The Battle of Grozny, the Russian siege of the capital of Chechnya that began in 1999, ended on the 6th of February, 2000.
In 2003, the United Nations named Grozny the “most destroyed city on Earth”.
Destruction after the Russian siege.
Tag Archives: Chechnya
On this day: the Samashki Massacre
On the 7th and 8th of April, 1995, Russian soldiers, many of them reportedly drunk or on drugs, massacred at least 100 and as many as 300 civilians in Samashki, Chechnya.
An early news report of the massacre, before the details were known.
Many victims were never identified, as the Russians deliberately burnt many of the bodies. Eyewitnesses also told of rapes of women and girls in the village, and of Chechens being thrown – alive – from helicopters.
The troops were under the command of highly decorated Gen. Anatoly Kulikov. During the time of the massacre, Russian President Boris Yeltsin had compared the Chechen people to Nazis, a popular Kremlin propaganda tactic.
Below is an image of Russian troops celebrating in Chechnya after fighting in Grozny.
Images of the area after the massacre can be found here, but some are graphic.
In Times Gone By... 