Pskov Airborne Division in Chechnya. Airborne battles in Chechnya. I am the Pskov Airborne Assault Division
The Guards Airborne Assault Red Banner Regiment 104, the Airborne Division, in other words, the military unit 32515, is deployed in the village of Cheryokha, near Pskov. The unit performs combat missions, destroys and captures the enemy from the air, robs him of ground weapons, cover, and destroys his defense. This regiment also acts as a quick reaction unit.
History
A regiment was formed in January 1948 as part of units of the 76th, 104th and 346th Guards Airborne Divisions. For excellent combat training in 1976, the regiment became the Red Banner, and from 1979 to 1989, all personnel and officers fought in Afghanistan. In February 1978, the regiment mastered new weapons and for its valiant use it was awarded the Order of the Red Banner. From 1994 to 1995, the Red Banner Regiment 104 (Airborne Division) was part of the 76th division, and therefore actively participated in the First Chechen War, and in 1999 and in 2009 carried out an anti-terror mission in the North Caucasus.
In early 2003, the regiment was partially transferred to a contract basis, at the same time the reconstruction of military unit 32515 began. Regiment 104, the Airborne Division, received reconstructed old and erected new residential premises and facilities on its territory, thanks to this work, living and material conditions of service have become much better. The barracks took a cubic view with hallways, showers and cabinets for personal belongings, with a gym and a relaxation room. Both officers and soldiers of regiment 104 (Airborne Division) eat in a common dining room, located separately. The food is the same for everyone, eat together. Civilians work in the dining room, on cleaning the territory and in the barracks.
Training
All fighters of such a famous unit as the Pskov Airborne Division, 104th regiment especially, spend a lot of time on airborne and general physical training at any time of the year. Mandatory activities for the landing: improving camouflage skills, forcing fire and water barriers and, of course, parachuting. First, training takes place with the help of the airborne complex on the territory of the military unit, then comes the turn of the five-meter tower. If everything is learned correctly, then fighters equipped with groups of ten people make three jumps from airplanes: first from the AN, then from the IL.
Unregulated relations and hazing in this unit have never been present. Now, this would not be possible, if only because recruits, senior employees and contract soldiers live separately and are extremely busy each with their own business. The oath of the Pskov Airborne Division, 104th regiment, fighters, recruits take on Saturdays at ten in the morning, rarely due to circumstances beyond the control of the commanders, it can be transferred an hour ago or forward. After taking the oath, servicemen receive a leave of absence until 20.00. By the way, on holidays, fighters also get dismissal. On Monday, following the taking of the oath, the command distributes the new fighters among the companies.
To relatives
Of course, parents, relatives and friends are bored and worried about the health and pastime of those who are just starting their military service. The command warns relatives that their beloved sons, grandchildren, brothers and best friends, having entered the service in regiment 104 (Pskov Airborne Division), cannot be constantly in touch.
Mobile phones are allowed to be used only one hour before the end of the call, the rest of the time the commander stores the gadgets at his place and gives the soldier only as a last resort, and after he is noted in a special magazine. Field exercises in the unit take place year-round, regardless of the weather, sometimes trips last up to two months. The fighters are famous for their military training, and without constant training they would not have won such fame for the 104th regiment of the 76th division (the city of Pskov) of the airborne forces.
Helpful information
First of march
The whole country remembered the day of the great feat of the soldiers of the sixth company of the second battalion of the hundred and fourth parachute regiment of the seventy-sixth Pskov Airborne Division. Year 2000 Since the beginning of February, the largest group of militants after the fall of Grozny retreated to the Shatoi district, where it was blocked. After air and artillery preparation, a battle ensued after Chatoy. The militants nevertheless broke through in two large groups: Ruslan Gelayev to the north-west to the village of Komsomolskoye, and Khattab - to the north-east through Ulus-Kert, where the main battle took place.
The federal troops consisted of one company of regiment 104 (Airborne Division) - 6 companies, heroically killed, commanded by Guard Lieutenant Colonel Mark Nikolayevich Evtyukhin, fifteen soldiers from 4 companies of the same regiment under the command of Major Guard Alexander Vasilievich Dostalov and 1st company of the first battalion of that the same regiment under the command of Major Guard Sergei Ivanovich Baran. There were more than two and a half thousand militants: groups of Idris, Abu Valid, Shamil Basaev and Khattab.
Mount Isty Kord
On February 28, the commander of the 104th regiment, Colonel Sergei Yuryevich Melentyev, who briefly survived his sixth company, ordered the occupation of the height of Ista-Kord, which dominated the area. The sixth company, headed by Major Sergei Georgievich Molodov, immediately advanced and managed to occupy only 776 altitude, four and a half kilometers from the designated mountain, where twelve reconnaissance paratroopers were sent.
The height planned by the commander was occupied by Chechen fighters, with whom the intelligence entered the battle, retreating to the main forces left behind. The commander Molodov joined the battle and was mortally wounded, on the same day he died on February 29. Command took
The Brotherhood of War
But only four hours ago, Chatoy fell under the blow of the federal troops. The militants violently broke out of the ring, not looking at the loss. Here they were met by the sixth company. Only the first and second platoons fought, since the third was destroyed by the militants on the slope. By the end of the day, company losses amounted to one third of the total personnel. Thirty-one people - the number of dead paratroopers in the first hours of the battle with a dense environment by the enemy.
By morning, soldiers from the fourth company, led by Alexander Vasilievich Dostalov, broke through to them. He violated the order, leaving well-fortified lines at a nearby height, took with him only fifteen fighters and came to the rescue. Also comrades from the first company of the first battalion rushed to their aid. They crossed the Abazulgol River, were ambushed there and fixed on the shore. Only on the third of March did the first company break through to the position. All this time, the battle has not abated everywhere.
Argun Gorge
The night of March 1, 2000 claimed the lives of eighty-four paratroopers who never missed the Chechen bandits. The death of the sixth company is the heaviest and largest in the Second Chechen War. In Cheryokha, at home, at his native checkpoint, a stone is reminded of this date, on which is carved: "The sixth company went into immortality from here." The last words of Lieutenant Colonel Yevtyukhin were heard by the whole world: “I call fire on myself!” When the militants made an avalanche breakthrough, it was 6.50 in the morning. The bandits didn’t even shoot: why spend bullets on twenty-six wounded paratroopers, if there were more than three hundred selected militants.
But hand-to-hand combat nevertheless ensued, although the forces were unequal. The guardsmen did their duty. Everyone who could still hold weapons, and even those who could not, entered the fray. Twenty-seven dead enemies fell on each of the half-dead paratroopers remaining there. The bandits lost 457 best-choice militants, but they could not break through either to Selmentauzen or further to Vedeno, after which the road to Dagestan was practically open. All roadblocks were removed by high order.
Khattab may not have been lying when he stated on the radio that he had bought a passage for five hundred thousand dollars, but it didn’t work out. They attacked the company with waves, in a dushmanish manner. Knowing the area well, the militants were getting close. And then the bayonet-knives, butts and just fists came into play. Twenty hours the Pskov paratroopers held the height.
Only six survived. Two were saved by the commander, who covered their jump from the cliff with automatic fire. The bandits took the rest of the survivors for the dead, but they were alive and after some time crawled out to the location of their troops. Company of heroes: twenty-two soldiers posthumously became Heroes of Russia. Streets in many cities of the country, even in Grozny, were named after eighty-four paratroopers.
104 Airborne Division (Ulyanovsk)
This connection of the USSR Airborne Forces lasted until 1998 as the 104th Guards Airborne Division, founded in 1944. In June 2015, the Russian Ministry of Defense decides to recreate the famous military unit. The composition of the 104th Airborne Division is three regiments based on the 31st Ulyanovsk Airborne Brigade, which are located in Orenburg, Engels and Ulyanovsk.
Glory of the Airborne Forces
Airborne troops originate in August 1930, and this is the only branch of the country in the country where divisions are all up to one guard. Each of them earned his own fame in battle. Ancient Pskov is rightfully proud of its oldest military unit - the 76th Guards Red Banner Airborne Division, which heroically proved itself in all the wars in which it participated. The tragic death of a brave, courageous, staunch sixth company of the 104th regiment will never be forgotten not only in the country, but also in the world.
Ulyanovsk has its own historical pride: the personnel of the 104th Guards Airborne Division stationed there participated in battles in Chechnya and Abkhazia, and was part of UN peacekeepers in Yugoslavia. And every resident of the city knows that military equipment with a scorpion on board is the 104th Guards Airborne Division named after Kutuzov converted from the brigade of the Airborne Forces.
Airborne Forces are not just brave guys in vests and berets who famously break bottles on their heads with a cry “For the Airborne Forces”, bathe in fountains and play military songs on the guitar. This is a very serious type of force, working where others simply cannot be reached. These are soldiers who fight in the rear of the enemy and deliver a lot of trouble to the enemies.
The use of special forces of the Airborne Forces in any major armed conflict is simply a necessary measure that always gives results. Therefore, it is not at all surprising that the fighters of the airborne troops of Russia took an active part in both Chechen campaigns. So at one time the airborne forces in Dagestan and Chechnya caused a lot of trouble to the armed militants. We can talk about the battles of paratroopers in these wars for a very long time, since they have repeatedly shown due heroism and really done a lot. But we will focus only on some episodes of that time.
7th Airborne Assault Guards Division of Novorossiysk
From the 95th to the 2004th year, the 7th Novorossiysk participated in major battles in the North Caucasus region. So, in 1995, the division fought in Grozny. The heroic division for the period of the two "Chechen" suffered heavy losses (87 killed) and took part in many battles.
76th Pskov Airborne Assault Division
This division took an active part in two Chechen companies and suffered really big losses. So only during the First Chechen War the division lost 12 people. The second war became even more tragic. In 2000, the division completely lost the 6th company, which faced the superior group of Khattab. This clash forever went down in the history of airborne fighting in Chechnya, and in the history of the Russian armed forces as a whole. Over both wars, more than 30 people were awarded the title of Hero of Russia (most of them posthumously).
98th Guards Airborne Division
This division may not have taken such active part in the Chechen military operations, but it nevertheless made an invaluable contribution to the course of the company as a whole. So the battles of the 98th Guards Airborne helped to carry out counter-terrorism operations in the period 1994-95-ies. During this period, 17 people were assigned to the title of Hero, which shows how actively and efficiently the division fought.
106th Airborne Guards Division (Tula)
During the First Chechen War, the division carried out a special task (November 1994 - April 1995). For this relatively short period of time, many paratroopers received medals and orders, and five were even awarded the Hero of Russia. In addition, in 1999 the division was awarded the Pennant of the Minister of Defense.
Attack on the column of the 51st regiment
During the Chechen conflicts, columns of Russian troops were periodically attacked by militants. Ambushes did not happen very rarely and sometimes ended very poorly. Take, for example, an attack on a convoy of the 51st Airborne Regiment (battle near Serzhen-Yurt).
In 2000, on April 23, the militants Abu al-Valida and Abu Jafar ambushed a convoy delivering fuel and lubricants from the railway station. From the side of the militants, 2 firing groups worked. The paratroopers acted in concert and, hiding behind the armored personnel carriers, continued to dismount and fired back. Part of the enemy’s fire was taken over by the VOP VV, which followed. After some time, several Mi-24s covered the column, which forced the militants to retreat.
Despite the fact that the fighters nevertheless left the battle, the colony suffered heavy losses. 7 pieces of equipment were destroyed, 16 paratroopers were killed. The number of injured is inaccurate, but 7 (6 landing and 1 explosive fighter) are indicated. Most likely, the number of wounded is significantly underestimated.
What caused the tragedy is unknown. Perhaps the reconnaissance of the Airborne Forces in Chechnya did not work well enough, or maybe the colony was “handed over”. But, as a fact - losses and another tragic page in the history of the airborne troops.
Airborne Special Forces in Chechnya
During the armed conflicts of recent decades, the special forces of the Airborne Forces repeatedly proved to be a highly professional unit. Take for example the 45th regiment, formed back in 1994. During the Chechen campaigns, this unit was overgrown with so many rumors and almost legends that unheard-of information had enough unverified information about the approach of special forces to start to panic. The leaders of the militants promised their fighters huge sums of money for capturing at least one paratrooper from the 45th. However, for all the time of the battles, not a single soldier fell into the hands of the enemy, neither alive nor dead.
Special forces of the Airborne Forces in Chechnya performed a wide variety of tasks and always the operation ended in success. This is truly the elite of the airborne forces, equipped with all the necessary weapons, appliances and equipment.
A significant role in the battles was played by airborne special forces snipers. For example, in the battles of Grozny, only General Rokhlin lost up to 30 fighters a day at the hands of Chechen snipers. But after the arrival of airborne snipers and their “productive work” for several days, the general’s losses fell to 2-3 fighters a day.
For obvious reasons, the video of the special forces of the Airborne Forces in Chechnya is as rare a thing as, say, a video of a snowman. After all, the guys worked secretly and getting on the video for such a unit could be equal to death and failure of the task. Nevertheless, some of the exploits of these fighters are still available for public viewing. But of course, we won’t recognize the whole picture.
We, the principal opponents of socialism, Bolshevism, Stalinism and other “isms,” are often reproached that we, they say, deny the Soviet period. Of course, such a statement of the problem is delusional in itself, since it is impossible to deny historical periods.
We are talking about something else. That you cannot elevate any human doctrine, doctrine or state to the level of the Divine, to whom bloody sacrifices should be made. What is criminal in the name of various chimeras to kill hundreds of thousands of people, explaining this as a kind of "expediency". We deny the method and practice of the so-called Soviet power, which, by the way, has never been “Soviet”. But this does not mean at all that we deny the courage, valor, and labor of our people during the time of this so-called Soviet power.
The most important thing that unites all generations of our people, — it’s self-sacrifice, for the Lord says: "There is no longer that love, as if someone would lay down his soul for his own friends." And it does not matter who and when made this sacrificial feat: the heroes of the Battle of Kulikovo, Borodin, Shipka, Port Arthur, the Brest Fortress, the Kursk Bulge, or today, military pilot Roman Nikolaevich Filippov.
Today we want to recall another such feat, committed already in the post-Soviet period, at the very beginning of the Second Chechen War. And it was still committed by very young children, soldiers of the 6th company of the 104th parachute regiment of the 76th (Pskov) Airborne Division in the period from February 29 to morning on March 1, 2000 in the mountains of Chechnya near Argun, at an altitude of 776. That there, 90 paratroopers joined the battle with the 1,500th detachment of the field commander of the separatists of the Arab mercenary and terrorist Saudi Khattab (real name Samer Saleh al-Suvail). Rota was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Mark Nikolayevich Evtyukhin.
History will also tell who and how unleashed the war in Chechnya in 1994, who was interested in it, who sought to play off Russians and Chechens and use their confrontation for their dirty purposes. History will also necessarily note that, as a result of the activities of these forces, our country was on the verge of collapse by 2000, and that the current head of the Russian State, Vladimir V. Putin, played a huge role in the fact that this did not happen.
But history will also note selfless fidelity to the duty of our soldiers, who, as always in history, have remained faithful to the oath, despite the games of politicians and the dirty projects of dealers. It was they, these famous and unknown characters, who once again defended Russia, as their great-grandfathers had done before. This fully applies to the heroes of the 6th company.
The 104th paratrooper regiment arrived in Chechnya 10 days before the battle at an altitude of 776. Major Sergei Molodov was appointed commander of the 6th company, who didn’t have time in 10 days, and even couldn’t meet the fighters and even more so create from the 6th company combat-ready compound.
Fighters of the 6th company. Photo: www.globallookpress.com
The military situation in Chechnya was then next. During the summer campaign, Russian troops stopped the invasion of Shamil Basayev’s militants in Dagestan, drove them back to Chechnya, burying their hopes for an "sea-to-sea emirate", regained control of the plain part of Chechnya, besieged and captured Grozny after stubborn fighting. After the capture of Grozny, the main forces of the militants were blocked in the Argun gorge in the south of the republic. At the head of the remnants of the separatists were the so-called. the commander of the defense of Grozny, the gunman Ruslan Gelayev and the Arab mercenary Khattab.
Having been defeated, the separatist detachments began to retreat to the mountainous-woodland in the south. Through the Argun Gorge, they went to Georgia, where they hid their families, healed wounds and received weapons. Caravans with weapons, medicines and equipment went along the gorge to Chechnya.
The Russian command, perfectly understanding the importance of the road through the gorge, threw companies of border guards and paratroopers to the heights above it. Other military units squeezed a circle around the separatists. For the latter, it was actually a mousetrap. Russian aviation made up to 200 sorties a day, carrying mountain fortresses and forest bases of militants. Special forces operated in the forests, valleys were engaged in armored vehicles and motorized rifles. For Khattab and Gelayev, there was only one way left: to break through the ring of Russian troops and leave for Georgia.
The militants decided to break out of the encirclement in two large groups. One (under the leadership of Gelayev) went northwest to the village of Komsomolskoe, the other (under the command of Khattab) moved in an almost opposite direction — to the northeast. In addition to Chechen terrorists, the gang had a large number of mercenary Arabs. The militants were well armed and well motivated. It was with them that the paratroopers of the 104th regiment were to face.
The commander of the 6th company was given the command: to make a march on foot and occupy the dominant heights in the Argun Gorge. The idea was to secure a part of the 6th company at a height of 776 and then, using this height as a strong point, move forward and occupy the remaining heights. goal — Do not miss the breakthrough of gangs.
On February 28, the 6th company set off on a 14-kilometer march to Ulus Kerth. The paratroopers did not take heavy weapons, instead of them they carried all 14 km of ammunition, water, stoves and tents, and all this had to be carried in the mountains, and even in winter. The helicopters command decided not to use, allegedly due to the lack of natural sites for their landing. They refused even to throw tents and stove stoves at the point of extension, without which the soldiers would freeze to death. The paratroopers were forced to drag the entire belongings on themselves, for this reason they did not take heavy weapons. When the soldiers finally reached a height of 776, they were physically very exhausted.
By a completely incomprehensible combination of circumstances, army intelligence did not notice a large enemy group (up to 3,000 people), which was preparing to break through the Argun gorge. There is a version that the command of the eastern group of forces did not take into account the specifics of the mountainous-wooded area, when the unit has no opportunity to form a continuous front or even control the flanks. Moreover, no one expected a breakthrough of gangs in one place by a large group. The aviation, which was kneading the militants the other day, also could not help: during the whole day the area was covered in thick fog, it rained from the low clouds with snow. Thick fog did not allow us to support the 6th company with helicopters, but our long-range artillery fired all day at the alleged positions of the militants, supporting the paratroopers.
At about 11 a.m., Khattab entered the position of the 3rd company. The militants on the walkie-talkie contacted the commander, calling him by name, and offered money for the passage. The company responded by pointing artillery at them. The Khattabites retreated.
Khattab. Photo: www.globallookpress.com
In the afternoon, reconnaissance of the 6th company collided with 20 militants on Ista-Kord mountain.
The head patrol and command rose to the top at the same time as Chechen intelligence. A short but fierce firefight took place. During the battle, Major Molodov was mortally wounded, and the battalion commander Yevtyukhin led the company.
Around four o'clock in the afternoon, the first powerful attack by the separatists followed. The militants managed to catch and shoot the third platoon of the company on the slope. Only three fighters survived from this platoon. Then the assault on the peak began. Up to 1.5 thousand fighters participated in the attack. Terrorists crushed the paratroopers with massive fire, the defenders fired back. The self-propelled division fired on the slope; the attack was repelled. The situation was already critical: many were killed, almost all of the remaining were injured.
The second attack began at about ten in the evening. The height was still fired 12-mm self-propelled guns "Nona". At about three in the morning 15 scouts of the 4th company, under the command of Major A. V. Dostalov, made it to the help of the defenders, who precisely fulfilled the great Suvorov’s testament: die, and help a comrade. This was the only help that reached the 6th company. Meanwhile, the militants went on a decisive assault. One of the surviving company fighters, Sergeant Alexander Suponinsky, later recalled that day:
At some point, they went against us with a wall. One wave will pass, we will shoot them, half an hour of respite — and another wave ... There were a lot of them. They just walked toward us - their eyes bulging, yelling: “Allahu akbar” ... Then, when they retreated after hand-to-hand fighting, they offered us money on the radio so that we would miss them ... "
By that time, no more than 40-50 paratroopers remained at the top. The wounded died not only from bullets, many died from severe frost. Nevertheless, the wounded, frostbitten fighters fired back from the pressing horde for several hours. When it became clear that heights could not be kept, but there was no place to wait for help, Captain V.V. Romanov, who took command of the 6th company after the death of senior officers, called fire on himself. At five o'clock in the morning on March 1, fighters occupied the height. Despite the massive artillery fire, which covered a height of 776, the remains of the Khattab gang were still able to leave the Argun Gorge.
In an unequal battle, 84 Russian servicemen were killed, including 13 officers. Only six fighters survived. Losses of militants amounted, according to various estimates, from 370 to 700 people. Despite the fact that some Khattabites managed to break out of the encirclement, it was already the agony of large militant forces. Since the spring of 2000, they no longer had the opportunity to confront Russian troops in open battle, remaining only capable of ambushes and terrorist attacks.
Photo: www.globallookpress.com
Peering into the forever young faces of the 6th company paratrooper heroes, involuntarily come to mind the lines of Anna Akhmatova about the soldiers of the Great Patriotic War:
That's about you and write books;
"His life for his own friends,"
Unpretentious boys -
Vanka, Vaska, Alyoshka, Grishka,
Grandchildren, brothers, sons!
Eternal memory to them!
It was on the first day of spring 2000 that paratroopers of the 6th company, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Mark Evtyukhin, entered into an unequal battle with the militants of Khattab near Ulus-Kert. They prevented the breakthrough of 2.5 thousand members of illegal gangs, destroying 700 of them. Of the 90 fighters, 84 were killed. For their courage, 22 servicemen were awarded the title of Hero of Russia, 69 soldiers and officers were awarded the Order of Courage, 63 of them posthumously.
Almost all officers died in the first minutes of the battle. Trained snipers worked on the positions of the paratroopers. Later it will become known that Khattab brought the best mercenaries to the Argun Gorge, among whom there were many Arabs.
They walked without even shooting. In the last attack - in full growth. Later, at the top, they will find potent drugs that injected militants twenty times superior to paratroopers. But the sixth still fought.
Paratroopers of the 6th company in the Argun gorge Fight at an altitude of 776. Feat 6 of the company of the airborne forces.
Before the fight
February 2000 Federal forces block a large group of Khattab militants in the Argun Gorge. According to intelligence, bandits - from one and a half to two thousand people. The militants expected to break out of the gorge, go to Vedeno and hide in Dagestan. The road to the plain lies through a height of 776.
On February 28, the commander of the 104th regiment, Colonel Sergei Melentyev, ordered the commander of the 6th company, Major Sergey Molodov, to occupy the dominant height of Ista-Kord. It should be noted that the 104th paratrooper regiment arrived in Chechnya 10 days before the battle at an altitude of 776, the regiment being consolidated and manned on the spot at the expense of the 76th Airborne Division. Major Sergei Molodov was appointed commander of the 6th company, who didn’t have time in 10 days, and couldn’t get to know the fighters, much less create a combat-ready formation from the 6th company. Nevertheless, on February 28, the 6th company set off on a 14-kilometer march and occupied a height of 776, and 12 scouts were sent to Mount Ista-Kord, 4.5 km away.
Battle progress
February 29, 2000
At 12:30 on February 29th, reconnaissance of the 6th company stumbled upon militants, and a battle began with a group of about 20 militants; during the battle, scouts were forced to retreat to altitude 776, where 6 companies entered the battle. In the very first minutes of the battle, commander Sergey Molodov died, and the position of the paratroopers from the very beginning began to look hopeless: they did not have time to dig in, there was thick fog at the height.
After the death of Molodov, the command took over the battalion commander Mark Evtyukhin, who asked for reinforcements and support for the aircraft. But his requests for help remained unheard. Only the regimental artillery provided assistance to the 6th company, but due to the fact that there was no artillery spotter among the paratroopers, the shells often did not fall accurately.
The most paradoxical fact is that the surroundings of Argun were literally clogged with army units. Moreover, the units of the federal forces located at neighboring heights were eager to come to the aid of the dying 6th company, but they were forbidden.
By the end of the day, the 6th company lost 31 dead (33% of the total personnel).
Fortunately, among the officers of the rotten Yeltsin army there were still honest and decent people who could not watch indifferently as the militants destroy their comrades. 15 soldiers of the 3rd platoon of the 4th company, led by Major Alexander Dostalov in just 40 minutes, managed to break through to the 6th company and under heavy fire of militants connect with Yevtyukhin. 120 paratroopers under the command of the intelligence chief of the 104th regiment, Sergey Baran, also voluntarily removed their positions, crossed the Abazulgol River and moved to help Yevtyukhin, but they were stopped by a categorical command from the command to immediately return to positions. Major General Otrakovsky, the commander of the Northern Fleet’s marine corps, repeatedly asked permission to help the paratroopers, but never received it. On March 6, because of these experiences, General Otrakovsky's heart stopped. Another victim of the battle at an altitude of 776 ...
March 1, 2000
At 3 a.m. a group of soldiers led by Major Alexander Vasilievich Dostalov (15 people) was able to break into the encirclement, who, breaking the order, left the defensive lines of the 4th company at a nearby height and came to the rescue. During the battle, all the paratroopers 3 platoon 4 companies were killed. Alexander Dostalov was repeatedly wounded, but continued to lead the fighters. Another wound was fatal.
At 6:11 a connection with Yevtyukhin was cut off. According to the official version, he called artillery fire on himself, but, as witnesses of those events tell, the last thing the battalion commander said before his death was the words:
you are goats, you betrayed us, bitches!
After which he became silent forever, and the militants took the height of 776, who slowly finished off the wounded paratroopers and mocked Mark Evtyukhin for a long time. And all this was filmed on video and laid out on the Internet.
After the battle at an altitude of 776 Fighters of the 1st company of the 1st battalion sought to help the comrades. However, during the crossing of the Abazulgol River, they were ambushed and forced to gain a foothold on the shore. Only in the morning of March 3, the 1st company managed to break through to the positions of the 6th company
After the battle at an altitude of 776
Loss of paratroopers
84 soldiers of the 6th and 4th companies, including 13 officers, were killed in the battle.
The dead paratroopers at an altitude of 776 Militant losses
According to federal forces, militants lost 400 or 500 people.
Militants claim the loss of up to 20 people.
Surviving paratroopers
After the death of Dostalov, only one officer remained alive - Lieutenant Dmitry Kozhemyakin. He ordered the senior sergeant Alexander Suponinsky to crawl to the cliff and jump, he picked up a machine gun to cover the soldier.
kozhemyakin had both legs broken, and he threw cartridges at us with his hands. The militants came close to us, there were three meters left, and Kozhemyakin ordered us: leave, jump down.
- recalls Andrei Porshev.
Fulfilling the order of the officer, Suponinsky and Andrei Porshnev crawled to the cliff and jumped, and by the middle of the next day they reached the location of the Russian troops. Sergei Kozhemyakin himself, while covering a soldier, was mortally wounded and died. Alexander Suponinsky, the only one of the six survivors, was awarded the Gold Star of the Hero of Russia.
I would return everything so that all the guys stayed alive.
- later said Alexander Suponensky.
Guard Private Tymoshenko was also injured. The militants searched for him in a bloody trail, but the soldier was able to hide under the rubble of trees.
Ordinary Roman Khristolyubov and Alexei Komarov were in the third platoon, which did not reach a height and died on a slope. They did not participate in the battle at the height.
Private Evgeny Vladykin was left alone without ammunition, in a fight he was hit with a butt on the head, he lost consciousness. When he woke up, he was able to get to his own.
Only 6 fighters survived.
Also, as a result of the battle that began, two GRU officers escaped from captivity - Alexei Galkin and Vladimir Pakhomov, who were then escorted by militants near Ulus-Kert. Subsequently, Alexei Galkin was awarded the title of Hero of Russia, and his image was used as a prototype of the protagonist of the film "Personal Number"
For their feat, the paratroopers of the 6th company were awarded the title of Hero of Russia (21 of them posthumously), 68 soldiers and officers of the company were awarded the Order of Courage (63 of them posthumously)
Betrayal?
Such a mass death of paratroopers who entered the battle with a much larger number of Chechen militants detachment raises a lot of questions. The main ones — why could this happen and, just as importantly — go unpunished for the command?
The company could not perish almost at full strength simply by definition. The command could come to her aid during the day more than a dozen times, but this was not done. Why come to the rescue! The command could do nothing at all: it was enough just not to interfere with those units that arbitrarily decided to help the Pskov paratroopers. But even this did not happen.
While the 6th company heroically died at an altitude of 776, someone deliberately blocked all attempts to save the paratroopers
There are suggestions that the militants' passage from the Argun Gorge to Dagestan was purchased from senior federal leaders. “All police checkpoints were removed from the only road leading to Dagestan,” while “the airborne group had information about the militants at the level of rumors.” The price for the corridor for retreat was also called - half a million dollars. A similar amount (17 million rubles) was called the former commander of the 104th Guards Parachute Regiment Colonel S. Yu. Melentyev:
Do not believe anything that they say about the Chechen war in the official media ... Traded 17 million for 84 lives
According to Vladimir Vorobyov, father of the deceased senior lieutenant Alexei Vorobyov, "the Melentyev regiment requested the withdrawal of the company, but the commander of the Eastern group General Makarov did not give permission to retreat." It is clarified that Melentyev 6 times (according to the testimony of people who personally knew him) asked for permission to withdraw the company immediately after the start of the battle, but without receiving permission, he obeyed the order.
Military observer Vladimir Svartsevich asserted that “there was no heroism, frank betrayal of the guys by specific persons of our command”:
Despite the ban on counterintelligence, we managed to talk with the witness of the deaths of the guys - with the boy, who was sent by the battalion commander Mark Yevtyukhin, who died in that battle, to tell the truth. During the night the material was written, I compiled a complete chronicle of what was happening in hours and minutes. And for the first time he called the real number of those killed in one battle. Everything was true. But the pathetic words that allegedly Mark Yevtyukhin said on the walkie-talkie - "I call the fire on myself" - were not true. He actually said:
You goats, you betrayed us, bitches!
The successful raid of the platoon Dostalov clearly refutes all the allegations of the Russian command about the impossibility of breaking through to the perishing 6th company.
Officials initially did not want to speak openly about the story of the death of the 6th kind of Pskov paratroopers - journalists were the first to tell what happened at an altitude of 766, and only after that the military broke the silence for many days.
