Heroes of the Chechen war. Desperate
On August 31, 1996, the Khasavyurt Accords were signed, ending the First Chechen War. Journalist Olesya Yemelyanova found the participants in the First Chechen campaign and talked to them about the war, their life after the war, Akhmat Kadyrov and much more.
Dmitry Belousov, St. Petersburg, senior warrant officer of OMON
In Chechnya, there was always a feeling: “What am I doing here? Why is all this necessary? ”, But there was no other work in the 90s. My wife was the first to say to me after the first business trip: “Either me, or the war.” Where will I go? We tried not to get out of business trips, at least there we paid our salaries on time - 314 thousand. There were benefits, "combat" paid - it was a penny, I don’t remember exactly how much. And they gave me a bottle of vodka, it was sickening without it, in such situations you don’t get drunk from it, but it helped to cope with stress. I fought for a paycheck. The family is at home, it was necessary to feed it with something. I did not know any background of the conflict, I did not read anything.
Young conscripts had to be slowly soldered with alcohol. They are only after training, it is easier for them to die than to fight. Eyes run wide, heads are pulled out, they do not understand anything. They will see the blood, they will see the dead - they cannot sleep.
Murder is unnatural for a person, although he gets used to everything. When the head does not think, the body does everything on autopilot. Fighting Chechens was not as scary as fighting Arab mercenaries. They are much more dangerous, they know how to fight very well.
We were prepared for the assault on Grozny for about a week. We - 80 riot police - were supposed to storm the village of Katayama. Later we learned that there were 240 militants there. Our tasks included reconnaissance in force, and then the internal troops were supposed to replace us. But nothing happened. Ours also hit us. There was no connection. We have our own police radio, tankers have their own wave, helicopter pilots have their own. We pass the line, artillery strikes, aircraft strikes. The Chechens got scared, they thought they were some kind of fools. According to rumors, the Novosibirsk OMON was originally supposed to storm Katayama, but their commander refused. Therefore, we were thrown from the reserve to storm.
Among the Chechens, I had friends in the opposition areas. In Shali, for example, in Urus-Martan.
After the hostilities, someone drank himself, someone ended up in a madhouse - some were taken directly from Chechnya to a psychiatric hospital. There was no adaptation. The wife left immediately. I can't remember a good one. Sometimes it seems that it is better to erase all this from memory in order to live on and move forward. And sometimes you want to speak up.
Benefits seem to be, but everything is only on paper. There are no levers on how to get them. I still live in the city, it’s easier for me, but it’s impossible for rural residents. There are arms and legs - and that's good. The main trouble is that you are counting on the state, which promises you everything, and then it turns out that no one needs you. I felt like a hero, received the Order of Courage. It was my pride. Now I look at everything differently.
If I were now offered to go to war, I would probably go. It's easier there. There is an enemy and there is a friend, black and white - you stop seeing shades. And in a peaceful life, you need to twist and bend. It's tiresome. When Ukraine began, I wanted to go, but my current wife dissuaded me.
Vladimir Bykov, Moscow, infantry sergeant
When I got to Chechnya, I was 20 years old. It was a conscious choice, I applied to the military registration and enlistment office and in May 1996 I left as a contract soldier. Before that, I studied at a military school for two years, at school I was engaged in bullet shooting.
In Mozdok we were loaded onto a Mi-26 helicopter. There was a feeling that you see footage from an American movie. When we arrived in Khankala, the fighters, who had already served for some time, offered me a drink. They gave me a glass of water. I took a sip, and my first thought was: “Where would I throw it out?”. The taste of "military water" with bleach and pantocide is a kind of point of no return and understanding that there is no turning back.
I didn't feel like a hero, and I don't. To become a hero in a war, one must either die, or commit an act that has become public knowledge, or be close to the commander. And commanders, as a rule, are far away.
My goal in the war was minimal casualties. I didn't fight for the Reds or the Whites, I fought for my guys. In war there is a reassessment of values, you begin to look at life differently.
The feeling of fear begins to disappear after about a month, and this is very bad, indifference to everything appears. Each of them came out in their own way. Some smoked, some drank. I wrote letters. Described mountains, weather, local people and their customs. Then I tore these letters. Sending was still not possible.
Psychologically, it was difficult, because it is often not clear whether you are a friend or an enemy. It seems that during the day a person calmly goes to work, and at night he comes out with a machine gun and fires at roadblocks. During the day you are on good terms with him, and in the evening he shoots you.
For ourselves, we divided the Chechens into lowland and mountainous. Plain more intelligent people, more integrated into our society. And those who live in the mountains have a completely different mentality, a woman is nobody for them. You ask the lady for documents for verification - and this can be perceived as a personal insult to her husband. We came across women from mountain villages who didn't even have passports.
Once, at the checkpoint at the intersection with Serzhen-Yurt, we stopped the car. From it came a man who had a yellow ID card in English and Arabic. It turned out to be Mufti Akhmat Kadyrov. We talked quite peacefully on everyday topics. He asked if there was anything he could do to help. We then had difficulty with food, there was no bread. Then he brought two trays of loaves to us at the checkpoint. They wanted to give him money, but he did not take it.
I think that we could end the war in such a way that there would be no second Chechen war. It was necessary to go to the end, and not conclude a peace agreement on shameful terms. Many soldiers and officers then felt that the state had betrayed them.
When I returned home, I threw myself into my studies. I studied at one institute, at the same time at another, and also worked to keep my brain occupied. Then he defended his PhD thesis.
When I was a student, I was sent to a course in psychosocial care for survivors of hot spots organized by a Dutch university. I then thought that Holland had not been at war with anyone lately. But I was told that Holland participated in the Indonesian war in the late 40s - as many as two thousand people. I suggested that they show a video cassette from Chechnya as educational material. But their psychologists turned out to be mentally unprepared and asked not to show the recording to the audience.
Andrey Amosov, St. Petersburg, SOBR major
That I would be an officer, I knew from the third or fourth grade. My dad is a policeman, now retired, my grandfather is an officer, my brother is also an officer, my great-grandfather died in the Finnish war. At the genetic level, this has borne fruit. At school, I went in for sports, then there was the army, a special forces group. I always had a desire to give back to my homeland, and when I was offered to go to a special rapid reaction unit, I agreed. There was no doubt whether to go or not, I took an oath. During the military service, I was in Ingushetia, it was clear to me what kind of mentality awaits me. I understood where I was going.
When you go to SOBR, it's stupid not to think that you can lose your life. But my choice was conscious. I am ready to give my life for my country and for my friends. What are the doubts? Politics should be dealt with by politicians, and combat structures should follow orders. I believe that the entry of troops into Chechnya both under Yeltsin and under Putin was correct so that the radical theme would not spread further into Russia.
For me, the Chechens have never been enemies. My first friend in the technical school was a Chechen, his name was Khamzat. In Chechnya, we gave them rice and buckwheat, we had good food, but they were in need.
We worked on the leaders of gangs. We captured one of them with a fight at four o'clock in the morning and destroyed it. For this I received the medal "For Courage".
On special assignments, we acted in a coordinated manner, as a single team. Tasks were set different, sometimes difficult. And it's not just combat missions. It was necessary to survive in the mountains, to freeze, to sleep in turns near the potbelly stove and to warm each other with hugs when there was no firewood. All boys are heroes to me. The team helped to overcome fear when the militants were 50 meters away and shouted "Surrender!". When I remember Chechnya, I imagine the faces of my friends more, as we joked, our unity. The humor was specific, on the verge of sarcasm. I think I underestimated it before.
It was easier for us to adapt, because we worked in the same unit and went on business trips together. Time passed, and we ourselves expressed a desire to go to the North Caucasus again. The physical factor worked. The feeling of fear that adrenaline gives had a strong influence. I regarded combat missions as both a duty and a rest.
It would be interesting to look at modern Grozny. When I saw him, he looked like Stalingrad. Now the war is periodically dreaming, there are disturbing dreams.
Alexander Podskrebaev, Moscow, GRU special forces sergeant
I ended up in Chechnya in 1996. We did not have a single conscript, only officers and contractors. I went because the homeland should be defended by adults, and not by young puppies. We didn’t have travel allowances in the battalion, only combat ones, we received 100 dollars a month. I did not go for money, but to fight for my country. “If the homeland is in danger, then everyone should go to the front,” Vysotsky also sang.
The war in Chechnya did not appear out of the blue, it is Yeltsin's fault. He armed Dudayev himself - when our units were withdrawn from there, all the warehouses of the North Caucasian Military District were left to him. I talked with ordinary Chechens, they saw this war in the coffin. They lived normally, life suited everyone. Not the Chechens started the war and not Dudayev, but Yeltsin. One solid base.
Chechens fought some for money, some for their homeland. They had their own truth. I didn't feel like they were absolute evil. But there is no truth in war.
In war, you are obliged to follow orders, there is no getting around, even criminal orders. After you have the right to appeal them, but first you must comply. And we carried out criminal orders. That's when, for example, the Maykop brigade was brought into Grozny on New Year's Eve. The scouts knew that this could not be done, but the order was from above. How many boys were driven to death. It was betrayal in its purest form.
Take, for example, the cash-in-transit KamAZ with money, which was standing near the headquarters of the 205th brigade when the Khasavyurt agreements were signed. Bearded guys came and loaded bags of money. The FSB members allegedly gave money to the militants for the restoration of Chechnya. And we didn’t get paid, but Yeltsin gave us Zippo lighters.
For me, the real heroes are Budanov and Shamanov. My chief of staff is a hero. While in Chechnya, he managed to write a scientific work on the rupture of an artillery barrel. This is a man due to whom the power of Russian weapons will become stronger. The Chechens also had heroism. They were characterized by both fearlessness and self-sacrifice. They defended their land, they were told that they were attacked.
I believe that the emergence of post-traumatic syndrome is highly dependent on the attitude of society. If they say “Yes, you are a killer!” in your eyes all the time, it can injure someone. There were no syndromes in the Great Patriotic War, because the homeland of the heroes met.
It is necessary to talk about the war from a certain angle so that people do not engage in nonsense. There will still be peace, only part of the people will be killed. And not the worst part. There is no sense from this.
Alexander Chernov, Moscow, retired colonel, internal troops
In Chechnya, I worked as the head of a computer center. We left on July 25, 1995. There were four of us: I, as the head of the computer center, and three of my employees. We flew to Mozdok, got off the plane. The first impression is wild heat. We were taken by turntable to Khankala. By tradition, in all hot spots, the first day is non-working. I brought with me two liter bottles of White Eagle vodka, two loaves of Finnish sausage. The men put out Kizlyar cognac and sturgeon.
The camp of internal troops in Khankala was a quadrangle surrounded by barbed wire. A rail hung at the entrance in case of artillery raids to raise the alarm. The four of us lived in a trailer. It was quite convenient, we even had a refrigerator. The freezer was full of water bottles because the heat was unbearable.
Our computer center was engaged in the collection and processing of all information, primarily operational. Previously, all information was transmitted via ZAS (classifying communications equipment). And six months before Chechnya, we had a device called RAMS - I don’t know how it stands for. This device made it possible to connect a computer to ZAS, and we could transmit secret information to Moscow. In addition to internal work such as all sorts of information, twice a day - at 6 am and 12 midnight - we sent an operational report to Moscow. Despite the fact that the volume of files was small, the connection was sometimes bad, and the process dragged on for a long time.
We had a video camera and we filmed everything. The most important filming is the negotiations between Romanov (deputy minister of internal affairs of Russia, commander of internal troops Anatoly Romanov) and Maskhadov (one of the separatist leaders Aslan Maskhadov). There were two operators at the talks: from their side and from our side. The secretaries took the cassette from us, and I do not know its further fate. Or, for example, a new howitzer appeared. Romanov told us: "Go and film how it works." Our cameraman also filmed how the heads of three foreign journalists were found. We sent the film to Moscow, where it was processed and shown on television.
May 1996, the airfield of the military base in Khankala
The war was very unprepared. Drunken Grachev and Yegorov sent tankers to Grozny on New Year's Eve, and they were all burned there. Sending tanks to the city is not quite the right decision. And the staff was not prepared. It got to the point that the Marines were removed from the Far East and thrown there. People should be run in, and then the boys were almost immediately thrown into battle from training. Losses could have been avoided, in the second campaign they were an order of magnitude smaller. The truce gave a little respite.
I am sure that the first Chechen one could have been avoided. I believe that the main culprits of this war are Yeltsin, Grachev and Yegorov, they unleashed it. If Yeltsin had appointed Dudayev as Deputy Minister of the Interior, entrusted him with the North Caucasus, he would have put things in order there. The civilian population suffered from the militants. But when we bombed their villages, they rose up against us. Intelligence in the first Chechen worked very poorly. There were no agents, they lost all agents. Whether there were militants in the destroyed villages or not, it is impossible to say for sure.
My friend, a military officer, his entire chest in orders, took off his shoulder straps and refused to go to Chechnya. Said it was the wrong war. He even refused to issue a pension. Proud.
My sores worsened in Chechnya. It got to the point where I couldn't work on the computer. Another such mode of operation was that he slept only four hours, plus a glass of cognac at night to fall asleep.
Ruslan Savitsky, St. Petersburg, Private of Internal Troops
In December 1995, I arrived in Chechnya from the Perm region, where I had training in an operational battalion. We studied for six months and went to Grozny by train. We all wrote petitions to be sent to the war zone, not to be forced. If there is only one child in the family, then in general he could easily refuse.
We were lucky with the staff. They were young guys, only two or three years older than us. They always ran ahead of us, they felt responsible. Of the entire battalion, we had only one officer with combat experience who had gone through Afghanistan. Only riot police directly participated in the cleansings, we, as a rule, held the perimeter.
In Grozny, we lived in a school for half a year. Part of it was occupied by the OMON unit, about two floors - by us. Cars were parked around, the windows were covered with bricks. In the classroom where we lived, there were potbelly stoves, stoked with firewood. Bathed once a month, lived with lice. It was undesirable to go beyond the perimeter. I was taken out of there earlier than the others for two weeks for disciplinary violations.
Hanging out at school was boring, although the food was normal. Over time, out of boredom, we began to drink. There were no shops, we bought vodka from Chechens. I had to go beyond the perimeter, walk about a kilometer around the city, come to an ordinary private house and say that I needed alcohol. There was a high probability that you would not return. I went unarmed. For one machine gun alone, they could kill.
Destroyed Grozny, 1995
Local banditry is a strange thing. It seems like a normal person during the day, but in the evening he dug up a machine gun and went to shoot. In the morning I buried the weapon - and again normal.
The first contact with death was when our sniper was killed. He fired back, he wanted to take the weapon from the dead, he stepped on the stretch and blew himself up. In my opinion, this is a complete lack of brains. I had no sense of the value of my own life. I was not afraid of death, I was afraid of stupidity. There were a lot of idiots around.
When I returned, I went to work in the police, but I did not have a secondary education. I passed the exams externally and came again, but they gave me a ride again, because I got tuberculosis in Chechnya. Also because I drank a lot. I can’t say that the army is to blame for my alcoholism. Alcohol in my life and before it was present. When the second Chechen war began, I wanted to go. I came to the military registration and enlistment office, they gave me a bunch of documents, it discouraged my desire a little. Then another conviction for some garbage appeared, and my service in the army was covered. I wanted courage and buzz, but it did not work out.
Daniil Gvozdev, Helsinki, special forces
I ended up in Chechnya on a conscription. When it came time to go to the army, I asked my coach to arrange me in good troops - we had a special-purpose company in Petrozavodsk. But at the assembly point, my surname sounded with those who go to Sertolovo to become grenade launchers. It turned out that the day before, my coach had left for Chechnya as part of a combined SOBR detachment. I, along with the whole “herd”, got up, went to the train, spent three months in the training unit. Nearby was a part of the paratroopers in Pesochnoye, he repeatedly wrote applications there to be accepted, he came. Then I realized that everything was useless, I passed the exams for the radio operator of the command and staff vehicle of the 142nd. At night, our captain and officers got us up. One walked with tears, said how he respects and loves all of us, the second tried to warn. They said we were all leaving tomorrow. The next night it was so interesting to look at this officer, I did not understand why he shed tears in front of us, he was less than I am now. He cried: “Guys, I will worry about you so much!” One of the guys said to him: "So get ready and go with us."
We flew to Vladikavkaz via Mozdok. For three months we had active studies, they gave me the 159th radio station behind my back. Then they sent me to Chechnya. I stayed there for nine months, I was the only signalman in our company who more or less understood something in communication. Six months later, I managed to knock out an assistant - a guy from Stavropol, who did not understand anything, but smoked a lot, and for him Chechnya was a paradise in general.
We performed different tasks there. Of the simple ones - they can dig up oil there with a shovel and they put such devices: a barrel, under it a gas or diesel heater, they drive the oil to a state where gasoline is obtained at the end. They sell gasoline. They drove huge convoys with trucks. ISIS, banned in Russia, is doing the same in Syria. Some won't come to an agreement, they hand over their own - and their barrels burn, and some calmly does what is needed. There was also constant work - we guarded the entire leadership of the headquarters of the North Caucasus Military District, we guarded Shamanov. Well, reconnaissance missions.
We had a task to capture a militant, some language. We went out into the night to search on the outskirts of the village, saw that cars were coming there, pouring gasoline. We noticed one comrade there, he constantly walked around, changed the heating under the barrels, he has a machine gun, well, if a machine gun means a militant. He had a bottle; The task of capturing the language has gone by the wayside, you must first capture vodka. They crawled through, found a bottle, and there was water! This made us angry, we took him prisoner. This guy, a militant, so thin, after interrogation in the intelligence department, was sent back to us. He said that he used to do Greco-Roman wrestling and did a handstand with a broken rib, I respected him greatly for this. He turned out to be the field commander's cousin, so he was exchanged for two of our soldiers. You should have seen these soldiers: 18-year-old guys, I don’t know, the psyche is clearly broken. We wrote this guy on a green handkerchief: "Nothing personal, we do not want war."
He asks, "Why didn't you kill me?" We explained that we were wondering what he was drinking. And he said that they had one Russian left in the village, they didn’t touch her, because she was a sorceress, everyone went to her. Two months ago, she gave him a bottle of water and said: "You can be killed, drink this water and stay alive."
We were constantly located in Khankala, and worked everywhere. The last we had was a demobilization chord, they released Bamut. Have you seen Nevzorov's film "Mad Company"? So we went along with them, we were on the one hand along the pass, they were on the other. They had one conscript in the company and it was he who was killed, and all the contract soldiers are alive. Once I look through binoculars, and there are some bearded people running around. The commander says: "Let's give them a couple of cucumbers." They asked me on the radio station, they tell me the coordinates, I look - they ran in, waving their hands. Then they show a white whale - what they wore under camouflage. And we realized that it was ours. It turned out that their batteries did not work for transmission and he could not transmit, but he heard me, so they began to wave.
You don't remember anything in combat. Someone says: “When I saw the eyes of this man ...” But I don’t remember this. The battle has passed, I see that everything is fine, everyone is alive. There was a situation when we got into the ring and caused fire on ourselves, it turns out that if I lie down, there is no connection, and I need to correct so that they don’t hit us. I wake up. The guys shout: “Good! Lie down." And I understand that if there is no connection, they will cover their own.
Who came up with the idea of giving children weapons at the age of 18, giving them the right to kill? If they gave it, then make sure that when people return, they will be heroes, and now Kadyrov's bridges. I understand that they want to reconcile the two nations, everything will be erased in a few generations, but how can these generations live?
When I returned, it was the dashing nineties, and almost all my friends were busy with something illegal. I came under investigation, a criminal record… At some point, when my head began to move away from the military fog, I waved my hand at this romance. With the guys veterans opened a public organization to support war veterans. We work, we help ourselves, others. I also paint icons.
18-year-old Yakut Volodya from a distant deer camp was a hunter-salter. It had to happen that he came to Yakutsk for salt and cartridges, accidentally saw in the dining room on TV piles of corpses of Russian soldiers on the streets of Grozny, smoking tanks and some words about "Dudaev's snipers." It hit Volodya in the head, so much so that the hunter returned to the camp, took his earned money, and sold the washed gold. He took his grandfather's rifle and all the cartridges, stuffed the icon of Saint Nicholas into his bosom and went to fight.
It’s better not to remember how he was driving, how he was in the bullpen, how many times they took away a rifle. But, nevertheless, a month later the Yakut Volodya arrived in Grozny.
Volodya heard only about one general who was regularly fighting in Chechnya, and he began to look for him in the February thaw. Finally, the Yakut was lucky, and he got to the headquarters of General Rokhlin.
The only document besides his passport was a handwritten certificate from the military commissar stating that Vladimir Kolotov, a hunter-trader by profession, was going to war, signed by the military commissar. The paper, which got worn out on the way, had already saved his life more than once.
Rokhlin, surprised that someone came to the war of his own free will, ordered the Yakut to let him in.
- Excuse me, please, are you that General Rokhlya? Volodya asked respectfully.
“Yes, I am Rokhlin,” the tired general replied, peering inquisitively at a small man dressed in a worn padded jacket, with a backpack and a rifle on his back.
- I was told that you came to the war on your own. For what purpose, Kolotov?
- I saw on TV how our Chechens from the snipers felled. I can't stand it, Comrade General. It's embarrassing, though. So I came to bring them down. You don't need money, you don't need anything. I, Comrade General Rokhlya, will myself go hunting at night. Let them show me the place where they will put the cartridges and food, and I will do the rest myself. I'll get tired - I'll come in a week, I'll sleep in a warm day and go again. You don't need a walkie-talkie and all that ... it's hard.
Surprised, Rokhlin nodded his head.
- Take, Volodya, at least a new SVDashka. Give him a rifle!
- No, Comrade General, I'm going out into the field with my scythe. Just give me some ammo, I only have 30 left now...
So Volodya began his war, a sniper one.
He slept for a day in headquarters kungs, despite the mine attacks and the terrible firing of artillery. I took cartridges, food, water and went on the first "hunt". They forgot about him at headquarters. Only reconnaissance regularly brought cartridges, food and, most importantly, water to the agreed place every three days. Each time I was convinced that the parcel had disappeared.
The radio operator-"interceptor" was the first to remember Volodya at a meeting of the headquarters.
- Lev Yakovlevich, the "Czechs" have a panic on the radio. They say that the Russians, that is, we, have a certain black sniper who works at night, boldly walks through their territory and shamelessly brings down their personnel. Maskhadov even appointed 30 thousand dollars for his head. His handwriting is like this - this fellow of the Chechens hits exactly in the eye. Why only in the eye - the dog knows him ...
And then the staff remembered the Yakut Volodya.
“He regularly takes food and ammunition from the cache,” the head of intelligence reported.
- And so we didn’t exchange a word with him, we didn’t even see him even once. Well, how did he leave you then to the other side ...
One way or another, they noted in the summary that our snipers also give their snipers a light. Because Volodin's work gave such results - from 16 to 30 people laid the fisherman with a shot in the eye.
The Chechens figured out that the federals had a hunter-hunter on Minutka Square. And since the main events of those terrible days took place on this square, a whole detachment of Chechen volunteers came out to catch the sniper.
Then, in February 1995, at Minutka, thanks to Rokhlin's cunning plan, our troops had already crushed almost three-quarters of the personnel of the so-called "Abkhazian" battalion of Shamil Basayev. The carbine of the Yakut Volodya also played a significant role here. Basayev promised a gold Chechen star to anyone who would bring the corpse of a Russian sniper. But the nights passed in an unsuccessful search. Five volunteers walked along the front line in search of Volodya's "beds", set up streamers wherever he could appear in direct line of sight of his positions. However, it was a time when groups, on both sides, broke through the enemy’s defenses and deeply wedged into its territory. Sometimes so deep that there was no longer any chance to break out to their own. But Volodya slept during the day under the roofs and in the cellars of houses. The bodies of the Chechens - the night "work" of the sniper - were buried the next day.
Then, tired of losing 20 people every night, Basayev called out from the reserves in the mountains a master of his craft, a teacher from a camp for training young shooters, an Arab sniper Abubakar. Volodya and Abubakar could not but meet in a night battle, such are the laws of sniper warfare.
And they met two weeks later. More precisely, Abubakar hooked Volodya with a drill rifle. A powerful bullet that once in Afghanistan killed Soviet paratroopers right through at a distance of one and a half kilometers, pierced the padded jacket and slightly hooked the arm, just below the shoulder. Volodya, feeling the rush of a hot wave of oozing blood, realized that the hunt for him had finally begun.
The buildings on the opposite side of the square, or rather their ruins, merged into a single line in Volodya's optics. “What flashed, optics?” thought the hunter, and he knew cases when a sable saw a sight sparkling in the sun and went home. The place he chose was located under the roof of a five-story residential building. Snipers always like to be at the top to see everything. And he lay under the roof - under a sheet of old tin, a wet snowy rain did not wet, which then went on, then stopped.
Abubakar tracked down Volodya only on the fifth night - tracked down his pants. The fact is that the Yakut pants were ordinary, wadded. This is American camouflage, which was often worn by Chechens, impregnated with a special composition, in which the uniform was indistinctly visible in night vision devices, and the domestic uniform shone with a bright light green light. So Abubakar "figured out" the Yakut in the powerful night optics of his "Bur", made to order by English gunsmiths back in the 70s.
One bullet was enough, Volodya rolled out from under the roof and painfully fell back onto the steps of the stairs. "The main thing is that he didn't break the rifle," thought the sniper.
- Well, that means a duel, yes, mister Chechen sniper! - the Yakut said to himself mentally without emotion.
Volodya deliberately stopped shredding the "Chechen order". The neat row of 200s with his sniper "autograph" on his eye stopped. "Let them believe that I was killed," Volodya decided.
He himself only did what he looked out for, where did the enemy sniper get to him from.
Two days later, already in the afternoon, he found Abubakar's "couch". He also lay under the roof, under the half-bent roofing sheet on the other side of the square. Volodya would not have noticed him if the Arab sniper had not given out a bad habit - he smoked marijuana. Once every two hours, Volodya caught in the optics a light bluish haze that rose above the roofing sheet and was immediately blown away by the wind.
"So I found you, abrek! You can't live without drugs! Good...", the Yakut hunter thought triumphantly, he didn't know that he was dealing with an Arab sniper who had gone through both Abkhazia and Karabakh. But Volodya did not want to kill him just like that, shooting through the roofing sheet. Snipers didn't do that, and fur hunters didn't.
- Well, you smoke lying down, but you will have to get up to go to the toilet, - Volodya decided coolly and began to wait.
Only three days later he figured out that Abubakar crawls out from under the sheet to the right side, and not to the left, quickly does the job and returns to the "couch". In order to "get" the enemy, Volodya had to change his position at night. He could not do anything again, because any new roofing sheet would immediately give away his new location. But Volodya found two fallen logs from the rafters with a piece of tin a little to the right, about fifty meters from his point. The place was excellent for shooting, but very uncomfortable for a "couch". For two more days, Volodya looked out for the sniper, but he did not show up. Volodya had already decided that the enemy was gone for good, when the next morning he suddenly saw that he had "opened up". Three seconds to aim with a slight exhalation, and the bullet went to the target. Abubakar was struck on the spot in the right eye. For some reason, against the impact of a bullet, he fell flat from the roof into the street. A large, greasy stain of blood spread through the mud on the square of the Dudayev Palace, where an Arab sniper was struck down by a single hunter's bullet.
“Well, I got you,” Volodya thought without any enthusiasm or joy. He realized that he must continue his fight, showing a characteristic handwriting. To prove thereby that he is alive, and that the enemy did not kill him a few days ago.
Volodya peered into the optics at the motionless body of the slain enemy. Nearby, he also saw the "Bur", which, he did not recognize, since he had not seen such rifles before. In a word, a hunter from the remote taiga!
And here he was surprised: the Chechens began to crawl out into the open to pick up the sniper's body. Volodya took aim. Three men came out and bent over the body. “Let them pick it up and carry it, then I’ll start shooting!” - Volodya triumphed.
The Chechens really raised the body together. Three shots were fired. Three bodies fell on the dead Abubakar.
Four more Chechen volunteers jumped out of the ruins and, throwing away the bodies of their comrades, tried to pull the sniper out. From the outside, a Russian machine gun fired, but the queues lay a little higher, without harming the hunched over Chechens.
Four more shots rang out, almost merging into one. Four more corpses had already formed a heap.
Volodya killed 16 militants that morning. He did not know that Basayev had given the order to get the Arab's body at all costs before it began to get dark. He had to be sent to the mountains to be buried there before sunrise, as an important and respectable Mujahideen.
A day later, Volodya returned to Rokhlin's headquarters. The general immediately received him as an honored guest. The news of the duel of two snipers has already spread around the army.
- Well, how are you, Volodya, tired? Do you want to go home?
Volodya warmed his hands at the "potbelly stove".
- That's it, Comrade General, you've done your job, it's time to go home. Spring work begins at the camp. The military commissar let me go only for two months. My two younger brothers worked for me all this time. It's time and honor to know...
Rokhlin nodded his head in understanding.
- Take a good rifle, my chief of staff will draw up the documents ...
- Why, I have a grandfather's. - Volodya lovingly hugged the old carbine.
The general did not dare to ask the question for a long time. But curiosity took over.
- How many enemies did you kill, did you count? They say more than a hundred ... the Chechens were talking.
Volodya lowered his eyes.
- 362 militants, comrade general.
- Well, go home, we can handle it ourselves now ...
- Comrade General, if anything, call me again, I'll deal with the work and come a second time!
On the face of Volodya, frank concern for the entire Russian Army was read.
- By God, I'll come!
The Order of Courage found Volodya Kolotov six months later. On this occasion, the entire collective farm celebrated, and the military commissar allowed the sniper to go to Yakutsk to buy new boots - the old ones had worn out in Chechnya. A hunter stepped on some pieces of iron.
On the day when the whole country learned about the death of General Lev Rokhlin, Volodya also heard about what had happened on the radio. He drank alcohol for three days at the zaimka. He was found drunk in a makeshift hut by other hunters who returned from fishing. Volodya kept repeating drunk:
- Nothing, Comrade General Rokhlya, if necessary, we will come, just tell me ...
After the departure of Vladimir Kolotov to his homeland, scum in officer uniforms sold his data to Chechen terrorists, who he is, where he came from, where he went, etc. The Yakut Sniper inflicted too many losses on the evil spirits.
Vladimir was killed by a 9mm round. pistol in his yard, while chopping wood. The criminal case was never opened.
First Chechen war. How it all started.
***
For the first time, I heard the legend of Volodya the sniper, or, as he was also called, Yakut (and the nickname is so textured that it even migrated to the famous television series about those days) I heard in 1995. They told it in different ways, along with the legends of the Eternal Tank, the girl-Death and other army folklore. Moreover, the most surprising thing is that in the story about Volodya the sniper, in an amazing way, there was an almost letter-like similarity with the story of the great Zaitsev, who put Hans, a major, head of the Berlin school of snipers in Stalingrad. To be honest, I then perceived it as ... well, let's say, as folklore - on a halt - and I believed it, and I did not believe it. Then there was a lot of things, as, indeed, in any war, which you won’t believe, but turns out to be TRUE. Life is generally more complicated and more unexpected than any fiction.
Later, in the year 2003-2004, one of my friends and comrades-in-arms told me that he personally knew this guy, and that he really WAS. Whether there was that same duel with Abubakar, and whether the Czechs really had such a super sniper, to be honest, I don’t know, they had enough serious snipers, and especially in the Air Campaign. And the weapons were serious, including the South African SWR, and cereals (including the B-94 prototypes, which were just going into the pre-series, the spirits already had them, and with the numbers of the first hundreds - Pakhomych would not let you lie.
How they got them is a separate story, but nevertheless, the Czechs had such trunks. Yes, and they themselves made semi-handicraft SWR near Grozny.)
Volodya-Yakut really worked alone, worked exactly as described - in the eye. And his rifle was exactly the one that was described - the old Mosin three-ruler of pre-revolutionary production, still with a faceted breech and a long barrel - an infantry model of 1891.
The real name of Volodya-Yakut is Vladimir Maksimovich Kolotov, originally from the village of Iengra in Yakutia. However, he himself is not a Yakut, but an Evenk.
At the end of the First Campaign, he was patched up in the hospital, and since he was officially a nobody and there was no way to call him, he simply went home.
By the way, his combat score is most likely not exaggerated, but underestimated ... Moreover, no one kept accurate records, and the sniper himself did not particularly brag about them.
Dmitry Travin
Rokhlin, Lev Yakovlevich
From December 1, 1994 to February 1995, he headed the 8th Guards Army Corps in Chechnya. Under his leadership, a number of districts of Grozny were captured, including the presidential palace. On January 17, 1995, Generals Lev Rokhlin and Ivan Babichev were appointed to the military command for contacts with Chechen field commanders in order to cease fire.
The assassination of a general
On the night of July 2-3, 1998, he was found murdered at his own dacha in the village of Klokovo, Naro-Fominsk district, Moscow region. According to the official version, his wife, Tamara Rokhlina, shot at the sleeping Rokhlin, the reason was a family quarrel.
In November 2000, the Naro-Fominsk City Court found Tamara Rokhlina guilty of premeditated murder of her husband. In 2005, Tamara Rokhlina applied to the ECtHR, complaining about the long pre-trial detention and the protracted trial. The complaint was satisfied, with the award of monetary compensation (8000 euros). After a new consideration of the case, on November 29, 2005, the Naro-Fominsk City Court for the second time found Rokhlina guilty of the murder of her husband and sentenced her to four years of probation, appointing her also a probationary period of 2.5 years.
During the investigation of the murder in the forest belt near the crime scene, three charred corpses were found. According to the official version, their death occurred shortly before the assassination of the general, and has nothing to do with him. However, many of Rokhlin's associates believed that they were real killers, who were eliminated by the Kremlin's special services, "covering their tracks"
For participation in the Chechen campaign, he was presented to the highest honorary title of Hero of the Russian Federation, but refused to accept this title, saying that he "has no moral right to receive this award for military operations on the territory of his own country"
My father's heart sank in apprehension as he stepped out into the yard of the helicopter factory where he worked for a smoke break. Suddenly he saw two white swans flying in the sky with a mournful cooing. He thought about Dima. It became bad from a bad feeling. At that moment, his son Dmitry Petrov, together with his comrades, repelled the attacks of bandits led by Khattab and Shamil Basayev near the foot of Hill 776 near Ulus-Kert.
White swans in the March sky - harbingers of the death of Pskov paratroopers
On the day when the detachment of paratroopers advanced to the combat mission area, wet sticky snow began to fall, the weather was non-flying. And the terrain - continuous gullies, ravines, the mountain river Abazulgol and beech forest - prevented the landing of helicopters. Therefore, the detachment moved on foot. They did not have time to reach the height when they were discovered by the bandits. The fight has begun. The paratroopers died one by one. They didn't wait for help. Commander-in-Chief Shamanov has already reported to Russian President Vladimir Putin that the war in Chechnya is over, all major bandit formations have been destroyed. The general hastened. The parents of the dead 84 Pskov paratroopers urgently demanded an independent investigation and punishment of the perpetrators who failed during the three days of the battle, from February 29 to March 1, 2000, to come to the aid of the dying company. 90 paratroopers fought against 2500 thousand bandits.
For this battle, 21 paratroopers received the Star of the Hero posthumously. Dima Petrov is one of them. The parents cherished the star like the apple of their eye. But they didn't save it. The thieves stole the relic. Local newspapers wrote about it. And a miracle happened. Even thieves have a heart. They tossed the award near the front door of the apartment.
A school in the city of Rostov-on-Don is named after the Hero of Russia. In 2016, a memorial plaque was installed on the house where Dima studied at the Young Pilot club. There is no monument to the hero in the city.
The feat of the Orthodox spirit without official awards
In the narrow, dead gorge Khanchelak during the first Chechen war in 1995, Chechen fighters ambushed. The time to rescue is only 25 minutes or less. Russian helicopter pilots succeeded. But after a short battle, the comrades missed Alexander Voronov. He was sitting on an armored vehicle and, apparently, was shot down by a shock wave. They were looking for him. To no avail. Only blood on the stones. Sasha was captured. For three more days they searched for him in the surrounding villages. Not found. Five years have passed. The second Chechen war began in 2000. After the assault on the village of Utam-Kala, local residents told the special forces that they had a special pit (zindan) in their backyard. A Russian man is sitting there.
A miracle happened. When the fighters descended the wooden stairs into the seven-meter hole, they hardly recognized the bearded man in decayed camouflage dressed in burlap as their lost friend. He staggered. Was very weak. Special Forces soldier Sasha Voronov was alive. He fell to his knees, wept and kissed the free land. He was saved by an indestructible will to live and an Orthodox cross. He took it in his hands, kissed it, rolled pellets of clay and ate. His hands were cut with the knives of bandits. They practiced hand-to-hand combat techniques on it. Not everyone gets these tests. This is a real feat. The feat of the human spirit. Even without official awards.
Zhukov walked through the minefield
In the Argun Gorge, the reconnaissance group was ambushed while performing a mission. She could not tear herself away, having two seriously wounded in her arms. Lieutenant colonel of the North Caucasian military headquarters of the district Alexander Zhukov receives an order to rescue his comrades. It is not possible to land helicopters in a dense forest. Fighters are being lifted by winch. To help evacuate the remaining wounded, Zhukov descends on the winch. Mi-24s, which are designed to provide fire support, cannot fire - a volley can destroy their own.
Zhukov lowers the helicopter. It turns out. At 100 meters, the militants surround him and the remaining two fighters from three sides. Heavy fire. And captivity. The militants did not kill the fighters. After all, a captured officer of the district headquarters can be profitably redeemed. The tractor driver - the head of the militants - orders the prisoners not to feed and beat them methodically. He sells Colonel Zhukov to field commander Gelaev. The gang of which is surrounded in the area of the village of Komsomolskoye. The area is mined. Gelayev orders the prisoners to go through the minefield. Alexander Zhukov was blown up by a mine, was seriously wounded and received the star of the Hero of Russia. Alive.
I did not attach the Star of the Hero to the front tunic
In 1995, in the vicinity of Minutka Square, Chechen fighters dressed in airborne uniforms with short haircuts characteristic of paratroopers killed the local population. The alleged atrocities of Russian soldiers were filmed on cameras. This was reported to Ivan Babichev, the general of the united group "West". He gives the order to Colonel Vasily Nuzhny to neutralize the militants.
The right one twice visited Afghanistan, had military awards. The idea of conferring the title of Hero of Russia had already been sent to him.
He and the soldiers began to clean up the ruins of houses. Found four militants. Surrounded. They were ordered to surrender. Suddenly, from the forks, shots were heard from other bandits who had sat in ambush. Vasily Nuzhny was wounded. Blood immediately appeared in the place on the chest where the golden star should have been hanging. He died almost immediately.
Tanya and 17 children were rescued by scouts
In the village of Bamut, 18 children were rescued by a reconnaissance platoon under the command of Sergeant Danila Blarneysky. Children were held hostage by militants in order to use them as human shields. Our scouts suddenly broke into the house and began to carry the children out. The bandits went berserk. They fired at their defenseless backs. The fighters fell, but under heavy fire they grabbed the children and ran to hide them under the saving stones. 27 soldiers were killed. The last rescued girl, Tanya Blank, was wounded in the leg. All other children survived. Danil was seriously wounded and did not receive the Hero of Russia star because he was discharged from the army. Instead of this well-deserved award, he puts on his tunic the Order of Courage.
Volf Vitaly Alexandrovich - commander of the communications department of the 3rd paratrooper battalion of the 345th Guards Red Banner Order of Suvorov, 3rd degree of a separate parachute regiment of the Russian airborne troops, as part of the Russian peacekeeping forces in Abkhazia, guard senior sergeant of extra-long service.
Born on July 14, 1972 in the village of Malinovsky, Zavyalovsky District, Altai Territory, in a family of employees. German. He graduated from secondary school No. 14 in Yarovoe, Slavgorod district, Altai Territory.
He was drafted into the Armed Forces in the autumn of 1990. Active military service in the airborne troops. After graduating from the training unit in Lithuania (44th Airborne Training Division), he served in the 345th Guards Separate Airborne Regiment in the city of Ganja (Azerbaijan), and from August 1992, as part of the regiment, he took part in a peacekeeping mission in the zone Georgian-Abkhazian conflict. In the same year, 1992, he remained on long-term service.
On the evening of March 27, 1993, the commander of the communications department of the 3rd Airborne Battalion (345th Guards Separate Airborne Regiment, as part of the Russian peacekeeping forces in Abkhazia), Senior Sergeant Vitaly Volf provided communications for the 7th Airborne Company , who performed a combat mission to protect the seismological laboratory in the settlement of Nizhniye Eshery. Piglet of land measuring 100 by 100 meters was literally pitted with funnels, on the walls of buildings there were thousands of bullet and shrapnel marks. At 10:30 p.m., the laboratory came under artillery and mortar fire from extremists, as a result of which the communication line was damaged by the explosion. There was a real threat to the life of the paratroopers who were at the facility.
Guard Senior Sergeant Volf V.A. immediately rushed to fix the problem and, despite a shrapnel wound to the head, managed to restore contact with the operational group of airborne troops in the city of Gudauta ..
Summoned by the communication restored by Vitaly Volf, fire support helicopters attacked the positions of the extremists, from where the laboratory was shelled.
Courageous paratrooper-signalman V.A. Wolf died from his wound without regaining consciousness ...
He was buried in the town of Yarovoe, Slavgorod District, Altai Territory.
For courage and heroism shown in the performance of military duty, by the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of July 26, 1993, the senior sergeant of extra-long service Volf Vitaly Aleksandrovich was awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation (posthumously).
By order of the head of the administration of the city of Yarovoe dated November 10, 1993 No. 133 st. Baikalskaya was renamed Vitaly Volf Street. By the decision of the Yarovoye Education Committee of November 20, 2002.
Gurov Igor Vladimirovich- Deputy commander of the special purpose group "Werewolf" of the 34th separate operational brigade of the Volga district of the internal troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, senior lieutenant.
Born May 6, 1970 in the village. Novoelovka Troitsky district of the Altai Territory. Russian. In 1988 he graduated from high school and entered the military school.
In 1992 he graduated from the Novosibirsk Higher Military Command School of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia. He was sent to the internal troops, to the escort unit in the Urals. Later he transferred to the 57th Operational Regiment (later - the 34th Operational Brigade), stationed in the city of Bogorodsk, Nizhny Novgorod Region. He served as a platoon commander, deputy commander of a special forces group. Participated in business trips to "hot spots" - to the area of the Ossetian-Ingush conflict. After the first business trip to Chechnya in 1994, he was awarded the medal "For Courage". The 1996 business trip was the fourth for Senior Lieutenant Gurov, and on March 5 it actually ended, a replacement arrived.
On the morning of March 6, 1996 in Grozny, not far from the square. For a minute, a patrol of internal troops was ambushed by militants. A battle ensued, the dead and wounded appeared. Three armored personnel carriers arrived to the rescue of those who were surrounded, one of which was commanded by Senior Lieutenant Gurov. The officer took command of the group, organized the defense. During the day, the special forces fought off fierce attacks of militants. In the evening, Gurov led his subordinates to break out of the encirclement in three armored personnel carriers. Gurov himself was on the first armored personnel carrier, followed by the entire column. A shot from a hand grenade hit the officer sitting on the armor directly.
By the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation, for the courage and heroism shown during the counter-terrorist operation in the North Caucasus region in conditions involving a risk to life, Senior Lieutenant Gurov Igor Vladimirovich was awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation (posthumously).
Buried at home, in the village. Novoelovka Troitsky district of the Altai Territory.
By order of the Minister of Internal Affairs of Russia, he was forever enlisted in the lists of the 34th separate operational brigade. The Nizhny Novgorod Cadet Corps is named after the Hero. In the city of Bogorodsk, a memorial plaque was installed on the house where Igor Gurov recently lived. At home in A secondary school was named after him in Novoelovka, and a memorial plaque was erected here in memory of a fellow countryman - Hero.
In June 2005, the ED9M electric train No. 0113 of the West Siberian Railway was named after the Hero of Russia Igor Gurov.
Erofeev Dmitry Vladimirovich- Commander of the group of the 67th separate special-purpose brigade of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, lieutenant.
Born on April 2, 1973 in the village of Topchikha, Topchikhinsky District, Altai Territory. Russian. Graduated from high school.
Since 1990 - in the Armed Forces. He graduated from the Novosibirsk Military Combined Arms Command School in 1994.
Sent to serve in the 67th separate special-purpose brigade of the GRU General Staff (Siberian Military District, stationed in the city of Berdsk near Novosibirsk).
In December 1994, as part of a brigade, he arrived in the Chechen Republic on a business trip to the first Chechen war.
On January 1, 1995, when the 131st motorized rifle brigade was defeated and almost completely destroyed by Dudayev, a group, which included Dmitry Erofeev, was sent to Grozny to rescue the remaining motorized riflemen. A group of special forces was ambushed near the railway station. The infantry fighting vehicle, in which Lieutenant Erofeev was, was knocked out from a grenade launcher, he, wounded, under enemy fire, carried two wounded crew members from the burning infantry fighting vehicle to the shelter and remained to cover the departure of his crew. Machine-gun fire destroyed 2 enemy firing points. He continued to fight as long as he had the strength, despite the pain and loss of blood. Local residents subsequently said that the militants offered him to surrender several times, but Lieutenant Erofeev fought to the last bullet. Died in this battle.
He was buried at home, in the village of Topchikha, Altai Territory.
By decree of the President of the Russian Federation of October 13, 1995, for the courage and heroism shown during the counter-terrorist operation on the territory of the North Caucasus region in conditions involving a risk to life, Lieutenant Erofeev Dmitry Vladimirovich was awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation (posthumously).
By order of the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation, he was forever enrolled in the lists of the 1st company of the 691st separate special forces detachment of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Federation.
The name of the Hero is the name of the municipal secondary school No. 1 in the village of Topchikha, in the homeland of the Hero. Monuments to the Hero were erected at the memorial to the Heroes-graduates of the Novosibirsk Military Combined Arms Command School and on the Alley of Heroes in the village of Topchikha.
Zakharov Petr Valentinovich- commander of the reconnaissance group of the 84th separate reconnaissance motorized rifle battalion of the 3rd motorized rifle division of the 22nd army of the Volga military district, senior lieutenant.
Born on September 12, 1977 at the Kok-Su station in the Taldy-Kurgan region of the Kazakh SSR. He graduated from high school in the village of Laptev Log, Uglovsky district, Altai Territory.
Since 1995 - in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. Graduated from the Novosibirsk Military Institute in 1999.
He served in parts of the Volga Military District, commanded a reconnaissance group of the 84th separate reconnaissance motorized rifle battalion. Member of the second Chechen war since November 1999.
On March 3, 2000, two reconnaissance groups were landed from helicopters in the mountains of southern Chechnya. During a raid on enemy rear lines, the first group discovered a fortified camp of militants, but in the ensuing battle was surrounded by the enemy. The second group, commanded by senior lieutenant Pyotr Zakharov, quickly went to the aid of his comrades. However, part of the militants was advanced towards the scouts and pressed them to the ground with dense machine-gun fire. There was a real threat of the death of the reconnaissance group. Having assessed the situation, the commander of the reconnaissance group Pyotr Zakharov, under heavy fire, approached the enemy positions and threw grenades at the machine gun, destroying it along with the crew. By his actions, he saved his subordinates from death.
Then Zakharov raised his subordinates to attack, but was hit by an enemy bullet. Fulfilling the last order of the commander, the scouts captured the position of the militants, destroying the enemy barrier, and then broke through the encirclement of the first reconnaissance group.
By decree of the President of the Russian Federation of August 7, 2000, for the courage and heroism shown in the counter-terrorist operation in the North Caucasus region, Senior Lieutenant Petr Valentinovich Zakharov was awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation (posthumously).
Awarded the Order of Courage. He was buried in the village of Laptev Log, Altai Territory.
The name of Peter Zakharov was given to a secondary school in this village. Monuments to the Hero are installed at the memorial to the Heroes-graduates of the Novosibirsk Military Combined Arms School and on the Alley of Heroes in the village of Uglovskoye, Altai Territory.
Lays Alexander Viktorovich- machine gunner of the 45th separate reconnaissance regiment of the airborne troops of the Moscow Military District, private.
Born on May 13, 1982 in Gorno-Altaisk, the administrative center of the Gorno-Altai Autonomous Okrug. German.
The family then moved to Neninka, Soltonsky district, Altai Territory. There he graduated from the 9th grade of a secondary school, and later - an educational lyceum in the city of Biysk, Altai Territory.
In 2000, he was called up for military service in the airborne troops. He served in the 45th separate reconnaissance regiment of the Airborne Forces of the Moscow Military District, whose personnel became famous in the fighting in the North Caucasus.
In July 2001, as part of his unit, he arrived in the Chechen Republic to participate in hostilities during the second Chechen war. He died in action on the seventh day of his first military assignment.
On August 7, 2001, the patrol of the paratroopers was searching for a gang that, according to intelligence, was preparing an attack on a supply convoy of federal troops. In the area with Khatuni's patrol discovered bandits who had already taken positions for an ambush. However, the collision happened suddenly, at the moment when the scouts were moving along the hollow between the high-rise buildings, on which the militants had fortified. The first shots managed to destroy the leader of the gang, but the rest opened heavy fire on the paratroopers. The watch was divided into separate groups that took the fight.
Alexander Lays ended up with the commander of the patrol, Captain Shabalin. He covered the commander with fire when he corrected artillery fire on the militants and called for reinforcements. When there was a danger of destroying the two soldiers closest to the militants, the officer decided to break through to their rescue. But when he got up to throw, Alexander saw a militant sniper aiming at an officer from a distance of several tens of meters. Then he covered the commander with his body. An enemy bullet hit the throat, causing severe internal bleeding. However, Private Lays continued to fire at the enemy, destroying the sniper who wounded him. For a few more minutes, Alexander continued to fight until he fell unconscious from loss of blood.
A few minutes later, the militants retreated, having lost hope of destroying the reconnaissance paratroopers and losing 5 people killed.
Buried in the village Neninka, Soltonsky district, Altai Territory.
By Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 762 of July 22, 2002, for the courage and heroism shown during the counter-terrorist operation on the territory of the North Caucasus region in conditions involving a risk to life, Private Lais Alexander Viktorovich was awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation (posthumously).
The name of the Hero was given to the secondary school with. Neninka of the Altai Territory, where Hero studied.
Lelyukh Igor Viktorovich- Commander of the group of the 67th separate special-purpose brigade of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, captain.
Born on December 28, 1967 in Vitebsk, Byelorussian SSR, in the family of an officer. Russian. He graduated from high school in the village of Topchikha, Altai Territory.
In 1989 he graduated from the Novosibirsk Higher Military-Political Combined Arms School. He served as deputy company commander for political affairs in the Central Group of Forces (Czechoslovakia), in the Kiev military district. Since 1992 - deputy company commander for educational work in the Siberian Military District.
In 1994, he achieved a transfer to the 67th separate special-purpose brigade of the GRU General Staff (Siberian Military District, stationed in the city of Berdsk, Novosibirsk Region).
Since November 1994, as part of the brigade - in the battles of the first Chechen war. Conducted several special operations against Dudayev's formations. On the afternoon of January 1, 1995, the group of Captain Lelyukh was given the task to penetrate into the city of Grozny and evacuate the wounded commander of the 131st motorized rifle brigade, surrounded in the area of the railway station and leading many hours of battle with militants. To the captain's arguments that the special forces units are intended for sabotage operations and without the support of armored vehicles they will inevitably suffer heavy losses, the answer was given - to carry out the order without discussion.
Igor Lelyukh led the fighters to carry out the order and did everything he could: he managed to find a weak spot in the positions of the Dudaevites and break through to the encircled units. But the special forces group could not hold out for a long time without armored vehicles and without support from artillery fire. Soon she was attacked by large enemy forces. A shot from a grenade launcher stopped the BMP, on which the group was moving. Having got out of the burning BMP, Captain Lelyukh came under fire from snipers. Seriously wounded in both legs, Igor Lelyukh ordered his subordinates to break through to the main forces, while he himself remained to cover the retreat. For about 30 minutes, he fought alone against dozens of militants. He was wounded again and unconsciously captured by militants and killed.
By Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of December 7, 1995, for the courage and heroism shown in the performance of military duty, Captain Lelyukh Igor Viktorovich was awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation (posthumously).
Buried in Novosibirsk. By order of the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation, he was permanently included in the lists of the 1st company of the 690th separate special forces detachment of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. A street in the city of Berdsk, Novosibirsk Region, is named after the Hero. Monuments to the Hero were erected at the memorial to the Heroes-graduates of the Novosibirsk Military Combined Arms Command School and on the territory of the Special Forces Brigade of the Siberian Military District, in which the Hero served.
Medvedev Sergey Yurievich- Commander of the department of the 6th Airborne Company of the 104th Guards Red Banner Parachute Regiment of the 76th Guards Chernigov Red Banner Airborne Division, guard senior sergeant of contract service.
Born on September 18, 1976 in the city of Biysk, Altai Territory, in the family of an employee. Russian. Early left without a father. He graduated from a vocational school, received the specialty of a gas and electric welder, and went to work at the age of 15.
In 1994 he was drafted into the Russian Army. He served in the airborne troops, in the 242nd training center of the Airborne Forces in the city of Omsk he received the specialty of the commander of an airborne combat vehicle (BMD). He continued to serve in the 76th Airborne Division. At the end of military service, he signed a contract and remained in the Airborne Forces. As part of the Separate Airborne Brigade, he participated in the march of paratroopers from Bosnia to Kosovo in June 1999. Then there was the Caucasus, Abkhazia.
Since January 2000 he fought in Chechnya. On February 29, 2000, the 6th Airborne Company was tasked with preventing a breakthrough of militants in the direction of the settlement. Vedeno. The reconnaissance patrol under the command of senior lieutenant Vorobyov, which included Sergey Medvedev, advanced to occupy the Ista-Kort height, went to the foot of the height. Here the patrol of paratroopers was the first to encounter the militants, discovered the first hidden firing point of the enemy. Having quietly approached her, the paratroopers threw grenades at her. A fight ensued. Guards Senior Sergeant Medvedev was wounded, but remained to cover the withdrawal. When the forces were running out, the paratrooper rose to his full height and, with a machine gun in his hands, alone went against a large group of militants. He continued to fire until an enemy bullet ended his life.
A company of paratroopers held positions at heights 776 and 787 for more than a day. The forces were not equal: there were 20 militants per fighter. When the militants approached the heights closely, the group commander called fire on himself. In this battle, 84 paratroopers were killed, including 13 officers.
By Decree of the President of Russia N484 of March 12, 2000, for the courage and bravery shown in the elimination of illegal armed formations in the North Caucasus region, the senior sergeant of the contract service Sergey Yuryevich Medvedev was awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation (posthumously).
He was buried at the Central Cemetery in Biysk.
A street is named after the Hero in his native city.
The feat of the paratroopers of the 6th company of the Pskov airborne division in the Argun Gorge is inscribed in a special line in history. By Decree of the President of Russia N484 of March 12, 2000, for the courage and courage shown in the elimination of illegal armed formations in the North Caucasus region, 22 Pskov paratroopers were awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation, including 21 posthumously. The names of all the dead paratroopers are immortalized at the memorial to the paratroopers of the 6th company in Pskov.
Rodkin Evgeny Viktorovich- Head of the SOBR Department for Combating Organized Crime in Kurgan, Lieutenant Colonel of Militia.
Born on December 20, 1951 in Rubtsovsk, Altai Territory. He served in various positions of the inspector and commanding staff of the Internal Affairs Directorate of the Kurgan region. Graduated from the Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in 1988.
In 1984 - 1986, as a specialist of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, he assisted in the formation of law enforcement agencies of the Republic of Afghanistan.
Repeatedly went on business trips to Chechnya. On the last 6th business trip in 1996, he could no longer go. But the second part of the detachment went there. At such a tense moment, to send the guys who had not been shot to Chechnya, and to stay at home himself, Evgeny simply could not. This is not what he taught them.
On March 6, 1996, the commandant's office received a signal about an attack by militants on checkpoints in the city of Grozny. Mobile groups left to their rescue, one of which was headed by police lieutenant colonel Yevgeny Rodkin. His group was faced with the task of assisting the Perm sobrists, who were fighting near their wrecked armored personnel carrier, then advance to the area of \u200b\u200bPl. A minute and take out the wounded from the 15th checkpoint. When in the area of the 22nd checkpoint a wounded policeman, covered in blood, ran out towards the armored personnel carrier, the armored personnel carrier stopped. Immediately, almost in one voice, the command of Lieutenant Colonel Rodkin and Captain Maslov sounded: "From the armor!" This saved the group. The officers who jumped off had not even touched the ground before the militants opened automatic fire on them.
Leaving several SOBR fighters with the wounded, the commander and the rest continued on their way in an armored personnel carrier. At night, it became known at the base that the armored personnel carrier of the group was fired upon by militants from grenade launchers, the policemen were forced to join the battle. Despite his injuries, Yevgeny Rodkin directed the actions of his subordinates. For four hours, his group repelled the attacks of superior militant forces. In this battle, police lieutenant colonel Yevgeny Rodkin died heroically.
By Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of September 6, 1996, for the courage and heroism shown during the counter-terrorist operation on the territory of the North Caucasus region in conditions involving a risk to life, by Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of September 6, 1996, Lieutenant Colonel Evgeny Viktorovich Rodkin was awarded the title of Hero Russian Federation (posthumously).
In Kurgan, at house number 42 on Karl Marx Street, where the hero lived, a memorial plate was installed.
He was awarded the Order of the Red Star, the Order of Courage, the Afghan Order "For Courage", and medals.
Tokarev Vyacheslav Vladimirovich- commander of the airborne assault maneuver group as part of the Group of Russian Border Troops in Tajikistan, lieutenant.
In 1993 he graduated from the Novosibirsk Military Combined Arms Command School. Received a referral to the Border Troops.
In June 1994, at his personal request, he was transferred to the Group of Russian Border Troops in the Republic of Tajikistan.
He took an active part in the fighting to defend the Tajik-Afghan border from terrorist gangs and armed smugglers of the drug mafia. On account of the lieutenant - dozens of combat clashes in which the enemy suffered heavy losses.
Due to the aggravation of the situation in August 1994, Lieutenant Tokarev's airborne assault maneuver group was deployed in the area of one of the outposts, where intelligence revealed the reinforcement of detachments of Afghan and Tajik militants, Vyacheslav Tokarev himself was appointed senior temporary border post "Turg".
On the evening of August 18, 1994, the enemy tried to destroy the personnel of the Russian border outpost. For several hours, Lieutenant Tokarev and his subordinates fought with a numerically superior enemy, participated in repelling 15 attacks, inflicting heavy losses on the militants. Thanks to the skillful leadership of the battle by Lieutenant Tokarev, the border guards did not have losses for a long time.
When, at nightfall, the militants tried to get to the outpost in one of the hard-to-reach areas, Tokarev with two fighters advanced across them and cut them off from the outpost with automatic and machine-gun fire at close range. A group of brave border guards was surrounded by a numerically superior enemy. In this critical situation, Vyacheslav Tokarev managed to organize a circular defense. With the threat of capturing one of the fighters, he advanced close to the enemy and personally destroyed several militants. Saving the life of his soldier, Lieutenant Tokarev died in this battle.
He was buried on the Walk of Fame of the Biysk City Cemetery.
By Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 1965 of October 3, 1994, for the courage and heroism shown in the performance of military duty, Lieutenant Tokarev Vyacheslav Vladimirovich was awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation (posthumously).
By the decision of the Biysk City Duma of December 8, 1994, a memorial plaque was erected at school No. 40 in Biysk, where he studied, and his bust was erected on the territory of this school in 1998. A memorial plaque was installed on the house where the Hero lived in Biysk. A bust was also installed at the memorial of the Heroes-graduates of the Novosibirsk VOKU. In with. Kosh-Agach of the Republic of Altai, by order of the Director of the Federal Border Service of the Russian Federation dated December 22, 1994, the Russian border outpost was named after the Hero of Russia Vyacheslav Tokarev.
Chernyshov Alexander Viktorovich- sniper of the North Caucasian District of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, private.
Born March 18, 1980 in the village. Altai Altai Territory. Russian. In 1997 he graduated from high school.
In 1998, he was called up for military service in the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation. He mastered the military specialty of a sniper.
Since September 1999 - in the battles of the second Chechen war. Participated in the defeat of the Basayev and Khattab gangs that invaded from Chechnya.
On December 9, 1999, the unit in which Alexander served was alerted and sent to rescue a convoy that was ambushed in the area with. Small Bamut.
The beginning of the battle was unsuccessful - the bandits foresaw the approach of reinforcements and organized an ambush themselves. The armored personnel carrier, on which the fighters of the internal troops advanced, was hit. Having rolled down from the armor into a roadside ditch, Alexander returned fire in a matter of seconds. With the very first shot, he destroyed a Chechen machine gunner who tried to pour lead fire on the fighters occupying positions. Then an enemy sniper dies from Alexander's bullet. Another enemy rushed to the silent machine gun - and the dead man himself fell on the machine gunner's body. And then the powerful fire of the fighters of the internal troops forced the ambush of the militants to flee, losing their dead and wounded.
However, the battle is in full swing: now the surviving fighters have to fulfill their main task - to rescue the convoy trapped on the road. Alexander noticed that another group of militants was trying to bypass his group from the rear along the bottom of the gorge. Without wasting a second, he rushed towards the enemy and managed to take a position at the crossing over a mountain stream. When a chain of bandits approached the stream at a run, Alexander with a well-aimed shot destroyed the commander of the militants, followed by another. After that, the whole bandit group rushed back. And on the road, the shooting had already died down - Alexander's comrades were finishing knocking out the last militants from the surrounding slopes, not even suspecting that a single fighter had saved their lives.
By the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of February 4, 2000, for the courage and heroism shown during the counter-terrorist operation in the North Caucasus, Private Chernyshev Alexander Viktorovich was awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation.
In 2005, Alexander successfully graduated from the Barnaul Law Institute of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation. Lives in the city of Barnaul.
Shrainer Sergey Alexandrovich- instructor-driver of the reconnaissance group of the special forces detachment "Rus" of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, senior sergeant.
Born April 1, 1979 in the village. Veseloyarsk, Rubtsovsky District, Altai Territory. He graduated from Rubtsovsk OPTU-75 with a degree in driver.
He was called up for active military service on April 26, 1997. He served in the Sofrino brigade of internal troops. After urgent remained under the contract. Since April 2000 - in the special forces detachment "Rus". He was barely twenty years old, and colleagues respectfully called Sergei "father."
Four times Sergei went on business trips to the Chechen Republic.
On the evening of July 13, 2000, a group of the Rus special forces detachment guarded the 708th checkpoint. The task of the group is to timely detect and stop the advances of the militants. At half past six the next morning, a message was received that a Niva had driven up to the checkpoint, stood in the ruins so that you could not see it. Two groups advanced to the suspicious car: capture and cover.
They moved somewhere crawling, somewhere in dashes, trying to hide behind bushes, a hillock or make their way along a ditch, bypassing the Niva from two sides. Suddenly the engine started, the Niva started off quietly and began to reverse, trying to turn around on the narrow road. The commandos got up and, no longer hiding, rushed across the car. Now her driver was frantically revving, now throwing the car forward so that the bumper was imprinted in a pile of garbage, then backing up to the stop. In the roar of the engine, a burst of machine-gun burst was imprinted in a dotted line, ordering to turn off the engine.
Senior Sergeant Sergei Shrainer, Lieutenant Petrov and Private Maksimov were already running up to the car when the door opened, a militant jumped out onto the road and, shouting something, threw a grenade at the feet of the fighters. She fell right next to me. Sergey rushed to the grenade, covering it with his body...
The explosion was muffled and not loud at all. It was immediately blocked by volleys of machine guns of the special forces. The queues converged on the "Niva", which tried to go to the highway. The wrecked car wobbled along the road, it seemed that it was about to straighten out and rush away, moving away from the chase. It was clear that more and more bullet marks appeared on its sides and glasses. A powerful explosion smashed both the car and the bandits who were sitting in it ... "Niva" turned out to be crammed to the eyeballs with explosives. At the site of its explosion, 4 killed militants and burnt weapons were found.
By decree of the President of the Russian Federation of March 5, 2001, for the courage and heroism shown in the counter-terrorist operation in the North Caucasus region, Senior Sergeant Sergei Alexandrovich Shrainer was awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation (posthumously).
Buried at home - c. Veseloyarsk. A memorial plaque was installed on the building of the village school.
Shiryaev Grigory Viktorovich- Deputy commander of the group of the special forces detachment "Vyatich" of the North Caucasus Regional Command of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, captain.
Born on December 7, 1977 in the village of Lenki, Blagoveshchensky District, Altai Territory. Russian. In 1994, after graduating from high school, he entered the Novosibirsk Higher Command School and the Omsk State Transport University at the same time. After studying at the school for several months, he finally decided to study at the university. In 1999, having completed his fifth year and graduated, he took the documents and went to serve as a private in the Vyatich special forces detachment of the North Caucasian Regional Command of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia (Armavir, Krasnodar Territory).
But to obtain an officer's rank, he needed a diploma of higher education. In 2003, having taken a vacation, he came to Omsk and defended his diploma, after which he returned to his native part in the city of Armavir, where he continued his service. Over the years of service, he repeatedly performed service and combat missions in the republics of the North Caucasus region of Russia and the Republic of South Ossetia, directly participated in 30 special operations to search for and destroy illegal armed groups.
On February 4, 2010, three special forces, including Vyatich, were tasked with carrying out reconnaissance and ambush operations southeast of the village of Komsomolsky, Urus-Martan District of the Chechen Republic, blocking the area of the special operation and preventing the exit of bandit groups. The 29th Special Forces Detachment, adjacent to the Vyatich, conducted a search in a given area. During the mission, he encountered several large groups of militants. Under the dense fire of the special forces, they retreated and began to look for "gaps" for a breakthrough in the barriers of the other two detachments. Here and there clashes broke out. But all of them, as it turned out later, were of a distracting nature.
The main forces of the militants (from 20 to 25 people) went on a breakthrough in the zone of responsibility of the 3rd special forces group of the Vyatich detachment, which in this operation was led by the deputy commander for special training, Captain G.V. Shiryaev. At 13.00, when trying to break through in this sector during a short-lived battle, the militants retreated, but, having rebuilt, they tried again. During the second clash in the group of G.V. Shiryaev, a sniper, Private Stepan Selivanov, was killed, the commanders of two platoons, Senior Lieutenant Oleg Tapio and Lieutenant Arsen Lugovets, were injured. The group commander from his firing position provided cover for his subordinates, while destroying three militants. The second group of militants was squeezed near the dugout by the search engines of the 29th detachment, but it was not possible to destroy the dugout due to the density of oncoming fire.
Captain G.V. Shiryaev assumed responsibility for the implementation of this task. To the dugout, equipped at a distance of visibility under an ambush, which he himself commanded directly, he sent Lieutenant Lugovets around with a flamethrower. But they could not complete the task, falling under oncoming heavy fire. And then the group commander himself rushed to the aid of his subordinates, bypassing the dugout from the other side. But five militants blocked his way. Being a few meters away from them, conducting aimed fire, Captain G.V. Shiryaev managed to lay down two, but was wounded. However, he continued to fight until the last bullet, diverting enemy forces to himself, and ensuring the retreat of the group to a safe place.
The fight continued until night. All this time, the commander's radio was silent. He was listed as missing. But the subordinates continued to hope for a miracle. At dawn, they went in search and realized that the miracle did not happen: Captain G.V. Shiryaev died at the scene of a duel with militants, having received four severe wounds incompatible with life. With selfless actions, Captain G.V. Shiryaev saved his subordinates from death. The operation ended with the complete defeat of the militants' winter base.
He was buried in the village of Kulunda, Kulundinsky District, Altai Territory.
By Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 1447dsp dated November 18, 2010, Captain Shiryaev Grigory Viktorovich was awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation (posthumously) for courage and heroism shown in the performance of military duty in conditions involving a risk to life. His family was awarded the badge of special distinction of the Hero of the Russian Federation - the Gold Star medal (No. 974).
Captain (08/31/2006), mountain training instructor (10/3/2009). He was awarded medals "For service in the North Caucasus" (02/20/2007), "For service in special forces" (09/11/2008), signs "For distinction in service" 1st degree (12/25/2001, 05/2/2006), "Participant combat operations” (1.06.2006).
In the village of Lenki, Blagoveshchensky District, Altai Territory, a memorial plaque in his honor was opened on the facade of the building of the Lenkovskaya secondary school No. 2, which G.V. Shiryaev graduated from. In the village of Kulunda, Kulunda district of the Altai Territory, on the Alley of Memory, his bust was opened to fellow countrymen-heroes.
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