EntranceInvasion of militants into Dagestan 1999. August invasion of militants into Dagestan (1999)
In August 1999, armed gangs led by Basayev and Khattab entered the territory of the Republic of Dagestan. This brazen militant invasion was the beginning bloody war in a republic in which the people played the first and main role.
Now, 10 years later, when military operations are far behind us, when the political and social situation has changed, it is not difficult to analyze and draw conclusions from the tragic days of August and September 1999. The temporal distance, a paved road stretching from the military events of the late 20th century to the present day, has put everything in its place. Books have already been written about this, and the names of national heroes have become known to the people. Today, on the eve of the 10th anniversary of the defeat of the gangs, it’s time to remember some of them.
How it started
The invasion of militants into the territory of the Botlikh district in August 1999 came as a big surprise both to civilians and to government officials in Dagestan and Russia as a whole. Bagand Kholadaevich Magomedov (First Deputy Mayor of Makhachkala), who was directly involved in the hostilities of that time, characterizes the first days of the then situation as confusion of the authorities. This is the political picture he describes:
- Some executives were then on trips abroad, some were in Moscow, some were simply on vacation. And when Magomedali Magomedovich, the Chairman of the State Council, held an emergency meeting, no one could understand what to do. We did not expect such a turn of events. Although, of course, we were in a state of economic and transport blockade for some time due to the last wars in the Chechen Republic, when some Dagestanis went over to the side of gangs. In general, I don’t like the word “militants”. They are not militants. They are real bandits! Although they call themselves champions of freedom, it is impossible to understand for what kind of freedom. People are free, we have a democratic state. It’s just that, apparently, someone didn’t get a piece of the pie, and someone wanted to seize power in the literal sense of the word. And that's it, there is nothing else. Did the people ask them to give him freedom? No. They brazenly invaded the territory of the republic under various slogans that it was necessary to establish Sharia law and create a single imamate of Chechnya and Dagestan. The bandits had one goal - to create a new imamate. They decided that the ground was ready. Indeed, there were supporters of the Wahhabi trend in Dagestan. They held their conferences, distributed literature, and prayed in separate mosques. They were led by Bagaudin Magomedov, a knowledgeable ideologist of Wahhabism and a skilled orator. Their first intentions and desires seemed to be peaceful. They said: why should someone dictate something to us? Traditional Islam calls for almost pagan worship of intermediaries between Allah and a simple person. And this quite strongly attracted young people who want nihilism in religion. Among other things, the Kadar Gorge, where the Wahhabi trend was most clearly expressed, was already active. Several villages - Karamakhi, Chabanmakhi, Chankurbe (Kadar itself to a lesser extent) - formed a Sharia enclave. They stopped obeying the police and expelled them altogether, cutting off access to them. They put up their posts, and all the secular ones power structures became illegal for them. This was a harbinger of war. In addition to all this, Khattab married a Kadarka. They had a dream that a Sharia state would be built. With such a base, Basayev became confident that he would be able to capture Dagestan. And the Wahhabis invaded the republic. Their first steps were cunning: they supposedly treated the civilian population in the villages with great respect. They said: we have nothing against you, we came to free you from the captivity of the Russians, from the captivity of the infidels. And those who protect the Russians - the army that serves the authorities - are also traitors. They fought, respectively, with the soldiers. The war went against Russian army. These days, no one in the republic could understand what to do or how to behave. The center was also in confusion.
While the federal and republican authorities were in a state of bewilderment and stupor, the militants of Basayev and Khattab took village after village - Shoroda, Ansalta, Rakhat. The population of the Botlikh district was in panic. The first to react to the current crime situation was the Administration of the city of Makhachkala, represented by Said Amirov, who, through a radio and television address, called on Dagestanis to stand up for their homeland and join the ranks people's militia, International Brigade.
“There were a lot of volunteers,” recalls the chief of staff of the International Brigade, Japar Khalirbagimov, “they were people of different professions, ages, social status, nationality. About 15 thousand volunteers signed up for the city militia, but the International Brigade accepted only those who knew how to fight, who could be trusted with weapons, and who, due to health reasons and age, could participate in hostilities.”
Thus, about 2.5 thousand people officially signed up for the International Brigade, and 350 volunteers were sent to the scene. The main problem faced by the soldiers people's army, there was a lack of weapons. “They called first of all those who had their own weapons. We asked people to purchase it if possible. There was no time to beg or persuade the police to hand over weapons. It was necessary to act immediately. Almost everyone who joined the International Brigade was armed. Those who left without weapons were rescued by the police of the Botlikh District Department of Internal Affairs, they provided machine guns, machine guns, sniper rifles, etc.,” says
D. Khalirbagimov.
On August 11, fighters of the combined detachment, of which Shamil Aslanov was appointed commander, left on several buses towards the Botlikh district.
Everything according to the rules of war
The August nights of 1999, according to the recollections of the soldiers, turned out to be gray and rainy. It was as if nature itself sympathized with the tragedy of the Dagestan people. Residents of the Botlikh region, occupied by bandits, did not even think of surrendering their territory. Before the arrival of the International Brigade, they dug trenches, and the local police organized a defense. The fighting in the area was in full swing. “We decided that if we go through Untsukul, an ambush awaits us there. Of course, we wanted to get to our destination as quickly as possible, because we understood the complexity of the situation: there weren’t enough soldiers, there wasn’t enough Russian army. Federal troops on military equipment were slowly moving towards us. We quickly marched through Sergokala, Levashi, Gergebil to Khunzakh, then through Kharakhi we descended to Botlikh. Of course, it was a long journey, but otherwise it would have turned out worse,” says Bagand Kholadaevich.
The combined detachment landed in the Botlikh region at half past nine at night. Immediately upon arrival, the fighters were placed in the gym, where a roll call was held, and company and detachment commanders were appointed.
Then we went to operational headquarters, which was headed by General S.N. Olenchenko, introduced themselves and reported on their intentions. “By 12 o’clock at night the first residents came with the message that their village of Miarso was being captured. They were in a panic when they saw the movements of people and equipment. We immediately sent one detachment there. Then we came from the village. Godoberi, reinforcements were also sent there,” recalls Japar Rabadanovich.
It is impossible not to mention the residents of the village of Andi, whose courage turned the tide of all hostilities in Botlikh in 1999. “If they had surrendered the village that night, then through the Red Bridge the bandits would have a road to 4 districts - Akhvakhsky, Gumbetovsky, Tsumadinsky, Tsuntinsky. All transport passes from there, so 4 areas could be blocked at once. And it would be impossible to provide any help,” says B.Kh. Magomedov B.Kh. Having found his bearings, Bagand Kholadaevich gave instructions to immediately send detachments of the International Brigade to the Red Bridge. “We surrounded him, although we knew that next to him there was a coniferous forest in which bandits moved in groups. They wanted to come out from the rear and surround Botlikh. In general, that night they turned out the lights in the village; they knew that they would take Botlikh. They had a plan to enter the village at 4 am. And if they had taken him, then neither helicopters nor weapons would have saved the situation. They moved in two directions: from the village of Andi (Shirvani Basayev) and across the Red Bridge (Shamil Basayev). Shirvani was then ambushed by the Andes. A large number of bandits were then destroyed; those who managed to do so ran away, unable to cross the pass and reach Botlikh,” says Bagand Kholadaevich.
“There were both traitors and provocateurs in this war,” says D.R. Khalirbagimov, chief of staff of the International Brigade. - They met on the very way to the Botlikh region and even in the ranks of volunteers. I remember that on the way to Botlikh, people in uniform approached us. They introduced themselves as police officers and suggested that we take a shortcut to the place of hostilities and follow them. These people aroused our suspicion, and while we contacted the Botlikh district police department to verify the veracity of their intentions, the “law enforcement representatives” disappeared. This played a positive role in our subsequent actions and increased our vigilance.”
The Russian army, which arrived at the scene, repeatedly made attempts to destroy the militants located on Mount Donkey's Ear. This height was the main base for the deployment of terrorist groups, from where the village was constantly shelled. “The first 3 days of action by federal forces were simply a mockery of us civilians. They fired so much, so many shells and bombs were dropped on the occupied areas - it’s impossible to count. Fighters, attack aircraft, and helicopters dropped and dropped bombs. And no effect. It seemed to us that they were doing this in order to report. And at that time the militants were calmly hiding in a huge cave behind the Donkey’s Ear, which housed almost 200 people. After the bombing, they came out and got down to business again. They even knew when the fighters would arrive, and they fired mortars at these poor guys and bombed their helicopters. Before our eyes, a special forces detachment was shot: after the assault, a large helicopter flew over us, over the bridge, over the river and climbed to Donkey Ear. There was no one in the trenches at that time. 14 special forces were landed to “take” Ukho, but before they even had time to land, they were shot right before our eyes. Such senseless actions were then carried out to capture militants by the Russian army, says B.Kh. Magomedov. “Everything changed with the appointment of V. Putin as Prime Minister of the Russian Federation. Federal forces began to act more thoughtfully and carefully. Vladimir Vladimirovich himself later flew to the scene of hostilities.”
The fighters of the International Brigade were greatly assisted by local residents who were well familiar with the surrounding area and the geographical relief of the area. They told the soldiers how best to get to the enemy, how to quickly rid the earth of their presence. Veterans also showed fearlessness and courage in a critical situation for the republic. Afghan war, who are familiar with the smell of gunpowder and the whistle of bullets. Among them were Khadulaev Magomed, Gasanov Gasan, Mutalim Mutalim and many others.
“Behind the mountain there was a mortar point that could not be destroyed,” recalls B.Kh. Magomedov, “they fired howitzers and could not hit the target. The Afghans who were in our ranks then simply got into the tank and showed the Russian guys, who did not know their way around the mountainous terrain, how to conduct military operations. With the help of participants in the Afghan war, they suppressed the mortar point and razed it to the ground.”
The end or the beginning?
All the time, while the fierce battles for Botlikh were going on, the volunteers of the International Brigade defended their land with honor and dignity, and finally, the enemy retreated. It would seem that we should be happy, because terrorists, deprived of the opportunity and hope of realizing their plans, are leaving our region, but... “Many were gnawing at the ground out of anger, because we saw how the enemy motorcade, consisting of 60 vehicles, was slowly moving along the pass. Was it really impossible to settle accounts with them then? No! And all because there was betrayal within the troops. Someone needed the war to continue, because war means money. And they left... They left before our eyes,” recalls B.Kh. Magomedov.
The events in the Botlikh region ended, albeit not as dreamed, but the fact remains: the militants were expelled from these regions. And it became absolutely obvious that the people are a powerful patriotic force, whose unity will defeat any war. Armed gangs led by well-known terrorists failed to break the tightly woven threads of the multinational Dagestani people and proclaim their laws here. But, alas, this was not the end of the war; more “bright” and significant events were planned ahead. In September 1999, gangs invaded the territory of the Novolaksky district.
Dagestan, 1999
In Dagestan, the situation was complicated by the confrontation between numerous ethnic clans defending their financial interests in conditions of widespread corruption. The result of the aggravation of the socio-economic situation in the republic was the strengthening of the Wahhabis. Although this religious movement was banned in the republic, the ranks of its supporters continued to grow, especially at the expense of young people.
In May 1998, the Wahhabis of the Kadar zone of the Buinaksky region of the republic (the villages of Karamakhi, Chabanmakhi and the Kadar farm) expelled the local administration, closed the police station and set up armed checkpoints at the entrance to populated areas. Official Makhachkala was ready to suppress the “rebellion,” but the federal leadership, fearing the start civil war in Dagestan, chose to decide controversial issues through negotiations. As a result, local jamaats (Islamic communities) were guaranteed a kind of “religious autonomy”, and the authorities pledged not to interfere in their internal affairs. The Wahhabis of the Kadar zone, in turn, guaranteed their non-participation in any anti-constitutional protests. It is worth noting that they kept their word.
Despite the Kremlin's serious concerns, the war did not start here. On August 2, 1999, in the Tsumadinsky mountain region of Dagestan, the first clashes between law enforcement officers and local Wahhabis took place. At first, the events did not inspire fear: the enemy clearly did not have serious combat experience, in addition, a reinforced battalion of internal troops (about 500 people) was urgently transferred to the area, which stabilized the situation.
At the same time, a reinforced airborne battalion (700 military personnel) with assigned armored vehicles was sent to the Botlikh region located to the north. His task was to cover the regional center and the only road connecting the Tsumadinsky district with Central Dagestan. If Botlikh was captured by militants, it could easily be blocked, and the Russian battalion of internal troops in Agvali would be cut off from the main forces.
On August 6, the paratroopers arrived in Botlikh, but the border with Chechnya in this direction remained uncovered. As a result, the detachments of Basayev and Khattab, numbering up to 2.5 thousand militants, entered the villages of Ansalta, Rakhata, Tando, Shoroda, Godoberi on August 7 without a fight. The militants’ immediate task was to get the federal side to withdraw two battalions from Agvali and Botlikh in order to ease military pressure on radical Islamists in the border regions of Dagestan. At least, this is the demand that Shamil Basayev presented during negotiations with the head of the district administration as a condition for the withdrawal of his troops.
Another, more global goal, undoubtedly, there was an “explosion” of the situation in the republic through the imposition of a protracted guerrilla warfare. However, Basayev's calculation did not come true.
In Russian sources fighting on the territory of Dagestan in August-September 1999 are reflected as extremely successful and victorious for the federal side. But if you pay attention to the details of the events, it becomes obvious that the effectiveness of the Russian army remained at the level of the end of the first campaign.
After all, even operating in fairly favorable conditions (the absence of a full-scale guerrilla war) and having a clear advantage in manpower and heavy weapons, the federal forces could not cope with the enemy for a month and a half!
Moreover, Basayev, after lengthy battles, managed to retreat to Chechnya, avoiding defeat.
Losses federal troops were quite sensitive, both in personnel and in technology. Thus, in just 3 days (from August 9 to 11), Russian aviation lost 3 helicopters. Moreover, they were not shot down (the militants actually did not have effective means of combating aircraft), but were destroyed on the field site using anti-tank guided missiles.
Having actually lost " lightning war", Russian generals chose an easier target - Wahhabi villages in the Buynaksky region of Dagestan (the so-called Kadar zone). Surely the Dagestani leadership contributed to this decision: the enclave of the armed Islamic opposition, even if it did not support Sh. Basayev in the outbreak of war, had long irritated official Makhachkala.
But here, too, the “exemplary special operation” did not work out. Buinaksky district is located in Central Dagestan and does not have common borders with neighboring republics. Residents of neighboring settlements the majority did not support the Wahhabis. Thus, the Islamists of the Kadar zone had no chance of either breaking into Chechnya or receiving serious outside help. Nevertheless, federal forces encountered very serious resistance. It was eventually broken, but it took 2 weeks (from August 29 to September 12, 1999) to defeat the enemy group (up to 1 thousand militants according to official data).
Russian generals tried to explain such a long siege by the presence of powerful underground fortifications among the defenders, erected in advance. But Novaya Gazeta journalist Yu. Shchekochikhin, who visited these villages after the end of hostilities, did not find anything like this.
While the Russian group stormed Karamakhi and Chabanmakhi, the “defeated” Basayev and Khattab struck again at the republic. Detachments under their command numbering up to 2 thousand people again crossed the border with Dagestan and occupied the villages of Tukhchar, Gamiyakh (Khasavyurt district), as well as Ahar, Chapaevo (Novolaksky district) and the regional center of Novolakskoye. Chechen detachments reached the line 5 km southwest of Khasavyurt (the second largest city of the republic).
In the regional center of Novolakskoye, more than 60 local police officers and Lipetsk riot police were blocked. A battle ensued that lasted about a day. An armored group was sent to help those surrounded, but stopped by Chechen grenade launchers, it was unable to break through.
According to official data, the Lipetsk riot police emerged from the encirclement on their own with minimal losses - 2 killed and 6 wounded. The total official figure for Russian losses during the battle in Novolakskoye is 15 killed and 14 wounded. Probably, this figure does not take into account the 15 dead soldiers from the armored group who tried to break the blockade from the outside.
The fighting in the Novolaksky district lasted a week and a half and was extremely fierce. When the ring around villages in the Kadar zone began to shrink, the federal command attempted to recapture the regional center of Novolakskoye, but the offensive floundered. The troops suffered heavy losses. In particular, the 15th Armavir special forces detachment of internal troops was simply bled dry in these battles; out of 150 personnel, it lost 34 killed and 78 wounded. The story with “friendly fire” repeated itself; this detachment suffered part of its losses (9 killed and 36 wounded) as a result of... twice erroneously carried out air strikes. However, after September 12 Russian troops Karamakhi and Chabanmakhi were occupied; the fighting in the Novolak direction did not last long. Already on September 14, the regional center of the same name was returned by federal forces.
In total, during one and a half months of fighting in August-September 1999 official losses Federal forces amounted to 280 people killed and 987 wounded, enemy losses were estimated at 1.5–2 thousand killed militants. The Russian security forces managed to achieve a real result in the Buynaksky region of Dagestan - the Wahhabi group in the villages of Karamakhi, Chabanmakhi, Kadar ceased to exist. At the same time, in the regions bordering Chechnya, it was not possible to encircle and destroy the Chechen detachments; after the battles in the Botlikhsky (August) and Novolaksky (September) regions, enemy groups of at least 1.5 thousand militants each retreated to the territory of Chechnya.
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The armed invasion of Chechen militants into Dagestan in 1999 and all the events preceding it on the Dagestan-Chechen border convincingly confirmed that the confrontation in the North Caucasus with the signing of the Khasavyurt Agreements in August 1996 was not over. It acquired slightly different forms and continued to spread actively.
The administrative border with Chechnya and the regions adjacent to the rebel republic Russian Federation- Dagestan, Ingushetia, North Ossetia and Stavropol region - became the site of an undeclared war. During the first half of 1999 alone, more than 80 armed clashes and bandit attacks took place here. As a result, about 50 and wounded 90 employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. In total, in the North Caucasus in the first half of 1999, the number of victims of terror exceeded 100 , including 50 people who died as a result of an explosion at the Central Market of Vladikavkaz.
Continuous terrorist attacks, kidnappings, and internal conflicts in Chechnya and a number of neighboring republics, turned the south of Russia into a front-line zone.
IN May-July 1999The situation on the Chechen-Dagestan border began to deteriorate sharply. The gangs of Shamil Basayev and Emir al-Khattab carried out open reconnaissance in force. Reconnaissance in force was followed by an invasion.
IN early August militant forces numbering up to 1.5 thousand. people in the southern mountainous area crossed the Chechen-Dagestan border and captured several villages in the Tsumadinsky and Botlikhsky regions of Dagestan. There were no federal troops in these settlements, and the local police did not offer resistance to the superior forces of the gangs. Having entered populated areas without any resistance, the bandits invited the local population to leave their villages and those who wanted to fight against the legitimate authorities to join their detachments. Part of the population of the villages, supporting the religious movement of the Wahhabis, welcomed the capture, but the overwhelming number of residents - opponents of extremism - left their homes and left the zone captured by the bandits.
The invading militant groups were formed from Dagestanis who had passed military training in Chechnya, and from Chechens who, as official Grozny claimed, were volunteers and therefore uncontrollable by the government. Using the highlands and natural shelters, gang units occupied key heights and in a short time created a defense system that included strongholds, sheltered places for deploying combat groups, warehouses for weapons, ammunition and other materiel.
Russian security forces immediately sent units of the 136th Brigade of the Ministry of Defense, the 102nd Brigade of Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and police units of local and central subordination to the invasion area. The command of the United Group was entrusted to the commander of the North Caucasus Military District, Colonel General V. G. Kazantsev.
Helicopters transferred to the Botlikh airfield immediately began to attack the invasion forces. In an operation that began 8 August, modern aircraft, guided missile weapons, and large-caliber artillery were involved. After aviation and artillery training, the troops began to destroy the gangs.
The invasion force suffered losses in manpower and equipment, and was forced to switch to mobile tactics.
During the first three days of hostilities, federal forces units lost: 11 people. killed and 27 wounded. When militants shelled the Botlikh airfield, the deputy commander of the helicopter regiment, Hero of Russia, Lieutenant Colonel Yuri Naumov was killed, and two helicopters were burned.
Fighting in the Botlikh and Tsumadinsky districts continued 24 August and ended with the expulsion of gangs. After a short pause, with August 29 The liquidation of a militant group concentrated in the so-called Kadar zone of the Buinaksk region began.
Representatives of the gangs surrounded in this zone proposed to begin negotiations on providing them with a corridor to enter Chechnya, to which the command of the federal troops demanded complete disarmament and surrender. These conditions were not accepted by the militants.
On the night of September 5 In the city of Buinaksk, a powerful explosion, organized by terrorists, occurred, as a result of which the house where the families of military personnel of the 136th brigade of the Russian Ministry of Defense lived was destroyed. Died 62 people, mostly women and children, wounded and maimed 146 Human. Near another house in a military town, another charge containing about a ton of explosives was discovered and neutralized.
On the morning of the same day, the militants began an invasion in a new direction. Near 2 thousand extremists in two groups under the command of Basayev and Khattab crossed the Chechen-Dagestan border and occupied commanding heights in the Novolaksky region. The task of their next attack was to capture the cities of Khasavyurt and Buynaksk and reach the approaches to the capital of Dagestan - Makhachkala. Large gangs were also concentrated in the Kizlyar direction.
Total number militants on the Dagestan-Chechen border, constantly increased and by the end of September reached 10 thousand people They were armed with several armored vehicles, 15 anti-aircraft guns, a large number of heavy small arms, grenade launchers, mortars.
The core of the group was the so-called Muslim Caucasian Army, which was based on mercenaries from Transcaucasia and the “peacekeeping forces of the Majlis of the peoples of Ichkeria and Dagestan,” subordinate to Basayev. A group of mercenaries from Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Libya and Egypt - members of the Muslim Brotherhood organization, numbering approximately 300 Human.
This rabble of bandits for money was ready to kill anyone, both “infidels” and “Muslims”. The gang formations were small, highly mobile combat units numbering from 150 before 300 people, the main tactics of their actions, as a rule, were raid - withdrawal - regrouping - new raid. They avoided head-on collisions and conducted active reconnaissance, involving women and teenagers for this.
To destroy the invading gangs, significant forces of internal troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs with armored vehicles were transferred to the combat zone. Aviation and artillery carried out a massive bombardment of positions and places where militants gathered. Toward the end 12-th of September in the Kadar combat zone, federal forces completely took control of the villages of Chabanmakhi and Karamakhi, and September 14 The village of Novolakskoye passed into their hands.
Having suffered defeat, Chechen militants made threats against a number of senior Russian officials and, in retaliation for the losses they suffered in the Botlikh and Tsumadinsky regions, carried out a series of terrorist attacks in Moscow and Volgodonsk, which shocked the whole world in terms of the scale of destruction and tragic consequences.
8 September 1999 exactly at midnight in Moscow on the street. Guryanova, 19, an explosion occurred in a 9-story residential building. The shock wave completely destroyed two entrances. Killed - 102, injured and maimed 214 Human. An unknown person, who spoke with a Caucasian accent, called the Central Office of the Interfax agency and said: “What happened in Moscow and Buinaksk is our response to the bombing of peaceful villages in Chechnya and Dagestan.”
September 13, At 5 o'clock in the morning, the capital was again rocked by an explosion. This time the scene of the tragedy was residential building No. 6, building 3 on Kashirskoye Highway. One died under the ruins of an 8-story building completely destroyed by an explosion. 124 person, of them 12 children.
16 of September at 5 hours 57 minutes in the center of Volgodonsk, Rostov region. a powerful explosion ended lives 17 residents of a 9-story building. The number of victims there has reached 480 people, of which 75 children.
The explosions of residential buildings in Buinaksk, Moscow and Volgodonsk, which led to hundreds of casualties, became the largest manifestations of terrorism in the entire history of the USSR and post-Soviet Russia. As a result of the investigations, there was virtually no doubt about the “Chechen trace” of the organizers and perpetrators of these monstrous actions.
Almost until the end of September there were battles with gangs on Dagestan soil. The results for the militants were disappointing. Their hopes for massive support from local residents and the clergy also did not materialize. On the contrary, up to 5 thousand. Dagestan volunteers.
The federal group of troops, through active actions, inflicted significant damage on the militants. From the beginning of August to September 25 front line aircraft and military transport aviation committed more 1700 combat missions, 1250 -1300 of which - directly for delivering missile and bomb strikes.
The anti-terrorist operation in Dagestan was completed with the defeat of the gangs and their expulsion.
In those tragic days, Dagestan, and with it the whole country, passed the test of courage and loyalty to their fatherland. It is impossible to imagine what irreversible and tragic consequences the separation of Dagestan from the Russian Federation could lead to. Then, in 1999, the threat of loss of unity and prospects for peaceful life loomed over the republic. In those days of testing, the inherent to the Dagestan people best qualities: patriotism, courage, perseverance, courage, readiness for self-sacrifice in the name of the Motherland!
In fact, the hour of revelation has arrived. Not only the affected residents of the Botlikh, Tsumadinsky and Novolaksky districts, but also all residents of the republic decisively declared that Dagestan was and will remain part of the Russian Federation. They made their choice: to remain with Russia forever. Over 26 thousand Dagestanis joined self-defense units.
Dagestan had personal security - militias. They were directly related to those events. We remember everyone by name! These are Kazbek militias who, having completed a very difficult transition overnight, went to Botlikh and occupied the defense lines. A hundred brave mountaineers stopped a large detachment of well-trained, well-armed Arab fighters.
The feat of the Andians has not been forgotten, who, having learned about the events, from all over the country, from all over the world, came to their villages, to their roots - they took up arms and courageously defended their homeland. There they took an exam not only on courage, but also on loyalty to their republic, their people. It is a well-known fact: the militants offered the Andians to step aside and allow them to pass to other areas, guaranteeing the militia’s life. Instead of agreement, the Andians gave battle!
For courage and heroism shown during counter-terrorism operations, 1988 people were awarded orders and medals of the Russian Federation. Seven Dagestanis were awarded the title of Hero of Russia, five of them posthumously: Zakir Daudov from the village of Verkhneye Kazanishche, Gadzhimurad Nurakhmaev from the village of Ansalta, Mutai Isaev from the village of Novolakskoye, Murtazali Kazanalipov from the village of Andi, Khalid Murachuev from the village of Kuli. Heroes of Russia live and live with us Zagid Zagidov from the village of Kegeri, Dibirgadzhi Magomedov from the village of Godoberi.
We remember everyone! We remember how both the servicemen of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the militia fought in the Novolaksky district.... Dagestan can be proud of its Heroes!
City press service (from media materials)
In September 1999, the phase of the Chechen military campaign began, which was called the counter-terrorism operation in the North Caucasus (CTO). The reason for the start of the operation was a massive invasion from the territory of Chechnya under the overall command of an Arab mercenary.
Units of the so-called “Islamic Peacekeeping Brigade” of Basayev and Khattab (according to various sources, numbering from 400 to 1.5 thousand militants) freely entered the Botlikh region of Dagestan and captured five settlements (Ansalta, Rakhata, Tando, Shoroda, Godoberi).
On September 5, 1999, about two thousand militants occupied commanding heights in the Novolaksky region of Dagestan, hoping to capture the cities of Khasavyurt and Buynaksk with subsequent access to Makhachkala. Large forces of illegal armed groups (IAF) concentrated in the Kizlyar direction. The total number of militants on the Dagestan-Chechen border has reached 10 thousand people.
Russian security forces deployed units of the 136th Brigade of the Ministry of Defense, the 102nd Brigade of Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and police units of local and central subordination to the invasion area. The command of the United Group was entrusted to the commander of the North Caucasus Military District, Colonel General Viktor Kazantsev.
On these same days - September 4-16 - a series of terrorist attacks - explosions of residential buildings - were carried out in several Russian cities (Moscow, Volgodonsk and Buinaksk).
In mid-September, the Russian leadership decided to hold military operation to destroy militants on the territory of Chechnya. On September 18, the borders of Chechnya were blocked by Russian troops.
On September 23, the President of the Russian Federation issued a Decree “On measures to increase the effectiveness of counter-terrorism operations in the North Caucasus region of the Russian Federation,” providing for the creation of a Joint group of troops (forces) in the North Caucasus to conduct counter-terrorism operations.
By September 25, federal forces drove out the illegal armed groups from Dagestan, continuing their liquidation on the territory of Chechnya.
On September 30, a ground operation began - armored units of the Russian army from the side Stavropol Territory and Dagestan entered the territory of the Naur and Shelkovsky regions of the republic.
The entire flat part of the territory of the Chechen Republic was liberated. The militants concentrated in the mountains (about 5 thousand people) and settled in Grozny.
On February 7, 2000, Grozny was taken under the control of federal forces. To fight in Chechnya, in addition to the eastern and western groups operating in the mountains, a new group “Center” was created.
The last large-scale operation was the liquidation of a group in the village area (March 5-20, 2000). After this, the militants switched to sabotage and terrorist methods of warfare, and federal forces countered the terrorists with the actions of special forces and operations of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
On April 20, 2000, First Deputy Chief of the General Staff, Colonel General Valery Manilov, announced the end of the military unit of the counter-terrorism operation in Chechnya and the transition to special operations.
In January 2001, the gradual withdrawal of Defense Ministry troops from Chechnya began. It was announced that only the Defense Ministry (15 thousand people) and the brigade would remain here on a permanent basis Internal troops Ministry of Internal Affairs (7 thousand people). The leadership of the KTO was entrusted to Federal service security (FSB) of the Russian Federation. The primary task was to conduct special operations to destroy the remaining small illegal armed groups and their leaders.
During the CTO in Chechnya in 2002 in Moscow, it was carried out at the Theater Center on Dubrovka. In 2004, a series of terrorist attacks occurred: terrorists blew up a metro car filled with people at the Avtozavodskaya station in Moscow,
On May 9, during festive events in Grozny, dedicated to the Day Victory, the President of Chechnya was killed in a terrorist attack, in August female suicide bombers blew up two planes in the air - Tu-154 and Tu-134, on September 1, hostages were taken at school No. 1 in the city of Beslan in North Ossetia.
In 2005, after the destruction of Khattab, Abu al-Walid and many other field commanders, the intensity of the militants' sabotage and terrorist activities decreased significantly. The only large-scale operation of the militants (the raid on Kabardino-Balkaria on October 13, 2005) ended in failure.
From midnight on April 16, 2009, the National Anti-Terrorism Committee (NAC) of Russia, on behalf of President Dmitry Medvedev, abolished the CTO regime on the territory of the Chechen Republic.
During two years of active military operations within the framework of the CTO (from October 1999 to October 2001), the losses of federal forces are estimated at 3,438 people killed and 11,661 wounded, the losses of militants are about 11 thousand people.
The irretrievable losses among the civilian population are estimated to be 5.5 thousand people, of which about 4 thousand people were killed. The number of people missing cannot be accurately estimated.
20:11 — REGNUM 15 years ago, on August 7, 1999, detachments of Chechen militants under the command of field commanders Shamil Basayev and Khattab invaded the territory of Dagestan. The first on their way was the Botlikhsky district bordering Chechnya, in which local residents gathered militia units and, having no weapons in their hands, resisted the militants. An eyewitness and direct participant, a deputy of the local Assembly of Deputies, spoke about the events of the first days of the war 15 years ago in Dagestan Murtuz Gasangadzhiev.
“The events of those days remained firmly in my memory. Early in the morning of August 7, we, residents of the district center of Botlikh, learned that the neighboring villages of Ansalta and Rakhata were occupied by Basayev’s militants. The first thing we did was decide to gather a militia and repel the uninvited guests,” recalls Murtuz Gasangadzhiev "It was a day off, there was no need to rush to work. The children told me that the war had started."
A village meeting was assembled in the square in Botlikh, which decided to assemble a militia. “I was elected deputy chief of staff of the militia. It was also decided to send a delegation to the militant commanders for negotiations. Meanwhile, active work was underway to organize militia units. Perhaps the most problematic issue was the lack of weapons. Young people gathered near the police station, the military registration and enlistment office and demanded weapons into their hands. However, they themselves did not clearly know how to act. The negotiators returned with nothing, having not found Basayev common language. To their question about why Basayev came to their land with armed men, the leader of the Chechen militants replied that he intended to liberate Dagestan from the infidels and establish Sharia law. The Botlikh delegates tried to argue that no one was stopping them from praying and adhering to religion, fulfilling all the conditions of Islam, but the militant commander was inexorable,” says the deputy.
“In the first days of the invasion, all the Botlikh residents who were in Makhachkala, Moscow and other regions of Russia returned to Dagestan to save their homeland, to protect their home, family. They found themselves in their native village before the columns of armored vehicles of the federal troops. At the same time, evacuation of children and women to Makhachkala, since there was a threat of a repetition of the scenario in Budenovsk, because the same Basayev commanded the militants (Recall that on June 14-19, 1995, a detachment of militants under the command of Shamil Basayev took hostage patients in the city hospital of the city of Budennovsk, Stavropol Territory, as a result of which about 150 people died - approx. Ia) Many Botlikh residents still remember how, in those hot August days, villagers who moved to the cities huddled in the apartments of relatives. The leadership of the republic did not react in any way, did not respond to the call for help. They said that we do not accept Botlikh children and women, since Botlikh was not captured by militants,” the eyewitness continues.
According to Gasangadzhiev, the Botlikh militia took an active part in the battle for the Donkey Ear heights. This was the turning point of that war. During the battle for this height, the militia brothers Magomedsagid and Mukhtar Murtazaliev, Sirazhudin Shalapov and Ibragim Ibragimov, under crossfire, carried out the wounded commander of the parachute regiment Sergei Kostin from the battlefield, who later died in the district hospital in Botlikh. He was one of the first to receive the Hero of Russia star, it’s a pity that it was posthumous,” says the deputy.
An eyewitness notes that in the first days there was particular tension, a feeling of real war, when everything could change in a matter of minutes, when you feel that danger could come from anywhere. "This feeling disappeared when she came to us military equipment, and the government of the Russian Federation was headed by the decisive and energetic, self-confident Vladimir Putin. He raised the morale of soldiers and militias,” concluded Murtuz Gasangadzhiev.
Let us recall that a large detachment of Chechen militants under the command of Shamil Basayev and Emir Khattab invaded the Botlikhsky district of Dagestan from the territory of then de facto independent Chechnya on the morning of August 7, 1999. The militants intended to liberate the “Islamic state of Dagestan” from Russian occupation.