There are many tragic pages in the history of new Russia, which still leave room for broad discussion and new assessments of state policy. One of such tragic milestones in the formation of the new Russian state is the Chechen war - the First Chechen one. Until now, not a single department can say about the exact number of losses of federal troops and civilians in the course of the bloody drama that unfolded on the territory of the Chechen Republic.
At the same time, one must not forget that the Chechen campaign was not limited to the territory of Chechnya itself. At times, peculiar resonant aftershocks of the Chechen tragedy manifested themselves in other Russian regions, attracting increased attention to themselves and forcing the Russian people to think about the sanity of the actions of the federal authorities and those people who, in a number of foreign states, stubbornly continued to call the motley mass of terrorists fighters for the freedom of the Chechen people.
One of the most horrific attacks by militants outside Chechnya during the first campaign is the tragedy that unfolded in the summer of 1995 in Budennovsk. More than 17 years have passed since then, but the feeling of shame for the actions of the then political leaders continues to this day. It is difficult to forget the humiliation that, in fact, the entire Russian people experienced in June 1995, just as it is difficult to give a sober assessment of this phenomenon.
Summer 1995. The war in the Chechen Republic against terrorism and extremism for the integrity of the Russian Federation was entering a phase when Russian units were able to seize almost all the key populated areas of the Chechen territory, and the resistance of the militants at the same time increasingly began to resemble not active hostilities, but a classic guerrilla war with sorties single groups. It seemed that the end of the bloody and very controversial war was about to come, the militants would have to surrender their weapons, but …
This "but" was the actual failure of the Russian special services, as a result of which a terrorist group of up to two hundred militants (according to official figures - 195), led by Shamil Basayev, ended up in the deep rear of the Russian troops. Subsequently, Basayev himself said that a sortie to one of the Russian regions was discussed during his contacts with Aslan Maskhadov. It is obvious that Maskhadov, Basayev, and the then leader of Chechnya, Dzhokhar Dudayev, understood that it was pointless to continue an open war with federal forces, and new options for the struggle had to be sought. In particular, Dudayev, in one of his 1995 interviews, stated that the war was shifting into a different plane, and the Russian authorities and troops would still have to bitterly remember the decision to enter Chechnya in December 1994. Then Moscow did not attach much importance to these words of the odious leader of the Chechen separatists, but, as it turned out after a few days, in vain …
On the night of June 14, 1995, a convoy of trucks with militants disguised as Russian servicemen, allegedly accompanying the bodies of the dead ("Cargo-200"), was moving through the territory of the Republic of Dagestan to Stavropol. Unfortunately, there is no unequivocal information about why the convoy of cars, in which there were armed extremists to the teeth, moved unhindered through the territory of the Russian regions for several hours, without encountering any barriers and without arousing suspicion among servicemen at checkpoints, as well as among traffic police officers …
On this score, one has to express either judgments, or else use the words that Basayev himself once uttered. So, according to one of the judgments, the convoy was accompanied by a police car, in which there were several militants disguised as Russian law enforcement officers. Perhaps this very fact was the reason that the convoy did not arouse suspicion at the traffic police posts, especially since the militants had all the necessary documents on the presence of the Cargo-200 in the trucks. Where did these documents come from? - that's another question …
According to Basayev, the convoy of equipment moved to Budyonnovsk without hindrance, since at all posts Russian law enforcement officers bribed them banally. According to him, it happened in Budennovsk that the money intended for bribes to servicemen and employees of the state traffic inspectorate ran out. The leader of the militants stated that in fact the target of the attack was not the Stavropol Cossack town of Budyonnovsk, but, neither more nor less, the capital of Russia. Basayev's statements, which he managed to make to journalists during his sortie, boiled down to the fact that a convoy with armed militants was moving towards the Mineralnye Vody airport, where the group was going to hijack a passenger plane and head to Moscow to strike precisely at the center of Russia. In Budennovsk, they had to stop, allegedly for the reason that the local traffic cops demanded more money than Basayev's accomplices could offer them.
However, Basayev's "version" of events indirectly by Basayev himself in one of his interviews at the time of being in a seized hospital in the city of Budyonnovsk is refuted. One of the journalists, referring to Basayev, is trying to find out from the leader of the terrorists how much ammunition remains at the disposal of the bandit group. Basayev replies that he has enough ammunition, and if they run out, he will buy them from Russian soldiers. If so, then it is not clear how the words that “there was not enough money to bribe the traffic police officers” fit together with the words “if necessary, we will buy from Russian servicemen. At least one of these statements is outright bravado and lies.
According to the official submission of data, traffic police officers in Budennovsk stopped a suspicious convoy. When the very same militants who were in the police Zhiguli accompanying the KamAZ convoy came to the conversation and said that the cargo was being transported, the policeman decided to check the information. At that moment Basayev decided to act and gave the order to destroy the policemen. After that, the convoy moved towards the ROVD building, where a battle began with the use of automatic weapons and grenade launchers. During the attack on the building of the ROVD of the city of Budyonnovsk, the terrorists killed people, as they say, indiscriminately: in addition to the 13 killed officers of the ROVD, civilians received fatal bullet wounds, who, by a fatal accident, ended up in the militia building.
On the second floor, the militiamen took up defensive positions, but the militants did not take part in the battle, which could have led to numerous losses among the members of the gang group. As a result, the building was doused with gasoline and set on fire.
It is noteworthy that Basayev himself did not call the bloody massacre in Budyonnovsk a terrorist act. According to him, this was one of the stages of the war with Russia for the independence of Chechnya. Like, federal troops allow themselves to kill in the Chechen Republic, so why shouldn't he (Basayev) strike back at Russia. It is surprising that in 1995 such words of Basayev found numerous supporters far beyond the borders of the Chechen Republic. More and more apologists for the theory and practice of the struggle for independence were among the European and American politicians who spoke out for the fact that the people of Ichkeria are fighting against an "aggressive and merciless enemy." That is why the seizure of Budyonnovsk by many mass media seemed to be "just retribution" against Russia and the Russians.
After the shootings and arson in the building of the ROVD, the militants continued the total carnage on the streets of the city. Terrorists broke into buildings and killed people who caught their eyes with machine gun fires, and others, distraught with horror, were driven to one of the city squares - the square in front of the Budyonnovskaya administration. The square was blocked by KamAZ trucks and a fuel tanker, which they threatened to blow up in the event of an attack from the security forces.
While one group of militants who invaded the city were operating on the streets, in an administrative building, in banks, the House of Children's Art, another group seized the building of the Budyonnovsk hospital. The militants chose the hospital to take their wounded there. At that time, there were about 1,100 people in the hospital, of which about 650 were patients. The militants on foot also drove those who were taken hostage in the central square of the city to the hospital complex. People who tried to resist Basayev's gang were killed on the way to the city hospital. According to official figures, there were up to 100 people killed during the march on foot, but eyewitnesses say that there were many more killed.
A few hours later, Basayev's gang, taking hostage a total of about 1,800 (according to other sources, twice as many) residents of Budennovsk, took up defensive positions in the same ill-fated building of the city hospital. The leader of the terrorists used several people as those who had to bring his demands to the attention of the official authorities. Basayev's demands were as follows: an immediate cessation of hostilities on the territory of Chechnya, the withdrawal of Russian troops from the Chechen Republic, as well as a meeting of the top leadership of Russia with Dzhokhar Dudayev with the UN mediating mission in order to endow Chechnya with the status of an independent state, which (the status) should have been recognized by all means Russia. Later, Basayev added here a fourth demand for the payment of a huge indemnity from Russia for the damage that the Russian army inflicted on Chechnya during the military campaign. At the same time, Basayev, who perfectly understood that his action without press coverage could go unnoticed by the so-called world community, urgently demanded that he be given the opportunity to hold a press conference. If the journalists are not provided, then Basayev promised to start a mass shooting of the hostages.
While the Russian authorities were considering what to answer to Basayev and his accomplices, the terrorists, as a sign of intimidation, shot several hostages in front of hundreds of people. Among them were Russian servicemen who were being treated at the Budyonnovsk hospital after participating in the Chechen campaign. Subsequently, the hospital staff stated that the nurses and doctors had to forge the personal data of patients in the cards so that the militants did not find out about other employees of the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Internal Affairs who were in the wards of the hospital complex.
Basayev was given the opportunity to meet with journalists, and, taking advantage of the unique opportunity, the militant voiced his demands to the whole world. It was after this that many representatives of foreign political elites began to say that Basayev was not a terrorist, but a freedom fighter, a rebel and a real Chechen hero. The machine of the information campaign against Russia spun with inconceivable speed, giving birth to an opinion about the correctness of Basayev's action. Is the right thing to do - is it the capture of pregnant women and children? Is the correctness of action killing civilians? The correctness of the deed is the burning of houses together with the people who find there? Or, perhaps, the correctness of the action is the use for murders, attacks and arson of several dozen complete drug addicts, whose existence in the detachment was said by Basayev himself and eyewitnesses of the tragedy? Monstrous hypocrisy! The top of information propaganda, which literally trampled into the mud the prestige of the Russian Federation, which was already undermined by the war in Chechnya.
It should be noted that at the time of the tragic events in Budennovsk, Russian President Boris Yeltsin was in Halifax, Canada, at a meeting of the G7 (then still Seven) and tried to convince foreign colleagues of the need to provide Russia with another loan in the amount of $ 10.2 billion. The footage of Yeltsin mentioning what is happening in the Stavropol Territory has spread all over the world. Yeltsin is trying to show on himself those black armbands that were on the bandits who seized Budennovsk, and at the same time, the barely concealed smile on the face of US President Bill Clinton is clearly visible. This attempt by Yeltsin, parodied by Basayev, will later be ridiculed by the militants themselves …
At the same time in Budennovsk, after a series of failed negotiations with the militants, an operation to storm the building of the city hospital began to unfold. the experience of taking well-fortified buildings captured by the enemy. However, there has never been a situation with such a large number of hostages …
At this time, the residents of Budennovsk are holding a spontaneous rally, in which they accuse the federal authorities of complete helplessness and inability to protect their people, who have been at the mercy of insane militants for many hours.
The order to start the assault was issued by the then leadership of the security agencies with the direct participation of Prime Minister Chernomyrdin, despite the fact that the commanders of special units warned of the imminent loss of a large number of hostages in the event of an operation. In particular, information was discussed in Moscow that as a result of the assault, half of all the hostages in the hospital complex could die, in addition, there will be large losses among the special forces themselves. However, they decided to close their eyes to these figures, and the order was issued.
But even the beginning of the assault did not come as a surprise to the militants. Employees of the Alpha and Vega groups report that information leaks may have occurred. The fact is that already on the approaches to the hospital building, the special forces were met with fire from the positions of the militants. An automatic firefight, which was not at all included in the plans of the "Vega" and "Alpha" groups, ensued, which did not subside for about 20 minutes. During the firefight, the militants, who installed machine guns in the window openings directly on the shoulders of the hostages, managed to damage two Mi-24 helicopters. In the windows of the clinic, militants showed women waving white sheets. Basayev later said that the women took this step themselves …
The assault was continued. During 4 hours of assault actions, the special forces fighters managed to gain a foothold in the main building and seize several buildings of the hospital complex at once. At the same time, according to some information, about 30 hostages and three soldiers of the special-purpose detachment were killed. Then something happened that is difficult to explain in human language: the special forces fighters received an order to retreat. The reasons for this order were the large number of victims among the hostages, as well as Basayev's remark about readiness for negotiations … Special forces soldiers were perplexed … Surprising! But weren't the commanders of special forces warned about the large number of victims during the discussion of the storming of the hospital, and isn't Basayev's words about the negotiations just another attempt to impose his will on the authorities?..
During the second visit of the journalists to the hospital building, Basayev allowed the correspondents to “walk” through the clinic, seized with horror of people and strewn with the corpses of hostages, demonstrating the “inhumanity of the Russian army”. During conversations with journalists, the hostages, apparently under pressure from the militants, said that they were treated very well, but the federal troops were killing their own, and the war must certainly be ended by fulfilling all Basayev's demands.
Basayev, through journalists, demands to get in touch with the top leadership of Russia, and declares that he is ready for negotiations. Moscow is making, perhaps, the most controversial decision in this entire tragic history - to establish real contact with the militants.
Frames with the phrase “Hello! Shamil Basayev? Hello! This is Chernomyrdin! went around the entire planet and showed the world a contradictory picture.
Someone called Chernomyrdin a real hero, saving people (forgetting, by the way, about who contributed to the beginning of the bloody assault and its mediocre end). Others called Prime Minister Chernomyrdin a man who portrays Russia in an unattractive light by starting a conversation with terrorists. Still others, from that moment on, began to consider Viktor Chernomyrdin to be a real state Judas, to whom he sold dozens of ruined lives for giving the militants the opportunity to freely return to Chechnya.
After negotiations between Basayev and Chernomyrdin, the first received guarantees that a corridor to the Vedensky region of the Chechen Republic would be opened for him. Several "Ikarus" and a refrigerator for the bodies of the killed militants were brought to the Budyonnovsk hospital in front of the bewildered people. Basayev himself, his accomplices and dozens of hostages, whom the terrorists promised to release in Chechnya, were accommodated in the "Ikarus". The convoy, accompanied by traffic police vehicles, departed towards the administrative border with the war-torn republic. The flags of Ichkeria were fluttering from the windows, behind the windows were visible the joyful faces of the militants, depicting the sign "Victoria" with their fingers …
No storming of the convoy was undertaken … The militants calmly returned to where they had invaded Stavropol Territory a few days ago, in order to become real heroes in that very Ichkeria, the recognition of whose independence was spoken of in their "Budennovsky" demands. Basayev's sortie, together with his virtually triumphant return home, cost Russia too much. In the course of a multi-day terrorist attack, the casualties alone amounted to 130 people - according to some sources, and over two hundred - according to others. This is many times more losses of militants … However, human losses were far from the only ones during this terrorist act. The initiative was lost in the entire Chechen campaign. After Basayev's sortie, the war in Chechnya again turned into a sharp confrontation with the federal troops, and Basayev himself, reveling in his victory, declared that he was now ready to reach even as far as Moscow or Vladivostok. And, as everyone knows, the terrorist plans towards Moscow, unfortunately, were destined to come true: the explosions of houses on the Kashirskoye highway, Guryanov street, the seizure of the theater center on Dubrovka, terrorist attacks in the metro. And there were also Kizlyar and Volgodonsk, Beslan and Nazran, Vladikavkaz and Botlikh.
As a result, we can say that the cost of contacts between the federal authorities and the militants is simply staggering. These are thousands of lives that cannot be returned by any publications and rethinking of the tragedy in Budennovsk. The missed opportunity to prevent the attack on Budennovsk and break the back of terrorism has become a necessity for Russia to make more and more sacrifices …
P. S. 2002 year. At the trial on the case of the seizure of Budyonnovsk, one of the defendants (Isa Dukayev), who was part of Basayev's gang in 1995, said that television did not broadcast that part of Chernomyrdin's conversation with the terrorist leader, in which the Russian Prime Minister proposed Basayev money with the aim that he left Budyonnovsk. According to Dukayev, Basayev refused and announced his readiness to go out “free of charge” if he was given guarantees. The guarantees were provided …
It was not possible to confirm or deny Dukayev's words. But if everything that he said is true, then it is difficult to imagine greater baseness on the part of a government official …
I would like to believe that the fateful lessons of Budyonnovsk have been fully learned, and the black page of Russian history has finally been turned over.
