeeping Brigade end. August 23- Basayev withdraws the remnants of his troops to the territory of Chechnya. 24 August- federal forces regained control over the villages of Ansalta, Rakhata, Shodroda, Tando.

With August 29 to September 13, an operation was carried out to destroy already Dagestan militants, the so-called Wahhabi enclave, in the Kadar zone. By the way, the Chechens who came out of the fighting are again returning to the aid of their Dagestan brothers in arms, but already in the villages of the Kadar zone - Karamakhi and Chabanmakhi. Here's what the informational websites say about it: September 5 - detachments of Chechen fighters under the command of Basayev and Khattab again enter Dagestan, "in order to ease the pressure of the military and police forces on the rebel villages of Karamakhi and Chabanmakhi in the Kadar zone." The operation is given the name "Imam Gamzat-bek". According to the militants, this operation was not planned, but was carried out in response to the requests of the Muslims of Karamakhi and Chabanmakhi to save them from destruction.».

6 September- the militants captured the Dagestan villages of Novolakskoye, Chapaevo, Shushiya, Ahar, Novokuli, Tukhchar, Gamiyakh, but September 7 were stopped by federal troops 3 kilometers from the city of Khasavyurt. And it's September 11th Shamil Basayev announced the withdrawal of Islamic formations from the Novolaksky district. He stated that the Mujahideen entered Dagestan in order to help fellow believers in the Kadar zone, and now, after the defeat of the militias, it makes no sense to continue hostilities. September 14- federal forces regained control over the village of Novolakskoe, a large-scale military operation of the federal forces ended in the defeat of the militants.

Here I would like to point out a few facts:

1. Since the beginning of the operation in the Kadar zone, many different media representatives have already worked on the scene, including Alexander Sladkov and Arkady Mamontov. Thus, everything that happened was "live";

2. 11 September- near the village of Duchi, a Mi-8 artillery spotter helicopter was shot down, all three crew members died;

3. September 5 - militants destroyed a checkpoint near the village of Tukhchar. The captured Russian servicemen were beheaded. Fragments of the video recording of the execution will be used in almost all subsequent documentaries about the Chechen war. The names of the guys, like all the dead heroes, will remain in our memory forever: Senior Lieutenant Vasily Tashkin, privates Vladimir Kaufman, Alexei Lipatov, Boris Eredneev, Alexei Polagaev and Konstantin Anisimov.

Results. Plans. Losses

According to official figures, 279 soldiers and officers were killed and 800 wounded. On August 31, 1999, during the cleansing of the village of Karamakhi, a nurse, Sergeant Irina Yanina, died - the first (and at the beginning of 2008 the only) woman awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation for military operations in the Caucasian wars. According to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, the loss of militants in Dagestan is about 2,500 killed. Units of the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and militias were involved. Apart from ground combat equipment, artillery and aviation were actively used.

In addition, in September 1999, massive explosions of residential buildings in Moscow, Buynaksk, Volgodonsk, also caused human casualties. Chechen terrorists are taking responsibility.

As for the results. The main one is the suppression of a major terrorist act that threatened the territorial integrity of the state. If we talk about the further plans of the command, then the war did not end with the destruction of militants in Dagestan. In front of the troops, sovereign Chechnya was waiting, where the remnants of the militants had infiltrated, and where they were already preparing for a new war. The Chechen knot has been tightened for too long, the time has come to cut it.

In the summer of 1999, a situation arose in the Chechen Republic in which President Maskhadov did not actually control the formation of so-called field commanders. At the same time, the main ideologists of the Muslim world (Udugov, Basaev, Khattab) developed a strategic plan that provided for the creation on the territory of Russia of a single independent pan-Caucasian Muslim state, the so-called "zone of pure faith", uniting the Chechen Republic, Dagestan, Ingushetia, North Ossetia and Karachayevo -Cherkessia, and later the regions of Stavropol, Krasnodar, Rostov. We started from Dagestan.

Invasion of Dagestan militants of the so-called "Islamic peacekeeping brigade" was an attempt to implement this plan on a large scale and marked the beginning Second Chechen War, which lasted 10 years - from 1999 to 2009.

FIGHTING IN DAGESTAN

07 - 08.08 - illegal armed formations crossed the Dagestan border and occupied 36 settlements. Seven settlements were occupied without a fight: Ansalta, Rakhata, Shadroda, Ziberkhali, Tando in the Botlikh region and Gagatli, Andi in the Tsumadinsky region of Dagestan. The actions of the illegal armed formations are accompanied by information support (with the help of a radar station and a TV tower) carried out by Wahhabis from the Kadar zone.

08 - 10.08 - an attempt to localize the invasion area with available forces and means. Battles for Godoberi and Ziberhali.

10 - 13.08 - blocking illegal armed formations, inflicting air and artillery strikes, transferring troops.

14 - 17.08 - illegal armed formations were ousted from the Tsumadinsky district and the zone of operations of the illegal armed formations was narrowed, the liberated settlements were combed and taken under control.

August 17 - 21 - preparations for the operation to destroy illegal armed formations: strengthening the administrative border, regrouping troops, preparing them for operations in the mountains, delivering air and artillery strikes on the concentration of illegal armed groups in Dagestan (Botlikh district) and Chechnya.

August 22 - 26 - inflicting fire damage and defeating illegal armed groups in the Botlikh region (six settlements - Tando, Ansalta, Shadroda, Rakhat, Ziberkhali, Ashino), Tsumadinsky district (two settlements - Echeda, Gagatli) and conducting reconnaissance and combat operations against combating small groups of illegal armed formations, delivering air-artillery strikes against their accumulation on the territory of the Chechen Republic (Kenkhi, Komsomolskoye, Vedeno, Gudermes, Sovetskoye, Urus-Martan, Serzhen-Yurt and others).

27 - 30.08 - transfer of the liberated settlements to the bodies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and local administration, conducting reconnaissance, strengthening the administrative border, combing the territory, demining the area and performing work by the forces of the Ministry of Emergencies.

FIGHTING IN THE KADAR ZONE

On 07.08, information support for illegal armed formations began to be provided from the Kadar zone.

On August 28, fighting began in the Kadar zone (Buinaksky district).

29 - 31.08 - actions to block the four main Wahhabite strongholds located in settlements (Kadar, Karamakhi, Chabanmakhi and Vanashimakhi) by the forces of the Internal Troops and the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

August 31 - September 3 - strong fire support by the forces and means of the Ministry of Defense (self-propelled guns, Grad guns and aviation - front and army).

09/04 - 09/07 - regrouping of troops, launching rocket and bomb strikes on illegal armed formations in the Kadar zone and preparing troops for actions to capture settlements in mountainous conditions. Representatives of the illegal armed formations made attempts to negotiate the creation of a corridor for the exit of the "civilian population", but the command of the United Group of Forces demanded only the complete surrender of the enemy.

09/05 - active operations began in the Novolaksky district of Dagestan.

08.09 - the beginning of the operation to destroy the illegal armed formations and the Wahhabis supporting them in the Kadar zone. Mount Chaban was taken under control.

09.09 - Karamakhi, Chabanmakhi and Kadar are blocked for the second time.

September 13 - Karamakhi and Chabanmakhi are taken under control. The active phase of the operation is over.

September 14 - September 15 - the entire combat zone was transferred to the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

PROGRESS IN NOVOLAKSKY DISTRICT

09/04 - IAGs consisting of about 2 thousand people (Basayev, Khattab) from the territory of Chechnya, in detachments of 200-250 people, occupied six settlements, of which Ahar, Gamiyakh, Dylym without a fight. Battle for the village of Novolakskoye and Kalininaul.

09/06 - from the Kadar zone, armored groups of units of the Ministry of Defense and VV are urgently transferred under their own power. In addition, combined arms units were deployed from Stavropol to strengthen the administrative border in the Kizlyar and Khasavyurt directions of Dagestan.

06.09 - 08.09 - the troops were regrouped and rocket-bomb and artillery strikes were carried out against concentrations of illegal armed formations, especially against the settlements they had captured. Single battles for dominating heights.

09.09 - the operation to destroy the illegal armed formations in the Novolaksky district began. At that time, five settlements were in the hands of the illegal armed formations - Turchak, Ahar, Shushiya, Novolakskoye and Gamiyakh. Fights began for Novolakskoye, Gamiyakh, and the height of Ekitebe.

September 10 - battle for height 715.3 (37 people were killed and 19 were injured).

September 11 - September 13 - all settlements captured by illegal armed groups were liberated. Internal troops and bodies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, with the support of units of the Ministry of Defense, began to take them under control. Rocket and bomb strikes were carried out by aviation and artillery on the concentration of illegal armed formations on the territory of Chechnya in Vedeno, Urus-Martan, Serzhen-Yurt, Shelkovskaya and at the location of their warehouses and training bases in Nozhai-Yurt, Zandak, Gilany.

September 15 - the entire Novolaksky district is taken under control and transferred to the bodies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Dagestan.

GENERAL RESULTS OF COMBAT ACTIONS IN DAGESTAN

During the fighting in Dagestan for the period from 07.08 to 20.09, the losses of the federal forces amounted to 275 killed and 973 wounded.

The loss of illegal armed formations in people amounted to more than 1.5 thousand people killed.

More than 20,000 civilians, including more than 9,000 children, left the immediate zone of hostilities.

Only in the Botlikh region 660 houses were destroyed, 1880 were damaged.

EVENTS IN THE CHECHEN REPUBLIC

Steps to Create a Security Zone

September 15 - September 30 - the strengthening of the Joint Group of Forces and the creation of a security zone began in order to strengthen the administrative border with Chechnya. Launching missile and bomb strikes against concentrations of illegal armed formations and their bases and warehouses on the territory of the Chechen Republic.

September 30 - the expansion of the security zone on the territory of Chechnya began.

01.10 -10.10 - creation of a security zone from the side of Stavropol and Dagestan. From 02.10, a security zone was created from the side of Ingushetia and North Ossetia. 8 mountain paths from the side of the state border with Georgia were taken under control by remote mining by aircraft.

11.10 -18.10 - taking control of the liberated territory and 39 settlements that make up 1/3 of Chechnya (Shelkovskaya, Nadterechny and Naursky districts). The elders of the settlements of the Vedeno and Gudermes districts are negotiating with field commanders on the liberation of the territory from illegal armed formations.

October 18 - October 20 - the regrouping of troops and the training of personnel in the tactics of actions by mobile groups continue.

October 21 - October 23 - the creation of a military zone from the side of Stavropol and the northern part of Dagestan began (troops moved to the right bank of the Terek). All highways connecting the Chechen Republic with neighboring regions, the Kizlyar-Mozdok railway line, the Magas-Grozny power supply line, and the strategic bridge in the village of Vinogradnoye have been taken under control.

23.10 - the creation of a military zone by units of the 58th Army along the entire Chechen-Ingush administrative border began.

In general, four districts were completely liberated (Shelkovskoy, Nadterechny, Naursky, Sunzhensky) and one district was partially liberated (Groznensky). At the same time, more than 110 settlements were taken under control, which is 2/3 of the entire republic.

Actions in Grozny

20.11 - 20.12 - Northern, Western and Eastern groups attempted to complete the encirclement of more than 4 thousand people of illegal armed formations in Grozny and simultaneously blockade the mountainous part of the Chechen Republic. During the operation, the main 24 settlements of the central part of Chechnya were taken under control. The fighting unfolded for Argun, Alkhan-Yurt, Stary Achkhoy, Urus-Martan, Avtury, Shali, Germenchuk, Chernorechye, Starye Atagi, Staraya Sunzha, Khankala and others. An encirclement ring was created around Grozny and the main roads were intercepted.

25.12 - 15.01 - actions began to capture the city from five directions. The main battles took place in the Staropromyslovsky, Oktyabrsky and Zavodsky districts, as well as in the Rodina and Staraya Sunzha state farms. However, the assault troops were stopped.

01/18 - 02/07 - Actions to liberate the city from illegal armed formations have been resumed, but already in 15 directions. The main battles unfolded in the Oktyabrsky, Prigorodny, Leninsky, Zavodskoy and Central regions. The illegal armed formations repeatedly attempted to break out of the city. At the same time, the enemy carried out a series of sabotage in Argun, Gudermes and Shali, which required the command of the United Group to detach part of its forces to prevent the release of Grozny and sabotage in the liberated territories. On January 31, the assault detachments reached the city center, and by 07.02 the city was taken under control. 2/3 of all losses were suffered by assault detachments from the fire of snipers of illegal armed formations.

Activities in the mountains

20.12 - 10.02 - Simultaneously with the actions to block the Grozny Troops of the Joint Group, part of the forces began to take measures to identify and destroy the main strongholds of illegal armed formations in the Argun and Vedeno gorges. A decision was made to create a Southern grouping as part of the Airborne Forces and special forces of the FPS. For this purpose, a tactical airborne assault force (TakVD) was landed in Itum-Kale as part of an Airborne Forces unit in the amount of 380 people and in the vicinity of Shatili - a border detachment of the FPS with the task of blocking the main passes of the Argun Gorge and preventing the enemy from receiving material assistance (Itum- Kale - Shatili). Displacement of illegal armed formations from the territory of the Vedeno Gorge. The main battles unfolded for Dargo, Serzhen-Yurt, Vedeno, Kiri, Dai, Makhkety. At the same time, illegal armed formations were forced out of the Argun Gorge. The Vedensky, Nozhai-Yurtovsky, Itum-Kalinsky and Sharoysky mountain regions were taken under control.

10.02 - 10.03 - active fighting began in the area of ​​the Argun Gorge. Bandits carry out more than 10 major acts of sabotage in the settlements of Kalinovskaya, Chervlennaya, Assinovskaya, Itum-Kale, Omich, Mesker-Yurt, Kurchaloy, Achkhoy-Martan. Pervomaiskoe, Grozny. The largest of them was the shooting of a column of riot police near Moscow on 02.03 in Pervomaisky. The Argun Gorge from Shatoi to Duba-Yurt was taken under control.

March 10 - March 30 - Another massive attempt was made to break through in two directions: Dachu-Borzoi - Komsomolskoye (Gelaev) and B. Varanda - Ulus-Kert (Basaev, Khattab). Blocking of illegal armed formations under the command of Gelaev in Komsomolskoye. Breakthrough of the illegal armed formations under the command of Basayev and Khattab in the Vedeno Gorge (battle of the 6th PDR of the 104th RAP). Conducting combat operations to search for and destroy disparate detachments of illegal armed formations. Creation of military commandant's offices.

GENERAL RESULTS OF COMBAT ACTIONS IN THE CHECHEN REPUBLIC

During the conduct of hostilities, more than 80% of the territory of the Chechen Republic was taken under control; more than 8,000 people of illegal armed formations were destroyed, more than 40 illegal armed formations were dispersed, 350 enemy strongholds were destroyed, 7,500 firearms and 16,000 pieces of various ammunition were seized, more than 200 oil refinery mini-factories were liquidated.

The Russian government decided to deploy in the Chechen Republic on a permanent basis the 42nd Motorized Rifle Division of the Ministry of Defense, a separate explosive brigade and a border detachment of the FPS in Itum-Kale.

This is the main course of the special operation to destroy illegal armed formations in the North Caucasus in the period from August 1999 to March 2000.

CONCLUSIONS FROM THE EVENTS OF THE INITIAL PERIOD OF THE SECOND CHECHEN WAR

Shortcomings in the actions of the troops

1. Weak combat training of troops, especially the explosives and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, for operations in special conditions (mountains, settlements). The training of the units of the Defense Ministry, for example, took place only for 4 days in the Botlikh region, which was clearly not enough.

2. Poor organization of interaction between the units of the Ministry of Defense, Internal Troops and the Ministry of Internal Affairs led to unjustified losses. For example, the battle for the village of Novolakskoe. On September 5, 1999, the village was attacked by illegal armed groups numbering about 500 people. They were opposed by 30 employees of the regional police department and 22 Lipetsk riot police, that is, there was a tenfold superiority of the forces of the attackers. The battle began at 6.15 am and ended at 3.00 am on 6 September. Our losses were 15 killed and 14 wounded. The militiamen left the encirclement by forests through the Kazbek district by 8.00 am on September 6 near the village of Novokuli, where the subdivisions of the Ministry of Defense were located.

3. Significant shortcomings appeared in the organization of interaction between ground troops, artillery units and aviation, which led to attacks on their own troops. An example is the battle for a height of 715.3 in the Novolaksky district. On September 10, 1999, the Armavir OMON (80 people) was ordered to take this height at night. The task was completed, but on the morning of September 11, they were attacked by their aircraft and at the same time the policemen were attacked by bandits from all sides. OMON was forced to withdraw, while 37 people were killed and 19 wounded.

4. Often, units performed tasks that were unusual for them (MO - taking control of settlements, explosives - blocking settlements and capturing them). For example, from August 29 to August 31, 1999, the forces of the Internal Troops and the Ministry of Internal Affairs carried out actions to block the four main Wahhabi strongholds located in the settlements of Kadar, Karamakhi, Chabanmakhi and Vanashimakhi. The operation was led by the commander of the North Caucasian District of the Internal Troops, the coordination of actions from the Ministry of Defense was carried out by a representative of the Ministry of Defense. The operation was attended by 4,500 servicemen of the Internal Troops and bodies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs - special forces units of the Internal Troops, as well as special forces attached to them and special forces units of the Main Directorate for the Execution of Punishments. The troops of the Defense Ministry, contrary to widespread information, did not take a direct part in street fighting, providing fire support and blocking the area of ​​operation.

The IAF put up fierce resistance. The villages were extremely well fortified and had an extensive network of communications. Under the cover of sniper and machine-gun fire, the enemy sought to approach the positions of our troops at a distance of throwing a hand grenade. Sometimes Wahhabi suicide bombers threw grenades into the trenches, undermining themselves and our soldiers. This is how several soldiers of the 17th OMON detachment died.

The subdivisions of the Internal Troops and the bodies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs were unable to complete the task within the specified time frame and suffered serious losses. Therefore, the command decided to carry out a regrouping of troops and launch a series of missile and bomb strikes on the concentration of illegal armed groups in Karamakhi and Chabanmakhi, and a representative of the Ministry of Defense began to manage the operation.

5. Weak organization and conduct of reconnaissance in the mountains. Unorganized joint actions of reconnaissance groups in broken sectors did not allow quickly detecting the enemy, calling in aircraft and effectively blocking illegal armed formations by motorized rifle and tank units in the mountainous part of the Chechen Republic from March 10 to March 30, 2000.

6. There was often a significant diversion of forces and means to ensure security in zones adjacent to the combat area. So, on October 1, 1999, a special operation to liberate the central part of the Chechen Republic was launched only by the forces of the Western and Eastern groups, although, according to the plan of the commander of the United Group of Forces, the Northern group should have been involved in this task. However, by the time the special operation began, the Northern Group had to deal with ensuring control in the liberated territory and equipping a defensive line along the left bank of the Terek (outposts with an area of ​​responsibility of 2-5 km).

7. The talk of the town was the violation of the radio exchange regime and the leakage of information during the preparation and conduct of special operations. Sadly indicative in this regard is the shooting of a column of OMON near Moscow. On March 2, 2000, a column of 9 cars, unescorted and guarded, in violation of the radio traffic rules, marched to Pervomaiskoye. NVF took advantage of this error. The ambush was planned in the dead zone of the guard post of the explosives, which was located at a distance of only 500 m from the battlefield, and carried out according to the classic version - the destruction of the first and last vehicles, heavy fire for 3-5 minutes, an organized withdrawal with mining of escape routes. The result - 20 people were killed, 29 were injured.

8. There were serious shortcomings in the organization and conduct of hostilities in urban areas. Suffice it to recall how they took Grozny in December 1999 and January 2000. On December 25, an operation began to capture the city from five directions. At the same time, the basis of the assault squads was made up of units of the Internal Troops, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the people's militia of the Chechen Republic. At this stage, the Defense Ministry units were assigned a secondary role - fire support and assistance in securing the achieved lines. However, by the scheduled date (January 15, 2000), the assault detachments could only reach the middle defensive line of the illegal armed formations in the city and were stopped.

Training of privates of the tactical level

1. Personnel are not ready for action in the mountains, especially drivers and driver-mechanics.

2. Subdivisions of the Defense Ministry, Internal Troops and the Ministry of Internal Affairs are not ready to conduct joint actions.

3. Assault groups, when operating in populated areas, do not know how to interact with aviation and artillery.

4. Servicemen did not learn how to use night vision devices and terrain lighting equipment in the dark.

5. Gunners-operators of infantry fighting vehicles and anti-tank missile installations are not trained to hit enemy targets from long distances due to the zone of continuous fire of his small arms.

6. The personnel have a low level of knowledge on the march, organization of reconnaissance and security, as well as training for combat use and maintenance during the battle of the main types of weapons and military equipment.

Training of officers of the tactical level

1. The commanders of platoons, companies and battalions experience difficulties in organizing and managing combat in mountainous areas.

2. Platoon and company commanders cannot fully control subunits during their exit to the object of attack, correctly and in a timely manner use the results of air strikes and artillery fire during the battle, experience great difficulties in organizing defense during the conduct of the battle, as well as in the implementation of the exit from combat and retreat.

3. Platoon and company commanders cannot organize the destruction of enemy firing points and correctly assign a task to a sniper, flamethrowers, anti-tank missiles, grenade launchers and mortar crews.

4. Battalion commanders do not know how to choose the right place for a command and observation post based on the situation on the battlefield.

5. When deciding on a battle, the commanders of platoons, companies and battalions do not fully collect information and assess the situation and, as a result, poorly reflect the issues of fire damage and measures to deceive the enemy in their plan.

6. The commanders of the tactical level units are not trained in the methods of action during the localization (isolation) of the area (settlement) and deployment at night.

7. The commanders of platoons, companies and battalions have insufficient knowledge of the organization of fire damage and its control during the battle.

LESSONS FIGHTING IN DAGESTAN AND CHECHNYA (1999 - 2000)

1. The battle to capture a populated area in mountainous conditions should be carried out by actions from the front by motorized rifle and tank subunits with the simultaneous landing of TakVD on the dominant heights and the expulsion of bypassing detachments on the retreat route of illegal armed formations. Mastery begins with fire training by forces of front-line, assault and army aviation and artillery and continues with their continuous support with the use of assault squads to capture the main long-term firing points. For example, on August 24, 1999, the battle for Tando was fought by units of the 136th Motorized Rifle Brigade in cooperation with the Airborne Forces. Initially, group air raids and artillery fire strikes were launched, the TakVD was landed on the dominant heights (“Mi-26”), and a bypassing detachment on armored personnel carriers was sent on the retreat route of the illegal armed formations. The attack began at 3:00 am after heavy fire preparation and was carried out by the forces of the first echelon units with continuous artillery support and the actions of two assault squads to capture the main long-term firing points in the center of Tando. Losses of illegal armed formations amounted to more than 100 people, 3 tanks, 5 mortars, 7 ZSU and 18 vehicles. Defense Ministry losses - 8 people were killed, 20 were injured.

2. Combat to capture a populated area on flat areas of the terrain should be carried out by inflicting fire damage by front-line, attack and army aviation, capturing commanding heights by units of the Ministry of Defense, inflicting fire damage by artillery units on a populated area, blocking and narrowing the blocking ring around the populated area by units of the Ministry of Defense, combing settlement by the forces of the Internal Troops and the bodies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the transfer of the settlement to local authorities and the implementation of protection by the police of the local district department. Take control of Novolaksky as an example. From September 10 to September 13, 1999, units of the Defense Ministry carried out a blockade of the settlement, in which detachments of illegal armed formations were located. On the morning of September 13, units of the Internal Troops and the bodies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Dagestan began combing it. On the call of the commanders of the units of the Internal Troops and the bodies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the units of the Ministry of Defense provided fire support for their actions. On September 15, Novolakskoye was taken under control and handed over to local authorities.

3. When fighting in the mountains, mobile subunits (raiding and bypassing detachments) should be widely used. So, in the period from August 22 to 26, 1999, during the operation to destroy enemy formations in the Botlikh direction, simultaneously with operations from the front, outflanking detachments from the Airborne Forces units were used to cover the flanks and rear of illegal armed formations (Mount Aliken - Donkey's Ear) and raid detachments from the units of the Ministry of Defense and the explosives to prevent the approach of reserves.

4. When fighting in urban conditions, the basis of the assault detachments should be the units of the Ministry of Defense. After the unsuccessful outcome of the hostilities in Grozny in January 2000, when the basis of the assault detachments were units of the Internal Troops, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the people's militia of the Chechen Republic, a regrouping of troops was carried out. And on January 18, 2000, actions were resumed to liberate the city from illegal armed formations in 15 directions. Now the basis of the assault detachments were the units of the Ministry of Defense, and the units of the Internal Troops, the bodies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the people's militia of Chechnya were fixed in the liberated areas of the city. On January 31, assault troops entered the city center, and by February 7, the city was taken under control.

5. When solving problems in the mountains, front-line and attack aviation must operate at an altitude of at least 3500 meters and at a distance from the line of contact from 1000 to 3000 m.

6. It is most expedient for artillery units to set tasks for blocking areas of the terrain (settlements), its illumination and target designation of aviation. For fire support of motorized rifle and tank units, it is advisable to allocate 1-2 artillery battalions (on the plains per battalion - an artillery battery, in the mountains per battalion - an artillery division).

7. It is necessary to take into account the level of mental state of personnel in the combat zone, based on the following:

• 1st week - a state of stupor and a sharp decrease in the perception of the environment;
• 1st month - drawing into the environment and perceiving it as the norm;
• 2nd month - symptoms of fatigue appear;
• 3rd month - chronic overwork begins;
• 4 - 6 months - the limit of a person's mental state.

It follows that after 2 months it is necessary to provide for the withdrawal of troops to the rear for rest. Otherwise, the number of suicide attempts, nervous breakdowns increases, aggression appears, tension increases and the level of anxiety in a person increases.

8. When organizing and conducting combat operations, the main channels of information leakage can be considered:

• use of cell phones;
• use of administrative lines of communication;
• a wide range of officials admitted to the planning of the operation;
• a small range of measures taken to deceive.

9. When organizing and conducting combat operations, it is necessary to take into account the moral and mental state of the personnel in the zone of operations, to know the irritants that cause a negative reaction in him. There are several such irritants. These are food (1 month of eating porridge with stew or vermicelli with sprat causes beriberi in a healthy person - fresh food, such as meat is required), lack of rest (a person needs 6 hours of sleep in warmth and dryness to recover, otherwise fatigue and depression set in), shooting (from 10% to 60% of the personnel in need of psychiatric help - "the roof is on the way"), combat conditions (the most difficult conditions are combat in the city and mountains).

These factors must be taken into account in combat work.

The content of this page was prepared for the portal "Modern Army" according to the article by S. Batyushkin "Do the lessons of Chechnya teach" (collection edited by M. Boltunov "Afghan. Chechnya. Combat experience"). When copying content, please remember to link to the source page.

In Russia today, dramatic events are also remembered in another region of the Caucasus. 10 years ago, on August 7, 1999, militants from Basayev and Khattab invaded Dagestan. Parts of the Russian army and detachments of local militias stood in the way of the bandits.

Reporting by Pavel Pchelkin.

Magomed Labazanov, commander of a militia detachment in 1999: "They descended from the mountains, there were 600-700 people, in my opinion, armed to the teeth, as they say. Mortars, machine guns, machine guns, well-dressed, in camouflage uniforms."

On August 7, 1999, the peaceful Dagestan village of Ansalta was captured by Basayev's militants who came from behind the mountains, from Chechnya. It was just one of the detachments of thousands of extremists who invaded Dagestan that day and captured more than a dozen villages.

A few days later, Magomed Labazanov led a detachment of militia, which later, together with the Russian army, liberated his native village. He recalls how indignant his fellow villagers were when they heard from the leader of the militants that true Islam would now be established here. They just couldn't believe their ears.

Magomed Labazanov, commander of a militia detachment in 1999: "We even told them: what is true Islam, when our people, our villagers, when you had no one to bury people, you did not know Islamic, we taught you, taught you."

But the militants only laughed in the face. Magomed says: there were many Arab mercenaries among them. Strangers behaved impudently, in a businesslike way. Residents of many villages in the Botlikh and Tsumadinsky districts, captured by the Basayevites, simply left their homes. Women and children to be saved. Men to return in arms.

Magomed Zainulabidov, a resident of the village of Shodroda in 1999, a militiaman: “There were 27 of us people from different villages, militiamen. We stayed in the village of Tondo for 5 days, for 5 days. The fighting was heavy, there were losses both on their side and on ours side. On the 6th day we entered the village of Tondo. At this point, the battle stopped for us. "

Magomed, who received the Order of Courage for participating in those battles, is stingy with words. According to his wife, this was also the case 10 years ago, when, having taken his family to Makhachkala, he went to war.

Zaira Zainabidova: "For the sake of my father's grave, she says, I will go. And I left. I wished me good luck. Happy. So we parted"

They still call themselves militias and remember how well-armed and trained militants were held back with hunting rifles, how they liberated their native villages shoulder to shoulder with the soldiers of the Russian army, whose units, of course, played the main role in the battles.

But, as Vladimir Putin recalled two years ago, without the support, including moral support, of the inhabitants of Dagestan, it would have been much more difficult to defeat the militants.

Vladimir Putin (October 18, 2007): “Do you know what particularly shocked me: when the troops had already approached, the elders came to the unit commanders and asked why they weren’t shooting at the captured villages? The answer was also unexpected. Our officers said: “It’s a pity building a house in the mountains is not an easy task, houses are built for generations.

The terrorists fiercely resisted, but the Russian army and militias cleared village after village of bandits. For 1.5 months of fighting, according to official data, in August-September 1999, more than 1.5 thousand militants were destroyed on the territory of Dagestan. The federal forces also paid a high price for this victory: 280 Russian servicemen were killed and 987 were wounded.

During that operation, Yevgeny Pallo served as the commander of the artillery reconnaissance section. Awarded with the Suvorov medal.

Yevgeny Palo, an employee of a security company, a participant in the operation in Dagestan: “We had combat losses, and I kind of didn’t quite think that this could be my reward. Now I don’t wear it, I don’t put it on. But I keep it as a memory.”

Today Evgeny works in a security company in Chelyabinsk. He doesn't like to talk about the war. But he says: it was impossible otherwise. It was enough to see how much grief the bandits with whom he fought brought to the land of Dagestan.

The terrorists were very well prepared for the invasion. By that time, Chechnya had actually become a springboard for international terrorism on the territory of Russia. A wide stream from abroad received money to buy weapons and pay for an entire army of mercenaries. And the underfunded Russian army did not even have trained mountain units.

Then in Dagestan, the fate of the territorial integrity of the country was largely decided. Recently appointed Prime Minister Vladimir Putin spoke about this in the newly liberated Botlikh, when fighting was still raging a few kilometers from the village.

Vladimir Putin: "We have no right to allow ourselves a single moment of weakness. If we do this, then those who died, they died in vain. We will definitely drink to them. But - later. When these tasks, which you know about, will be solved ".

The events in Dagestan have become a difficult test of Russia's strength. There was also a counterterrorist operation in Chechnya. It was a difficult and bloody beginning of the fight against international terrorism in our country. But by that time, Russia already had the main thing - the understanding that victory can only be brought by the will and determination of the entire multinational country to bring this war on terrorism to an end.

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 district of Karamakhi, Chabanmakhi and Kadar were uniting into an independent Islamic community, which would be controlled 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, negotiations with the leaders of the Wahhabi community were held by the Minister of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, Sergei Stepashin. He promised not to take any forceful actions against the community in exchange for the surrender of the weapons that the Wahhabis have. The weapons, according to S. Stepashin himself, were never handed over, but the Wahhabis felt absolutely 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, who was heading from Chechnya to the village of Echeda. A policeman died in the battle, and the militants were pushed back to the border, killing seven people. On the night of August 3, the militants attacked a police detachment near the village of Gigatli. Three policemen were killed. According to intelligence, the attackers withdrew to the administrative border with Chechnya.
On August 7, 1999, a large-scale Chechen invasion began: more than a thousand militants under the command of Shamil Basayev and Khattab invaded Dagestan from Chechnya and captured the villages of Ansalta, Rakhata, Shodroda and Godoberi of the Botlikh region. Within a few days, other villages in the Botlikh and Tsumadinsky districts were captured. On August 8, the head of the government of the Russian Federation, Sergei Stepashin, visited Dagestan, but this did not help him stay in the post of prime minister: on August 9, President Boris Yeltsin dismissed him and appointed acting president. Prime Minister FSB Director Vladimir Putin.
On August 10, the “Islamic shura of Dagestan” distributed “Appeal to the Chechen state and people”, “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 aircraft. On August 12, the first reports were received of air bombardment of militant bases in Chechnya, and a day later, of a short-term advance of columns of Russian armored vehicles into Chechen territory.
From midnight on August 16, CRI President Aslan Maskhadov introduced a state of emergency in Chechnya. On the same day, the State Duma of the Russian Federation approved V. Putin as prime minister by 233 votes (with the required minimum of 226 votes). On August 17, the head of the military operation in the North Caucasus, instead of the commander-in-chief of the internal troops Vyacheslav Ovchinnikov, became the commander of the North Caucasian military district Viktor Kazantsev.
On August 24, the command of the United Group of Forces (OGV) in the North Caucasus announced that federal troops had liberated the last villages captured by militants - Tando, Rakhata, Shodroda, Ansalta, Ziberkhali and Ashino. Sh. Basayev left for Chechnya with the surviving militants. 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 Vladimir Putin visited the war zone in the Botlikh region. Two days later, federal forces, with the support of Dagestani militias, began an assault on one of the strongholds of the Wahhabis, the village of Karamakhi. On September 1, the troops took Karamakhi, and on September 2, another stronghold of the Wahhabis, 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 elementary foot movement. In the area of ​​Karamakhi and Chabanmakhi on September 3, a monthly rainfall fell. In Makhachkala, the movement of vehicles along some streets was paralyzed, several houses were flooded, several substations went out of service, due to which 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 am, aviation launched two missile and bomb attacks on the positions of the Chabanmakhi militants. Artillery worked in the morning. There were reshuffles in the federal forces, which were the result of 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 joint grouping of federal troops was entrusted to Kazantsev's deputy Gennady Troshev - as explained, then, in order to "transfer control over the further course of the special operation to representatives of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation."
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 was blown up in the Dagestan city of Buynaksk, where mainly military families lived. 64 people died and 120 were injured. On September 5, an even more powerful bomb planted near the Buynaksk military hospital was defused. But this attack was 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 district of Dagestan. Internal troops and armored vehicles were deployed to the combat zone, and the Russian Air Force made a number of sorties in the Nozhai-Yurt region of Chechnya, where they bombed formations of militants heading for help to Dagestan.
On September 9, during the fighting near 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 depots and five observation posts.
In the Novolaksky district, federal forces are clearing the slopes of Mount Eki-tebe from extremists.
Su-25 attack aircraft crashes near Buynaksk. The search group 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 hitting an attack aircraft from a MANPADS.
Near the village of Novochurtakh, Novolaksky district, a shootout takes place between a group of Akkin Chechens and employees of the local police department.
About 150 OMON fighters from the Khabarovsk Territory, Primorye and Yakutia fly to Dagestan.
On September 10, employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Dagestan, after artillery preparation, occupy the village of Gamiyakh. In the areas of the settlements of Duchi, Novolakskoye, Chapaevo, the battles acquire a positional character.
In the Kadar zone, aviation strikes targets in the villages of Karamakhi and Chabanmakhi. Nine nodes of resistance are suppressed, two ammunition depots, a fuel depot, a satellite communications system, two heavy machine guns, 12 vehicles are hit, up to 50 militants are destroyed.
Interior Minister Vladimir Rushailo and Chief of the General Staff Anatoly Kvashnin are arriving in Dagestan.
According to the Chechen authorities, for the first time since 1996 federal aviation bombed the Bamut area.
September 11 Federal forces, supported by artillery and aviation, storm the height of 713.5 m above Novolakskoye. Militants shoot down a Mi-8 spotter helicopter, the crew is shot in the air while trying to escape by parachute.
In the Buynaksk region, the federals take six militants prisoner and destroy three cars.
According to intelligence sources, up to 3,000 extremists are concentrated in the region of the Dagestan-Chechen border.
Federal aviation strikes militant bases in the Shelkovsky and Serzhen-Yurtovsky districts of Chechnya.
The President of Chechnya announces a general mobilization in the republic.
On September 12, the militants blocked in Chabanmakhi go on the air and ask for a corridor to leave the village, referring to the large number of wounded and dead. The command of the united grouping of the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Internal Affairs demand surrender and disarmament.
The 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 servicemen of the federal troops have died, 645 have been injured, and 20 have gone missing.
The Chechen authorities announce the bombing of the settlements of Ishkhoi-Yurt, Zandak, Gelani, Serzhen-Yurt, Avtury, Grebenskaya.
Near Kizlyar, terrorists undermine the railroad linking Dagestan with the rest of Russia. A few hours later the path was restored.
On September 13, in the Novolaksky district, positional battles continue in the area of ​​​​the villages of Novolakskoye, Chapaevo, Ahar, Shushiya. According to local residents, the militants publicly cut off the heads of some prisoners, impale others on a stake.
A rapid reaction brigade of the Siberian Military District, stationed in Kuzbass, consisting of about 2,000 people, is sent to Dagestan.
The transfer of the battalion of marines of the Northern Fleet to the republic is being completed.
On September 14, in the Novolaksky district near the settlements of Novolakskoye, Akhar, Shushiya, two vehicles with militants and one mortar crew were destroyed by artillery and aviation fire.
At 2:00 pm, units of the federal forces captured a strategically important height with a mark of 715.3 m in the Novolaksky district of Dagestan.
By 17.00 Novolakskoye passes into the hands of the federals. Bandit formations, moving away from the Novolaksky district to the territory of Chechnya, take out the property stolen from the local population.
A battalion of paratroopers of the 31st brigade of the Airborne Forces, reinforced with howitzer artillery and reconnaissance, 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 command posts.
On September 15, Russian Defense Minister Igor Sergeyev reported to V. Putin that the territory of Dagestan had been completely liberated from terrorists.
The federals are recapturing the village of Tukhchar in the Novolaksky district, destroying two infantry fighting vehicles and up to 40 militants. After the cleansing, the village is transferred under the act to the local authorities.
Cleansing of the regional center Novolakskoe, villages Shushiya and Ahar is underway. Troops reflect an attempt by militants to break into the village of Tukhchar.
In the Kadar zone, the internal troops and the police replace the army units.
The militants forced out to Chechnya are preparing special groups to carry out terrorist attacks in Dagestan. There is a cluster of extremists near the village of Borozdinskaya.
According to the CRI, aviation is delivering missile and bomb strikes against bandit formations or militant bases in the city of Shali and the village of Serzhen-Yurt.