Eighteen years ago, on February 29, 2000, in the Argun Gorge of Chechnya, the 6th company of the 104th regiment of the 76th Pskov Airborne Division entered into battle with the thugs of Khattab, Basayev and Idris. This clash is known as the battle at Hill 776. The aspect ratio is one to twenty-seven, 90 paratroopers versus 2,500 terrorists. As a result, 84 soldiers were killed in the line of duty. The oldest of them was 37 years old, the youngest 18 ..

Night, fog

Second Chechen War. In February 2000, the militants were driven out of Grozny and surrounded in the Argun Gorge. They were bombed, causing great damage to manpower and equipment, the "shaitans" begged the "brothers" to buy out the corridor in order to leave for Dagestan. The media later reported that Khattab's group paid $ 500,000 to get out of the boiler. This amount was announced during his conversation with Basayev, which was intercepted by the Russian special services. According to Khattab, "these goblin jackals were set up by the chiefs to cover their tracks." The bandits called the paratroopers goblins.

As journalist Vladimir Malyshev writes, it is not known for certain whether the accusations against the top commanders are true, but it has been established that on the route of the Khattab column on the road to Vedeno, all police checkpoints were removed and the militants did not expect to meet the scouts of the 6th company at all.

The bandits contacted the battalion commander Mark Yevtyukhin by radio: “There are a lot of us here, ten times more than you. Why do you need trouble, commander? Night, fog - no one will notice, and we will pay very well. " In response, a mate was heard, and the militants realized that there would be no deal. After that, the paratroopers were covered with fire, hand-to-hand fighting began. The attacks came in waves.

The soldiers were able to hold out for about 20 hours. Captain Viktor Romanov, who was left without legs due to a mine explosion, continued to adjust the artillery fire, and Corporal Alexander Lebedev blew himself up along with the militants.

Fire on yourself

On the night of March 1, Major Alexander Dostalov came to the aid of the paratroopers, together with the third platoon of the 4th company. At the same time, Dostavalov voluntarily left the defensive positions of the 4th company.

According to some reports, the paratroopers did not receive any other help (except for the support of the regimental artillery), although the battalion commander repeatedly asked for reinforcements. Supposedly, soldiers from neighboring heights wanted to come to the rescue, but the command forbade them to do so. Federal troops did not appear on the battlefield until a day later.

Apparently, because of this, when on the morning of March 1, Evtyukhin called fire on himself, as his colleagues noted, he said: "You betrayed us, bitches."

The militants who occupied the height finished off the wounded, shot in the face - because of this, difficulties arose with identification. The terrorists, as witnesses said, slowly laid the bodies of the dead, placed Evtyukhin's corpse on top, hung headphones around his neck and put a radio in front of him. This symbolized the fact that, despite requests, no one came to help the paratroopers.

Andrei Lobanov, who was carrying out the task set in the afternoon of March 1 to come to the rescue of the 6th company, said: “The question was constantly in my head: why was there no information that such a horde of militants was breaking through? Why was the 3rd battalion, which was nearby, withdrawn? If there was timely intelligence, such huge losses could have been avoided. And our help could no longer change anything in that battle. "

And then the smoke cleared away

In total, six servicemen survived: Sergeants Alexander Suponinsky and Andrei Porshnev, privates Alexei Komarov, Vadim Timoshenko, Roman Khristolyubov, Yevgeny Vladykin. It is not known exactly how many were killed among the militants. The maximum figure, which was named, is about 700 people.

Twenty-two paratroopers were awarded the title of Hero of Russia, 68 soldiers were awarded the Order of Courage (almost all - posthumously).

At first, they decided to remain silent about their feat. On March 9, 2000, military observers of Obshchaya Gazeta wrote:<...>near the settlement of Ulus-Kert on the night of March 1, an entire company of the 104th regiment of the Pskov airborne division was killed in a battle with bandits, the media leaked. But no one could tell about what happened there. Journalists were not allowed into the area for several days. And the military themselves were ordered to keep quiet. Is that Colonel-General Gennady Troshev on the 5th finally allowed himself to admit: "The Sixth Airborne Company, which was at the forefront of the bandits' attack, lost 31 people killed, and there are also wounded." At the same time, the headquarters of the Airborne Forces knew that the data on losses did not correspond to reality. There was an instruction not to disclose information about the events at the height of 776, the journalists point out.

They link this with the fact that the battle began literally a few hours after Defense Minister Igor Sergeev reported to the Russian leadership on the completion of the military phase of the counter-terrorist operation (CTO) in Chechnya, since there is no longer organized resistance from the bandits.

Inevitable punishment

The surviving terrorists were punished. Some were killed during the CTO. Others are captured and sentenced to lengthy prison terms. Moreover, this crime has no statute of limitations. In January 2018, residents of the Stavropol Territory Arslan Valiev and Faizbek Amangaziev received 15.5 and 16 years in a strict regime colony. As established by the investigation, they conducted aimed fire at the paratroopers from Kalashnikov assault rifles.

Prior to this, Ayub Tuntuev, a resident of Chechnya, was sentenced to 24 years and 11 months in prison, and Maxim Ponaryin was given a life sentence.

Among the convicts is also a citizen of Ukraine - a member of the extremist organization UNA-UNSO (banned in Russia) Alexander Malofeev. He was sentenced to 24 years and six months in prison.

Two more suspects are to appear before the court - Artur Ushaev and Ruslan Namatov.

On the night of February 29 to March 1, 2000, the Russian army fought for the last time in the style of the 90s

The last battle of the 6th company of the 104th Guards Parachute Regiment of the 76th Airborne Division is perhaps the most dramatic and heroic battle of the Second Chechen Campaign.

Despite its relatively small scale, the battle at Hill 776 is undoubtedly historic. The Russian army last fought with a large Chechen bandit formation in the style of the 90s: a smaller number, with poor communications, without air support and help from comrades, compensating for the shortcomings and slovenliness of the generals with massive heroism and the lives of soldiers.

In subsequent years, the army leadership, albeit with a creak, but learned the bloody lessons of the mountains. Already in 2008, while saving South Ossetia from a Georgian attack, Russia demonstrated a completely different style of introducing a war.

Rats are cornered

The winter of 1999-2000 turned out to be a bad time for the Ichkerians (gangs that fought for the independence of Chechnya). The flywheel of war, spun by the invasion Shamilya Basaeva and Khattaba to Dagestan, grind one gang after another. The feds not only stopped the invasion, burying the hopes for an "sea-to-sea emirate", but during the summer campaign, they restored control over the flat part of the republic, besieged and took Grozny. As in the first campaign, having suffered defeat in the fields, the Chechen detachments began to retreat to the mountainous and wooded area in the south.

The Argun Gorge, through which their families fled to Georgia and the wounded, became a real dear for the separatists. On it, caravans with weapons, medicines and equipment went to Chechnya.

The Russian command perfectly understood the importance of this road and made a knight's move: helicopters threw border guards and paratroopers to the heights above the gorge. The troops were delivered to positions over the heads of the bandit formations; also supplied them by air.

The first landing was landed on December 17, and by the end of January, the militants' retreat routes to Georgia were completely cut off. 2300 "border guards" and paratroopers dug in at all key heights along the border. Mortars and artillery were transferred to them.

They also propped up the militants from the plain. The 20,000-strong group led an offensive on Shatoi, the last regional center under the control of terrorists. The army marched from the north, west and east, forming a huge arc and breaking any resistance in front of them.

Under their blows, about a thousand militants rolled out of Grozny into the area. Another two thousand under the command of Khattab moved towards them from Itum-Kali. In addition, the region already had its "own" gang - 1,400 militants from Basayev's group.

The mountainous wooded area helped avoid clashes with the main Russian forces, but strategically it was a mousetrap. Russian aircraft flew up to 200 sorties a day, smashing mountain fortresses and militant forest bases. Special forces operated in the forests, the valleys were engaged in armored vehicles and motorized riflemen. The militants had almost no room for maneuver, and the army had an almost unlimited number of shells and bombs.

Thus, a situation arose in which the Russian army sought to keep and beat up the remnants of the Ichkerians in the Shatoi region. The terrorists, on the other hand, dreamed of breaking free of the military cordons and spreading across the republic.

Company against the Khattab gang

The 6th company of the 104th Guards Airborne Regiment, although it was part of one of the most elite divisions of the Russian army, was by no means professional. She was manned by contract soldiers and paratroopers from other units shortly before dispatch. Some were enlisted in the company just before being loaded onto the plane.

The 2nd battalion, in which the company was to fight, was also not in the best shape. Just a month before the trip, an audit found him "not ready for battle." Combat Mark Evtyukhin tried to put the unit in order, but there was simply not enough time for training. On February 3, the battalion was transferred to Grozny; after a while, the paratroopers were instructed to guard the base in the area of ​​the Oktyabrskoye village.

In addition to the soldiers and officers of the 6th company, a group of 15 fighters from the 4th company of the same 2nd battalion also took part in the battle. In total - 90 paratroopers. The "Non" battalion (120-mm guns) covered them with fire.

The enemy was by no means an easy one to oppose. The Chechen fighters decided to break out of the encirclement in two large groups. One under the command Ruslana Gelaeva went to the north-west, aiming at the village of Komsomolskoye, and the other, under the command of Khattab, moved in an almost opposite direction - to the north-east. It was with them that the paratroopers of the 104th regiment had to meet.

How many thugs went with Khattab is a moot point. According to official data, there were about 2.5 thousand of them, according to the statements of terrorists - 700. One way or another, the detachment was many times larger than the number of paratroopers.

In addition to the Chechen terrorists, the gang included a large number of Arab mercenaries. The militants were well armed and well motivated: by that time, Russian aviation was using one and a half ton vacuum bombs and cluster munitions on their positions. Apart from death, they had nothing to wait under Shatoi. At the same time, unlike the paratroopers who were in the area for the first time, the militants knew the area very well.

Rota goes to eternity

February 28, commander of the 104th regiment Sergey Melentiev ordered to occupy the dominant height of Ista-Kord. Initially, battalion commander Evtyukhin intended to send the 4th company on this mission, which had more heavy weapons and was better prepared. However, due to equipment breakdowns, people did not have time to arrive. The 6th company of the major was ordered to become a screen. Sergey Molodov.

The paratroopers advanced to the height on foot. The soldiers carried not only weapons and ammunition, but also tents, stoves, a large amount of additional equipment.

Meanwhile, the militants began to probe the positions of the regiment in search of a weak spot. At about 11 o'clock in the morning, Khattab reached the position of the 3rd company. The militants on the radio contacted the commander, calling him by name, and offered money for the passage. The company commander responded by pointing artillery at them. Leaving several corpses in front of the positions of the intractable paratroopers, the Khattabs decided to try their luck elsewhere.

In half of the first, 12 scouts of the 6th company clashed with 20 militants on Mount Isty-Kord, after which they retreated to the main forces. The company wade across the Abazulgol River. The overloaded paratroopers were very tired and stretched out along the slope.

The head patrol and the command ascended to the summit simultaneously with the Chechen intelligence. There was a short but violent firefight. During the battle, Major Molodov was mortally wounded, and the battalion commander Evtyukhin himself headed the company.

The Chechens withdrew and regrouped. About four days later, the first powerful attack followed. The militants managed to catch and shoot the third platoon of the company on the slope, which did not manage to rise. Only three fighters survived from this platoon.

Then the assault on the summit began. Up to 1.5 thousand militants took part in the attack. The terrorists crushed the paratroopers with massive fire, the defenders fired back. Self-propelled battalion fire was brought to the slope; the attack was repulsed.

However, the situation was already critical: many were killed, the rest were almost all wounded. The problem was that the paratroopers could not dig out trenches in the frozen rocky ground, and the militants did not spare mortar mines and fire from grenade launchers.

A second attack began at about ten in the evening. The "Nona" was still hammering in height, but the militants had nothing to lose. At about three nights, 15 scouts of the 4th company, under the command of a major, made their way to the defenders. Alexandra Dostalova.

For the final assault, the militants gathered a group of 70 suicide volunteers. By that time, no more than 40-50 paratroopers remained at the summit. The wounded died not only from bullets: many died from the severe frost.

Nevertheless, the wounded, frostbitten soldiers fired back from the attacking horde for several hours. At 06.01, battalion commander Evtyukhin got in touch for the last time, causing fire on himself. At about seven in the morning, the last shots were fired.

Brother, where is the help?

Why did the 6th company die? On the one hand, miscalculations in the preparation of the operation affected, on the other, extremely unfavorable circumstances in which the battle was fought.

The military failed to detect the advance of large enemy forces in time. The command, out of good intentions, forbade the paratroopers to conduct reconnaissance on their own outside the artillery "umbrella", and interaction with the special forces "Vympel" and the 45th regiment special purpose was not adjusted. Therefore, when the paratroopers faced a terrible danger, neither the commanders on the spot, nor the command at the headquarters understood this.

The aviation, which had been kneading the militants the other day, was also unable to help: throughout the day the area was covered with thick fog, and it was raining and snowing from low clouds.

At the same time, it cannot be said that they did not try to save the company. At night, fellow soldiers from the 1st company advanced to the besieged height. But Khattab, who was well versed in the tactics of the mountain war, had already put machine-gun secrets on the fords of the Abazulgol River, which did not allow the unblocking group to approach the battlefield.

The only help that reached the 6th company was the same 15 scouts who were brought in by Major Dostalov, who exactly fulfilled Suvorov's behest: perish yourself, and help your comrade.

Nevertheless, the paratroopers fought to the end. No one raised their hands to surrender, no one asked for mercy. The fighters fired back even after the command of the company collapsed. The commanders shared the fate of the soldiers: of the 13 officers who participated in the battle, all were killed. Lieutenant was the last to give his life Dmitry Kozhemyakin, covering the retreat of two wounded soldiers. Only six paratroopers survived the battle at the height.

A breakthrough through the positions of the company, according to various sources, cost Khattab from 50 to 500 militants. Soon more than 200 militants surrendered to Russian troops; most of them were wounded, and many were at altitude 776. The enemy paid a very high price to pass through the positions of the 6th company.

The battle at height 776 is an episode of the second Chechen war, during which a large detachment of Chechen militants (Khattab) on March 1, 2000 managed to break through the positions of the 6th company of the 104th paratrooper regiment of the 76th (Pskov) airborne division (Lieutenant Colonel Mark Evtyukhin) near Argun in Chechnya, at the Ulus-Kert-Selmentauzen line, at an altitude of 776.

After the fall of Grozny (January 30), a large group of Chechen fighters retreated to the Shatoisky region of Chechnya, where it was blocked by federal troops on February 9. Then, on February 22-29, the ground battle for Shata followed. The militants managed to break out of the encirclement. Ruslan Gelayev's group broke through in the north-western direction to the village of Komsomolskoye (Urus-Martanovsky district), and Khattab's group in the north-eastern direction through Ulus-Kert (Shatoysky district), where the battle took place.

By the decree of the President of the Russian Federation, 22 paratroopers were nominated for the title of Hero of Russia (21 of them - posthumously), 69 soldiers and officers of the 6th company were awarded the Orders of Courage (63 of them - posthumously).

On the afternoon of February 29, 2000, the federal command hastened to interpret the capture of Shatoi as a signal that the "Chechen resistance" was finally broken. President Putin was reported "on the fulfillment of the tasks of the third stage" of the operation in the North Caucasus, and and. O. OGV commander Gennady Troshev noted that for another two to three weeks, operations will be carried out to destroy the "escaped bandits", but the full-scale military operation has been completed.

Colonel of the reserve Vladimir Vorobyov, a former paratrooper who passed through Afghanistan (at one time he commanded the 104th "Cherekhinsky" regiment), will help us in the investigation. Father of Senior Lieutenant Alexei Vorobyov, who died near Ulus-Kert. For two years after the tragedy, he compiled a complete picture of what happened, which is somewhat at odds with the official version.

Gangs of Chechen warlords found themselves in a strategic bag. This happened after the landing of a tactical assault force, which, as if with a sharp knife, cut the mountain road Itum-Kale-Shatili, built by the slaves of “free Ichkeria”. Operational group "Center" began to methodically shoot down the enemy, forcing him to retreat down the Argun Gorge: from the Russian-Georgian border to the north.

Intelligence reported: Khattab moved northeast, to the Vedeno region, where he created an extensive network of mountain bases, warehouses and shelters. He intended to capture Vedeno, the villages of Mehkety, Elistanzhi and Kirov-Yurt and secure a foothold for a breakthrough into Dagestan. In the neighboring republic, the "mujahideen" planned to take hostage a large number of civilians and thereby force the federal authorities to negotiate.

Restoring the chronicle of those days, you need to clearly understand: talk about "reliably blocked gangs" is a bluff, an attempt to pass off wishful thinking. The strategically important Argun Gorge is over 30 kilometers long. Units not trained in mountain warfare were unable to establish control over an extensive and perfect mountain system unfamiliar to them. Even on the old map, you can count more than two dozen trails in this area. And how many are not marked on any maps at all? To block each such path, you need to use a company. It turns out an impressive figure. With the forces that were at hand, the federal command could not only destroy, but reliably block the gangs going to break through only on paper.

On the most dangerous, as it turned out later, direction, the command of the UGV deployed fighters of the 104th Guards Parachute Regiment of the 76th Pskov Airborne Division. Meanwhile, Khattab chose a simple but effective tactic: after conducting reconnaissance of the battles, he intended to find the most weak spots, and then, having piled on with the whole mass, to escape from the gorge.

On February 28, the "mujahideen" went ahead. The paratroopers of the 3rd company, led by senior lieutenant Vasiliev, took the first blow. They occupied the dominant heights five kilometers east of Ulus-Kert. Detachments of Khattab unsuccessfully tried to break through a well-organized system of fire and retreated, suffering significant losses.

Units of the 2nd battalion kept the commanding heights over the Sharoargun gorge under control. There remained a passage between the channels of the Sharoargun and Abazulgol rivers. To exclude the possibility of militants "infiltrating" here, the commander of the 104th regiment ordered the commander of the 6th company, Major Sergei Molodov, to occupy another dominant height 4-5 kilometers from Ulus-Kert. And since the company commander was literally transferred to the unit the day before and did not have time to thoroughly understand the operational situation, get acquainted with the personnel, he was backed up by the commander of the 2nd battalion, Mark Evtyukhin.

The paratroopers set off even after dark. In a few hours they had to make a fifteen-kilometer march into a given square, where they set up a new base camp. We walked with full combat gear. They were armed only with small arms and grenade launchers. The attachment for the radio station providing hidden radio exchange was left at the base. They dragged themselves on water, food, tents and stoves, without which it was simply impossible to survive in the mountains in winter. According to the calculations of Vladimir Vorobyov, the unit stretched for 5-6 kilometers, no more than a kilometer passed per hour. We also note that the paratroopers went to the height immediately after a difficult throw along the Dombai-Arzy route, that is, without proper rest.

Helicopter landing was ruled out, since the conducted aerial reconnaissance did not find a single suitable site in the mountain forest. The paratroopers went to the limit of their physical strength - this is a fact that no one can dispute. From the analysis of the situation, the following conclusion suggests itself: the command was late with the decision to transfer the 6th company to Ista-Kord, and that, realizing himself, set deliberately impossible deadlines.

Even before sunrise, the 6th company of the 104th Guards Airborne Regiment, reinforced by a platoon and two reconnaissance groups, was at the target - the interfluve of the Argun tributaries south of Ulus-Kert. The battalion commander, Lieutenant Colonel Mark Yevtukhin, supervised the actions of the paratroopers.

As it later became known, 90 paratroopers, on an isthmus of 200 meters, blocked the path of the two thousand-strong group of Khattab. As far as can be judged, the bandits were the first to discover the enemy. This is evidenced by radio interceptions.

At that moment, the "mujahideen" were moving in two detachments along the Sharoargun and Abazulgol rivers. The height of 776.0, at which our paratroopers took a breath after the hardest march, they decided to bypass from two sides.

In front of both gangs were two reconnaissance groups, 30 people each, followed by two combat guard detachments of 50 militants each. One of the main patrols was discovered by Senior Lieutenant Alexei Vorobyov with his scouts, which saved the 6th company from a surprise attack.

It was noon. The scouts found the militants at the foot of the height 776.0. The opponents were separated by tens of meters. In a matter of seconds, the vanguard of the bandits was destroyed with the help of grenades. But dozens of "mujahideen" rushed after him.

The scouts with the wounded on their shoulders retreated to the main forces, and the company on the move had to accept the oncoming battle. While the scouts could hold back the onslaught of the bandits, the battalion commander decided to gain a foothold at this forested height of 776.0 and not give the bandits the opportunity to leave the blocked gorge.

Before the start of the assault, Khattab field commanders Idris and Abu Walid went to the battalion commander on the radio and suggested that Yevtukhin let the "mujahideen" pass:

“There are ten times more of us here. Think, commander, is it worth risking people? Night, fog - no one will notice ...

What the battalion commander answered is not difficult to imagine. After these "negotiations" the bandits launched a storm of fire from mortars and grenade launchers on the positions of the paratroopers. By midnight, the battle was at its highest. The guardsmen did not flinch, although the enemy outnumbered them by more than 20 times. The bandits advanced towards the grenade-throwing positions. In some areas, the paratroopers met in hand-to-hand combat. One of the first in the 6th company to die was its commander Sergei Molodov - a sniper's bullet hit him in the neck.

The command could only support the company with artillery fire. The fire of the regimental gunners was corrected by the commander of the self-propelled battery, Captain Viktor Romanov. According to General Troshev, from noon on February 29 to early morning on March 1, regimental gunners poured 1,200 shells into the Ista-Korda region. They did not use aviation, fearing to be hit by their own people. The bandits covered their flanks with water streams that were on the right and left, which made it impossible to freely maneuver and provide effective assistance... The enemy set up ambushes and took up defenses on the shore, not allowing them to approach the tributaries of the Argun. Several attempts at the crossing ended in failure. The 1st company of paratroopers, thrown to the rescue of perishing comrades, was able to break through to a height of 776.0 only on the morning of March 2.

From three to five in the morning on March 1, there was a "respite" - there were no attacks, but mortars and snipers did not stop firing. Combat commander Mark Yevtyukhin reported the situation to the regiment commander, Colonel Sergei Melentyev. He ordered to hold on, wait for help. After several hours of battle, it became apparent that the 6th company simply did not have enough ammunition to hold back the continuous attacks of the militants. The battalion commander asked for help from his deputy major, Alexander Dostovalov, who was one and a half kilometers from the dying company, for help. There were fifteen fighters with him.

We like to say different beautiful phrases on any occasion, without really thinking about their meaning. I also liked the expression "heavy fire". So that's it. Despite the heavy, without quotation marks, enemy fire, Alexander Dostovalov and a platoon of paratroopers somehow miraculously managed to get through to their comrades, who for the second hour were holding back the frenzied onslaught of Khattab's bandits. For the 6th company, it was a powerful emotional charge. The guys believed that they had not been abandoned, that they were remembered, that they would come to the rescue.

... The platoon lasted for two hours of battle. At 5 o'clock, Khattab launched two battalions of suicide bombers - "white angels" into the attack. They completely surrounded the height, cutting off part of the last platoon, which did not manage to rise to the height: she was shot practically in the back. The company itself was already collecting ammunition from the dead and wounded.

The forces were unequal. Soldiers and officers were killed one after another. Aleksey Vorobyov's legs were broken by shrapnel of mines, one bullet hit the stomach, another pierced his chest. But the officer did not leave the battle. It was he who destroyed Idris - a friend of Khattab, the "chief of intelligence".

On the night of March 1, at an altitude of 705.6, hand-to-hand combat took place, which took on a focal character. The snow at the height was mixed with blood. The paratroopers fought off the last attack with several machine guns. The battalion commander Mark Evtukhin realized that the life of the company went on for minutes. A little more, and the bandits on the corpses of the paratroopers will break out of the gorge. And then he turned to Captain Viktor Romanov. The one, bleeding, with stubs of legs tied with cords, was lying next to him - on the company command post.

- Come on, we call fire on ourselves!

Already losing consciousness, Romanov transmitted the coordinates to the battery. At 6 hours 10 minutes, communication with Lieutenant Colonel Yevtukhin was cut off. The battalion commander fired back to the last bullet and was struck by a sniper's bullet in the head.

On the morning of March 2, the 1st company entered Ista-Kord. When the paratroopers drove the militants from a height of 705.6, a terrible picture opened up in front of them: perennial beeches, "trimmed" by shells and mines, and everywhere - corpses, corpses of "mujahideen". Four hundred people. In the company strongpoint - the bodies of 13 Russian officers and 73 sergeants and privates.

Following the "bloody trail" Udugov posted eight photographs of the killed paratroopers on the Kavkaz Center website. The photographs do not show that many of the bodies were hacked to pieces. "Fighters for the Faith" dealt with any paratroopers in whom life still glimmered. This was told by those who miraculously managed to survive.

Senior Sergeant Alexander Suponinsky, by order of the commander, jumped into a deep ravine. Private Andrey Porshnev jumped next. About 50 militants fired at them for half an hour from machine guns. After waiting, the wounded paratroopers, first crawling, and then at full height, began to leave. The guys miraculously survived.

“There were five of us, the last,” Andrei Porshnev later recalled, “battalion commander Evtyukhin, deputy commander Dostavalov and senior lieutenant Kozhemyakin. Officers. Well, and we are with Sasha. Evtyukhin and Dostalov died, but Kozhemyakin's both legs were broken, and he threw cartridges to us with his hands. The militants came close to us, there were three meters left, and Kozhemyakin ordered us: leave, jump down ... For that battle, Alexander Suponinsky received the Hero of Russia star.

On the table of the commander of the Airborne Forces, Colonel-General Gennady Shpak, lay a list of the dead paratroopers. All the circumstances of this cruel battle were reported in the smallest detail. Shpak made a report to the Minister of Defense Marshal Igor Sergeyev, but in response received an instruction: to prohibit information about the events near Ulus-Kert until a separate instruction for disclosure.

It just so happened that it was on February 29 that Marshal Sergeev reported to Vladimir Putin about the successful completion of the tasks of the "third stage". Only a few hours passed and - a powerful group of militants hit the positions of the federal troops. What happened near Ulus-Kert did not in any way correlate with the victorious reports about the imminent and final defeat of the militants. And Comrade Marshal must have felt embarrassed about his last report. In order to somehow smooth out the embarrassment, the military was ordered to keep quiet. Only Gennady Troshev on March 5 dared to tell part of the truth: "The sixth paratrooper company, which was at the forefront of the bandits' attack, lost 31 people killed, there are wounded."

On the same days, the country was experiencing another tragedy, which was reported by all the country's TV channels - 20 riot policemen from Sergiev Posad were killed in Chechnya. The military command was afraid to announce the riot police and paratroopers at the same time. The losses were too great ...

Ulus-Kert has become one of the symbols of modern Russian history. For how many years they tried to exterminate the Russian military spirit from us, it did not work. How many years the army was portrayed as a bunch of drunks, degenerates and sadists - and the guys paratroopers, dead and alive, silenced critics. It was a real feat, on which it is impossible to cast a shadow. Although such attempts have taken place. As well as after the release of the hostages on Dubrovka by the fighters of "Alpha" and "Vympel" - an operation in which the FSB special forces could die under the ruins of the Theater complex. From Ulus-Kert there is a road to Dubrovka. In both cases, Russian soldiers and officers, bearers of our age-old traditions, stood in the way of the mercenaries and terrorists.

Pavel Evdokimov. Special Forces of Russia, 2002

01.05.2010

Article "Top Secret" dated 01.05.2010

The official investigation of the tragedy has long been completed, its materials are classified. Nobody is punished. But the relatives of the victims are sure: the 6th company of the 104th Airborne Regiment was betrayed by the command of the federal group.

By the beginning of 2000, the main forces of Chechen fighters were blocked in the Argun Gorge in the south of the republic. On February 23, the head of the united grouping of forces in the North Caucasus, Lieutenant General Gennady Troshev, said that the militants were finished - allegedly only small gangs remained, only dreaming of surrender. On February 29, the commander hoisted the Russian tricolor over Shatoi and repeated: there are no Chechen gangs. Central TV channels showed how Defense Minister Igor Sergeev reports to acting President Vladimir Putin on "the successful completion of the third stage of the counter-terrorist operation in the Caucasus."

At this very time, non-existent gangs with a total number of about three thousand people fell on the positions of the 6th company of the 104th paratrooper regiment, which occupied a height of 776.0 near the village of Ulus-Kert, Shatoi region. The battle lasted for about a day. By the morning of March 1, the militants destroyed the paratroopers and marched to the village of Vedeno, where they dispersed: some surrendered, others left to continue the partisan war.

ORDERED TO BE SILENT

On March 2, the Khankala prosecutor's office opened a criminal case into the massacre of servicemen. One of the Baltic TV channels showed footage filmed by professional operators on the part of the militants: a battle and a pile of bloodied corpses of Russian paratroopers. Information about the tragedy reached the Pskov region, where the 104th paratrooper regiment was stationed and where 30 of the 84 victims were from. Their relatives demanded to tell the truth.

On March 4, 2000, the head of the UGV press center in the North Caucasus, Gennady Alekhin, said that the information about the large losses suffered by the paratroopers did not correspond to reality. Moreover, no hostilities were conducted at all during this period. The next day, the commander of the 104th regiment, Sergei Melentiev, came out to the journalists. Five days have passed since the battle, and most families already knew about the death of their loved ones through their colleagues in the Caucasus. Melentiev clarified little: “The battalion was carrying out the task of blocking. Reconnaissance discovered the caravan. The battalion commander moved to the scene of the battle, controlled the unit. The soldiers have done their duty with honor. I'm proud of my people. "

In the photo: Combat review of the 104th paratrooper regiment

Photo from the archive "Top Secret"

On March 6, one of the Pskov newspapers told about the death of the paratroopers. After that, the commander of the 76th Guards Chernigov Air Assault Division, Major General Stanislav Semenyuta, forbade the author of the article, Oleg Konstantinov, to enter the territory of the unit. The first official to recognize the death of 84 paratroopers was the governor of the Pskov region, Evgeny Mikhailov - on March 7, he referred to a telephone conversation with commander of the airborne forces Colonel General Georgy Shpak. The soldiers themselves were silent for another three days.

The relatives of the victims besieged the division's checkpoint, demanding that the bodies be handed over to them. However, the plane with "cargo 200" was landed not in Pskov, but at a military airfield in Ostrov, and the coffins were kept there for several days. On March 9, one of the newspapers, citing a source at the headquarters of the Airborne Forces, wrote that a list of the dead had been on Georgy Shpak's desk for a week. The commander was informed in all details about the circumstances of the death of the 6th company. And only on March 10 the silence was finally broken by Troshev: his subordinates allegedly did not know about the number of those killed, or about which unit they belonged to!

The paratroopers were buried on March 14. Vladimir Putin was expected to attend the funeral ceremony in Pskov, but he did not come. The presidential elections were just around the corner, and zinc coffins were not the best PR for a candidate. It is more surprising, however, that neither the head of the General Staff, Anatoly Kvashnin, nor Gennady Troshev, nor Vladimir Shamanov arrived. At that time, they were on an important visit to Dagestan, where they received the titles of honorary citizens of the Dagestan capital and silver Kubachin checkers from the hands of the mayor of Makhachkala, Said Amirov.

On March 12, 2000, presidential decree No. 484 was issued on the awarding of the title of Hero of Russia to 22 fallen paratroopers, the rest of the dead were awarded the Order of Courage. President-elect Vladimir Putin nevertheless arrived at the 76th division on August 2, on the day of the Airborne Forces. He pleaded guilty to the command "for gross miscalculations that have to be paid for with the lives of Russian soldiers." But not a single name was named. Three years later, the case of the death of 84 paratroopers was closed by Deputy Prosecutor General Sergei Fridinsky. The investigation materials have not yet been made public. For ten years the picture of the tragedy has been collected bit by bit by the relatives and colleagues of the victims.

HEIGHT 776.0

The 104th Airborne Regiment was transferred to Chechnya ten days before the tragic battle. The unit was consolidated - it was supplemented on the spot with fighters from the 76th division and airborne brigades. The 6th company included fighters from 32 regions of Russia, and special forces major Sergei Molodov was appointed commander. He did not have time to get to know the fighters, as the company was already sent on a combat mission.

On February 28, the 6th company and the 3rd platoon of the 4th company began a 14-kilometer march towards Ulus-Kert - without preliminary reconnaissance of the terrain, without training young soldiers to conduct hostilities in the mountains. A day was set aside for the advancement, which is very little, given the constant descents and ascents and the height of the terrain - 2400 meters above sea level. The command decided not to use helicopters, allegedly due to the lack of natural landing sites. They even refused to throw tents and stove-stoves at the point of extension, without which the soldiers would freeze to death. The paratroopers were forced to carry all their belongings on themselves, and because of this they did not take heavy weapons.

The purpose of the march was to occupy the height of 776.0 and prevent the militants from breaking through in this direction. The task was deliberately impossible. The military intelligence could not fail to know that about three thousand militants are preparing to break through the Argun gorge. Such a crowd could not imperceptibly advance for 30 kilometers: at the end of February, there is almost no "green" in the mountains. They had only one path - through the gorge along one of two dozen paths, many of which went straight to the height of 776.0.

We were given the arguments of the command: they say, you can't put a company of paratroopers on each trail, - said one of the soldiers of the 76th division. - But it was possible to establish interaction between the units, create a reserve, target the paths along which the militants were waiting. Instead, for some reason, the positions of the paratroopers were well targeted by the militants. When the battle began to boil, soldiers from neighboring heights rushed to help, requested an order from the command, but the answer was a categorical “no”. There were rumors that the Chechens bought the passage through the gorge for half a million dollars. Many officials with Russian side it was beneficial for them to break out of the encirclement - they wanted to continue making money in the war.

The first clash between the scouts of the 6th company and the militants took place on February 29 at 12.30. The separatists were surprised to find paratroopers on the way. During a short skirmish, they shouted that they should be let through, because the commanders had already agreed on everything. It is no longer possible to verify whether this agreement actually existed. But for some reason all the police checkpoints on the road to Vedeno were removed. According to radio intercepts, the head of the militants, Emir Khattab, received commands, requests, and tips via satellite communications. And his interlocutors were in Moscow.

Company commander Sergei Molodov was one of the first to die from a sniper's bullet. When the battalion commander Mark Evtyukhin took over the command, the paratroopers were already in a difficult position. They did not have time to dig in, and this sharply reduced their defenses. The beginning of the battle caught one of the three platoons climbing to the height, and the militants shot most of the guardsmen as targets in the shooting range.

Evtyukhin was in constant contact with the command, asked for reinforcements, because he knew: his paratroopers were 2-3 kilometers from the height of 776.0. But on reports that he was repelling an attack by several hundred militants, he was calmly answered: "Destroy everyone!"

The paratroopers say that the deputy commander of the regiment has forbidden to enter into negotiations with Yevtyukhin, since he, they say, is panicking. In fact, he himself panicked: it was rumored that after a business trip to Chechnya, Lieutenant Colonel Yevtyukhin was supposed to take his post. The deputy commander told the battalion commander that he had no free people, and urged to observe the radio silence regime so as not to interfere with the work of front-line aviation and howitzers. However, fire support for the 6th company was provided only by regimental artillery, whose guns worked at the limit of range. Artillery fire needs constant adjustment, and Evtyukhin did not have a special radio attachment for this purpose. He caused fire through conventional communications, and many shells fell in the zone of the paratroopers' defense: 80 percent of the dead soldiers were later found to have shrapnel wounds from foreign mines and from "their" shells.

The paratroopers did not receive any reinforcements, although the surroundings were packed with troops: the federal group within a radius of one hundred kilometers from the village of Shatoi numbered over one hundred thousand servicemen. Major General Alexander Lentsov, commander of the Airborne Forces in the Caucasus, had both long-range artillery and high-precision Uragan installations at his disposal. Height 776.0 was within their reach, but not a single volley was fired at the militants. The surviving paratroopers say that a Black Shark helicopter flew to the scene of the battle, fired one volley and flew away. The command subsequently argued that it was impossible to use helicopters in such weather conditions: it was dark and foggy. But did the creators of the "Black Shark" not buzz the ears of the whole country that this helicopter is all-weather? A day after the death of the 6th company, the fog did not prevent the helicopter pilots from seeing and reporting with the naked eye how the militants were gathering the bodies of the killed paratroopers at the same height.

At three o'clock in the morning on March 1, when the battle was already going on at about 15 o'clock, fifteen guardsmen from the 3rd platoon of the 4th company, led by Major Alexander Dostovalov, broke through to the surrounded without permission. It took Dostovalov and his men forty minutes to reunite with the battalion commander. Another 120 paratroopers under the command of the chief of intelligence of the 104th regiment, Sergei Baran, also voluntarily withdrew from their positions and crossed the Abazulgol River, moving to the aid of Yevtyukhin. They had already begun to climb to the height when they were stopped by the order of the command: stop advancing, return to position! The commander of the Marine Corps of the Northern Fleet, Major General Alexander Otrakovsky, repeatedly asked permission to come to the aid of the paratroopers, but never received it. On March 6, due to these experiences, Otrakovsky's heart stopped.

Contact with Mark Evtyukhin ended on March 1 at 6.10. According to the official version, the last words of the battalion commander referred to the artillerymen: "I am calling fire on myself!" But colleagues say that in his last hour he remembered the command: "You betrayed us, bitches!"

The feds appeared at the height only a day after that. Until the morning of March 2, no one fired at height 776.0, where the militants were in charge. They finished off the wounded paratroopers, dumping their bodies in a heap. They put headphones on the corpse of Mark Evtyukhin, set up a walkie-talkie in front of him and put it on the very top of the mound: they say, call - don't call, no one will come to you. The militants took with them the bodies of almost all of their dead. They were in no hurry, as if there were no one hundred thousandth army around, as if someone guaranteed that not a single shell would fall on their head.

After March 10, the military, hiding the death of the 6th company, fell into patriotic pathos. It was reported that at the cost of their lives, the heroes killed about a thousand militants. Although no one to this day knows how many separatists were killed in that battle.

Having broken through to Vedeno, the Chechens threw off the ballast: several dozen wounded surrendered to the internal troops (they categorically refused to surrender to the paratroopers). Most of them soon found themselves free: local militiamen yielded to the persistent requests of local residents to return the breadwinners to their families. At least one and a half thousand militants went to the mountains to the east through the locations of the federal forces.

How they did it, no one found out. After all, according to General Troshev, only bits were left of the bandit formations, and the dead paratroopers came in handy to the authors of the version: they say, these heroes destroyed all the bandits. We agreed that the 6th company, at the cost of its life, saved the Russian statehood, frustrating the bandits' plans to create an Islamic state on the territory of Chechnya and Dagestan.

In the photo: For a whole day after the death of the 6th company, federal troops did not appear at an altitude of 776.0. Until the morning of March 2, no one fired at the height where the militants were in charge. They were in no hurry: they finished off the surviving paratroopers, dumping their bodies in a heap

Photo from the archive "Top Secret"

FIND FOR PRIOR

President Putin compared the feat of the 6th company with the feat of the Panfilov heroes and spoke in favor of creating a monument to the paratroopers. The military saluted, and on August 3, 2002, the grand opening of the 20-meter structure in the form of an open parachute took place near the checkpoint of the 104th regiment in Cherekha. 84 autographs of the dead soldiers were engraved under the dome.

Almost all the relatives of the children and the Pskov authorities objected to this version of the monument, - says Tatyana Koroteeva, mother of private Alexander Koroteev. - But the military did as they needed. At first, it was somehow wild for us to lay flowers on a parachute, but then we got used to it.

Vasily Dostovalov, father of the Hero of Russia Major Alexander Dostovalov, was not invited to the opening of the monument. At first, several times a year he wandered from Simferopol to Pskov to the grave of his son, and by August 2002 money became tight. Funds for the road were collected by the Crimean paratroopers who found the old man - of course, they have Dostovalov's father living in Ukraine!

But Vasily Vasilyevich was not allowed to speak at the opening of the "parachute". Dostovalov started up: they say, my son made his way to the surrounded hill, but I can't get to the podium? But the officers stood in his way: what if the old man blurts out something wrong? No one spoke from parents or widows. But those who were solemnly invited to the podium did not even bother to inquire about the history of the battle near Ulus-Kert. None of the speakers named any of the victims. And the vice-speaker of the Federation Council suggested honoring the memory of "those who died in a fleeting battle." The same thing happened in March 2010, during the decade of the feat of the 6th company. Ilya Klebanov, the plenipotentiary envoy of the president in the North-West District, arrived, took a piece of paper out of his pocket and read it. His colleagues spoke after him. The current regiment commander was shaking, he could only say: "Eternal memory to the guys!"

Some old people did not have the opportunity to come to the opening of the monument or to the 10th anniversary of the feat of the 6th company. Poor colleagues of their children collected money for them.

Nadezhda Grigorievna Nishchenko, mother of private Alexei Nishchenko, asked the administration of the village of Bezhanitsy, where she lives, to help her get to Pskov for the next anniversary of the memory of the children, - says the mother of Misha Zagoraeva, Alexandra Alexandrovna. - The administration refused her, but she herself arrived by car. Mother got to the checkpoints.

The deceased children of Zagoraeva and Koroteeva were from the 4th company - one of those who, without an order, broke through to the rescue of the surrounded comrades together with Major Dostovalov. All 15 fighters died, the Hero of Russia was given to only three. Before the opening of the monument, the relatives of the victims were gathered in the officers' house and said: "We will have a separate conversation with the parents of the Heroes, and the rest, please take a walk." The conversation was about benefits and payments. It cannot be said that the authorities turned their backs on the relatives of the paratroopers. Many families received apartments. But so far not a single family has received compensation for the deceased, which in 2000 amounted to 100 thousand rubles. Some of the close heroes are trying to sue this money through the Strasbourg Court of Human Rights.

The families of the victims created the Red Carnations organization to preserve the memory of the children and try to find out the truth about their deaths.

The guys from the regiment came to me, they said that you can't tell them everything, - says Alexandra Zagoraeva. - They showed on the map where they sat with weapons in their hands, ready to rush to the rescue of the company. But there was no order. The person who started the criminal case on the death of the company was fired. He told me that he knew how the guys died and would tell us when he retired. Many people told us that the trail with our boys was sold. We probably won't know who sold it. Three years later, we wanted to familiarize ourselves with the materials of the investigation - we were not allowed to read them.

The commander of the 104th regiment, Sergei Melentiev, answered for the death of the heroes, who during the battle asked the commander of the Eastern grouping, General Makarov, six times to allow the company to retreat. Melentiev was transferred to Ulyanovsk with a demotion. Before leaving Pskov, he went to every house where the families of the dead soldiers lived and asked for forgiveness. Two years later, Melentiev died - the 46-year-old colonel could not stand his heart.

The fate of the six surviving paratroopers was not easy. Many in the regiment considered them traitors. There were rumors that two of them even had their submachine guns in grease, with full magazines: they supposedly sat out somewhere while the battle was going on. Most of the unit's officers were against being presented for awards. But five of them received the Order of Courage, and private Alexander Suponinsky received the Hero of Russia star. He comes to almost every event in the division.

They helped me with an apartment in Tatarstan, began to look for a job, - says Alexander. - But the Hero of Russia, who is entitled to benefits, vouchers, sanatoriums, did not want to take anywhere. I hid the star and got the job right away.

For ten years the Motherland has not forgotten its heroes, having discovered in them a rare potential for PR today. In 2004, Luzhniki hosted the premiere of the musical "Warriors of the Spirit", designed, according to the creators, to perpetuate the memory of the 6th company. The premiere was preceded by the appearance on the stage of all six surviving paratroopers. The plot is supposedly about them: an 18-year-old guy, before whom all the roads in life are open, is tempted by a Provider, a devil from the Internet, with the help of a virtual monster, a Superhero. Demons try to seduce the recruit with the delights of consumer existence, but in the struggle for his soul they are opposed by the Combat, whose prototype is Mark Evtyukhin. And the young man moves into eternity, towards fighting brotherhood and heroic death. Despite the participation of several well-known film actors, the musical did not have much success.

The patriotic films "Breakthrough" and "Russian Victim", the series "I Have the Honor" and "Thunderstorm Gates" were also shot about the feat of the 6th company. In the finale of one of these pictures, helicopters arrive to help the paratroopers who have thrashed hundreds of militants and save everyone. The credits cynically suggest that the film is based on true events.

Petersburg-Pskov

The 104 Red Banner Guards Airborne Assault Regiment, an Airborne Division, in other words, military unit 32515, is stationed in the village of Cheryokha, not far from Pskov. The unit performs combat missions, destroys and captures the enemy from the air, deprives him of ground weapons, cover, and destroys his defenses. Also, this regiment acts as a rapid reaction force.

Story

The regiment was formed in January 1948 as part of the 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 was awarded the Order of the Red Banner for its valiant use. From 1994 to 1995, the 104 Red Banner Regiment (Airborne Division) was part of the 76th Division, and therefore actively participated in the First Chechen War, and in 1999 and 2009 carried out an anti-terrorist 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, Airborne Division, received reconstructed old and erected new living quarters and facilities on its territory, thanks to this work, living and material conditions of service have become much better. The barracks took on a cockpit appearance with hallways, showers and closets for personal belongings, a gym and a recreation 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, they eat together. Civilians work in the canteen, cleaning the territory and barracks.

Training

All fighters of such a famous unit as the Pskov Airborne Division, 104 regiment especially, devote a lot of time to airborne and general physical training at any time of the year. Mandatory events for the landing: improving camouflage skills, forcing fire and water obstacles and, of course, parachute jumping. First, training takes place with the help of an airborne complex on the territory of a military unit, then the turn of a five-meter tower comes. If everything is learned correctly, then the fighters, staffed by groups of ten, make three jumps from the planes: first from the AN, then from the IL.

Irregular relations and hazing in this unit have never been present. Now this would not be possible, if only because recruits, old-timers and contract soldiers live separately and are extremely busy with their own business. The Pskov Airborne Division, 104 regiment, recruits take the oath on Saturdays at ten in the morning, rarely, due to circumstances beyond the control of the commanders, it can be postponed an hour back or forward. After taking the oath, servicemen receive a leave of absence until 20.00. By the way, on holidays, fighters also receive leave. On the Monday following the swearing-in, the command assigns new fighters to companies.

For relatives

Of course, parents, relatives and friends are bored and worried about the health and pastime of those who are just starting to serve in the army. 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 for one hour before lights out, the rest of the time the commander keeps the gadgets and gives them to the soldier only as a last resort, and after he signs in a special journal. Field exercises in the unit take place all year round, regardless of the weather, sometimes the field trips last up to two months. The soldiers are famous for their military training, and without constant training, the 104th regiment of the 76th division (Pskov) of the Airborne Forces would not have won such fame.

Helpful information

March 1st

The whole country remembered the day of the great feat of the soldiers of the sixth company of the second battalion of the one hundred and fourth paratrooper regiment of the seventy-sixth Pskov airborne division. Year 2000. Since the beginning of February, after the fall of Grozny, the largest group of militants retreated to the Shatoi region, where it was blocked. After air and artillery barrage, the battle for Shata followed. The militants nevertheless broke through in two large groups: Ruslan Gelayev to the northwest to the village of Komsomolskoye, and Khattab to the northeast through Ulus-Kert, where the main battle took place.

Federal troops consisted of one company of Regiment 104 (Airborne Division) - 6 company, heroically killed, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel of the Guard Mark Nikolaevich Evtyukhin, fifteen soldiers from the 4th company of the same regiment under the command of Major of the Guard Alexander Vasilyevich Dostalov and the 1st company of the 1st battalion of that the same regiment under the command of Major of the Guard Sergei Ivanovich Baran. There were more than two and a half thousand militants: the groups of Idris, Abu Valid, Shamil Basayev and Khattab.

Mount Isty-Kord

On February 28, the commander of the 104th regiment, Colonel Sergei Yuryevich Melentyev, who briefly outlived his sixth company, ordered to occupy the Ista-Kord hill, which dominated the area. The sixth company, led by Major Sergei Georgievich Molodov, advanced immediately and managed to occupy only height 776, four and a half kilometers from the designated mountain, where twelve reconnaissance paratroopers were sent.

The height designated by the commander was occupied by Chechen militants, with whom intelligence entered the battle, retreating to the main forces left behind. Commander Molodov entered the battle and was mortally wounded, on the same day, February 29, he died. Command took

The Brotherhood of War

But just four hours ago, Shatoy fell under the blow of federal troops. The militants fiercely broke out of the ring, not looking at the losses. Here they were met by the 6th 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, the losses of the company amounted to a third of the total number of personnel. Thirty-one people - the number of paratroopers killed in the first hours of the battle when the enemy was densely surrounded.

By morning, soldiers from the fourth company, led by Alexander Vasilyevich Dostalov, broke through to them. He violated the order, leaving well-fortified lines at a nearby height, took only fifteen soldiers with him and came to the rescue. Comrades from the first company of the first battalion also hurried to their aid. They crossed the Abazulgol River, were ambushed there and entrenched themselves on the bank. Only on the third of March was the first company able to break through to the position. All this time, the battle did not cease everywhere.

Argun gorge

The night of March 1, 2000, claimed the lives of eighty-four paratroopers who did not let the Chechen bandits pass. The death of the sixth company is the worst and the largest in the Second Chechen war. In Cheryokha, at home, at his native checkpoint, a stone reminds of this date, on which is carved: "From here the sixth company left for immortality." The last words of Lieutenant Colonel Evtyukhin were heard by the whole world: "I am calling fire on myself!" When the militants went to break through with an avalanche, it was 6.50 in the morning. The bandits did not even shoot: why waste bullets on twenty-six wounded paratroopers, if there are more than three hundred selected militants.

But hand-to-hand fighting nevertheless began, although the forces were unequal. The guards have done their duty. Everyone who could still hold a weapon, and even those who could not, entered the fray. Twenty-seven dead enemies fell on each of the half-dead paratroopers who remained there. The bandits lost 457 of the best militants, but they could not break through either to Selmentauzen or further to Vedeno, after which the road to Dagestan was practically open. All checkpoints have been removed by high order.

Khattab may not have been lying when he announced on the radio that he had bought the pass for five hundred thousand dollars, but it didn’t work out. They attacked the company in waves, in a dushman style. Knowing the area well, the militants got close to each other. And then bayonet knives, butts and just fists were used. The Pskov paratroopers held the height for twenty hours.

Only six survived. Two were saved by the commander, who covered their jump from the cliff with automatic fire. The rest of the survivors were taken by the bandits for the dead, but they were alive and after a while they crawled out to the location of their troops. A company of heroes: twenty-two soldiers posthumously became Heroes of Russia. The streets in many cities of the country, even in Grozny, were named after eighty-four paratroopers.

104th Airborne Division (Ulyanovsk)

This unit of the USSR Airborne Forces existed 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 104th Airborne Division consists of three regiments based on the 31st Ulyanovsk Airborne Brigade, which are deployed in Orenburg, Engels and Ulyanovsk.

Glory to the Airborne Forces

Air landing troops originate from August 1930, and this is the only branch of the army in the country, where every division is guards. Each of them gained its own glory 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 the 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 deployed there took part in the battles in Chechnya and Abkhazia, was part of the UN peacekeepers in Yugoslavia. And every resident of the city knows that the military equipment with a scorpion on board is the 104th Guards Airborne Division named after Kutuzov, transformed from an airborne brigade.