Russian troops fought in Chechnya under the Tsars, when the Caucasus region was just part of the Russian Empire. But in the nineties of the last century, a real massacre began there, the echoes of which have not subsided to this day. The Chechen war in 1994-1996 and in 1999-2000 are two disasters for the Russian army.
Prerequisites for the Chechen wars
The Caucasus has always been a very difficult region for Russia. Issues of nationality, religion, and culture have always been raised very sharply and were resolved in far from peaceful ways.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the influence of separatists increased in the Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic on the basis of national and religious hostility, as a result of which the self-proclaimed Republic of Ichkeria was established. She entered into confrontation with Russia.
In November 1991, Boris Yeltsin, then the President of Russia, issued a decree “On the introduction of a state of emergency on the territory of the Chechen-Ingush Republic.” But this decree was not supported in the Supreme Council of Russia, due to the fact that most of the seats there were occupied by Yeltsin’s opponents.
In 1992, on March 3, Dzhokhar Dudayev said that he would enter into negotiations only when Chechnya received complete independence. A few days later, on the twelfth, the Chechen parliament adopted a new constitution, self-proclaiming the country as a secular independent state.
Almost immediately all government buildings, all military bases, all strategically important objects were captured. The territory of Chechnya completely came under the control of the separatists. From that moment on, legitimate centralized power ceased to exist. The situation got out of control: the trade in arms and people flourished, drug trafficking passed through the territory, bandits robbed the population (especially the Slavic ones).
In June 1993, soldiers from Dudayev's personal guard seized the parliament building in Grozny, and Dudayev himself proclaimed the emergence of a “sovereign Ichkeria” - a state that he completely controlled.
A year later, the First Chechen War (1994-1996) will begin, which will mark the beginning of a whole series of wars and conflicts that have become, perhaps, the bloodiest and most brutal throughout the entire territory of the former Soviet Union.
First Chechen: the beginning
In 1994, on the eleventh of December, Russian troops in three groups entered the territory of Chechnya. One entered from the west, through North Ossetia, another - through Mozdok, and the third group - from the territory of Dagestan. Initially, command was entrusted to Eduard Vorobyov, but he refused and resigned, citing complete unpreparedness for this operation. Later, the operation in Chechnya will be headed by Anatoly Kvashnin.
Of the three groups, only the Mozdok group was able to successfully reach Grozny on December 12th - the other two were blocked in different parts of Chechnya by local residents and partisan militant groups. A few days later, the remaining two groups of Russian troops approached Grozny and blocked it from all sides, with the exception of the southern direction. Until the start of the assault from this side, access to the city would be free for militants; this later influenced the siege of Grozny by federal troops.
Storm of Grozny
On December 31, 1994, the assault began, which claimed many lives of Russian soldiers and remained one of the most tragic episodes in Russian history. About two hundred units of armored vehicles entered Grozny from three sides, which were almost powerless in the conditions of street fighting. There was poor communication between the companies, which made it difficult to coordinate joint actions.
Russian troops are stuck on the streets of the city, constantly falling under the crossfire of militants. The battalion of the Maykop brigade, which advanced the furthest to the city center, was surrounded and was almost completely destroyed along with its commander, Colonel Savin. The battalion of the Petrakuvsky motorized rifle regiment, which went to the rescue of the “Maikopians”, after two days of fighting consisted of about thirty percent of the original composition.
By the beginning of February, the number of attackers was increased to seventy thousand people, but the assault on the city continued. It was not until the third of February that Grozny was blocked from the south and encircled.
On March 6, part of the last detachments of Chechen separatists was killed, others left the city. Grozny remained under the control of Russian troops. In fact, little remained of the city - both sides actively used both artillery and armored vehicles, so Grozny was practically in ruins.
In the rest of the area there were continuous local battles between Russian troops and militant groups. In addition, the militants prepared and carried out a series (June 1995) in Kizlyar (January 1996). In March 1996, militants made an attempt to recapture Grozny, but the assault was repelled by Russian soldiers. And Dudayev was liquidated.
In August, the militants repeated their attempt to take Grozny, this time they were successful. Many important facilities in the city were blocked by the separatists, and Russian troops suffered very heavy losses. Along with Grozny, the militants took Gudermes and Argun. On August 31, 1996, the Khasavyurt Agreement was signed - the First Chechen War ended with huge losses for Russia.
Human losses in the First Chechen War
The data varies depending on which side is doing the counting. Actually, this is not surprising and it has always been this way. Therefore, all options are provided below.
Losses in the Chechen War (table No. 1 according to the headquarters of the Russian troops):
The two numbers in each column indicating the losses of Russian troops are two headquarters investigations that were conducted a year apart.
According to the Committee of Soldiers' Mothers, the consequences of the Chechen war are completely different. The number of people killed there alone is about fourteen thousand.
Losses in the Chechen War (table No. 2) of militants according to Ichkeria and a human rights organization:
Among the civilian population, Memorial put forward a figure of 30-40 thousand people, and Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation A. I. Lebed - 80,000.
Second Chechen: main events
Even after the signing of the peace agreements, Chechnya did not become calmer. Militants were in charge, there was a brisk trade in drugs and weapons, people were kidnapped and killed. There was anxiety on the border between Dagestan and Chechnya.
After a series of kidnappings of major businessmen, officers, and journalists, it became clear that the continuation of the conflict in a more acute phase was simply inevitable. Moreover, since April, small groups of militants began to probe the weak points of the defense of Russian troops, preparing an invasion of Dagestan. The invasion operation was led by Basayev and Khattab. The place where the militants planned to strike was in the mountainous zone of Dagestan. There, the small number of Russian troops was combined with the inconvenient location of the roads, along which reinforcements could not be transferred very quickly. On August 7, 1999, militants crossed the border.
The main striking force of the bandits were mercenaries and Islamists from Al-Qaeda. The fighting continued for almost a month with varying success, but finally the militants were driven back to Chechnya. At the same time, the bandits carried out a number of terrorist attacks in different cities of Russia, including Moscow.
As a response, on September 23, a powerful shelling of Grozny began, and a week later, Russian troops entered Chechnya.
Human losses in the Second Chechen War among Russian military personnel
The situation changed, and Russian troops now played a dominant role. But many mothers never saw their sons.
Losses in the Chechen War (table No. 3):
In June 2010, the commander in chief of the Ministry of Internal Affairs cited the following figures: 2,984 killed and about 9,000 wounded.
Militant losses
Losses in the Chechen War (table No. 4):
Civilian casualties
According to officially confirmed data, as of February 2001, over a thousand civilians were killed. In S. V. Ryazantsev’s book “Demographic and Migration Portrait of the North Caucasus,” the losses of the parties in the Chechen War are called five thousand people, although we are talking about 2003.
Judging by the assessment of the Amnesty International organization, which calls itself non-governmental and objective, there were about twenty-five thousand civilian deaths. They can count for a long time and diligently, but when asked: “How many actually died in the Chechen war?” - hardly anyone will give an intelligible answer.
Results of the war: peace conditions, restoration of Chechnya
While the Chechen war was going on, the loss of equipment, enterprises, land, any resources and everything else was not even considered, because people always remain the main ones. But the war ended, Chechnya remained part of Russia, and the need arose to restore the republic practically from ruins.
Huge amounts of money were allocated for Grozny. After several assaults, there were almost no entire buildings left there, but at the moment it is a large and beautiful city.
The economy of the republic was also raised artificially - it was necessary to give time for the population to get used to the new realities, so that new factories and farms could be built. Roads, communication lines, and electricity were needed. Today we can say that the republic has almost completely emerged from the crisis.
Chechen wars: reflected in films, books
Dozens of films were made based on events that took place in Chechnya. Many books have been published. Now it is no longer possible to understand where are the fictions and where are the real horrors of war. The Chechen war (like the war in Afghanistan) claimed too many lives and swept through an entire generation, so it simply could not remain unnoticed. Russia's losses in the Chechen wars are colossal, and, according to some researchers, the losses are even greater than during the ten years of war in Afghanistan. Below is a list of films that most deeply show us the tragic events of the Chechen campaigns.
- documentary film of five episodes "Chechen Trap";
- "Purgatory";
- "Cursed and Forgotten";
- "Prisoner of the Caucasus".
Many fiction and journalistic books describe the events in Chechnya. For example, the now famous writer Zakhar Prilepin fought as part of the Russian troops, who wrote the novel “Pathologies” specifically about this war. Writer and publicist Konstantin Semenov published a series of stories "Grozny Stories" (about the storming of the city) and the novel "We were betrayed by our homeland." Vyacheslav Mironov’s novel “I Was in This War” is dedicated to the storming of Grozny.
Video recordings made in Chechnya by rock musician Yuri Shevchuk are widely known. He and his group "DDT" performed more than once in Chechnya in front of Russian soldiers in Grozny and at military bases.
Conclusion
The State Council of Chechnya published data from which it follows that almost one hundred and sixty thousand people died between 1991 and 2005 - this figure includes militants, civilians, and Russian soldiers. One hundred sixty thousand.
Even if the numbers are exaggerated (which is quite likely), the volume of losses is still simply colossal. Russia's losses in the Chechen wars are a terrible memory of the nineties. The old wound will ache and itch in every family that lost a man there, in the Chechen war.
In front of the entrance to the hall, on a pedestal there is a portrait of Alexander Buzin, who died in the Chechen war. The candle is burning. There are fresh flowers lying around.
A book exhibition “Soldiers Are Not Born” was created, dedicated to the memory of the soldiers who served in Chechnya.
The song "Memory" is playing. Slide “Dedicated to the living and the dead.”
Our country failed to leave all the troubles and tragedies behind in the last century. Russia came to the New Century and Millennium with the Chechen war - cruel, merciless. And although war is never merciful - it is always tragedy, pain, tears, death... and the current, as it is called, the second Chechen campaign, is also terrible because it has become commonplace for us. People had become even accustomed to reports of the death toll; they looked indifferently at television screens where footage from the destructive Grozny flashed.
And the stories themselves from the Chechen war, which used to open any newscast, have now migrated to second, third, fifth place...
This war has no history yet. It's not written. We know as much about it as it is not dangerous for us to know, so as not to see ourselves as we are. But a lot has been said about the reasons for this bloodshed, a lot has been written about how the fighting was conducted there. But one thing is clear: there was a war.
There, in Chechnya, our soldiers, young guys, were on combat watch. And wherever each of them was - disarming some kind of charger, walking around the notorious Minutka Square in Grozny, or standing on duty - they were obliged to honorably fulfill their military duty, as befits a real man.
And we... We had to wait for them. And do everything possible to make our guys feel supported, confident that they are remembered, loved and expected.
B. Galkin “Russia”
What has become of us now...
How tired Russia is...
And what other war awaits Russia?
I don't want blood
And we don't need fame
There are so few of us left
And Russia is alone.And obedient soldiers
On special occasions
About birches and maples
A sweet voice sings
The shoulder straps will be ashamed
Defend the bastions
Stolen life
These and these gentlemen.The wounds of the body will heal,
If the matter bothers you.
Well, what if they incite me -
Let's go at each other.
Will drink our blood again
Power is a blind crow.
I probably won't meet
Year two thousand.Underground in Stalingrad
Awards will be minted
Long rains
Tears of Russian Matryona
Across Siberia, along the Don,
In Russia for a long time
The alarm will not subside
And the prayer bell.If only souls would be resurrected
And with hope and song
Everyone who believes stands up.
That Russia is one
Brother, father and childhood friend,
For Russia - all together!
Our wounds will heal.
But the soul - never!
Of course, it's not easy to wait. Especially for parents whose children served in the North Caucasus Military District. More than 150 guys from our Sovetsky district were on combat watch there. It happened that no letters arrived from them for months.
And then their relatives went to the Committee of Soldiers’ Mothers to find out at least something about the fate of their boys. The Committee of Soldiers' Mothers "Sibiryachka" in Sovetsky was registered in November 1999 as an independent public organization. In just a month and a half of 2001, “Sibiryachka” received about 50 applications, where parents asked to find children from whom there had been no letters for a long time, asked for help in sorting out cases of hazing in military units, unauthorized abandonment of military units. This is that huge invisible work that few people know about.
The war in Chechnya has left an indelible mark in the hearts of many of us. After the defeat in Afghanistan, our politicians should have avoided getting involved in an even more terrible war. The reasons were clear not to let Chechnya go. This is the problem of territorial integrity, as the most important condition for statehood; economic reasons: Chechnya is oil. There were also historical reasons. The religious factor also played an important role.
As a result, the value of man, his rights and freedom, contrary to the constitutional norm, gave way to the supremacy of the interests of oil structures and the military-industrial complex.
But whatever the reasons, the fate of the soldiers was decided by the military leaders. And it was the boys who had to suffer, who just yesterday were sitting at a school desk and had never smelled gunpowder. Mothers whose children went into the army had to worry: some were destined to meet disabled children, others were destined to be buried.
During the entire period of hostilities, 44 young men were called up to Chechnya from the city of Sovetsky, Yugorsk - 47, Agirish - 8, Alyabyevo - 3, Zelenoborsk - 5, Communist - 5, Taezhny - 6, Pionersky - 15. Malinovsky - 4. Seven soldiers died, two were missing. Eleven people were injured, two of them died in peacetime, 15 soldiers were awarded orders and medals, 1 received the title of Hero of Russia, posthumously.
They still don’t understand why they fought, why they died... But they know that war is a cruel, terrible phenomenon. And as long as there is anger and hatred on earth, there will also be wars that inflict battle wounds on people and take away children and loved ones from the lives.
Slide “Portrait of A. Buzin”
We dedicated our evening today to Alexander Buzin, our fellow countryman, who died almost 15 years ago in the Chechen war.
This happened at a time when the end of hostilities in Chechnya had not yet been announced. This happened on May 21, 1996. It was on that day that Private Alexander Buzin passed away. Or rather junior sergeant A. Buzin. Alexander never found out that a few days before his death, he was awarded the rank of junior sergeant.
Of the 12 Heroes of Russia awarded this title posthumously in the Chechen war, the first, and perhaps the only one in the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug is Alexander Buzin, a guy from our city of Sovetsky.
On May 21, “on this tragic day,” he took part in a raid by an airborne assault group behind the militants’ rear. During the operation, the mine-detecting department instructor, together with his four-legged assistant John, discovered and neutralized 16 mines and 4 land mines, then the group was ambushed. Alexander was the first to realize this; he walked ahead and, to warn his comrades, opened fire on the militants. In this short battle, Buzin was mortally wounded...
The poem “I was killed in the Chechen War,” written by primary school teacher Evgenia Pavlovna Akinfova.
I was a smart and lively boy,
In the hallway with friends he was "boisterous"
I received both A's and D's,
But he loved his school.Don't rush, wait, guys!
Talk quietly to me.
And say: “What fun he was!
And how young he is!”Wait, girls laugh,
Look at this portrait
I just turned 20
And I’m no longer there, I’m just not there...I saw this terrible war,
I went into battle with a machine gun.
So that no one here offends you,
So that no one kills you here!I would like to run on the football field,
And to meet a friend in the spring...
I didn’t return from the battle in the spring
I was killed in the Chechen war.The mother is crying, grieving, suffering,
Over my early grave,
Yes, he sings, pouring out in the spring,
Podporozhye crazy nightingale.Visit your mother's apartment,
Visit my dear one.
So that she knows about her son.
Someone remembers in their native land.You too will be sad over the grave,
Bring wild flowers.
So that my dear homeland smells to me,
On my unearthly roads.
Slide “Obelisk to A. Buzin”
Sovetsky city. Quiet cemetery. Monument with a name. Age 20 years.
What was Alexander Buzin like? How did you live? What remains of a life that is only 20 years long?
Alexander spent his childhood in our city. Since his school days, Alexander dreamed of becoming a wood artist. It is no coincidence that after graduating from the eighth grade, he went to study at Soviet PU-11, where he received the education that interested him - a carpenter of artistic furniture, a furniture machine operator. After graduating from college, I worked in my specialty for only 10 months. Then he was drafted into the army. He did not complain about fate, which prevented him from enjoying what he had achieved for some time. I was completely ready for army tests. And he believed that after serving, like everyone else, he would return home, to his mother, to his favorite job.
“I don’t know why...” Words by A. Vertinsky.
I don’t know why and who needs it,
Who sent them to their deaths
Not with a shaking hand.
It's just so useless
So evil and unnecessary
They were released to eternal rest.Cautious spectators
Silently wrapped in fur coats
And some woman with a distorted face
Kissed a dead man on his blue lips
And she threw her wedding ring at the priest.They showered them with Christmas trees and covered them with mud.
And they went home to talk quietly,
That it's time to put an end to the disgrace,
That soon we will begin to starve.And no one thought to just kneel down,
And tell these boys
What in a mediocre country,
Even bright feats are just steps
Into the endless abysses of impenetrable war.
Local newspapers later talked about the service of Alexander Buzin, about him as a person, an excellent warrior, and a reliable comrade in the essay “Give me a paw, John, for luck.”
As Alexander Buzin’s colleagues said, John was very devoted to his master. Immediately after the tragedy unfolded, John did not allow anyone near the owner’s body. To your place - more than three days! Having been blown up by a mine, like the owner, he also received a severe gunshot wound. The dog outlived its owner by only a month. John passed away on June 23.
This is what A. Buzin’s colleagues say.
Maybe these memories will help us answer the question : "What is human life?"
Junior Sergeant Vladimir Biryukov says:
Buzin and I were called up at the same time. From the first day, Alexander dreamed of being next to the enclosure, feeling like a trainer. In addition to his diligence, he was distinguished by such qualities as his love for animals and the ability to convey to them the most necessary things. Already in the first half of the year, Private A. Buzin proved himself to be the best, and he was thanked.
The assistant to the head of the group for work with personnel, Art. Lieutenant Pyotr Anatolyevich Belashev:
Private Buzin did not stand out in any way. On assignments, like most military personnel, he was executive. But I was always attracted to such a detail as the correspondence between his height and the size of his boots.
Alexander was not very tall, if not to say the contrary. And the boots were large - a sort of peasant from the forests. When he and his colleagues were preparing for their first trip to Chechnya, a small incident occurred. Everyone was selecting and adjusting their uniforms. They began to try on body armor. Private A. Buzin also began to try on the body armor. When I saw him in armor, I just smiled. It seemed that he was swaying under the weight, a little more and he would fall. But this was only a fleeting impression.
On his first mission, he proved that he makes an excellent fighter and a good comrade.
Colleague Private Oleg Alinovsky tells the story:
Sasha was pure charm. It was easy to communicate with him, the guy had a great attitude towards humor and never took offense at jokes. In general he was very calm.
Private Andrei Telegin tells:
He was an excellent hairdresser. All your haircuts - just ask. And overall he was a great guy.
At the beginning of May 1996, Alexander Buzin, as the most trained and experienced specialist, was assigned to the reconnaissance unit of the airborne division. Reconnaissance operations began in the rear, in the Bamut area. On May 21, as part of an air assault group, he left on a long flight behind the militants’ rear. As befits a mine-detecting dog instructor, Private Alexander Buzin was in front of the group. The operation did not last an hour. The instructor and the dog managed to detect and neutralize 20 mines and landmines. At some point, Alexander felt someone’s heavy gaze on him. There was no time to think. He opened fire on the entrenched militants. By calling fire on himself, Alexander thereby warned his comrades about the ambush. He himself was mortally wounded in a short battle.
Sasha died in the arms of his comrades.
Years will pass. Much will be forgotten over time, of course. The current discussions about “Afghans” and “Chechens”, and the reproaches that hurt them so painfully, will sink into oblivion. The wounds will heal, reminding you of the bad weather. Military orders will fade, soldiers will have children. But these wars will forever remain in the memory as an indelible tragic mark.
Poems and songs born during the war will remain, telling about the strength of spirit and courage of the Russian soldier.
In the homeland of Alexander Buzin there is a modest obelisk. This is material evidence of the memory of the Hero of Russia.
Well, the intangible evidence is in the memory of his colleagues, in the memory of those who served with him in the unit.
In the memory of those whom he saved in Chechnya, neutralizing mines and landmines.
Commander Suvorov defined six qualities necessary for a soldier, and said that he “should be healthy, brave, decisive, fair, and pious.”
The current Russian soldier, serving in Chechnya, needs many others in addition to these qualities. And, above all, wisdom and patience. He owes his duty, withstanding the onslaught of contradictory information, navigating the Caucasian political intricacies, and not succumbing to provocations.
As you know, wars do not end with that long-awaited moment when the weapons fall silent. They continue in the souls of those who participated in them. And this war on Chechen soil is no exception. She will remind of herself for a long time - while the mothers who lost their breadwinners are alive, while the wounds of the soldiers hurt.
Russian soldiers who returned from the Chechen war brought with them a renewed love for the Motherland. They to some extent returned to us the high concept of patriotism, courage, military and human duty.
The song "Memory" is playing
Video for the song by Timur Mutsuraev - “Mom, come and pick me up”
It's a shame, guys.
***
Haven't you seen the hot flashes? From explosions of high-explosive shells,How the dying boys scream,How their clear views become cloudy.And how the cold sky cries,Wetting the dead with tears...You don't know anything about thisBecause you weren't there with us.
But you still look at these faces,What was left in the old photo.May you never dream aboutHow the airborne company died,How combat vehicles burnAt the station in destroyed Grozny,How the gray peaks shoot,How I roar in a dank trench.
Let them be killed, torn to shreds,Let there be only medallions left.Let them go missing forever.Let the widowed wives mourn.Let the country know no heroes,And let the generals not be ashamed...And let those who survived be outcasts.Let be! And yet, guys, it’s a shame.2005
Poems by Sergei Eliseev - participant in the war in Chechnya, 324 SMEs , surgeon at Irkutsk Regional Clinical Hospital
Dedicated to Arthur Agafonov.
Sergey Eliseev.
Hello, buddy!
Long time no see.
Well, how is it lying here? Yes, I don’t care...
Do you remember, Seryoga, how they fought with you before?
Yes. Past case. Long forgotten.
Once again the gray sky hangs above us.
And again everything is in white, and my heart is sad.
And again a lump in my throat, a tear running down my cheek.
I walk through the city, as if in the distance.
Well, brother, what can you tell me?
Yes, we've already said everything.
That dank winter, in those damned snows.
You and I lay under machine-gun fire.
I left, you stayed... That’s what Allah decided for them.
Cold pieces of ice glisten on your eyelashes.
Snowflakes froze on blue lips.
And with a glassy gaze you look at the sky.
With a foggy sunrise he left, as if he had never been.
And now I got married. My daughter is already three years old.
I tried to forget everything... Just now...
I'd like to get drunk now. This kind of weather…
Why did you stay?
You know, I passed.
Somewhere near Grozny you and I became related.
They were baptized under the sky with lead fire.
That shot rang out and a shadow passed.
I left, you stayed. That's it.
Memories of War
***
I walk along peaceful avenues, and all around are carefree faces.
And in my mind’s eye I flip through the pages of unsent letters.
Those guys who remained forever in the rusty mud above Argun
These letters darted in the wind like white crows.
The gray sky is crying with rain. Let at least someone cry over us.
We cry over our friends. Someone is crying quietly on the sidelines.
Oh, you gray mountain sky, why are you putting pressure on a soldier’s soul?
I’ve never been a crybaby, but now bitter tears choke me.
Guys, pour me some vodka. Yes, in a larger iron mug.
We weren’t included in the reports today, but that only makes me sadder.
Bitter hops will flow through your veins. Relaxes a tired body.
But a cry from the soul will rise like a high-explosive explosion: “What should we do next?”
What kind of idea is this country sending us to war for?
Our platoons and companies are thinning out! So why are they killing us here?!
Maybe we are scum for the country? Maybe we are given to the slaughter?
We solve other people's issues through our own bitterness and suffering.
Poems by Sergei Elisseev - participant in the war in Chechnya, 324 SMEs
Silence
***
How I want to hear silence
Forget this damn war
What kind of guys did we leave here?
How painful it is to remember this now
And they are probably still waiting
Parents, friends, wife and children
Oh how much I would give for that now
So that they come back to life again
But feeling my powerlessness
I scream at night from a terrible thought
That they can’t be returned and they won’t be with us
We promise we won't forget you
For those who did not live, who did not return from the battle
We will not forget you and we drink the third while standing
For those who did not live, who did not return from the battle
How I want to hear silence
Don't listen to these loud booms
Forget this damn war
Make up for irreparable losses
1995
Poem by Andrey Yurchenko, a participant in the war in Chechnya, 324 SMEs
Before the attack
***
Cold morning. Crimson Dawn.
I “scratch” a last hello hastily.
I have to make it half an hour before the attack.
And the heart beats its calling alarm,
Like hundreds of the same faceless soldiers
Whose lives are shorter than the cry of the battalion commander: “Forward!”
And into the cold sky between the clouds
The souls of the killed shooters are carried away
Who were just one of us.
The bullets will sing our last song.
I see, I know we will all be killed here.
Let the rainy nights cry for us.
Poems by Sergei Eliseev, a participant in the fighting in Chechnya
324 SMEs dedicated
***
The field is covered with a white blanket.
Our platoon dies near Chechen-Aul.
Evil spirits are clinging to the shore of Argun.
Mortars are hitting infantry platoons.
The young boy wanted to return so badly.
And today he might be killed.
A festive garland in the air rockets.
The BMP burns with a funeral candle.
Hiding by the irrigation ditch, he smokes a cigarette.
The one who will, perhaps, be killed.
The boy meanders along the muddy ground.
Tears flow down my cheeks in streams.
He runs to attack and doesn’t know yet.
That he might be killed today.
On the broken field, the tanks are burning out.
In the smoky sky there is a pale disk of the sun.
Those who are still alive are pouring vodka.
By the river above the bridge there is a Black Obelisk.
White snow is fluffy, clean, silver.
From the dark clouds it breaks over the ground and spins.
He covered the area like a white shroud.
On this day I once lost a friend.
Poems by Sergei Eliseev, participant in military operations in Chechnya
Dedicated to the soldiers of the Russian Army fighting in Chechnya.
***
If I get lost on someone else's side,
Light a candle for me and be sad about me.
Even if it didn’t come true in the past, it didn’t work out for us,
I'll come back! If a sniper gives me a chance,
If the night takes him in a loop,
If not, then I will rot in a damp grave.
The order has been given. A bloody dawn is blazing.
And it doesn’t matter that I’m not twenty yet.
And it doesn't matter that I don't want to kill.
I'm a soldier. To survive, I must shoot.
And it doesn't matter that I don't want to die.
I am a soldier, which means I must carry out orders.
The scythe of death mows down both enemies and friends.
Every hour here is two in an infinity of days.
Through the scope I look at the flowers in the meadow.
It's a pity that I can't give them to you.
Light a candle for me and be sad about me,
If I disappear on someone else's side.
If I get lost in an unnecessary war,
As if you were a good friend, be sad about me.
1996
Poem by Natalia Mironova
Chechen Cities
***
Chechnya, friends, is not only the city of Grozny.
We fought not only in Grozny.
Fighting in the city is, of course, very difficult,
They will tell you in Gudermes and Shali.
We kneaded the dirt and dust with our boots,
After all, no roads led us here.
We laid them across the fields ourselves
To Argun, Gudermes and Shali.
Let us be given any labels,
We don't need foreign land, friends.
We fought our way to the cities of Russia -
To Argun, Gudermes and Shali.
We believe that losses are not in vain,
And we were able to do everything that needed to be done.
And let them live, beautiful in their own way,
Argun and Gudermes, and Shali.
Years will pass, and we will tell our grandchildren,
What kind of battles we fought in Chechnya...
If only this science would be useful
Argun, Gudermes and Shali.
Poem by Alexandra Vyrvich
Forty days
***
When to the special army barracks
You will be introduced, confused newcomer,
Don't touch this bed in passing,
This bed has its own special period.
No one will touch her for forty days,
And across the license plate sheet
Our memory flows like a hot ribbon
About the one who covered us forever.
We pulled Kolka away from the crater,
And he whispered, his bandages whiter:
“Leave my bed for forty days...
I want to be with you... these forty days..."
And forty days the Ural Seryogas
And dark-skinned guys from Khiva
A smile is left on the doorstep
And here they don’t raise their heads.
And forty days, like his living blood,
That transverse tape is on fire.
And for forty days we pray without knowing
Not a line from the father's prayers.
Poem by Yuri Loshits
Yes, I was Elmir’s mistress, and I’m not going to hide it,” 18-year-old Svetlana Barkova (last name changed - V.E.) said at the court hearing. - In general, I have known both him and his father for ten years - from the time the Guseinovs arrived in Chapaevsk and bought a house on the same street as us. When I was still little, Elmir and I were just friends, and then I grew up - and soon became his mistress. He constantly helped me with money, gave me 500 rubles a week...
Then at the trial, which took place in 2004, other girls from the same Chapaevsk outskirts spoke and also admitted that they were the defendant’s mistresses. Moreover, each of them was well aware that Guseinov Jr. had other girlfriends in his pay besides her, but even under such conditions, all the girls got along well with each other and did not even try to be jealous of each other.
However, sometimes there were exceptions. In particular, the already mentioned Sveta Barkova said during the court hearing that she once had a fight with a certain Katya, another friend of Elmira Guseinova. The fight, as it turned out, was serious, because Katya broke Sveta’s finger in the process. However, the reason for the fight in this case was not jealousy at all, but money: one of the girls told Sveta that this 25-year-old loving Azerbaijani paid Katya more than her...
Apparently, some girls really loved Huseynov in their own way, because on occasion they were ready to do everything he asked. So Elmir once asked Sveta to take a small package from him, find a safe place for it in his house and keep it until he asked. The girl could not resist and begged her friend to show what was in the bag. It turned out that the package contained... a Makarov pistol. True, Huseynov assured his passion that this weapon was not a combat weapon, and, moreover, faulty, and therefore, they say, it would not bring you any trouble.
As a result, the reassured Sveta put the package on her sofa and forgot about it for several weeks. She remembered the pistol only after Elmir asked her to bring it. The next day he usually returned the weapon to the girl, who again hid the blued object in its original place. This lasted until one day the police came to the Huseynovs’ yard and took Elmir away in a yellow car with barred windows. And a few days later, people in civilian clothes came to the Barkovs’ home and asked in an amicable way, without a search, to give them the ill-fated pistol...
It was then that the residents of that quiet street on the outskirts of Chapaevsk, a small town in the Samara region, found out who was really hiding under the guise of a respectable Azerbaijani businessman Elmir Huseynov. It would be more accurate to say that the real commercial activity (grain trading) was carried out by his father, Guseinov Sr., but 25-year-old Elmir, formally listed as a participant in his father’s business, actually got his main income from night robberies and even contract killings. At the same time, the main targets of Guseinov Jr.’s attacks were, as it turned out, farmers from villages neighboring Chapaevsk. Of course, he did not rob alone, but as part of a gang, which, according to his testimony, included three other young gypsies. However, oddly enough, it was not possible to establish their identities and addresses, and therefore Huseynov was subsequently forced to answer alone for bandit raids on farmers.
In addition to the already mentioned Makarov pistol, the criminal group was also armed with three TT pistols, a sawed-off hunting rifle, RGD-5 grenades and an AK-47 assault rifle. The police found this entire arsenal, except for the machine gun, in the Huseynovs’ house during the arrest of their youngest son. However, the operatives were able to find a magazine for the mentioned AK-47 with 30 rounds of ammunition, so the bandits did not even try to deny the absence of this weapon.
During the investigation of the case, the prosecutor's office charged Guseinov with organizing and participating in armed raids on Mayer farmers from the village of Makaryevka, Bezenchuksky district, as well as on farmers Arefyevs from the village of Kuibyshevsky, Krasnoarmeysky district. In these cases, the crime scenarios were very similar. Around midnight, masked bandits burst into the house of unsuspecting farmers, beat the men, and put guns to the heads of women and children. In such a situation, of course, the victims of the attacks were ready to give anything to the robbers if only they would be left alive. Having thoroughly scared the victims, the criminals took money, gold jewelry and other valuables from their house, after which they disappeared into the night. Later, when calculating, it was established that the raiders deprived the Mayers of property worth almost 33 thousand rubles, and the Arefyevs – more than 23 thousand.
After a series of armed raids, the criminal world apparently started talking about Huseynov as a tough gangster. One way or another, soon local Chapaev businessmen began to contact him with the goal of “removing” their unwanted competitor. The young Azerbaijani agreed to this “wet” work, but decided to himself that he himself would not get dirty with blood. By that time, Elmir had already had his eye on a candidate for the role of killer: he turned out to be 23-year-old Musa Kaimov, a resident of the village of Shali in the Chechen Republic, who had recently come from his historical homeland to the banks of the Volga in order to earn money. However, by his age, Musa had never mastered any civilian profession: during the years of the armed conflict in Chechnya, he only learned to wield any weapon well and kill in cold blood. Therefore, the young Chechen willingly agreed to Huseynov’s proposal to carry out specific “orders” for him.
The first victim of this hired killer was a private entrepreneur Bakhriev from the village of Vladimirovka, Bezenchuksky district. A certain competitor “ordered” it from Guseinov for 100 thousand rubles. Having received his “fee”, Elmir gave half of it to Kaimov, and to complete the “task” he supplied him with a TT pistol. Then the mercenaries acted according to the usual pattern. They arrived at Bakhriev's house around midnight, and Huseynov knocked on the door. The owner of the house went out onto the porch - and immediately received a bullet in the temple from Kaimov, who was hiding in the darkness. Bakhriev died on the threshold of his own house within a few minutes, without regaining consciousness.
Then the accomplices, following the same scenario, committed a contract murder of private entrepreneur Magerromov, who lived in Chapaevsk. For this “work” the customer paid Guseinov $1,500, and half of this amount, like last time, went to Kaimov. True, unlike the previous case, the Chechen had to shoot at Magerromov through the window glass, because the cautious businessman, when knocking on the door, did not go out onto the porch, but tried to look at the night visitors from the window. However, this did not save the entrepreneur: a bullet from Kaimov’s pistol pierced his head, causing instant death.
As you know, contract killings are always very difficult to solve, so the fact that the killer ended up in the dock in 2004 should be considered a great success for our law enforcement officers. But the most surprising thing here is not at all that Kaimov was eventually put on trial, but something completely different. It turns out that during the investigation into these murders, the investigators managed to find only the perpetrator, but not the people who ordered the crimes. Huseynov, who received money from them, during interrogations could not say anything intelligible, not only about their names and addresses, but even about their names and portraits. One way or another, during the investigation it was not possible to establish the identities of the businessmen who wanted to remove their competitor from their road with the help of mercenaries.
And Huseynov, after successfully executing his “orders,” apparently decided to expand his criminal business, and even tried to bring it “in line with the times.” In any case, on occasion, a young Azerbaijani purchased a batch of TNT bombs from the former serviceman Piskunov. But then the gang leader, apparently, was “crushed by a toad” - and he decided that it was too expensive to pay the seller for this product. From that moment on, Piskunov’s fate was decided.
This time, Huseynov went to the “wet deal” himself, without intermediaries. The Azerbaijani told the TNT seller that he could pay him only after he received the appropriate amount of money from a certain forester who lived somewhere in the river wilderness behind Chapaevsky. Piskunov agreed to go with Guseinov in order to quickly receive payment for the goods. And what happened next, as you already guessed, happened according to the classical scheme. In a deserted place, Elmir stopped the car under a plausible pretext, and then, seizing the moment, knocked down the unlucky salesman, after which he finished him off with a shot in the head...
During the investigation, the prosecutor's office decided not to prosecute Svetlana Barkova for storing a Makarov pistol in her house, since the girl had absolutely no understanding of weapons and was misled by her friend regarding the lethality and serviceability of the PM. As a result, of all the defendants in this criminal case, only Elmir Huseynov and Musa Kaimov ended up in the dock. At the same time, from the very beginning, the Azerbaijani partially confessed to the crimes he committed, not agreeing only that he took at least some part in the murder of Bakhriev and Magerromov. But Kaimov never admitted a single charge. Moreover, the Chechen petitioned to have an interpreter invited to his trial. However, the court rejected his request, citing the fact that Kaimov is a citizen of Russia, graduated from a Russian school, and, therefore, should be sufficiently fluent in the main language of his state. Then the offended defendant refused to say anything at all in court, and as a result he remained silent until the very end of the trial.
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I was killed in the war
Victor Elmanov
© Victor Elmanov, 2015
Created in the intellectual publishing system Ridero.ru
Kostroma, December, 1996.
Poet Maria Chapygina.
Maria Chapygina:
No, he didn't want to die!
He only wanted to live and laugh.
Gray-haired mother in tears:
He was only nineteen!
No, he didn't want to die!
My beloved girl is crying.
He suddenly... didn’t have time to escape
From mines howling subtly.
We were all waiting for our relatives,
Coming to terms with loss is not easy.
Did he die in the forties?
No. Just yesterday. In the nineties...
A short pause.
Maria Chapygina:
- Here's a poem...
Grozny, February 1995.
Outskirts. Private one-story houses. Military trucks and equipment are moving along the street, raising clouds of dust.
One of the central streets of Grozny. Miraculously surviving bus stop.
Guys from riot police and marines; the building of the former Muslim center in Grozny; grave with wooden plaque.
“We were transferred to Grozny and assigned to the Kostroma riot police. We settled in the basement of a former Muslim center. And even earlier there was a district party committee here. Not far from us, right on the lawn, is a grave. This is after the January battles. Then they buried him right in the city. And they didn’t put up any signs - they just buried them in the ground. And many were not even buried, they were covered with something - and that’s all...”
Kostroma, December, 1996.
Police Lieutenant Colonel Nikolai Galkin.
Nikolay Galkin:
– The picture was depressing: there were corpses all around. Everything was covered, but it was impossible to pick it up - the snipers were working... It was such a depressing picture...
– What troops did you have contact with?
– We were in contact with internal troops. We were assigned four armored personnel carriers with crews. But, you understand, the guys are young, eighteen years old. The commander of the armored personnel carrier, the crew, he still has to study and study himself, but he was drafted into the army and sent into such a meat grinder. It was necessary to appoint senior armored personnel carriers from among our fellow officers, take them under their command, and carry out their service that way. But I won’t say, we guys got good soldiers. Everyone understood. They ate porridge with us, shared everything, as in war, everything like brothers.
Grozny, February 1995.
The guys from the riot police and the marines wash, shave, cut each other's hair, and prepare food.
From the diary of Alexey Safonov:
“We are gradually settling in...
A puppy came running from somewhere. The guys nicknamed him “Chechen”...
Often women come up to us and talk about painful things. The guys filmed one such story.”
Woman:
– There wasn’t much good... My two sons were killed in December and January... (Crying).
The soldier’s hands unfold a piece of paper folded in four from a school notebook.
From the diary of Alexey Safonov:
“When they handed me this letter, it was a complete surprise! At first I even thought it was a joke. But this is a real letter. How it got here, to Chechnya, is completely unclear! True, the sender's last name is unknown to me. But still, I'm very happy! So glad that I even decided to rewrite the letter in my diary. Here it is…"
Text of the letter.
“Hello, Alexey.
Greetings to you Zhenya.
This letter will probably surprise you very much, and you may not be happy with this concern. But then forgive me, please.
Will you think about how I relate to you and why I decided to write? I just saw Yura’s mother and asked if they were taking you into the army or not? She said that they had already received a letter from you and gave me your address. And I asked her, maybe someone you have, I mean a girl, and she’s writing to you, but she replied that you don’t have anyone.
Things are going on as usual for me, I don’t go anywhere, I sit at home. Maybe you’ll ask a question about Tolka, but I have absolutely nothing to do with him and don’t want to have anything to do with him. But that seems to be all for now. Goodbye. Greetings Zhenya, I hope I haven’t forgotten, although we don’t know each other very well, except at Aunt Valya’s when I was with them. But nothing, I hope we will know each other very well, and, of course, this will depend on you.
Goodbye again.
I’m waiting for an answer if you write.”
The soldier's hands fold a piece of paper.
From the diary of Alexey Safonov:
“The girl’s last name is Kulikova. I don’t remember who it is, although the house where she lives is not far from mine.”
Kostroma, December, 1996.
– Was there a strict daily routine?
Nikolay Galkin:
– On such a business trip it is impossible without strict discipline. Wake up at seven o'clock, wash, breakfast at eight o'clock. At eight twenty we were already given a task: either we went to clear the area or clear mines.
Nikolai Galkin watches footage on TV: an armored personnel carrier is moving along a narrow street in the private sector of Grozny, followed by riot police; search of suspects; riot police approach a private house and look into the basement; the military man, stepping carefully, enters the room; half-overturned crib; There is a dead dog on the floor in a pool of blood.
- We were combing the forest...
Nikolay Galkin:
- They combed the green stuff. It was just from the northern side that greenery, that is, thickets of thick bushes, approached us closely. When it blooms in the spring, practically nothing can be seen twenty meters away, and at night there was constant shelling from there. And so we combed it twice. They found banners there, signs along which militants walked, and shelters.
Footage on TV: a detachment of riot police is approaching the “greenery”; riot police enter the thickets, move carefully; one riot policeman, noticing a building ahead, shoots at its window with a grenade launcher; grenade explosion inside a building.
– When did you return, was there a certain time, at such and such a gathering?
Nikolay Galkin:
– You understand, a time was assigned for each operation, we left for three hours, but it didn’t always work out. Sometimes it was six o'clock. But sometimes they made it in two hours. This depended on the volume of the operation being performed.
“But they returned in the evening.”
– Yes, that’s all by the evening... Dinner in the evening. For those who have lunch at the same time, a weapons check is mandatory. And assignment to the outfit, that is, assignment of the outfit for the night. A duty officer was appointed - he was responsible around the clock - who monitored the change of outfits and the safety of weapons.
- Lights out at ten o'clock?
– As such, the lights out... it all depended on the situation. Because if the shelling began, how could there be a release?..
Images on TV: riot policemen sleeping on the floor; two are standing, shivering from the cold, yawning.
Nikolay Galkin:
– ... And so at ten or eleven o’clock, so that people can really sleep. But there was not a single day of such sleep, normal, human sleep. People are in tension, constant shelling, bombings...
A helicopter flying over the city.
From the diary of Alexey Safonov:
“I re-read this letter from Zhenya Kulikova today.
Who is she? It's clear that it's from our yard. I looked at it secretly and fell in love. Yurka's mother knows from somewhere. I took her address. And she boldly asked - do I have a girlfriend? Actually there is. During all this time I sent one postcard – that’s all. And here, in the army, especially now, in Chechnya, you really want people to write letters to you and congratulate you on the holidays. By the way, today is our holiday – the twenty-third of February.”
Riot police are sitting in a cramped room, one of them is reading a holiday order.
Riot policeman:
- Combat friends! On behalf of the operational headquarters of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Chechen Republic, I congratulate you on the holiday of Defenders of the Fatherland Day. We celebrate this holiday in difficult combat conditions, but this is the purpose of people in uniform: to be where it is difficult, where it is dangerous, where blood is shed, where real masculine strength and will are needed. Loyalty to military duty and the desire to preserve the unity of great Russia brought the army, police and internal troops on Chechen soil into a single peacekeeping detachment. And even though we cannot be at the festive tables with our family and friends today, we still honor this holiday, sacred to our fathers and grandfathers, and try to be worthy successors of their glorious traditions. Thank you for your courage, dedication and professional skill! They guarantee our return to family and friends. Many thanks to our comrades who died here in battles with bandits. Great sorrow for them and eternal memory of them. I wish everyone happiness, health, success in service, prosperity, and a speedy recovery to the wounded. Today you proved that the Fatherland can rely on you. Happy holiday!
Head of the control group of the operational headquarters of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, Major General of Police Khrapov.
Nikolay Galkin:
- Guys, I ask, let's honor the memory of those fighters who remained on this earth and who are no longer with us.
Everyone gets up. A minute of silence.
Nikolay Galkin:
- Please sit down.
Everyone sits down.
Nikolay Galkin (addresses the riot policeman):
- Well, Alexander Nikolaevich, will you feed me a festive dinner?
Riot policeman:
- Pasta.
Everyone laughs.
Street on the outskirts of Grozny. Burnt Muslim mosque. Houses with cross-sealed glass in the windows. There are tanks at the side of the road.
From the diary of Alexey Safonov:
“For the third day I’ve been going through all the girls I know in my head. There is an opportunity to forward the letter to this Zhenya Kulikova, but I’m slow. And I want to answer! For some reason she seems so lonely. I feel sorry for her! And then, who is this Tolka? Why doesn't she want to have any relationship with him? Did he offend her with something?.. That's a brake in the head, eh! This Chechnya will make you feel completely stunned. They say they show us all looking so good on TV! And there is enough of everything here! And shit too!.. Yesterday, riot police from Orenburg caught marauding soldiers... One woman’s last watch was taken away. Prapor was offended by the riot police and wanted to throw a grenade. They say he's already pulled the pin. They barely took it away."
Kostroma, December, 1996.
Nikolai Galkin watches footage on TV: drunken soldiers; riot police are searching
end of introductory fragment
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