Second Battle of Grozny | |||||||
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Part of the First Chechen War | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Russia | Chechen Republic of Ichkeria | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
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Strength | |||||||
Unknown |
Russian claim: 700 to 1,500 fighters[1] Unofficial data: 130-150 fighters[2] | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
Official figure: 70+ killed[1][3] 53-259 wounded[1][3] 40 missing[1] |
Russian claim: 190 fighters killed[1] |
The Second Battle of Grozny, also known as Operation Retribution, was a three-day surprise attack by Chechen fighters who stormed the capital city of Grozny that was occupied by Russian Armed Forces.
Further information: First Chechen War |
By June 1995 the Chechens had lost all the major cities and towns. On General Aslan Maskhadov's orders, the Chechen resistance shifted from conventional warfare to guerrilla warfare, relying on the mountains.[4]
On March 6, 1996, Chechen fighters launched a surprise attack on Grozny, striking from three directions and encircling outlying Russian posts and local pro-Moscow Chechen police stations, catching Russian troops off guard, inflicting significant losses, overrunning much of it and capturing weapons and ammunition stores. The attack was supposedly intended to show that the Chechens could still operate against Russian forces.[5]
Three days later, after the Chechens left the city, fighting in the Grozny continued for several more days; the Russian units that entered Grozny periodically engaged in battle with one another, mistaking each other for the enemy.[1]
President Dzokhar Dudayev allegedly called the attack a "little harassing operation". The attack was only a rehearsal for a much larger operation that took place in August 1996.[5]