Police special forces in the Caucasus (26 photos). Police special forces in the Caucasus (26 photos) And everyone is a hero

The first Chechen war in 1994, which could have been the beginning of a new stage in the construction of Russia, ended on a tragic note. An attempt to restore order in Chechnya led to a bloody war. But why did such an experienced politician as Yeltsin suddenly get involved in the Chechen war? Sergei

During the period of hostilities in the Caucasus, little was known about the operations of Russian special forces. Only the facts of punctures that occurred among Russian special forces during the Chechen campaign became public.

The first serious setback occurred on January 7th. On this day, a special forces detachment of the Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) from the 22nd Special Forces Brigade was surrounded. The militants captured 48 people, plus the Chechens captured the latest types of silent weapons. Such as the previously considered secret Vintorez sniper rifle. On the evening of January 24, a tragedy occurred with the battalion, with the 16th separate special forces brigade. In an instant, as a result of the explosion of a three-story building, 45 people were buried alive under the rubble, and another 28 scouts were shell-shocked and injured.

Everything else is shrouded in mystery. Although special forces took an active part in the storming of Grozny and in other operations of this war. At the end of February, at the airport in Mineralnye Vody, I talked with an officer from Chechnya who had a special forces patch on his sleeve. A young, strong-looking guy with a bandaged head was severely shell-shocked and pondered for a long time what was said to him. He also uttered response phrases for a long time, stuttering heavily and drawing out his words. How little he resembled the iron Rambo or other heroes of Western action films, thanks to which the civilian man in the street had an image of an omnipotent Superman that was far from reality.

What about civilians? Some military personnel during the battles in Grozny advocated the capture of the Chechen capital exclusively by special forces units. In essence, proposing to assign the functions of conventional combined arms units to intelligence officers. Which in itself is stupidity. Special forces can do a lot, but not everything. Moreover, most of the people who serve in it are yesterday’s schoolchildren, and not professional soldiers like the American “Green Berets” and Rangers. But the “Green Berets” also made mistakes and made mistakes many times; let’s remember, for example, October 1993, Somalia. In two days, 18 Yankees from special forces died there.

My interlocutor, who gave his name as Konstantin, fought in Chechnya, in a GRU special forces battalion. He agreed to talk about some of the events that he witnessed and participated in.

Before Chechnya, Konstantin served for almost a year in the Samara special forces brigade, which was withdrawn from Germany. Our fellow countryman was a squad commander in a special operations company. What is a special event? Mining, ambushes, all kinds of sabotage on enemy territory, capture of prisoners. I had to jump with a parachute.

In total, Kostya made 6 jumps. Is it a lot or a little? Considering the lack of funding for combat training, just right. Much attention was paid to maintaining sufficient physical shape. Every Saturday forced marches of 10 kilometers were carried out. Every day the soldiers ran at a distance of 3-5 kilometers. Classes were conducted in hand-to-hand combat and many other things that could be useful in combat conditions. It helped Konstantin a lot that he went in for sports before being drafted into the army. Although, according to Kostya, hand-to-hand combat was taught rather superficially, and the classes were mostly purposeful, such as silently removing a sentry. Twice a week there was fire training - shooting from small arms.

Konstantin believes that the level of knowledge he received was sufficient. In any case, he exceeded the training of motorized rifle soldiers many times over. Many motorized riflemen did not even hold a machine gun in their hands before Chechnya.

The 33rd special forces battalion was formed in Yekaterinburg. Kostya and several other guys from Mordovia were transferred there. The guys didn’t know exactly where they would be sent, but they guessed that it would be a hot spot - Georgia or Chechnya. Moreover, events in the latter began to develop with catastrophic speed. At the new duty station, the emphasis was placed on mine demolition training, and terrain navigation skills were improved. Survival courses were conducted.

In mid-January, a battalion consisting of two hundred soldiers was transferred to Chechnya. They were located in the Northern district, in the building of some kind of hostel. We went into combat for the first time on January 23. The front line at that time passed along the Sunzha River. And a group of 10 people went to the area of ​​the Dudayev Palace. The streets were heavily shelled. Before reaching the place, they dismounted and after a little while ran towards the institute building. Bullets flew overhead in a swarm. We safely reached the building and sat in it for two days, adjusting artillery fire. And they returned back without losses.

The most serious fighting broke out again in mid-February, when the assault on Minutka Square began. The group in which Konstantin was during this operation found itself in serious trouble for the first time. This happened at one of the checkpoints. At night, two special forces groups positioned themselves on the front line. They took cover behind a brick wall. The tension of the last few days took its toll, and the special forces relaxed - they lost their vigilance: they began to talk, some even lit a cigarette. According to Konstantin, surveillance of the area was not carried out at all.

They heard that a large group of people was moving towards them. From the post they shouted: “Stop! Password!" Silence in response. And the sound of the fire switches being removed from the safety locks. When the soldiers shouted again from the post, they shouted in response: “Allah Akbar!” and they opened fire on the special forces. Our guys lay down and started shooting back. The gunman who shouted “Allahu Akbar” was the first to receive a bullet. It was taken by a Russian sniper using a rifle with a night sight. One of the officers initially demanded a ceasefire. Another of our reconnaissance groups was supposed to return from a mission, and it could come under fire. Of course, no one listened to him. Some even sent him away in anger.

The shootout lasted for about twenty minutes. Some of the militants tried to attack ours, breaking into a nearby house. The special forces threw several grenades at its windows, loud groans from the wounded were heard, and they were finished off with a couple more grenades. In total, the Chechens lost about a dozen killed. The special forces lost two seriously wounded. One guy was hit in the chest by three bullets, miraculously missing his heart. In another, the bullet entered the head behind the ear and exited in the tailbone area. The guys were bandaged and injected with Parmedol so that they would not die from painful shock. The wounded were left under the cover of one group, and Kostya’s unit went on a mission. In the morning they reported that the guys were safely evacuated. Later it became known that they were operated on in the hospital; their lives were not in danger.

Their group suffered the most serious losses later, when the Chechen capital was liberated. The army led an offensive towards Gudermes. A group in an armored personnel carrier went on reconnaissance - to the rear of the Chechen bandits. Their task was to penetrate as deeply as possible behind the front line. Moving forward, from time to time they stopped and contacted the command. The commanders ordered them to move on. Having driven up one of the hills, they saw a ZIL truck with cows in the back. The Chechens sitting in the cabin tried to “make their legs.” One was killed, the other was caught. A plan quickly emerged. The group included a 27-year-old contract soldier, Armenian by nationality. Putting on an Olympic jersey over his uniform, he sat in the booth with the Chechens. Other special forces soldiers loaded into the back, and the armored personnel carrier followed. The road twisted and the armored personnel carrier fell behind.

After some time, their ZIL was stopped by militants. There were three of them. A Chechen grenade launcher took aim at a car. The second militant was armed with a machine gun, the third carried a machine gun. The officer sitting in the back said that he would hit the Chechens with a grenade launcher. Another soldier was supposed to open fire with a machine gun. Others are required to leave the truck as quickly as possible.

The officer jumped up and fired at the militants from a disposable Mukha grenade launcher. But the jet stream of hot gases touched the ear of the soldier in the back, who was supposed to cover everyone with machine gun fire. The stunned soldier got up and began to randomly “water” the area with his Kalashnikov. A contract soldier sitting in the cockpit killed another Chechen. Only three managed to jump out of the car. Here heavy fire was opened on the truck, and all the remaining 7 people were injured of varying degrees of severity. The survivors began to pull out the seriously wounded. The lightly wounded also helped each other. At this time, an armored personnel carrier jumped out from behind the rock and began hitting the militants’ positions with a heavy machine gun. A few moments later, the armored personnel carrier was hit by an RPG. The gunner sitting behind the machine gun was also injured; he was saved by the driver. Everyone took cover behind the armored personnel carrier.

Another group rushed to their aid. At the beginning, the guys tried to get around the Chechens from the rear, but they also ran into fire and were forced to go the same road as the previous group, in which Konstantin was. The battle became hot. The Chechen bandits, realizing that they were dealing with insignificant forces of Russian troops, formed a chain and went on the attack. The situation was becoming critical, especially since the special forces began to run out of ammunition. The approaching armored personnel carrier took the damaged car in tow, and the special forces began to retreat, hiding behind armored personnel carriers. There was a continuous roar from the bullets hitting the sides. We went up the hill. One of the officers tried to help the driver of the car onto the road. The bullet hit the senior lieutenant in the head, and he fell dead in front of his shocked fellow soldiers. Another soldier suddenly began gasping for air. Bloody foam appeared on the lips. The guy groaned: “I was hit.” They tried to help him, but it was too late, he died.

Due to lack of communication, half an hour later a third reconnaissance group ran into the same ambush. These guys were lucky - they had no losses.

According to Konstantin, the army in Chechnya was not allowed to really fight. If not for the constant “ceasefires” ordered by Moscow, the Chechen campaign would have been over in two months.

My interlocutor honestly admitted that the army special forces were jealous of the riot police and how they were equipped. The army did not have such equipment. But the fighters had to make many details of the uniform themselves, often picking up a thread and a needle. The special forces soldier believes that the infantry bore the brunt of the fighting on their shoulders. The Marines fought well. Kostya treats the internal troops with disdain.

Konstantin has a good opinion of most of the officers who served with him. Many of them went through Afghanistan and these people were on equal terms with the soldiers. Essentially, we ate from the same pot with them. They shared equally all the hardships and hardships with their subordinates. They did not hide behind the backs of their subordinates. There was high discipline in the battalion. As for alcohol, they did not abuse it too much there. The commanders said: “Guys, don’t drink. If you really want to, come over and we’ll sit together, but remember that we can go to combat at any moment, and our heads must be fresh.”

Returning home, Kostya quickly recovered from what he had seen there, although during the first weeks he had nightmares and often woke up at night.

In Chechnya, two GRU special forces battalions are being disbanded - “East” and “West”. Against the backdrop of recent all-Russian practice, the event is at first glance ordinary: it’s no secret that the Russian army is facing a reduction. But there is one unpleasant little touch: these GRU units were the only armed formations in Chechnya that were directly subordinate to the Moscow authorities, and not to the president of the republic, Ramzan Kadyrov. They say that everything is as planned: the battalions, they say, were disbanded in order to further strengthen Kadyrov’s power. Is this so and what could this decision lead to, the correspondent of “Our Version” found out.

To understand the meaning of what is happening with the “West” and “East” and assess the possible consequences, let’s first say a few words about what these divisions are. “Vostok” is a battalion of the 291st motorized rifle regiment of the 42nd Guards motorized rifle division of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. It was formed five years ago from militants from the Gudermes group of the Yamadayev brothers, who were part of the 2nd battalion of the National Guard of self-proclaimed Ichkeria, but later went over to the side of the federal forces. The personnel are Chechens, as is commonly believed, loyal to Moscow. The battalion is part of the Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) of the Russian Ministry of Defense, reporting directly to the head of the General Staff of the Russian Army. Until May of this year, the battalion commander was Hero of Russia Sulim Yamadayev.

“West” is a much more serious structure. It was formed, like Vostok, in 2003, but not from the National Guard “freedom” of yesterday’s separatists, but on the basis of the 305th Separate Special Purpose Detachment of the GRU. Only those who had not stained themselves in any way by collaborating with Dudayev and Maskhadov served in this unit. The “West” was headed by Said-Magomed Kakiev, a truly legendary personality: Hero of Russia, holder of two Orders of Courage, Kakiev spoke out against the separatist policy of Dzhokhar Dudayev back in 1992 and was one of the organizers of the armed anti-Dudaev resistance. In 1993, he personally participated in the assassination attempt on Dudayev and lost his left arm and eye.

A year later, having undergone a course of treatment in Moscow, he stormed Grozny, his detachment captured the republican television center and lost almost all its personnel during the assault - 80 people. Aslan Maskhadov offered a reward of 200 thousand dollars for Kakiyev’s head. Kakiev participated in the defense of Grozny in 1996 and in the second Chechen campaign that began in 1999. I remember Kakiyev’s words at the ceremony of awarding the Gold Star of the Hero of Russia: “I swear by Allah, I and my soldiers are ready to die for Russia!” Note: for Russia, not for Chechnya. Which, in general, most strikingly distinguished the fighters of the “West” and “East”.

So, Ramzan Kadyrov, who gradually cleared the entire republican perimeter of federal armed structures, was left alone with only these two GRU units, which theoretically could pose a danger to his sole power. Moreover, the disciplined and well-managed “West” seemed to Ramzan Kadyrov much more dangerous than the anarchic “East”; That’s what they dealt with first, and in a Jesuitical way.

Kakiyev was “promoted” to the position of Deputy Military Commissioner of Chechnya for military-patriotic education of youth. And he was forced to obey. Kakiyev handed over command to his deputy Bislan Elimkhanov, and sometime in November last year, the virtually decapitated “West” was just waiting for disbandment, and its personnel partially went to work for the police.

With Vostok, the situation was more complicated: Sulim Yamadayev is not your disciplined Lieutenant Colonel Kakiev, and he will not obey every command. The Yamadayevs' teip could easily be compared with Kadyrov's in its wealth and influence, and Sulim felt no less important than Ramzan. After in April of this year, two motorcades of Heroes of Russia - Yamadayev and Kadyrov - were unable to pass each other on a narrow mountain path and started a shootout, the fate of the Vostok commander was sealed. His command was extended only by the August South Ossetian campaign, in which the detachment took a very active part.

The Vostok fighters were among the first to enter Tskhinvali and with their appearance largely predetermined the quick outcome of the hostilities. But military successes still did not save Sulim and his squad, although they looked impressive: of the 215 Vostok fighters who took part in the campaign, no one was killed or wounded, only one soldier was shell-shocked. The rest, despite the fact that they were hacked at the most advanced approaches to the city, in the very heat, did not receive a scratch. Combat training. Now it’s clear what Ramzan was afraid of.

And now “East” and “West” are going to be transformed into two motorized rifle companies and included in the 42nd motorized rifle division stationed in Chechnya. What “transformation of two battalions into two companies” means can be easily explained by any military man: this means that the personnel of each unit will be reduced by approximately three times. Accordingly, the combat effectiveness of these units will decrease three times. Although, of course, it’s not at all about the wishes of the President of Chechnya. As Vladimir Moltenskoy, Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Ground Forces of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation explained, the reorganization is being carried out “as part of the formation of a new look for the Ground Forces.” And not at all ordered by Kadyrov, as you might think.

General Moltenskoy emphasized that “the selection for motorized rifle companies will be carried out in the most careful manner.” Translated from military into Russian, this means this: during the “purge” of fighters in the detachments, they will be checked for loyalty to the President of the Chechen Republic, and those who are disloyal will be “cleaned out” on the simple grounds that they do not know how to ride a motorcycle. And then the victims of the “purge” will be dealt with by a commission specially created by the Ministry of Defense, which, together with the military prosecutor’s office, will conduct “an investigation into the crimes incriminated against former battalion soldiers.” However, it is no secret that first of all the commission will deal directly with Sulim Yamadayev.

Yamadayev has been “under investigation” since approximately May of this year, when the Gudermes Interdistrict Investigation Department opened a case against him under Part 1 of Article 105 of the Criminal Code (murder). As part of the criminal investigation, he was removed from command of the battalion and was even put on the federal wanted list. Although it was stupid to look for him: until August he was in Grozny and was not hiding from anyone, and after that he was in Tskhinvali.

In other words, no one is particularly looking for him, although the Investigative Committee under the prosecutor’s office even contacted the Ministry of Internal Affairs demanding his forcible arrest. However, in reality, no one is going to continue to “nightmare” Yamadayev: moreover, according to our information, he was given a chance to justify himself in absentia to federal structures, in return promising a good position in the Southern Federal District. On the one hand, Sulim is happy, on the other hand, Ramzan is not at a loss.

Now there are rumors that the disbandment of “East” and “West” is not Kadyrov’s intrigues at all, but just an interdepartmental “exchange.” Allegedly, the GRU, in exchange for the appointment of “GER” officer Yunus-bek Yevkurov to Ingushetia, is ready to give up its “instruments of influence” in Chechnya. They say that some kind of bargaining is taking place in the North Caucasus, at the epicenter of which is the possible unification of Chechnya and Ingushetia. Obviously, rumors of a unification are nothing more than speculation. Yevkurov was appointed two weeks ago, and the same “Zapad” has been disbanded for a year already - there is a discrepancy.

So this is not a matter of exchanging Chechnya for Ingushetia, but rather an attempt to further strengthen the current government in the republic. Why Moscow needs this is not entirely clear, because by maintaining the existing counterbalances in the form of the commanders of the same “East” and “West,” it would be much easier to achieve the maintenance of constitutional order in the republic than by handing over Chechnya to a sole ruler. In addition, “East” and “West” often (and, oddly enough, quite harmoniously) acted on the border with Dagestan, mercilessly destroying representatives of the Dagestan terrorist underground. Now all this is in the past: a motorized rifle company will clearly not be able to perform such tasks.

Europeans caught Russian spies, the Crimean bridge began to collapse into the Kerch Strait, and China and the United States embarked on a path of confrontation

1. I want to start today with more and more confirmation of the theory about the onset of total devastation in Russia. Superstitious people would say that from a successful president, Vladimir Putin has turned into a real curse, bringing only troubles and problems every day. Today, for example, the Crimean Bridge has not yet been completed. During the installation of a railway section, an entire span fell into the sea and overturned. The reasons are being clarified, but this is clearly an unkind sign.

2. It gets even cooler further. During the conflict between the authorities of Chechnya and Ingushetia, Putin forced the latter to transfer part of their territory to the former. For the Russian president, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov is, of course, more important than the Ingush. But they did not like this option; they are against the actions of their superiors, Chechnya and the Kremlin. Now in Ingushetia, mass protests of people are going to be crushed by force. For 15 years there was nothing like this in the Caucasus, but now there is an uprising almost every month. Either Kabardino-Balkaria will seethe, then Ingushetia. I think this is not the end of the story yet.

3. But the main problems for the Russian leadership today arose not at the borders of the country, but ABOUT the border. Dutch authorities have publicly announced the exposure, capture and deportation of four Russian military intelligence officers who tried to break into the computer networks of the local prosecutor's office and police, as well as hack into the servers of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. Grushnikov was interested in the investigation data on the Skripal case, on the chemical attacks in Syria, as well as any information about the Boeing flight MH-17 shot down over Donbass. Russian spies, as it turned out, had completely forgotten how to work: the Dutch even found a taxi receipt from one of them, according to which he went to Sheremetyevo directly from the headquarters of the “cyber troops” of the Russian Federation, the address of which is already well known to everyone. He might as well have arrived in Amsterdam in military uniform, with a walkie-talkie and a parachute on his back.

4. Not only the Netherlands, but also their friends promised to introduce new sanctions in response to the spy war. Its ambassador in The Hague, Peter Wilson, said that "we intend to work together to counter the GRU. We will shed light on their activities. We will expose their methods, and we will share this with our allies." At the same time, he added that strengthening sanctions against Russia would be considered as a retaliatory measure for Moscow’s “hostile activities.” I welcome this statement and want to remind you: the best way to influence the Russian leadership is to limit the capabilities of Vladimir Putin’s circle. The boyars and their relatives are the most sore point of the current regime in the Russian Federation.

5. Solidarity with the Dutch. The statement on this issue said that "Russia must stop its reckless pattern of behavior, including the use of force against its neighbors, attempts to interfere in electoral processes and large-scale disinformation campaigns." I can answer this to my NATO comrades: if you introduce normal sanctions, then the regime in Russia will change. And when the regime changes, then all sorts of attacks will stop. In general, everything is in your own hands!

6. The Americans also reacted to the information from Amsterdam. The US Secretary of Defense said the Kremlin must be held accountable for its actions and also promised to introduce new sanctions against Moscow. James Mattis understands everything correctly and draws the right conclusions. Despite his nickname "Mad Dog," he is more circumspect, smarter, and more forward-thinking than many supposedly thoughtful politicians who are often overwhelmed by greed or fear. By the way, today the US Department of Justice is trying to hack into the networks of anti-doping agencies and other organizations. Among the accused are both “Dutch” criminals and others who were involved in other attempts to hack foreign computer networks.

7. There are no detailed and sane answers to all these accusations from Moscow. It is already clear to everyone that there is no point in denying it - there is plenty of evidence, it is absolutely damning. I don’t even know how to get out of this. The only thing that comes to mind is to just stupidly deny everything until the press forgets about this story. Yesterday, Putin, commenting on the Skripal case, almost begged for “everything to end as soon as possible.” Apparently, in order to speed up the process and avoid getting into an unpleasant situation, his people began to eliminate witnesses. Today, in a plane crash, Deputy Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation Sahak Karapetyan. He has led oversight of the investigation of high-profile criminal cases since 2016. Among other things, his area of ​​competence included the case of the attempt on the life of the Skripals. In this regard, by the way, it is very interesting how “Petrov” and “Boshirov” feel? Are they alive? Doesn't anything hurt them?

8. However, there was other news. Today, US Vice President Mike Pence gave a big speech in which... According to him, what the Russians are doing is “little flowers” ​​in comparison with the scale of Chinese attacks on the United States. According to him, the Chinese are engaging in unfair competition, engaging in industrial espionage, illegally annexing the South China Sea, buying up entire countries, investing billions of dollars in local dictators, and also continuously waging a cyber war against the United States. If Pence is right, then problems with the Russian Federation will indeed turn out to be just an easy warm-up for the West before the inevitable rise of China and its global influence. Then the fight will begin for real, and not with idiots like “Petrov”, “Boshirov” and that figure with a taxi receipt.

9. China's response to this speech. This is quite a clever move: American shale oil producers are big supporters of Donald Trump, who is supporting them with all his might. The departure of such a large and reliable buyer as China will certainly be a very unpleasant surprise for American exporters. The trade war between the two countries is gradually gaining momentum, already entering the trade and political mainstream. In addition, the Americans recently sent their strategic bombers to the South China Sea, and the Chinese sent warships. This region of the world is becoming more and more interesting!