The famous poem by Alexander Tvardovsky "Two lines", written in 1943, became a kind of monument to the Soviet-Finnish war of 1939/40. The last lines of the poem: "In that unknown war, Forgotten, little, I lie", are familiar to almost everyone. Today, this simple but very powerful image can be applied to events of the very recent past. Russian society is crowding out from memory the events of the war in the Caucasus in the mid-1990s and early 2000s, although the veterans of these hostilities are quite young and live among us, bearing the burden of this unremarkable war.
One of the heroes of the second Chechen campaign is 24-year-old captain Mikhail Vladislavovich Bochenkov, who was posthumously nominated for the title of Hero of the Russian Federation. He died on February 21, 2000 near the village of Kharsenoy in the Shatoisky district of the Chechen Republic. On this day, during a clash with militants, three reconnaissance groups from the 2nd separate brigade of the GRU special forces from Pskov were killed.
Mikhail Vladislavovich Bochenkov was born on December 15, 1975 in Uzbekistan in the town of Kokand in a family of ordinary employees. From 1982 to 1990 he studied at the secondary school №76 named after Kamo in the capital of Armenia. Apparently, even then the young man decided to link his fate with military service. To do this, in 1990, he entered the Leningrad Suvorov Military School, where he studied until 1992. Moving progressively towards the intended goal, he entered the Leningrad Higher Combined Arms Command School named after S. M. Kirov (the school existed from 1918 to 1999, from the end of December 1991 it was called the St. Petersburg Higher Combined Arms Command School). Mikhail Bochenkov graduated from a military university in 1996 with a gold medal.
Hero of Russia Bochenkov Mikhail Vladislavovich
After completing his training, he served as the commander of a reconnaissance platoon of a reconnaissance company in the 45th Guards Motorized Rifle Division of the Leningrad Military District, then was the commander of a reconnaissance company of the 138th Guards Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade. This brigade was created in 1997 in the process of reforming the armed forces from the 45th mechanized infantry division. Since May 1999, Mikhail Bochenkov served in the 2nd separate special-purpose brigade.
In August 1999, bandit formations invaded Dagestan from the territory of Chechnya. Fighting in several regions of the republic lasted from August 7 to September 14, 1999 and marked the actual start of the second Chechen war. In connection with the aggravation of the situation in the region, already in August 1999, the leadership of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation organized measures to strengthen the existing group of forces in the region. As in the First Chechen War, a consolidated detachment was formed from the 2nd separate special forces brigade. The detachment consisted of one reconnaissance company from each of the three brigade units (70th, 329th and 700th). The same staff structure was retained as in the previous campaign in the Caucasus, even the serial number in the name of the consolidated unit was retained - the 700th separate special-purpose detachment.
At that time, Captain Mikhail Bochenkov, who had been in the Caucasus since August 16, 1999, participated in the hostilities as part of this detachment. Already in September 1999, the soldiers of the 700th detachment took direct part in the battles on the territory of the Novolaksky district of Dagestan, and then took part in the hostilities on the territory of the Chechen Republic. In the future, Mikhail Bochenkov, together with the special forces, took part in military operations that were carried out in Buinaks, Urus-Martan, Kizlyar, Novolaks and Khasavyurt.
For participation in hostilities, Mikhail Vladislavovich Bochenkov was awarded the Order of Courage, and also had a certificate of honor from the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. On the very eve of the new year (from 1999 to 2000), Bochenkov was summoned to the headquarters of the grouping of forces, where he was handed a nominal award knife with the inscription "From the Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin."
In the winter of 2000, federal troops launched an offensive operation, the main goal of which was to capture the southern, mountainous part of Chechnya. It was here, in the area of the Argun Gorge, that a group of up to three thousand militants, including Arab mercenaries, was located. The forces that managed to escape from Grozny and retreat southward were concentrated here. In mountainous terrain, relying on bases, defensive terrain and fortified villages, the militants hoped to organize stubborn resistance to the Russian troops and hold back their advance.
Mikhail Bochenkov in the center
On the night of February 15-16, 2000, four special forces reconnaissance groups from the 700th separate special forces detachment moved to the area of the Tangi-Chu settlement, the special forces were tasked with conducting reconnaissance in the indicated area. One of the groups that went out on the mission was headed by Captain Mikhail Bochenkov. The main task of the special forces was to move the main forces of motorized rifle units along the routes of movement, the special forces were supposed to ensure their advance into the mountainous regions of Chechnya and cover the columns on the routes of movement, preventing attacks from the Chechen fighters.
The terrain in this area was not conducive to the movement of equipment, especially heavy ones. The advancement of the motorized infantry was difficult, the equipment literally sank in the mud. At the same time, the special forces and infantry moved in the mountainous terrain almost exclusively on foot. On the fifth day, that is, on February 20, 2000, all the special forces groups met. At the same time, they were redirected to actions in the area of the village of Kharsenoy. The task in the area of this village did not change, the special forces had to occupy and hold the dominant heights in order to ensure the exit of motorized rifle units to the specified area.
On February 21, three special forces groups were together, they united, since by that time they had practically no communication, the radios had simply run out of batteries, only one radio had power for three groups, and they tried to save it, keeping negotiations to a minimum. The day before, the fighters received a radiogram stating that a detachment of motorized riflemen (about 40 people) would have to replace them at about lunchtime on February 21. The approaching infantry unit was supposed to deliver food with them, as well as provide communications. However, the motorized infantry could not approach the appointed time, they advanced very slowly, the equipment was constantly stuck, so the infantry walked on foot, and the weather did not improve. On the night of February 21, it was snowing in the area.
The soldiers of the reconnaissance groups were photographed a few days before their death by Natalya Medvedeva, a photojournalist for the Ogonyok magazine
In the same area, a special forces detachment of the Ministry of Justice operated with the same tasks. Later, Major of the Typhoon special forces unit Nikolai Yevtukh recalled that they met scouts in the Kharsenoi area, and by February 20 they had many frostbitten and sick people in their groups. The difficult exit conditions affected. By February 21, the fighters had been walking in the mountainous terrain for five days, they were physically exhausted. The mountainous terrain and snow made it difficult to move, while people had to spend the night right on the ground in pea jackets. The commandos carried all the necessary property on themselves, first of all, they took as much ammunition as possible on the mission, not everyone wanted to take a sleeping bag with them. According to the recollections of senior sergeant Anton Filippov, who was part of the reconnaissance group of senior lieutenant Sergei Samoilov, only two people carried sleeping bags in the group.
Certain difficulties for the scouts were also created by the fact that servicemen from motorized rifle units were introduced into the groups. These were artillery spotters, aircraft controllers, and engineers. The level of their training differed from the level of training of the special forces, those assigned to the groups were even more exhausted during the campaign. Special forces fighters, including commanders, at some moments had to take turns carrying the weapons of the seconded.
By February 21, exhausted by crossings in the mountains, soldiers of three special forces groups, who were running out of food supplies and sat down with batteries for walkie-talkies, went to the area of height 947, where they were to be replaced by motorized riflemen. Here they made a halt, but instead of motorized riflemen, a group of militants came out to the indicated area, which organized an ambush. During the fleeting battle, which, according to eyewitnesses, lasted 15-20 minutes, the groups were almost completely destroyed. As the survivors and fighters from among the motorized infantry and special forces of the Ministry of Justice recall, whose camp was on the mountain about a kilometer in a straight line from the battle site (later, when the special forces moved to the scene of the clash, they covered this distance in an hour), until the very end of the battle it was heard, how the Kalashnikov machine gun of one of the commandos worked.
The soldiers of the reconnaissance groups were photographed a few days before their death by Natalya Medvedeva, a photojournalist for the Ogonyok magazine, in the background by a tree there is Captain Bochenkov
The day of February 21, 2000, has forever become a black day in the history of the Russian army special forces, never before has the special forces lost so many soldiers in one day. As a result of the battle near the village of Kharsena, 25 special forces and 8 servicemen of motorized rifle units were killed. Only two survived, among them senior sergeant Anton Filippov, who was a radio operator in the group of senior lieutenant Sergei Samoilov. The only working radio was destroyed by enemy fire at the very beginning of the battle. According to Filippov's recollections, the militants attacked the groups from two sides, using grenade launchers and small arms. The senior sergeant himself was wounded in the arm and leg, and also received a shrapnel wound to his face, which saved him from death. When the resistance of the special forces was over, the militants went out into the clearing near the height and finished off the wounded, she considered Filippov dead, so his whole face was covered in blood. The second survivor was a motorized infantry soldier who received three bullet wounds and was shell-shocked.
There are two versions of this fight today. The official one, which was presented in the newspaper of the Ministry of Defense "Krasnaya Zvezda", and unofficial, which is contained in the literature on the actions of the domestic special forces in hot spots, as well as in the memoirs of eyewitnesses of this tragedy, which today, if desired, can be found on the Internet. You can get acquainted with all interpretations of events yourself. The bottom line can be stated that the enemy caught the scouts by surprise in positions that were unfavorable for defense, by this moment they were exhausted by five days of crossing over difficult mountainous terrain, a feeling of relaxation also affected, they were expecting a quick change and believed that they were taken to a safe place. There really were our own people around, the special forces of the Ministry of Justice and the fourth reconnaissance group of their direct colleagues, who occupied neighboring heights. Despite all the circumstances, the scouts accepted the battle and fought it until all the possibilities of defense and their own forces were exhausted, not one of them retreated.
According to the results of the battle on February 21, 2001, 22 dead privates and sergeants of the 2nd Separate Special Forces Brigade were posthumously presented to the Order of Courage, three officers, group commanders Captains Kalinin, Bochenkov and Senior Lieutenant Samoilov were posthumously nominated for the title of Hero of the Russian Federation. On the basis of the decree of the President of the Russian Federation of June 24, 2000 No. 1162, Mikhail Vladislavovich Bochenkov was awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation (posthumously) for his courage and heroism in eliminating illegal armed groups in the North Caucasus. An important remark needs to be made here. According to the recollections of his colleagues, being a bachelor, Captain Mikhail Bochenkov voluntarily stayed in Chechnya for a second term, although his business trip had already ended. He was worried that a family officer with children would be sent in his place.
