Battle of Grozny (August 1996)

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1996 Battle of Grozny

Part of First Chechen War

Date	August 6 - August 22, 2006
Location	Grozny, Chechnya
Result	Chechen victory, end of the war

Combatants

Russian Federation

Chechen Republic of Ichkeria

Commanders

Konstantin Pulikovsky

Aslan Maskhadov
Shamil Basaev

Strength

15,000-20,000

1,000-3,000 (more later)

Casualties

494 killed
1,407 wounded
182 missing

The August 1996 battle of Grozny was the rapid assault on the Chechnya capital Grozny by the Chechen rebels^[1], which led to a ceasefire and the end of the First Chechen War. It was codenamed Operation Jihad by the Chechens.

1 Overview
2 Notes
3 References
4 See also

[edit] Overview

On August 6, 1996, a raiding force of the Chechen rebels recaptured most of the city in a surprise attack. They succeeded surrounding or routing the entire Russian garrison of 10,000 MVD troops, while fighting off the Russian Army units from the nearby Khankala base. Thousands of demoralized, thirsty and hungry troops were either taken prisoner or surrounded and largely disarmed. The first abortive ceasefire was declared on August 12, and next on August 17.

Russian bombs and shells destroyed entire apartment blocks and at least one hospital, and hit residential suburbs with wild inaccuracy.^[2] Gen. Konstantin Pulikovsky's August 20 ultimatum to carpet bomb Grozny, giving the city's 300,000 civilians 48 hours to evacuate, fortunately for them was dissolved as a new peace negotiations began.^[2]^[3]

The battle ended with a final ceasefire on August 22, 1996, which also marked beginning of the negotiations on the Russian withdrawal.