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Battle of Grozny (March 1996)

The Second Battle of Grozny, also known as Operation Retribution, was a three-day surprise attack by Chechen fighters who stormed the capital city of Grozny that was occupied by Russian Armed Forces.

Second Battle of Grozny
Part of the First Chechen War
DateMarch 6–8, 1996
Location
Grozny, Chechnya
43°19′N 45°41′E / 43.31°N 45.69°E / 43.31; 45.69
Result
  • Russia victory
  • Chechen attack repulsed
Belligerents
Russia Chechen Republic of Ichkeria Chechen Republic of Ichkeria
Commanders and leaders
Strength
Unknown Russian military claim:
700 to 1,500 fighters[1]
Unofficial data:
130-150 fighters[2]
Casualties and losses
Official figure:
110 soldiers killed[1][3]
Hundreds wounded[1][3]
Unknown missing[1]		 Russian claim:
190 fighters killed[1]

Background

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Further information: First Chechen War

By June 1995 the Chechens had lost all the major cities and towns. On General Aslan Maskhadov's orders, the Chechen resistance shifted from conventional warfare to guerrilla warfare, relying on the mountains.[4]

Battle

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On March 6, 1996, Chechen fighters launched a surprise attack on Grozny, striking from three directions and encircling outlying Russian posts and local pro-Moscow Chechen police stations, catching Russian troops off guard, inflicting significant losses, overrunning much of it and capturing weapons and ammunition stores. The attack was supposedly intended to show that the Chechens could still operate against Russian forces.[5]

Aftermath

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Three days later, after the Chechens left the city, fighting in the Grozny continued for several more days; the Russian units that entered Grozny periodically engaged in battle with one another, mistaking each other for the enemy.[1]

President Dzokhar Dudayev allegedly called the attack a "little harassing operation". The attack was only a rehearsal for a much larger operation that took place in August 1996.[5]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ a b c d e f "Грозный. 6 марта 1996 года. Операция чеченских боевиков «Возмездие»". 6 March 2019.
  2. ^ According to a broadcast by the radiostation Radio Rossii on 6 March 1996
  3. ^ a b "Первая чеченская война: Срыв мирных переговоров (осень 1995-лето 1996)". www.voinenet.ru. Archived from the original on 12 April 2010. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
  4. ^ Billingsley, Dodge (2013). Fangs of the Lone Wolf: Chechen Tactics in the Russian-Chechen War 1994-2009. Helion, Limited. p. 12.
  5. ^ a b Gall, Carlotta; de Waal, Thomas (1997). Chechnya: A Small Victorious War. pp. 312–313.

Sources

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