Betrayal and feat

Pskov journalist Oleg Dementyev came to the editorial office and presented the newly published book “Step into Immortality,” which he co-authored with Vladimir Klevtsov. “Pskov Province” has repeatedly written about the still uninvestigated events of late February - early March 2000 - the death of paratroopers of the 6th company of the 104th regiment of the 76th Airborne Division. They wrote about the battle itself, the investigation and journalistic investigation , the dead , parents , wives and children (also see: K. Shmoraga. Tragedies that you can’t get used to ; “It won’t be easier. But I will know the truth” ) , still unsuccessful attempts to find the truth about those forever tragic days (also see: “Without answers to these questions, the memory of the heroes cannot be complete” ) . We thank Oleg Dementyev and Vladimir Klevtsov for their trust in the “Pskov Province” and present to the readers an excerpt from the book “Step into Immortality”: a description of the battle in the Argun Gorge.

Height 776.0 – Death Mountain.

In August 1999, mercenaries from the Chechen Republic broke into Dagestan. They decided to quickly solve the problem of creating an Islamic state in the Caucasus. Airborne units, special forces soldiers, and marines arrived in the North Caucasus District to help. A struggle ensued, which everyone also called establishing constitutional order.” On the night of August 18-19, 1999, the combined airborne regiments were transferred by plane. A month later, the militants were driven out into the territory of the Chechen Republic. Almost every day there were military clashes. At the end of December 1999, the paratroopers made a forced march of 350 kilometers from the village of Shali to the Kharami pass and blocked the city of Vedeno on three sides. The march took place at an altitude of 2400 meters. The paratroopers acted amicably and harmoniously.

The leadership of the fifth column from Moscow demanded that Khattab and Basayev gather all their forces together and again attempt to enter Dagestan, where they would seize three settlements, take hostages and force Prime Minister V.V. Putin and the Russian Government to negotiate, and the militants would be expelled their demands for the separation of the Caucasus from Russia. If a decision was favorable for the militants, a state of emergency would be introduced on the territory of the country, which would automatically disrupt the presidential elections in the Russian Federation.

At the beginning of February, paratroopers carry out a planned replacement of personnel. There were especially many clashes with militants in February 2000. Mercenary groups are liquidated very often. The fact is that they gathered into a powerful fist in the Argun Gorge under the direct leadership of Khattab and Shamil Basayev. Vedeno was defeated by aviation and artillery. According to the recollections of police lieutenant colonel Vladimir Port, on February 18 and 19 there was terrible mud there, “artillery was hitting the mountains, machine guns and machine guns were crackling. <…> Marines and paratroopers stand on the mountains, bringing down “Czechs” every day.”

On February 21, a group of the Pskov special forces brigade was returning from a hike in the mountains. The warriors went to the limit. We stopped to rest, but took insufficient precautions. They were being watched by the militants above them. As soon as the special forces began to fall asleep, a barrage of fire fell on them. They began to repel the attack. Literally within a kilometer there was a group of federal troops, whose commanders did not come up with anything smarter than to strike with artillery. 24 special forces soldiers were killed. For a whole year, their relatives had to seek justice and perpetuate the memory of the victims. Three officers were awarded the title Hero of Russia (posthumously). This title was awarded to Captain Mikhail Bochenkov , Captain Alexander Kalinin and Senior Lieutenant Sergei Samoilov . And at that moment there was no widespread notification about this fight. Moreover, the acting commander of the joint group of troops in the North Caucasus, Hero of Russia, Lieutenant General Gennady Troshev, on February 23, 2000, hosted a parade at the airfield in honor of Defender of the Fatherland Day and in his speech said that the militants were finished, only isolated resistance groups remained, ready give up. Such statements against the backdrop of such losses as those of the special forces two days earlier looked blasphemous.

“We learned from radio interception that Khattab had broken through into the gorge and wanted to capture Vedeno. The militia confirm the information, says police lieutenant colonel Vladimir Port. – We strengthened our posts and lay down without undressing. Snow piled up knee-deep... We slept the rest of the night, hugging our machine guns. In the morning the situation had not changed. Information about the upcoming attack comes from everywhere. Let's get ready. We don’t have heavy weapons, only small arms... We got the grenades ourselves from the Marines and exchanged them for condensed milk. Let's fight back." It was February 25th. A day later, the Marines almost struck with artillery on the eastern slopes, where, according to information from Internal Troops posts, militants were coming out. In fact, it was the reconnaissance forces of the airborne force who set up their checkpoints.

These days, the central leadership of the fifth column bought the possibility of unhindered passage of militants numbering up to three thousand from the Argun Gorge into the valley and further into Dagestan. The operation on the spot was led by Emir Khattab and Shamil Basayev. The high command of the federal troops knew about their location from intelligence data, as well as the result of radio interceptions, but no measures were taken to stop the passage.

On February 27, the tactical group of the 104th Guards Parachute Regiment blocked the settlements of Khatuni, Kirov-Yurt, Makhety and Selmentauzen. The regiment's command post was located in the area of ​​height 636.0, which is west of the outskirts of Makheta. Not far from the command post were the positions of the SADN regiment, the ZRABATR anti-aircraft artillery platoon, the 2nd platoon of the 4th parachute company, rear services and part of the communications platoon of the 1st parachute battalion. The battalion itself carried out the task of blocking the Selmentausen area with the forces of the 1st Parachute Company with machine gun and mortar platoons from the north-west; 3rd paratrooper company (without a platoon), which captured heights 666.0 and 574.9 along the left bank of the Abazulgol River. The control and observation post of this battalion was located at height 799.6. The 4th parachute company was concentrated here without two platoons. Reconnaissance patrol No. 1, led by reconnaissance company commander Captain Perederko , operated with the 1st parachute company. Reconnaissance patrol No. 2, under the command of Senior Lieutenant A.V. Vorobyov, operated with the 3rd parachute company. The 2nd parachute battalion, without the 5th company, which blocked Selmentausen from the north, according to the order of the OG Airborne Forces, concentrated on the regiment's command post on February 27, and by 16 o'clock advanced the 6th parachute company and the 3rd platoon of the 4th company on the PPU regiment.

The regiment commander, Colonel S. Yu. Melentyev, received a combat order: by 14:00 on February 29, complete the entry of the 2nd parachute battalion to heights 776.0; 705.6 Istykort mountains; to a height of 626.0, which is four to five kilometers southeast of the village of Ulus-Kert. The goal is to prevent the bandits from breaking through from the direction of Dagu-Borzoi, Ulus-Kert to Makhety, Kirov-Yurt, Selmentauzen, Elistanzhi, Vedeno. It was planned to gain a foothold with a platoon of the 6th parachute company at height 776.0 and, using it as a strong point, move forward and occupy the remaining heights with new platoon strong points. One of the platoon strongholds was supposed to be occupied by the 3rd platoon of the 4th parachute company, commanded by senior lieutenant O.V. Ermakov , but due to the complexity of the task, the deputy commander of the 2nd battalion, Major A.V., was appointed senior. Dostavalov .

The commander of the 2nd parachute battalion of the guard, Lieutenant Colonel M. N. Evtyukhin, began moving to the given heights together with the 6th company and the 3rd platoon of the 4th company in the early morning of February 28 along route marks 822.0; 819.0; Mount Demvirzy through the positions of the 1st parachute battalion. At the control and observation post of the 1st battalion (Demvairzy), they were joined by a reconnaissance patrol led by Guard Senior Lieutenant A.V. Vorobyov. It consisted of Guards Lieutenant D.S. Kozhemyakin - platoon commander, Guards Senior Lieutenant A.M. Kolgatin - sapper, Guards Lieutenant A.N. Ryazantsev - artillery spotter, 9 reconnaissance officers and an artillery spotter signaller. The reconnaissance patrol, after setting up platoon strong points, had to go to the PPU to prepare for further actions. They moved on foot at top speed.

Difficult weather conditions, mud on the road, along which it was possible to move only one after another, stretched the company. The 1st platoon, commanded by Guard Lieutenant A. N. Sherstyaniko , and the reconnaissance patrol, under the general leadership of Guard Lieutenant Colonel M. N. Evtyukhin, reached a height of 776.0 by 16:00 on February 28, and the main forces of the 6th Airborne Company and the 3rd platoon of the 4th company were forced to stop moving and stay overnight on Mount Demvirzy. Movement was hampered by unexpected fog.

On the morning of February 29, the units resumed movement. At the same time, gangs of terrorists were moving towards them from the village of Ulus-Kert, about which the paratroopers were completely unaware. Having passed height 776.0, the 3rd platoon of the 4th company reached height 787.0 by 11 o'clock, where they gained a foothold. After approaching mark 776.0, the 6th parachute company consisting of the 2nd and 3rd platoons, commanded by the deputy company commander for educational work of the guard, senior lieutenant A. A. Panov and guard senior lieutenant D. V. Petrov , having There is a reconnaissance patrol ahead, at 11.30 it began moving in the direction of Mount Isytkort.

At 12.30 a reconnaissance patrol, which was walking approximately 150-200 meters ahead of the main group of the 6th company, encountered a group of approximately 40 militants. This was also a surprise for those, but they immediately began shouting to be let through, since the commanders had agreed. Senior Lieutenant A.V. Vorobyov radioed to Lieutenant Colonel M.N. Evtyukhin, who got in touch and reported the situation to the command of the landing group. From there an order followed: invite the militants to surrender, otherwise destroy everyone! This order by radio interception immediately became known to Emir Khattab, who gave his order to kill the paratroopers. The militants fired with all types of weapons.

The commander of the 6th Airborne Company of the Guard, Major S.G. Molodov, organized the battle in such a way that the militants immediately suffered losses in manpower. But they fired from machine guns and sniper rifles, from under-barrel grenade launchers and machine guns. The intensity of the fire increased sharply after more and more militant forces approached. The battalion commander decided to retreat to height 776.0 and organize a defense there. The scouts under the command of Senior Lieutenant A.V. Vorobyov provided the opportunity to retreat and evacuate the wounded.

During the retreat, the company commander, Major S.G. Molodov, who was carrying the wounded guard contract service sergeant Ivanov out from under fire, was mortally wounded. Command of the company was taken by the deputy guard commander, Captain R.V. Sokolov .

...The battle had been going on for 4 hours. Guard Lieutenant Colonel M.N. Evtyukhin was in constant contact with the group’s command, asking for help because he knew that paratroopers were around. The battlefield is 2-3 kilometers in a straight line, but no orders were received to other units.

Khattab lost his temper because he did not expect such resistance from the paratroopers. The leadership came out to him from Moscow with strong expressions, because the entire plan, seemingly thought out to the smallest detail, was being destroyed. Huge amounts of money allocated for the operation were lost. After all, the mercenaries who invaded Dagestan were paid a raise of 1 thousand US dollars and in the future they would receive 5 thousand dollars. It was planned to spend 40 million dollars on the first stage of the war, and 200 million dollars on the second stage. For the annexation of Dagestan to Chechnya, 1 billion US dollars was allocated. Because of some company of paratroopers, everything was disrupted. The main thing is that time was lost on the creation of a new Muslim state and the collapse of Russia.

The Moscow “war businessmen”, out of powerlessness, did not know what to do. The only thing they could do was to prohibit assistance to the company of paratroopers. They could not have imagined that the Russian spirit was still strong among the soldiers who were from 47 republics, territories and regions of Russia and neighboring countries, even if they were of different nationalities. They put pressure on Khattab with all the power of their influence, demanding to crush the paratroopers, who were 27 times smaller than the militants. Khattab decided on the latter - he threw his selected elite squad “Dzhimar” into battle, but he still needed to get to the battlefield.

At 16:00, the battalion commander reported to the regiment commander about the movement of more than 150 militants from Mount Isytkort, of which about 50 were on horseback. This information was confirmed by the commander of the 3rd parachute company of the guard, Captain Vasiliev, who observed the enemy’s movement from a height of 666.0. At the command of the regiment commander, the artillery carried out 4 fire raids on the militants. The fire was corrected by Guard Captain Romanov from a height of 776.0 and Guard Lieutenant Zolotov from a height of 666.0, and the paratroopers of the platoon strong point of the 2nd Parachute Company, located on the right bank, fired from small arms at the militants breaking through the Abazulgol River bed.

An order was received from the regimental commander of the 1st parachute company, which completed the task of blocking Selmentauzen, to change the route and move along the right bank of the Abazulgol River to the crossing point of the 6th company at waterline 520.0.

By 5 p.m., the militants again brought up reinforcements and, increasing the intensity of the fire, attempted to attack the heights from two directions - western and northwestern. The heavy battle continued. The battalion commander personally led the units and constantly moved to the most dangerous directions. Together with the artillery spotter, Captain Romanov, he regulated the artillery fire and managed to remove several wounded from the shelling. He evacuated the wounded guard sergeant A. Suponinsky, who subsequently fought the battle, being next to Lieutenant Colonel M. N. Evtyukhin. And Evtyukhin spent the whole day lost in thought, why didn’t the aviation enter the battle, why didn’t the paratroopers and marines standing nearby come to the rescue?

The 2nd platoon of the 3rd company entered the battle at an altitude of 666.0, commanded by Guard Captain Vasiliev. The guards repelled several enemy attacks, destroying 12 militants, and attempted to break through to the 6th company, but were forced to retreat under heavy enemy fire. During the breakthrough, the guard's artillery spotter, Lieutenant Zolotov, was wounded.

By radio interception, the paratroopers realized that a mass of militants under the command of Khattab was moving towards them. At 22.50 the company came under mortar fire, but this did not allow the militants to achieve success.

The newly arrived “Dzhimar” detachment of over 400 people, led by field commander Bagaudi Bakuev , with the support of the detachments of Vakha Arsanov and Emir Khattab himself, rushed to the battlefield. The bandits came in waves. It was the twelfth hour of a life-and-death battle. Using the terrain, the militants tried to bypass the company's positions from the left flank. To prevent encirclement, the battalion commander put forward a reconnaissance patrol of the Guard Lieutenant D.S. Kozhemyakin, who, having taken an advantageous position, repelled the fierce attacks of the militants for three hours. At the cost of their lives, the guards thwarted the bandits' plan. By order of the regiment commander, an attempt was made to evacuate the wounded into the river bed to the crossing. However, it turned out to be unsuccessful, since there were already militants on the trail, and a battle broke out with them too.

At the request of the commander of the 104th regiment, the artillery division of the 108th Parachute Regiment was reassigned to him, which began to fire on the southwestern slopes of height 776.0, where the militants were breaking through. From 1.00 to 3.00 three salvos were fired from Grad launchers at suitable enemy reserves from Mount Istyvkort.

Seeing that the breakthrough was unsuccessful, the militants decided to resort to other methods. They radioed to the paratroopers, offering money for passage, and then shouted for the guards to surrender. But the paratroopers did not succumb to such proposals and decided to stand until reinforcements arrived.

The commander of the marine group from the Northern Fleet, Major General Alexander Otrakovsky , who was not allowed by the command to rush to the aid of the paratroopers, was terribly nervous. On March 6, his heart stopped due to these experiences.

At night, paratroopers of the 1st paratrooper company and a reconnaissance platoon under the command of the chief of reconnaissance of the 104th guard regiment, Major S.I. Baran - about 120 people, crossed the Abazulgol River and fled to the battlefield, which filled all the mountains with its roar. On the way up, Baran was stopped by a radio order to stop moving. The paratroopers almost came to blows because no one stopped them. They wanted to help their comrades, with whom many were friends. But the command order is not discussed! Otherwise - tribunal!

There was a lull from 3.00 to 5.00, which the 3rd platoon of the 4th company took advantage of and came to the aid of the paratroopers of the 6th company. When they fled, the guard platoon commander, Lieutenant O.V. Ermakov, was wounded. Realizing that the wound was very serious, he covered his comrades with fire until his last breath. Personally destroyed six bandits. Major Dostavalov was also wounded, but remained in service.

At 5.10 on March 1, the militants, not paying attention to the losses, launched an attack on the company’s stronghold from all directions. In some areas, the bandits managed to break close to the positions of paratroopers. Hand -to -hand contractions ensued. The battalion commander caused the fire of his native batteries "On himself!" And shells were torn directly at the top of the height 776.0, striking the paratroopers. Seeing that the ranks of the defenders were noticeably frowning, the bandits rushed to the top of the height of 776.0, but there the guard of the senior lieutenant A. M. Kolgatin managed to establish two Mon-50 mines. Wounded in the chest, he managed to bring mines into action as soon as the militants went on the attack. 11 militants died from powerful explosions and more than a dozen were injured. But this only for a short time stopped the bandits. "Jimar" sought to prove his victorious procession. For another 40 minutes, the attacks of the guard militants of the guard, senior Lieutenant Panov with ten soldiers, fired fire from PKM and machine guns, restrained the attacks of the guard.

Having regrouped, the bandits focused their efforts in the southwestern direction, which was covered by Lieutenant D. S. Kozhemyakin with his group. Kozhemyakin fought hand -to -hand, broke 11 militants. He led the subordinates to the end until he died from the direct hit of the VOG-25 grenade in the shoulder.

The surviving paratroopers, led by the battalion commander M. N. Evtyukhin, hid behind the protrusions of stones at the top 776.0, where they took the last fight. At 6.10, communication with the battalion commander was interrupted. The commander of the intelligence officer of the guard, Senior Lieutenant A.V. Vorobyov, killed the field commander Idris, but he himself was seriously wounded in his hands and legs. Aorta was interrupted on the leg. And although the tourniquet was imposed, the blood was still oozing. He ordered his subordinates the guards by the ordinary R. Khristolyubov and A. Komarov to make his way to his own for help. It himself was bleeding.

The battle almost ended when a helicopter began to barrack over the heights and the pilots reported that the militants were gathering the corpses of paratroopers and they were apparently going to take them away. The divisions of the guards moved forward to the battlefield. A terrible picture opened. The corpses were lying everywhere. The militants moved away, leaving a mountain of mutilated paratroopers, which they gathered, with the killed battalion commander Evtyukhin at the top, who held the walkie -talkie and the headphones were wearing on the dead. On a mountain road, a tyok hardening with a blood stream up to 10 centimeters. A “black shark” flew over Vedeno - a super -modern combat helicopter, which is not obstacle, but during the battle it was not involved. The designer of aircraft, Academician L. T. Kulikov later, with deep bitterness, was indignant due to the fact that unmanned intelligence devices were not used.

On March 2 and 3, aviation and artillery beat for the clusters of militants. Many died. They began to give up, but not to the paratroopers, but to the internal troops. According to the story of the police lieutenant colonel Vladimir Port, 57 “Chekhov” surrendered to their group under the village of Steel. On March 7, prisoners with a small escort were sent to the village of Chervetnaya. Having reached the hospital, they were stopped by a group of militias, who acted very competently - they let the women forward, and they themselves kept everything under the sight of shelters. The militias demanded that the prisoners and wounded be left in Vedeno and here to be filtered. After long negotiations, prisoners in the hospital were left under the “protection” of militias. After a short time, they scattered from there. Confidence in the internal troops of the Russian Federation by the paratroopers has sharply decreased. They were accused almost of assistance to the militants.

The Pskov paratroopers won in an unequal battle, but there was an attempt to hide this fact. At first they did not officially report the death of so many paratroopers. A plane with a cargo “200” was put not in Pskov, but in the city of island at a military airfield. After this battle, for six months in the Chechen Republic, there were no hostilities.

The text is fully consistent with the original book. Contact phone Oleg Dementiev 8 911 355 09 05.