The dead have no shame. In memory of the sixth company

On February 24, 2010, on the eve of the 10th anniversary of the death of 84 paratroopers of the 6th company of the 104th regiment of the 76th airborne division near Ulus-Kert on February 29 - March 1, 2000, an article "From a height" was published in the "Pskov province" which caused a significant public outcry. In the process of preparing the material, the author re-read dozens of texts on forums and blogs, with completely different assessments. The messages are still there. Meanwhile, there were no intelligible official answers to the obvious questions that appeared immediately after the tragic battle, and there are none.

Sergey Melentiev is a graduate of the Omsk Higher Combined Arms Command School named after M. V. Frunze (1983).

In 2003, the editors of Pskov Gubernia sent a request to the president, in response they received a reply from the Security Council: all the heroes, the investigation is ongoing, they are looking for militants, there is no corpus delicti in the actions of the command of the group of Russian troops. And - not a word about Sergey Melentiev, commander of the 104th regiment. By that time, already deceased.

In 2010, all these memoirs, re-read again bleeding discussions (only a few were included in the large-format article), new meetings with parents and widows, the reaction of relatives and veterans of the regiment to the article, a meeting of the commander of the Airborne Forces that was empty from the point of view of the main issues Vladimir Shamanov with the relatives of those killed in the club of the 76th division led the author to the idea that the official request should be repeated.

Simply because it is necessary. The country formally has a different president, a different prosecutor general.

There are things that need to be reminded until they become clear.

In the current situation of hushing up the tragedy that is leaving history, we came to the conclusion that the request should be of a political nature.

March 2 Chairman of the Russian United Democratic Party "YABLOKO" Sergei Mitrokhin sent a letter to the President of the Russian Federation and the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev and the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation Yuri Chaika.

The letter stated the need to reopen the criminal case on the fact of the death of the military personnel of the 6th company and conduct a full and comprehensive investigation within its framework.

The appeal read, in part: “The death of an entire military unit, which fought for two days, being just a few kilometers from other military units of the Joint Group of Forces in the North Caucasus, to this day continues to be an unhealed wound for relatives, friends and relatives of the dead soldiers and officers, for the whole country.

The relatives of the victims and the entire Russian society have not yet received answers about the causes and circumstances of the tragic battle with especially grave consequences.

This investigation is necessary for the Russian Armed Forces, the entire Russian society, it must provide answers that are still missing.

Such an investigation is the moral duty of the state to the memory of the fallen soldiers. It should clarify the measure of responsibility of all officials of the commanding staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation who made decisions and were involved in decision-making in the North Caucasus, which led to the tragic events of February 29 - March 1, 2000.

Without such an investigation, the memory of the fallen heroes will not be complete.”.

At the beginning of May, we received an official response (which is indicative - from the Chief Military Prosecutor's Office, not from the addressees of the letter), which is difficult to comment on, but necessary.

For the first time, it was officially stated that the only person found guilty of the deaths of 84 Russian servicemen was the former commander of the 104th regiment, Colonel Sergei Melentyev, who was later transferred from Pskov to Ulyanovsk and died in June 2002. It turned out that it was precisely and only Melentyev who was guilty, who categorically objected to the throw to a height of 776.0, six times (according to the testimony of people who personally knew him) asked permission to withdraw the company immediately after the start of the battle, but in the first case he obeyed the order, and in the second - didn't get permission.

The time to tell the truth about the death of the 6th company at the state level in Russia has not yet come. This is the main point of the answer we received.

So, essentially nothing has changed in our country.

But in the process of another attempt to achieve the truth, details have come to light that need to be discussed.

"Violations of the requirements of the Combat Charter of the Ground Forces were allowed"

The official response was executed on the letterhead of the Main Military Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation and signed on April 16 by the Assistant to the Chief Military Prosecutor of Russia S. V. Bokov.

The article "From Above", published in the "Pskov province" on February 24, 2010, caused a lot of feedback.

The answer on the merits of the appeal was given as follows (we give its text almost in full, except for the introduction):

“In the period from February 29 to March 1, 2000, while performing the task of blocking members of illegal armed groups in the area of ​​n. Ulus-Kert village of the Chechen Republic as a result of a military clash at an altitude of el. 776.0 killed 84 and wounded 6 soldiers.

On March 2, 2000, the military prosecutor's office - military unit 20102 (N. Khankala) initiated criminal case No. 14/33/0108-00 against members of illegal armed groups on the grounds of crimes under paragraph "b", "g", "h" part 2 of Art. 105 (murder), part 2 of Art. 208 (participation in an armed formation) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which on April 29, 2000 was sent under investigation to the Main Directorate of the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation for Supervision over the Execution of Laws in the North Caucasus (now the Directorate of the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation in the Southern Federal District).

At present, this criminal case is being investigated by the investigative department of the Investigative Committee under the Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation for the Chechen Republic, and the final procedural decision on it has not been made.

On May 2, 2000, in the military prosecutor's office - military unit 20102, on the basis of materials isolated from the said criminal case against the commander of the regiment, Colonel Melentyev S. Yu. . 293 (negligence, negligently entailing grave consequences) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

During the preliminary investigation of the case, it was established that due to the improper performance of his duties by Colonel Melentyev S. Yu., violations of the requirements of the Combat Regulations of the Ground Forces were committed, expressed in inefficient intelligence to establish the whereabouts of members of illegal armed groups in the areas of operations of subordinate units, making incorrect decisions on changing the time of occupation of height 776.0, determining the firing positions of the artillery battalion and the deployment of the regiment's reserves.

The above violations led to the command of the battle with significantly superior enemy forces at positions unprepared in terms of engineering in terms of all-round defense, the inefficiency of using artillery weapons from established firing positions in the absence of air support due to adverse weather conditions and the impossibility of prompt release of units by the forces of the regimental reserve, which led to serious consequences in the form of unreasonably high losses of personnel. The preliminary investigation authorities qualified the actions of Colonel Melentyev S.Yu. under Part 2 of Art. 293 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

At the same time, an amnesty act was subject to application in relation to the specified serviceman - Resolution of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation of May 26, 00 No. 398-III GD "On the announcement of an amnesty in connection with the 55th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-45".

In view of the foregoing, on May 30, 2000, the criminal case, with the consent of S. Yu. Melentyev, was reasonably terminated on the basis of paragraph 4 of part 1 of Art. 5 Code of Criminal Procedure of the RSFSR as a result of the act of amnesty.

This procedural decision was made by the assistant military prosecutor - military unit 20102 and is not rehabilitating for persons who have committed a criminally punishable act.

The adoption of a different decision, taking into account the established factual circumstances of the case, would be contrary to the requirements of the legislation on criminal proceedings.

During the investigation, a legal assessment was also given to the actions of other military officials, incl. command of the Joint Group, in respect of which the initiation of a criminal case was denied on the basis of paragraph 2 of part 1 of Art. 5 Code of Criminal Procedure of the RSFSR - for lack of corpus delicti.

At present, there are no grounds for reviewing the above procedural decisions”.

Thus, translating the official procedural language of the response into a more intelligible one, the Main Military Prosecutor's Office of Russia reported that:

1) the criminal case initiated on the fact of the death of the paratroopers has not been completed and is being investigated by the investigative department of the Investigative Committee under the Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation for the Chechen Republic, there is still no procedural decision on the case;

2) at the same time, the actions of the command of the Joint Group of Forces in the North Caucasus were given a legal assessment by the investigation, and criminal proceedings were denied against these persons “due to the lack of corpus delicti”;

3) for the first time it was announced publicly that the only person whose guilt was established by the investigation was the former commander of the 104th regiment, Colonel Sergei Melentiev, who was found guilty and amnestied in 2000.

But in the GWP's response it is by no means mentioned that in June 2002 Sergey Melentyev died.

"There were many criminal oddities"

In the article "From Above", we mentioned, with reference to the well-known memoirs of Colonel Sergei Baran*, in 2000, with the rank of major, who commanded the 1st company of the 1st battalion of the 104th parachute regiment, that S. Yu. Melentyev died on June 22, 2002. This date from the memoirs of S. Baran migrated to hundreds of publications.

Tamara Georgievna Melentyeva lost her husband first, and then her son. Photo: Chelyabinsk Worker

It was said like this: “I remember well: when Melentyev was given the task of transferring the 6th company to the left bank of the Abazulgol River, he tried for a long time to explain that the regiment was not capable of the task, that all strongholds, blocks remained on the right bank, all units were involved, and in the event the emergence of a critical situation, he will not have a reserve for timely assistance. Melentiev then said: “You cannot stand with both feet on different banks of the river,” but then they did not listen to his opinion.

Sergey Yuryevich Melentiev died of a heart attack on June 22, 2002. We buried him in the village of Kromny, Oryol region. At the funeral were all his colleagues in the Pskov division, officers of the command of the Airborne Forces, command of the 31st brigade, many famous people. Melentiev was a highly qualified military man, a competent and deeply decent person, and he was very upset by the death of the 6th company.

All the accusations of illiteracy and inaction against Melentyev, which come from some "informed" gentlemen, I consider populist, stupid and absolutely groundless!

Sergey Baran, by virtue of his position and experience (at the time of the interview, he commanded the 108th parachute regiment of the 7th airborne assault division as a colonel at the time of the interview), could not have been unaware of the results of the investigation at the Chief Military Prosecutor's Office. But he didn't mention it directly.

In the memoirs themselves, which are one of the most quoted sources about the death of the 6th company, remorse of conscience, not particularly hidden by the author, shows through: they could not save their comrades. But the structure of the presentation is such that indirect responsibility is also placed on the dead: first of all, on Major Mark Evtyukhin, commander of the 6th company, and for all the same, by that time already deceased, Sergei Melentiev.

Recall that, according to the memoirs of S.I. Baran, the decisive episodes of communication within the 104th regiment, after the 6th company was actually blocked at a height of 776.0, are as follows: “...Having reached the Abazulgol River, we immediately forded it. The river was cold, dirty, but shallow, waist-deep.

Having started climbing up the slope towards the height of 776.0, on the reconnaissance frequency, I got in touch with Vorobyov, clarified the current situation with him. To coordinate future joint actions, I asked Alexei to connect me with Evtyukhin. He connected. I asked Mark Nikolaevich: “How and from where is it better to approach you? What to do?

Evtyukhin thought, and then answered:

- Seryoga, don't get in here, you'll only get in my way, I'll figure it out myself. Everything is under control, we manage ourselves. Now you can’t come here, you can’t help in any way. Don't climb. If I need help, I'll call you myself.

Those are his words, Mark. Evtyukhin spoke to me in a normal, sane voice, did not panic, was collected and determined.

No more than 40 minutes remained to go to the 6th company. The clock was 23.45.

Night frosts fettered our movements. Sweaty and wet after crossing and crossing the soldiers began to freeze. I reported the situation to Melentiev, conveyed the words of Yevtyukhin, and asked for instructions. Melentyev ordered to retreat back to Mount Dembayirzy to the KNP of the 1st battalion and rest there until dawn. We departed."

The next morning there was no one to help.

In the famous article by the late Izvestia journalist Edwin Polyanovsky"Suvorik" about Sergey Melentiev literally says the following: “There were many criminal oddities. Of the 90 paratroopers of the company, 84 were killed.

The switchman was punished: the commander of the regiment Sergei Melentiev was transferred to Ulyanovsk as the chief of staff of the brigade(he soon died. — Auth.). The commander of the eastern group, General Makarov, remained on the sidelines (Melentyev asked him six times to give the company the opportunity to retreat, not to destroy the guys), and another general, Lentsov, who led the task force of the Airborne Forces ".

“Under circumstances not fully clarified, he passed away”

In the process of searching for information about the fate of Sergei Melentiev after the transfer from Pskov and before his death, we went to the site of the search and meetings of graduates of the now defunct Omsk Higher Combined Arms Command School named after M.V. Frunze. And there, on a more than modest name page, they found the following entry: Melentiev Sergey Yurievich, 1979-1983 (4th battalion, 11th company, 2nd platoon). Died June 13, 2002".

There, on the site, a few comments:

“Colonel of the Airborne Forces, a member of the Chechen company. On June 13, under circumstances not fully clarified, he passed away. He was a wonderful man and an officer from God. He did everything in his power to prevent the death of the 6th company of the Pskov paratroopers. / Egorov Sergey / 05/19/2007.

“Melentiev, my company commander (it’s a pity, the man was correct, everyone respected!”.

“I am sending a photo of Sergei Melentiev to be posted on the site (1983, 4th battalion, 11th company). Sincerely, Y. Aksenenko (10th company, 4th battalion, 1983).

How few photos are left. This one, either from the graduation album, or from the officer's certificate, is one of the few.

Further searches led us to the websites of two regional publications: the Simbirsky Courier newspaper and the Chelyabinsky Rabochiy newspaper.

"Simbirsk Courier" in issue 12-13 January 25, 2003 in the preface "What are they dying for?" to the reprint of one of the articles by Edwin Polyanovsky wrote: “In 2000, Sergei Melentiev was transferred to the Ulyanovsk 31st Airborne Brigade from the Caucasus to the post of chief of staff. In the war, he commanded the Pskov parachute regiment, whose company was almost entirely killed in early March of that year in a skirmish with a 2,000-strong gang of Khattab. Melentiev turned out to be a switchman, although he was the least to blame for the death of his subordinates. In Ulyanovsk, the officer soon died.

But the most significant information was found in Chelyabinsk Rabochy, where on August 21, 2007 an article was published Marina Kline under the secondary (it should be mentioned that this was the title of one of the publications of Edwin Polyanovsky, dedicated to the 6th company, and in general M. Kline has many references to E. Polyanovsky) heading “Your son and brother” with the subtitle “Trinity School No. 10 on the initiative of classmates, the name of Colonel of the Russian Army Sergei Melentiev will be named.

God bless him, with a title. The publication is based on a conversation with Sergei's mother, Tamara Georgievna Melentyeva. From the article it was possible to learn a lot about the last milestones in the fate of Sergei Melentiev.

We cannot do without significant citations.

The fate of the Melentiev family at the beginning of the 21st century turned out to be utterly tragic on the whole:

“The trouble came to the Melentiev house unexpectedly. Tamara Georgievna's husband was ill for a very long time, and then he completely fell ill. Doctors made a disappointing diagnosis: diabetes mellitus, amputated his leg: He was fading away before our eyes, but Tamara Georgievna did her best to alleviate her husband's suffering. She was with him every minute, and here also the mother-in-law had to be looked after. So the son and mother lay in the same room. And Tamara then to one, then to another. It is beyond words to describe how much she went through and where her strength came from.

But, as you know, trouble does not come alone. The disease chained the elderly mother to the bed. Tamara took her mother to her. And again the medicine by the clock, sleepless nights. First, the mother-in-law died, then the mother, then Yura died. Sergei at that time was transferred to serve in the Caucasus. At the age of 38, he became a colonel.

We note here that in civilized countries, soldiers and officers with domestic tragedies “behind their backs” are not sent to the combat zone. Forbidden.

Perhaps my mother was almost the only person with whom Sergei Melentiev shared his feelings at least a little after what happened to his 6th company: “He was so worried about everything that happened, and when he came home to Troitsk, he shared it with his mother, but the conversation was difficult, and his mother did not ask questions:

- You know, I thought that my heart would break into pieces when the mothers came up to me and with clouded eyes from tears and grief said: “Return our sons, return!”

Recalling that last meeting with her son, Tamara Georgievna regrets that she did not ask him about everything, and he, knowing that it was already hard for her, did not once again stir up her soul, but only said in parting: “Nothing, everything will be settled.” ".

Sergey was then at his mother’s house on vacation, but he didn’t manage to leave him completely, another misfortune came: “... in Ulyanovsk, in a military unit, in his absence, a new state of emergency occurred. Two employees deserted, taking weapons with them, shooting 11 people. And again the innocent Colonel Melentiev was punished, and again transferred to another unit, to Tula ... "

“On June 16, 2002, he did not call his wife, who temporarily lived with her father near Orel. She, sensing something wrong, sounded the alarm. Sergey was so attentive and always congratulated her on the Medical Worker's Day. She called the unit, but they told her that Sergei was not there, most likely he had gone back to Ulyanovsk on some business. But she, not believing this, urgently arrived in Tula, began to search, phoning the police departments and hospitals. As it turned out, not in vain. For two days Sergei's body had already been in the morgue. He died early in the morning while jogging, not far from the unit. A passer-by found him and called an ambulance. The doctors were no longer able to help. Since Sergey was in a tracksuit and without documents, he was considered unknown.

Such was the death of the former commander of the 104th regiment of the 76th air assault division, Sergei Melentiev.

Tamara Georgievna Melentyeva told the journalist: “It is striking that in the unit where he arrived at a new duty station a few days ago, a person was not enough. After all, his things and personal documents remained in the medical battalion. True, the documents on the transfer and the order should have come later, but this is always the case. He's not invisible, they talked to him. And then he disappeared, and for several days no one remembered him. Doctors then diagnosed that he died of a heart attack. Although I am inclined to think that he was helped to die because of those events in Argun, he was also an eyewitness to them. Of course, they buried him with all the honors that are due to a colonel..

It was at this funeral "with all honors" in the Orel region that high-ranking Russian military airborne forces were present, including Sergei Baran, who for some reason extended his comrade-in-arms life until June 22 in his memoirs and did not tell anything about the sad and disturbing circumstances of his death.

+ + +

All the officers of the 104th regiment, who took the fight at height 776.0, died.

Answers to the questions of the relatives of the victims, of the entire Russian society: how and under what circumstances the Russian Army suffered such significant losses, who is responsible for these losses at the level of the high command, are not given.

Judging by the letter from the Chief Military Prosecutor's Office, the current authorities of the Russian Federation do not intend to give these answers.

The fallen in Russia are again responsible for the survivors.

The survivors apparently hope they don't face the Other Judgment.

God knows.

But I would like to disappoint them in this life.

* See: Farukshin Rayan. Interview with Sergei Baran: "6th Company" // Almanac "The Art of War", No. 2 (7), March 2008

On March 1, 2000, the 6th company of the 104th Guards Airborne Regiment almost completely died in the Argun Gorge. At the cost of their lives, our fighters stopped the advance of a Chechen gang of up to 2,000 guns. This drama unfolded as follows.
.

In January 2000, the 6th company as part of the 104th regiment left to replace the paratroopers of Colonel Isokhonyan. The mood was carefree and upbeat, inspired by the example of their predecessors: near Argun, the Gelaev gang was ruffled, more than 30 people were laid down, and only two combat losses.

Lieutenant Colonel A.
.

„The company was a team, formed before leaving. Due to the lack of junior officers, people from all over the division were crammed in, and they recruited from the 34th regiment, and from their 104th, but from other companies. Company commander Eremin was in Chechnya at the time. The paratroopers were trained by Roman Sokolov.
.
But in the end, a third was appointed company commander - Molodov, he was a stranger - from special forces, no combat experience - he commanded a company of young soldiers. He was the first to die in this battle from a sniper bullet. The commander - and the first one set himself up. Battalion commander Mark Evtyukhin, who led the company to the heights, was in Chechnya for only a month - on a business trip. No combat experience - neither he nor the commander of the regiment Melentiev. They did it at the training ground, of course."
.

After the fall of Grozny in early February 2000, a large group of Chechen fighters retreated to the Shatoi region of Chechnya, where on February 9 it was blocked by federal troops. That winter, the scouts - "hearers" from OSNAZ rejoiced. "Shaitanov" were driven out of Grozny and surrounded near Shatoi. In the Argun Gorge, the Chechen fighters were supposed to arrange a "little Stalingrad". About 10 thousand bandits were in the mountain "cauldron".
.

Day and night the terrorists were "ironed" by our artillery. And on February 9, Su-24 front-line bombers, for the first time during the operation in Chechnya, dropped volume-detonating aerial bombs weighing one and a half tons on militants in the Argun Gorge. From these "one and a half" bandits suffered huge damage. With fright, they screamed on the air, interfering with Russian and Chechen words:
.

Rusnya used a prohibited weapon. After the hellish explosions from the Nokhchi, not even ashes remain.

And then came the tearful pleas for help. The leaders of the militants surrounded in the Argun Gorge, in the name of Allah, called on their "brothers" in Moscow and Grozny not to spare money. The first goal is to stop dropping "inhumane vacuum" bombs on Ichkeria. The second is to buy a corridor for access to Dagestan.
.

From the "aquarium" - the headquarters of the GRU - the commandos in the Caucasus received a particularly secret task: to record all the negotiations not only of the militants, but also of our command around the clock. Agents reported on the planned conspiracy.
.

Half a million per pass. Orders for heroism.
.

On February 28, 2000, the 104th Airborne Regiment, having reached the line of the Abazulgol River, secured itself in order to saddle the dominant heights and take control of the passage to the Argun Gorge. In particular, the third company of senior lieutenant Vasiliev occupies a height on the left bank. The paratroopers dig in especially carefully: the trenches were dug in full profile, a fire system was organized that made it possible to completely control the entire floodplain.
.
Such foresight helped them greatly. They did not have time to gain a foothold, as below, under a height, an advance detachment of militants was seen, who was trying to reach the gorge. Met by dense automatic fire, he hastily withdraws. The attack is repeated twice, but the fortification turns out to be so insurmountable that the militants roll back, suffering significant losses. An important note: there is only one lightly wounded on our side. Other divisions of the regiment are also reliably strengthened. Apparently, it was then that Khattab decided to bypass the positions of the paratroopers on the other side of the river.
.
Meanwhile, the regiment commander, Colonel S. Melentiev, gives the order to the commander of the 6th company, Major Molodov: to take another dominant height - Ista-Kord near Ulus-Kert. This can be considered the first mistake of the command: the height was at a distance of more than 14.5 kilometers from the checkpoint. Thus, the company, in conditions of rugged terrain, lost contact with the main forces, and was deprived of the opportunity to quickly receive reinforcements. And secondly, this time the main thing: no preliminary reconnaissance was carried out.
.
Thus, the company went into the unknown. Nevertheless, an order is an order, and together with the unit, the commander of the first battalion, Lieutenant Colonel Mark Evtyukhin, is sent to the height. Sergei Molodov was recently transferred to the unit, he still does not know all the soldiers, relations with his subordinates are just being established. Therefore, the battalion commander decides to go with him in order to help in case of a difficult situation. At the same time, Yevtyukhin is convinced that by the evening of the 28th he will return to the location of the battalion, and even orders his foreman to cook dinner.
.
However, the march was not easy. The fighters loaded with weapons and ammunition carried tents, heavy potbelly stoves - in short, everything needed for a large camp. This was their third mistake. (The march had to be carried out lightly and not to take too much with them, if they went to the height, entrenched themselves so that no one could smoke them out of there, only then it would be possible to send for tents.)
. .
Here we can talk about the fourth serious miscalculation. Leaving the location of the first battalion, the company was greatly stretched. The march in the mountains, along a narrow path, turned out to be much more difficult than the battalion commander thought.
.
However, Mark Evtyukhin informs Melentiev that they have already LEFT 776.0 to continue on to Ista Kord. In fact, they will go to it almost all night, and the first to be there will be scouts led by senior lieutenant Alexei Vorobyov. A group of five people moves quickly, and when the commander sends a message that the 776th is clear, they move forward.

On the last day of February, Khattab's radio conversation with Basayev was intercepted:

If there are dogs in front (as the militants called representatives of the internal troops), we can agree.

No, they are goblins (that is, paratroopers, in bandit jargon).

Then Basayev advises the Black Arab, who led the breakthrough:

Listen, can we go around? They won't let us in, we'll just find ourselves...

No, - answers Khattab, - we will cut them. I paid 500 thousand US dollars for the passage. And these goblin jackals were set up by the bosses to cover their tracks.

By a completely "incomprehensible" coincidence, army intelligence missed a large group of militants (up to 3,000 people), which was preparing to break through the Argun Gorge. At least that's what the official version says. Military intelligence could not help but know that about three thousand militants were preparing to break through the Argun Gorge. Such a crowd could not move imperceptibly for 30 kilometers: at the end of February there is almost no greenery in the mountains. They had only one way - through the gorge along one of the two dozen paths, many of which went straight to the height of 776.0.
.

Part of the militants managed to break out of the encirclement: Gelaev’s group broke through in the north-western direction to the village of Komsomolskoye (Urus-Martan district), and Khattab’s group - in the north-eastern direction through Ulus-Kert (Shatoy district), where the battle took place.

The battle began just hours after Defense Minister Igor Sergeyev announced that the war in Chechnya was over. 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 Sergeyev reports to acting. President Vladimir Putin about " 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 attacked the positions of the 6th company of the 104th parachute regiment, which occupied a height of 776.0 near the village of Ulus-Kert in the Shatoi region.

The first clash between the scouts of the 6th company and the militants occurred on February 29 at 12.30. The separatists were surprised to meet paratroopers on the way. During a short skirmish, they shouted that they should be let through, because the commanders had already agreed on everything.
.
Whether this agreement actually existed is impossible to verify. 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. It was from the Moscow offices that orders were sent not to provide any assistance to the 6th company, and from there orders were given to Amir Ibn al-Khattab to continue the operation to enter Dagestan.
.

At the insistence of Shamil Basayev, they first went on the radio to the commander of the battalion, Lieutenant Colonel Mark Yevtyukhin, who was in the 6th company, with a proposal to let their column through "in a good way":

There are a lot of us here, ten times more than you. Why are you in trouble, Commander? Night, fog - no one will notice, and we will pay very well, - exhorted in turn either Idris or Abu Walid - field commanders from especially close to Khattab.

But in response there was such a virtuoso obscenity that the radio talks quickly stopped. And off we go...

The reconnaissance group of Alexei Vorobyov reached the foot of the Ista-Kord height, where they discovered the first hidden enemy firing point. Imperceptibly approaching her, they threw grenades at her. The throw was so unexpected for the militants that practically no one left. One prisoner was even captured, but the paratroopers discovered themselves, and now they have to fight off the militants who have settled on them.
.
A battle broke out, there is a threat of encirclement, and the scouts, among whom there are wounded, begin to retreat to the height of 776.0. They are literally being chased. To support their own, paratroopers come out to meet them along with Major Molodov. They enter the battle, but a company commander dies from a sniper bullet. So, carrying the wounded and the killed major, the fighters retreat to the heights, and the militants are already climbing after them. A heavy mortar attack begins.
.

Tracking the chronology of events, one cannot help but pay attention to the following fact: mortars hit the height not only from the positions of the militants, but also ... from the village of Selmentauzen, which was located in the rear of the sixth company. Two 120mm mortars! They continued to work until the militants reached the height. The sixth mistake... command?
.
Meanwhile, the mortars continued to work. Feeling that the forces are unequal (more than 2.5 thousand militants fought against the company, as it will be calculated later), the battalion commander asks for helicopters to be called in for fire support. After some time, a pair of MI-24s really appear above the height, but, without having fired A SINGLE volley, they fly away.
.
As it turned out, the company did not have an aircraft controller. This was the seventh mistake, the consequences of which were truly tragic. If these same turntables did not even hit aimingly, they could disperse the suitable militants. And it would weaken their onslaught!
.
The radio operator of the battalion commander did not have a special prefix that encrypts communications on the air. In this way, the militants knew what was happening at the height. They heard how Lieutenant Colonel Yevtyukhin turned several times to Colonel Melentyev with a request for help, to which each time he received the same answer: “ Mark, don't panic, help is coming...”.
.
What he meant by saying these words is unknown, but the company did not wait for reinforcements. She did not wait for artillery support either. Again the question is: why? The answer to it has not yet been found.
.
Nor is Colonel Melentyev's refusal to move a tank company to a firing position (his commander asked him to do so several times) to fire on the advancing militants, also incomprehensible. Only later, when the so-called debriefing begins, in order to justify the lack of initiative of aviation and artillery, fog will be invented, which supposedly prevented front-line and army aviation from being put into the air.
.
Apparently, the fog prevented Melentyev from turning to his Tula neighbors for help, to the howitzer artillery regiment stationed nearby. They heard that a battle was going on, they asked on the radio: what is happening, do you need help? But all their proposals were rejected. Why?
.
"All police checkpoints were removed from the only road leading to Dagestan", then the newspapers wrote. It was also called price per retreat corridor- half a million dollars.
.
According to Vladimir Vorobyov, the father of the deceased Senior Lieutenant Alexei Vorobyov, "Commander Melentiev asked for permission to withdraw the company, but the commander of the Eastern Group, General Makarov, did not give permission for the retreat." Vladimir Svartsevich, military observer, director of the photo service of the Moscow bureau of the AiF, argued in an article that " there was a frank betrayal of the guys by specific officials".
.

On March 2, 2000, the military prosecutor's office of Khankala launched an investigation into this case, which was then sent to the Directorate of the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation for the Investigation of Crimes in the Sphere of Federal Security and Interethnic Relations in the North Caucasus.
.
At the same time, the investigation established that "the actions of military officials, including the command of the Joint Group of Troops (Forces) ... in the performance of duties for the preparation, organization and conduct of combat by units of the 104th paratrooper regiment do not constitute a crime." Soon the case was closed by Deputy Prosecutor General S. N. Fridinsky.
.

Meanwhile, the fight continues. The situation was further complicated by the fact that the fighters did not have heavy weapons - this also complicated the already critical situation. In the meantime, the wounded were added, they were demolished into a small hollow in order to be evacuated at the first opportunity, but this did not happen: one of the mines sent by the militants did not leave anyone alive. Only at night, about three o'clock, did the battle calm down a bit.
.
Two hours of respite... What did the soldiers and officers think when they were trapped? Today, one can only assume that there was still hope: they continued to believe that the regiment commander would not leave them. And help came ... It was like a miracle when, under the cover of night, Major Alexander Dostavalov unexpectedly climbed to the height, bringing 14 reinforcements with him. How, with the help of what holy spirit they bypassed the barriers - is unknown.
.
The height was already in a tight ring. Apparently, the militants simply could not believe in the audacity of the paratroopers, and therefore weakened their vigilance. This fantastic throw of the major is still surprised by everyone who was interested in the real picture of the battle. Without waiting for help from the main forces of the regiment, Evtyukhin got in touch with Dostavalov and conveyed only one word: Help me out! It was enough to rush to the aid of a friend. Of course, the major could sit out (his unit was well fortified and out of reach), but he went, most likely, realizing that certain death awaited him ahead.
.

The most paradoxical is the fact that the surroundings of Argun were literally crammed with army units. Moreover, units of the federal forces located on neighboring heights were eager to come to the aid of the dying 6th company, but they were forbidden to do so. And Yevtyukhin himself was recommended "not to panic" and to destroy the militants. With a ratio of 25 to 1.
.
According to the command, Mark Evtyukhin at least had to repeat the feat of the legendary Spartan king Leonid. True, the command completely forgot that, unlike Leonid, under the command of the battalion commander Yevtyukhin there were not 300 battle-hardened Spartans, but less than a hundred untrained fighters. Nevertheless, he was advised to "hold on."
.

Fortunately, among the officers of Yeltsin's rotten army there were still honest and decent people who could not stand by as the militants destroyed their comrades. 15 soldiers of the 3rd platoon of the 4th company, led by Major Alexander Dostavalov, were able to break through to the 6th company in just 40 minutes and, under heavy fire from the militants, connect with Yevtyukhin. 120 paratroopers under the command of the head of intelligence of the 104th regiment, Sergei Baran, also voluntarily withdrew from their positions, crossed the Abazulgol River and moved to help Yevtyukhin, but they were stopped by a categorical command order - to immediately return to their positions.
.
Major General Otrakovsky, commander of the Northern Fleet marine group, repeatedly asked for permission to come to the aid of the paratroopers, but never received it. On March 6, due to these experiences, General Otrakovsky's heart stopped.
.

In fairness, it should be noted that Melentyev sent a unit of 40 people to help. The scouts, having made a seven-kilometer march through the mountainous terrain, reached the foot of the height 776.0, but, without even trying to break through, they retreated. Another mystery: why?
.
In the memorandum of the then commander of the Airborne Forces, Colonel-General Georgy Shpak, to the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Igor Sergeyev, the answer is: " Attempts by the command of the operational group of the Airborne Forces, PTGr(regimental tactical group) The 104th Guards PDP did not bring success to release the encircled grouping due to heavy fire from bandit formations and difficult terrain conditions".
.
The fighters of the 1st company of the battalion also sought to help their comrades. But during the crossing of the Abazulgol River, they were ambushed and were forced to gain a foothold on the shore. Only on the morning of March 2 did the 1st company manage to break through.

The surviving paratroopers told how violent joy seized the soldiers of the 6th company when they saw their guys! Unfortunately, the reinforcements were only enough for fifteen to twenty minutes of the renewed battle. In the predawn hours of March 1, it was all over: by 5 o'clock in the morning, the elite battalions of Khattab and Basayev, the White Angels, had already reached the heights, each of which was promised 5 thousand dollars for its capture. Guess they got it.
.

According to the recollections of the surviving senior sergeant Suponinsky, they met the last onslaught of militants with only four machine guns: the battalion commander, Alexander Dostavalov, Lieutenant Alexei Kozhemyakin and him.
.

Mark Evtyukhin was the first to die: the bullet entered him exactly in the forehead. Already later, the bandits, having captured the height, without hurrying anywhere, completely unpunished, will lay down a pyramid of dead bodies, seat the commander on top, hang headphones from a broken radio on his neck and put him, already lifeless, another one: in the back of the head: they say, call - don’t call, no one will come to you. The militants were in no hurry, as if there were no around our hundred thousandth army, as if someone guaranteed that not a single shell would fall on their heads.
.
And everything was filmed on video and laid out on the Internet. After calmly finishing off the wounded Russian soldiers and burying their dead, the Chechens "handed over" several dozen wounded to units of internal troops. Having received medical treatment at federal expense, most of them soon found themselves free as "repentant" and "decided to return to civilian life." And about 1500-2000 militants calmly followed their path through the deployment of federal troops. How they managed to do this, no one can explain to this day.
.

The most amazing thing is that for a whole day, while the militants were in charge at the height of 776, not a single shell fell on them, although now nothing prevented them from leveling the height to the ground.

The second to die is the major. After the death of Dostavalov, the last officer, Senior Lieutenant Kozhemyakin, survived. The battlefield speaks volumes. Kozhemyakin, the commander of the reconnaissance platoon, is a good hand-to-hand man and, apparently, resisted well. His face was completely smashed with rifle butts, and several stabbed militants were lying nearby. They probably wanted to take him alive as the last officer.
.

On the morning of March 1, when everything was quiet, Suponinsky and Porshnev met at the foot of the hill. Suponinsky was talking feverishly as they walked away, but Porshnev was silent, his eyes downcast. He has not yet had time to come up with his legend. Suponinsky's lower leg was severely cut by a fragment, with such a wound he would not have descended from a height.
.

(They weren't up to the mark. They hid, waited it out, and left. One officer directly told Suponinsky: "Take off the star.")

Around 10 a.m., the artillery, suddenly awakened, delivers a volley of unguided shells along the height. Two-thirds of our paratroopers died from the fire of their artillery. At this height, the old beeches are beveled like an oblique. Nona mortars and regimental artillery fired about 1,200 rounds of ammunition at this place in the Argun Gorge. And it is not true that Mark Evtyukhin allegedly said on the radio: "I am calling fire on myself." In fact, he shouted: "You goats, you betrayed us, bitches!"

Guards Private Yevgeny Vladykin was left without a single cartridge. When the militants approached him with a dark wall, he raised his hands: "I surrender." He was hit on the head with a rifle butt, he lost consciousness. Woke up cold. I found a machine gun under the body of the dead man, walked around the height, did not meet the wounded and came to my own. He himself told everything, honestly, as it was. Hidden, kept silent - no one would ever know anything. (At home, he tried to commit suicide, his mother pulled him out of the noose.)
.

Six miraculously surviving fighters of the company gradually entered the location of the unit: Suponinsky, Vladykin, Timoshenko, Porshnev, Khristolyubov and Komarov. Timoshenko, the battalion commander's liaison officer, was the last to leave. They told how heroically the 6th Guards Company fought and died. So by one o'clock on March 1, Colonel Melentyev learned the whole picture of the battle.
.

Khristolyubov and Komarov carried a stove and a machine gun. When the shooting started, the grenade launcher Izyumov jumped up, grabbed a machine gun and rushed up. And these two disappeared, appeared when everything was quiet.

Senior officer Oleg P.:
.

Khristolyubov and Komarov went downstairs, hid in a crevice, heard a groan: " Guys, help!"It was the name of Senior Lieutenant Vorobyov, the deputy commander of the reconnaissance company. Both chickened out, fled. Both had clean barrels and a full set of cartridges. They didn't fire a shot. After the battle, below, at the foot of the hill, they mumbled:" There, on the slope, the officer remained, still alive". When our people got up, Vorobyov was already dead.
.

A group of volunteer officers, having studied the battlefield, did not find a single living one: the soldiers and officers were mutilated (Khattab ordered not to take anyone alive), and some had their heads cut off.

The 6th company fought for almost a day. During this time, reinforcements could have been transferred, probably from New Zealand, but ... someone apparently needed Khattab's grouping very much for the further continuation of the "gesheft".
.
That is why the 6th company was sacrificed. Otherwise, how else to explain the fact that in the area, stuffed with federal troops, artillery and multiple rocket launchers, almost a day went on with impunity the destruction of the Pskov paratroopers in fact in front of their comrades? And at the same time, only 15 fighters of Alexander Dostavalov arbitrarily (!) Came to their aid.
.
What has the Russian command been doing all this time? Picked in the nose? Or did it fulfill certain agreements that the militants kept repeating about? No one can explain how the death of the 6th company became possible at all. The company could not die almost in its entirety simply by definition.
.
The command could come to her aid during the day more than a dozen times, but this was not done. Yes, what is there to help! The command could do nothing at all: it was enough just not to interfere with those units that arbitrarily decided to help the Pskov paratroopers. But even that didn't happen. While the 6th company was dying heroically at Hill 776, someone deliberately blocked all attempts to save the paratroopers.

Many officers of the regiment continue to believe that the corridor for the passage of the Khattab gang was bought and only the paratroopers did not know about the deal. The Khattabites lost 457 selected fighters, but they could not break through to Selmentauzen and further to Vedeno. From there the road to Dagestan was already open. By high order, all checkpoints were removed from it. So, Khattab did not lie. He actually bought the passage for half a million bucks.

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

The commander of the eastern group, General Makarov, also remained on the sidelines (Melentyev asked him six times to give the company the opportunity to retreat, not to destroy the guys) and another general, Lentsov, who led the task force of the Airborne Forces.
.

Evtyukhin, Molodov and Vorobyov were forever enrolled in the lists of the military unit. And the name of Alexander Dostavalov was crossed out. For rushing to rescue his comrades. The deputy division commander explained this to the father of the deceased major: "Your son left his hill, violated the order." That is, he had to sit and watch his comrades die.
.

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 taken by professional cameramen from the side of the militants: a battle and a bunch of bloody 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 dead were from. Their relatives demanded to tell the truth.
.

Commander of the 108th Airborne Regiment of the 7th Airborne Assault Division, Colonel Sergei Ivanovich BARAN. Born on June 20, 1966 in the Dzerzhinsky district of the Minsk region of the Byelorussian SSR. A year after graduating from high school in Dzerzhinsk, in 1984, he was drafted into the Soviet army for military service. He served as a deputy platoon commander in the 45th Rivne training tank division in the village of Pechi, Byelorussian SSR. In 1986 entered the Ryazan Higher Airborne School, at the end of which in 1990. was assigned to the village of Cherekha, near Pskov, in the 104th parachute regiment of the 76th guards airborne division as a platoon commander of a reconnaissance company. He took part in the UN peacekeeping mission in Yugoslavia in 1992-1993. In 104 pdp he went from the commander of a reconnaissance company to the head of reconnaissance of the regiment. In January 2000, as part of the regimental tactical group 104, he arrived in the village of Oktyabrskaya of the Chechen Republic, where the Pskovites changed the grouping of the 234th regiment. In total, on two business trips to Chechnya in 2000-2001, Sergei Baran spent more than a year in the war: he participated in dozens of operations to eliminate members of gangs, went on reconnaissance, set up ambushes, and fell into the traps of militants himself. - On April 29, 2001, on the Engenoi-Balance road (Nozhai-Yurt district), my friend, the commander of the 8th company, Captain Aigali Alimkulov, died during engineering reconnaissance. A participant in both Chechen campaigns, a holder of three Orders of Courage, a very competent, courageous intelligence officer, a respected officer. In 2002, lieutenant colonel BARAN entered the Combined Arms Academy of the RF Armed Forces, after which he was transferred to the post of chief of staff of the 104th parachute regiment. In December 2005, he was appointed to the post of commander of the 108th brigade of the 7th airborne division.

Colonel Sergey BARAN: "6th company".

January 2000, the militants in Grozny were defeated, Basayev was seriously wounded. It seemed to us then that the active phase of warfare was ending. No one thought that one of the most important battles of the Chechen war was yet to come, and that we would take a direct part in this battle. The second battalion of our regiment, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Mark Evtyukhin, carried out the task of blocking the settlement of Vedeno and its environs, was engaged in escorting columns and guarding the perimeter of the base area. The first battalion carried out more active tasks: it guarded the group of troops near Khankala, went to combat operations in Grozny, blocked the gorges of the Khulkhulau and Elistanzhi rivers, and controlled the vicinity of the village of Elistanzhi. By the end of February, the regiment gradually redeployed to the outskirts of the settlement. the village of Makhety, where he set up a new point of temporary deployment. On February 26, the commander of the Eastern Group of Forces assigned us the task of reaching heights 705.6, 626.0, and 787.0 by February 29, which is a little southeast of the settlement. Ulus-Kert, and prevent the breakthrough of militants of illegal armed groups (IAF) in the direction of the settlements of Selmentauzen, Elistanzhi, Makhkety, Kirov-Yurt. On the morning of February 27, the self-propelled artillery battalion, part of the reconnaissance company and the forward command post of the regiment with security and support units were relocated to the opposite side of the settlement. Makhety. The forward command post (PPU) of the regiment, headed by the regiment commander, Colonel Melentyev, included the main operational staff of the command post - the deputy chief of staff, the chief of artillery, the chief of communications, the chief of intelligence. By the evening of February 27, the second battalion approached the PPU to receive the task of reaching Ulus-Kert and blocking this settlement by heights to complete the operation to defeat the illegal armed formations together with other units of the Ministry of Defense and the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation. On the night of February 28, the weather deteriorated sharply: a gale arose, snow fell to a depth of half a meter, fog descended, although spring seemed to have come before that - the winter snow melted completely, flowers bloomed everywhere. Despite the bad weather, on the morning of February 28, the battalion went on the march from the settlement. Makhety to n.p. Selmentauzen, where he was supposed to deploy his command and observation post (KNP) , and the battalion commander with a group (the entire 6th company and one platoon of the 4th company) had to go further to the heights. The length of the route was small, only about 10 km, but due to severe weather conditions and poor visibility, the march was delayed. The KNP near Selmentauzen was deployed, but on foot they walked slowly through the mountains, crushing the weight of the equipment, so Evtyukhin and the group by the set time only reached the KNP of the first battalion on Mount Dembayirzy. Early in the morning of February 29, Yevtyukhin left Dembayirza and continued to move in the direction of the heights that should have been taken the day before. The weather improved: the wind died down, the sun blinded my eyes. Everything went well. Around 11.10, the radio station received the first report that the reconnaissance patrol, headed by senior lieutenant Alexei Vorobyov, who had advanced about 100-150 meters ahead of the 6th company, discovered a small group of militants. Artillery spotter Captain Viktor Romanov directed artillery fire at the militants' detection area. The artillery stationed under the Makhkets completed the task with several volleys - they destroyed the militants. Judging by Vorobyov's report to us at the PPU, the scouts did not engage in firefights with the militants. The militants of the paratroopers have not yet been found. The first wounded appeared unexpectedly. Moving further forward, one of our scouts tore off the banner, and the explosive device installed by the combat guards of the main detachment of militants went off. The deputy commander of the reconnaissance platoon, senior sergeant Sergei Medvedev, received a shrapnel wound in the shin. To understand the situation on the spot, the commander of the 6th company, Major Sergei Molodov with a group of fighters advanced to the scouts. Molodov was wounded in the neck by a militant sniper. Vorobyov reported on the radio that a clash had begun, the sniper of the militants was not allowed to raise his head and there was no way to approach Molodov to provide assistance. Later, Molodov was evacuated, but he had already died from blood loss. The militants brought up additional forces, stepped up the fire from small arms and grenade launchers. In order to gain a foothold and deploy defenses in a more advantageous position than the mountainside, the scouts and the first divisions of the company had to retreat back to Hill 776.0. The main part of the company still did not know about anything and continued to march, pulling itself up to the height from the other side. The climb up from the bed of the Abazulgol River is very steep, viscous clay underfoot, kilograms of equipment on the shoulders, so the units were stretched out. I think that the lack of marching experience among the entire personnel of the second battalion also affected, which, as you remember, unlike the first battalion, did not go to the mountains, but stood on blocks in the foothills. Naturally, I didn’t know the whole ins and outs of the situation in the vicinity of the height, and immediately after receiving Vorobyov’s report on Medvedev’s injury, I turned to the regiment commander for permission to advance to the foot of the height with a medical evacuation group for timely evacuation of the wounded from the march. Having received the "go-ahead" from the regiment commander, with one branch of the reconnaissance reserve and the commander of the medical company, Captain Knyazhishche, we set out for the area of ​​the KNP of the second battalion to Selmentauzen. Knowing that the first company of the regiment performed a task similar to the sixth company two days earlier, and went to the height from a different direction - from the Midulkhan tract, and by the time I arrived at the KNP, it was returning to the KNP on the BMD armor, I turned to Melentyev with a request to take the first company and on the BMD go along the channel of the Abazulgol to the place where the 6th company went up. Melentiev refused, saying that, judging by Evtyukhin's reports, he was in complete control of the situation, and he did not need any other help than artillery fire. Periodically, I got in touch with Senior Lieutenant Vorobyov via the radio intelligence network. Aleksey reported that the company continued to fight, that the militants had very good snipers, who did not allow them to observe and respond with aimed fire. According to Aleksey, the submachine gunners of the militants attacked in waves, about 60 people each. Having shot off a horn of cartridges, one wave of people gave way to another, already equipped with a magazine. After the assault, in 10-15 minutes of the battle, the militants took a short pause, dragged the dead and wounded, then again rose to their full height and attacked the scouts. It gets dark very quickly in the mountains. By 17 o'clock it became completely dark, and the battle continued, the militants were not going to calm down. Melentiev was alarmed by this, he set me the task of selecting from the personnel of the 1st company the combat-ready, least tired after the march fighters, and with them to come to the aid of the 6th company to release it and prepare routes for the evacuation of the wounded and the dead. Let me remind you that on February 27, the commander of the 3rd PDR, Captain Vasiliev, took heights 666.0 and 574.9 with the help of two parachute platoons, and Vorobyov's reconnaissance platoon was their reconnaissance support. Vasiliev's group entrenched itself on the heights, dug trenches and created a stable system of fire, including the practical binding of art. division to the area. Vorobyov, with his fighters, returned to the KNP 1 pdb. And on February 29, when the militants reached the positions of the 3rd company and tried to destroy them, they were met with fire, and, having suffered losses, retreated to height 776.0. In general, the regiment then put up about 14 units with forces up to one reinforced paratrooper platoon (pdv: 21 people minus the sick). All the blocks were in the mountains, all movements between them were made only on foot, on the night of February 28-29, snow fell, which quickly melted during the day and formed a mess underfoot. Everyone who could be removed from their positions, the regiment commander allowed to be removed. The issue of the allocation of additional forces from the composition of the OG Airborne Forces was not considered, since there was no critical situation according to Evtyukhin's reports. You understand perfectly well that if we had at least close to reality data on the number of militants, then all the forces of the OG Airborne Forces would be thrown to the aid of the 6th company. And so, in the shortest possible time, we, together with the deputy commander of the 1st battalion, Major Andrey Velichenko, senior lieutenants Tsvetov and Sotnikov, gathered those we could, and moved out into the night. Senior Lieutenant Sotnikov was part of the 6th company, but at the moment the company was rising to a height, even before the start of the battle, an emergency happened - one soldier, private Kiev, escaped, and by order of Evtyukhin, Sotnikov, taking three soldiers to help, went down the slope to search for a fugitive. Private Kiev was found and taken to the KNP of the 1st battalion already in the midst of a clash at a height, which they did not even suspect then. You see how it turned out, this incident saved the lives of all five, they avoided participation in the battle at a height of 776.0. We climbed very hard, and reached the KNP of the first battalion at about 22. 00. This is not surprising, people are not made of iron, and after several marches in recent days, some soldiers simply fell down and could not walk. I had to leave them at the KNP to the commander of the first battalion, Lieutenant Colonel Kotenko. In return, he sent his fighters and four scouts from Vorobyov's platoon with me. What did the scouts do away from the commander? They had a cold, had a temperature, felt unwell, and therefore, on that fateful day, they stayed at the KNP in the morning. It must be said that Vorobyov, with his reconnaissance platoon and a separate reconnaissance platoon of the regiment under the command of Lieutenant Kozhemyakin, had been operating in the surrounding area for more than a week, helping the reconnaissance groups of the 22nd GRU special forces brigade perform various tasks. According to some reports, reconnaissance of other units of the OGV never crossed the Abazulgol, and the 3rd company under the command of Captain Vasilyev was the first to set foot there, and then, a day later, the 6th company. When asked why the company moved across the river without preliminary reconnaissance, I will answer this way: during the counter-terrorist operation, according to the order of the OGV, our regimental reconnaissance acted only to remove visual communication (500 meters), that is, it conducted reconnaissance directly ahead of the units going on the mission . Also, the territory on the right bank of the river was in the zone of control of the tactical grouping of the 7th airborne division, and specifically the 108th parachute regiment, whose fighters were stationed a few kilometers from the battlefield, on the Dargenduk ridge. Why our company was sent to carry out a task in the area of ​​​​responsibility of another regiment remains a mystery to me. Also, several reconnaissance groups of special forces of various law enforcement agencies were conducting reconnaissance in that area, but no one had data on such a large concentration of militants. I remember well: when Melentyev was given the task of transferring the 6th company to the left bank of the Abazulgol River, he tried for a long time to explain that the regiment was beyond the strength of the task, that all strongholds, blocks, remain on the right bank, all units are involved, and in case of critical situation, he will not have a reserve for timely assistance. Melentiev then said: "You cannot stand with both feet on different banks of the river," but then they did not listen to his opinion. Sergey Yuryevich Melentiev died of a heart attack on June 22, 2002. We buried him in the village of Kromny, Oryol region. At the funeral were all his colleagues in the Pskov division, officers of the command of the Airborne Forces, command of the 31st brigade, many famous people. Melentiev was a highly qualified military man, a competent and deeply decent person, and he was very upset by the death of the 6th company. All the accusations of illiteracy and inaction against Melentyev, which come from some "knowledgeable" gentlemen, I consider populist, stupid and absolutely groundless! Having reached the Abazulgol River, we immediately forded it. The river was cold, dirty, but shallow, waist-deep. Having started climbing up the slope towards the height of 776.0, on the reconnaissance frequency, I got in touch with Vorobyov, clarified the current situation with him. To coordinate future joint actions, I asked Alexei to connect me with Evtyukhin. He connected. I asked Mark Nikolaevich: "How and from where is it better to approach you? What should be done?" Evtyukhin thought, and then answered: - Seryoga, don't get in here, you'll only interfere with me, I'll figure it out myself. Everything is under control, we manage ourselves. Now you can’t come here, you can’t help in any way. Don't climb. If I need help, I'll call you myself. Those are his words, Mark. Evtyukhin spoke to me in a normal, sane voice, did not panic, was collected and determined. No more than 40 minutes remained to go to the 6th company. The clock was 23.45. Night frosts fettered our movements. Sweaty and wet after crossing and crossing the soldiers began to freeze. I reported the situation to Melentiev, conveyed the words of Yevtyukhin, and asked for instructions. Melentyev ordered to retreat back to Mount Dembayirzy to the KNP of the 1st battalion and rest there until dawn. We departed. March 1 at 5.00 I gave the command to the soldiers to prepare for the advance to the channel of the Abazulgol. The fighters were so exhausted that they could barely move their legs, they practically crawled, and did not go up. But I have no complaints about them, everyone has a limit. By 6.00, having approached a clearing that was bald near the riverbed, on the steep opposite bank of the Abazulgol, we noticed three soldiers approaching the cliff. As soon as they saw us, they started waving their arms and shouting: "Stop! Stop! Don't come here! There are militants here! Ambush!" Arriving in time for the cliff, these soldiers jumped down to the river without hesitation. The cliff there is concrete, up to 30 meters deep. I gave the command to the personnel of the group to cross the river, climb the slope and take up positions along the cliff. Major Velichenko with three fighters went deep into the forest for reconnaissance. After 20-25 minutes Velichenko returned and reported the situation to me. His report was brief: "There is no one there. Everyone is killed." Mark Evtyukhin never asked for help in human strength. And the artillery, whose fire he corrected until his death, worked at full power. According to the head of artillery of the regiment, lieutenant colonel Tolstyk, the ammunition load, several thousand shells, was completely shot, and the gun barrels became so hot that the paint burned. Summed up those fighters that jumped off the cliff. These were Alexander Suponinsky, Andrey Porshnev and Evgeny Vladykin. The meaning of their words is as follows: "The battle is over. Everyone is killed. Don't go up there, the militants are waiting for you." Vladykin looked terrible - a huge bump the size of a fist turned blue on his forehead, his militant knocked him down with a blow from the butt in the face. The clothes on Evgeny were not his own, the weapon that he took out of the battle was also someone else's, the first thing that came to his hand when he regained consciousness was the RPKS machine gun. Suponinsky limped a little, he was slightly wounded in the knee. I did not notice external signs of any injury in Porshnev. The guys shivered a lot, but more from a nervous overload than from a physical one. Having reported all the details to Melentiev, we listened to his decision. The regiment commander ordered to turn up and leave, to return back to the KNP of the 1st battalion. It was 7 o'clock in the morning. We started to leave. At that time, a pair of MI-24 helicopters hovered over the battlefield, apparently the aviation was trying to start reconnaissance of the area. The militants immediately fired at the turntables from a large-caliber machine gun, a dotted line of tracers was visible in the sky. Departing from the line, one of the helicopters swung, maneuvered, went to a U-turn. Suddenly, I noticed the riders of the militants, brazenly drove up right to the cliff. They could be covered with a volley of mortars, and in order to give target designation, I ran to the commander of the mortar platoon, Captain Tumanov. The helicopter pilot, having looked out from above for a running man, fired a volley from NURSs. The shells exploded 10 meters from us. The blast wave flipped me over in the air and hit the ground. Tumanov fell beside him. I'm surprised it didn't hurt either of us. At night, three more surviving soldiers of the 6th company were found. Timoshenko, Khristolyubov and Komarov. According to them, Khattab personally led the militants' attacks on the positions of the company. On the morning of March 2, I, with other units of the regiment, advanced to the height of 776.0, accompanied by the Vympel special forces. We approached the bank of Abazulgol. The spetsnaz commander received some instructions from his command over the radio and told me: "That's it, hang up, we're not going any further, act on your own." We jumped across the river, got to the first dead. Here we receive an order to withdraw. They report: according to intelligence data, a detachment of militants numbering up to 700 people is moving in our direction. We had to rush back. Only on March 3, two platoons of soldiers, accompanied by scouts, led by the commander of the reconnaissance company, Captain Perederko, reached the heights. During daylight hours on March 4, the bodies of the dead were evacuated from a height. The nerves of the personnel, of course, could not stand it, everyone was worried, eager to "revenge". The death of a company was a personal tragedy for every paratrooper of the division. In order not to spread rumors, I will not talk about what happened directly at an altitude of 776.0, I did not see it myself, but what I know about, the surviving guys tell without me. I know that over the next few days, more than 160 militants descended from the mountains into the nearby villages and surrendered to various units of the Ministry of Defense and Internal Troops. What happened to them afterwards? An interesting question for military historians ... Could the dead guys leave their positions when they realized that the enemy was outnumbered dozens of times? They could, but did not take a step back, did not retreat, and this is their feat, loyalty to the oath and the Fatherland. I thank the parents of our soldiers and officers, our heroes, for raising worthy sons of the Motherland, who fought without sparing their strength and health, defending our Motherland! Blessed memory of the heroes! Honor and respect for the living! 5

I tried to thoroughly prepare for the meeting with Sergei Ivanovich Kozhemyakin, the father of the Hero of Russia, Senior Lieutenant Dmitry Kozhemyakin, who died in 2000 near Ulus-Kert.

I found a movement map on the Internet, literally an hourly diagram of the battle itself. But what was my amazement when Colonel Kozhemyakin laid out on the table a huge map of the entire area of ​​the last battle of the Pskov paratroopers, on which the movements of the detachments were marked not only in those three days, but also a week before the tragedy.

From his detailed story, I understood that he bit by bit collected and restored many of the circumstances of those terrible days. I listened to the colonel's story and realized more and more how much Sergei Ivanovich loves his son, how proud he is of him. He decided to perpetuate the memory of his son, restoring the truth about the circumstances of the death of not only Dima, but also the other eighty-three soldiers and officers. With their indomitable stamina, they reminded us of the true traditions of the Russian army, forever inscribing themselves in the history of the Chechen wars.

Colonel S.I. Kozhemyakin:

- On February 29, 2000, intelligence officers from the army special forces began to be buried in Pskov,. And suddenly the paratroopers of the 76th Guards Airborne Division began to leave the funeral. They ask: "What is it?" And they answer: "Ours started such a fight that there will be more losses."

On March 2, I was in my office planning combat training sessions. The bell rings: "Ivanych, are you?". "I AM". Goryachev called (S.V. Goryachev - commander of the 175th separate reconnaissance company of the 76th division - Ed.). - "Dimka is killed." I hung up. I'm trying to understand everything, I'm calling to Pskov, to the division (76th airborne division. - Ed.), No one answers - the connection was completely blocked. Guessed they were calling from my home phone. I called Pskov again, and Sergey Goryachev explained to me: “A terrible battle has been going on for the second day, there are almost no survivors, Dimka died.”

I'm going to Pskov, spend the night there and return to St. Petersburg on March 3rd. On March 4, I arrived in Rostov to fly to Khankala (the headquarters of the United Group of Forces in Chechnya is located in Khankala - Ed.). But they tell me that there is no need to fly, the dead were taken by large helicopters to Khankala to be reloaded onto planes and sent to Rostov. At that time, no one knew about the death of the paratroopers, I was the first to rush. During the day we visited both the hospital and the medical forensic laboratory of the Ministry of Defense, but there were no dead paratroopers anywhere.

At night, the hotel bell rang: "Ivanych, look out the window." My comrade, Colonel Starostin, drove in a car with flashing lights and took me to the hospital. There, a major in mountain equipment stood up to meet me, we had not known each other before, but he met me somewhere. He says, and there are tears in his eyes: "Comrade Colonel, I brought Dima." I asked, "What happened there?" He replies: "The battle went on for more than a day, the sky was clear, blue, but there was no help from aviation, the artillery was dead." I asked him, "Have you ever eaten anything?" He replies: “We haven’t eaten almost anything for three days now, a piece doesn’t fit into the throat.”

At this time, a man came with the keys to the hangar. We go in, there are forty-seven stretchers, on them the dead lie in black bags. I ask: "Do you know where Dima is?" He replied that he knew, but still confused. We approach the stretcher, on which the tag "Senior Lieutenant", and I see Dimkin's legs, size forty-four and a half. As it turned out later, he was identified by shoe covers from the chemical protection kit of the GDR army, in which he walked through the mountains.

I say: "He's a lieutenant." And they answered me: “Dad, he has already been presented to the Hero of Russia for other battles, and by rank he is already a senior lieutenant.” I say: “Well, open it,” and I start counting the holes on the body. I got to the head, didn’t look further, I told the guys: “Look at the head, there should be a stain there. Grandmother fried pancakes, dripped to him when he was little.

Dimka had three bullet wounds in his right side, a hole near his shoulder, above the heart area, and a hole below the heart area. Only five bullets. All wounds were not fatal. But on the left side of his chest, everything was black - he was shot point-blank from a VOG-25 underbarrel grenade launcher. The head was crushed. I asked the doctors: “What were they used to beat with butts?” “No,” they say, “by feet.” Dimka, when they were preparing him for the funeral, had to put a church towel on his head.

Then I approached Mark Evtyukhin (battalion commander Lieutenant Colonel Mark Evtyukhin - Ed.). Mark has one bullet in his right side, the second above his heart. And there was also a hole in the upper part of the head, either from a fragment, or from a bullet. Corporal Lebedev, Dimkin's machine gunner, was all pierced by bullets, but his face was intact. Sergeant Kozlov, judging by his wounds, blew himself up with a grenade.

I had lists of all the scouts, and by lunchtime on March 5, the dead were ready for departure - the AN-12 was standing to fly through Smolensk to Levashovo (a military airfield near St. Petersburg - Ed.), The crew commander gave the go-ahead. The plane was supposed to deliver the dead from the Internal Troops to Smolensk and fly home. But the officers responsible for sending me said: “Seryozha, don’t touch them yet. They all died together, let them be sent to Pskov together.”

I returned to St. Petersburg on Monday morning, and on Tuesday Colonel Starostin called from Rostov: “An order was given to scatter the dead around the country so that no one would know.” On Friday I was informed that the first twelve coffins were sent to Pskov. I was going to Pskov, and there the IL-76 circled and circled, and they put him at the military airfield in Ostrov, because the election of the city governor was scheduled for Sunday. We decided: until the elections are over, do nothing. The guys say to me: “Let's deliver Dimka to Levashovo”. I answered: “For more than a week, the guys have been lying in coffins for as long as possible. They died on the 1st, how many days have passed. I'll take you by car."

On March 14, Veche Square of the Pskov Kremlin could not accommodate everyone who came to say goodbye to the dead paratroopers. No one expected that several thousand people would want to say goodbye to those who died in Chechnya. Of the officials, Minister of Defense Igor Sergeyev, Commander of the Airborne Forces Georgy Shpak, assistant acting. President Sergei Yastrzhembsky.

Four scouts were taken to the 234th Airborne Regiment, where the 175th separate reconnaissance company is also located. None of the military authorities came to see the heroes on their last journey, only officers and soldiers of the regiment, reconnaissance, artillery regiment and other units were able to calmly say goodbye to their comrades.

the day before

In February 2000, the base camp of the 1st Airborne Battalion was located on Mount Dembayirzy. On the blocks (block - the stronghold of the unit - Ed.) There were the 1st and 3rd paratrooper companies, while the main part of the regiment was in Khatuni. Khatuni translated into Russian means "Queen". According to the latest FSB data, only in the seventies the last bandit who had been hiding in the forests since the Great Patriotic War was destroyed in these parts. One of the Muslim battalions "Brandenburg" during the Great Patriotic War was based in these places, there was also an airfield for the transfer of German saboteurs to the territory of the entire North Caucasus. A rotten place, therefore, until recently, units of the 45th reconnaissance regiment of the Airborne Forces and a regiment of internal troops were stationed in this area. It has always been a quiet sleeping area for militants.

Start

On the morning of February 29, units of the 2nd Airborne Battalion and reconnaissance patrol, under the general leadership of the guards, Lieutenant Colonel Mark Evtyukhin, began to move to perform a combat mission - to create strongholds in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bheight 776.0. The first reconnaissance patrol left early in the morning, which, after completing the task, was to return to the place of its permanent deployment.

They chose the most difficult route - along the ridges of the heights, so as not to run into an ambush.

What was this reconnaissance patrol? There was Dima, Sergeant Khamatov, Corporal Lebedev, Senior Sergeant Aranson, Junior Sergeant Kozlov, Junior Sergeant Ivanov - the 2nd reconnaissance platoon of the 175th separate reconnaissance company of the 76th division. Plus senior lieutenant Vorobyov, deputy commander of the reconnaissance company of the 104th paratrooper regiment. With them were junior sergeant Shchemlev and senior sergeant Medvedev, captain Romanov, commander of an artillery battery of the 104th regiment, artillery spotter, radio operator sergeant Strebin, senior lieutenant Kolgatin, commander of an engineering platoon of the 104th regiment. That was such a strong reconnaissance patrol, twelve people.

Following the scouts, Major Dostavalov and Lieutenant Ermakov began to move with soldiers of the 1st platoon of the 4th parachute company of the 104th regiment, a total of seventeen people. And then lieutenant colonel Evtyukhin began to move with the 6th company. The commander of this company was Major Molodov, a very good officer. Prior to that, he served in Buynaksk as a commander of a reconnaissance company, but after the first Chechen war, a hunt began for him and his family, and he had to terminate the contract and leave. He lived in Tyumen for some time, returned and in Pskov in the 76th airborne division again signed a contract. He was temporarily appointed commander of the 6th company of the 104th parachute regiment. With the battalion commander advanced lieutenant Sherstyannikov, commander of an anti-aircraft missile platoon, which is part of the regiment, and lieutenant Ryazantsev, commander of an artillery platoon - this is the second artillery spotter.

The scouts came to the height of 766.0 on March 29 at about 11.00 and got up. Finally, the deputy commander of the 2nd Airborne Battalion, Major Dostavalov, approached, who, due to the complexity of the task, was appointed senior in the stronghold. They say to him: "Comrade Major, here is your height 787.0, take up defense." He replies: “Thanks, guys, the 6th company is still advancing there, it won’t be soon.” After that, Major Dostavalov began to take up defense at an altitude of 787.0. Scouts are waiting for the approach of the 6th company, they constantly ask on radio stations: “Where are you?” They answer: "We are on the move."

Finally, the battalion commander with the 1st platoon approaches. Scouts report to Lieutenant Colonel Yevtyukhin: “Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, your height is there, Dostavalov takes up defense at a height of 787.0. We will now go forward about five hundred to seven hundred meters, to where we put up the 3rd company, turn around and go back to rest. Evtyukhin answers them: “All the guys, thank you! I take up defense here, I will return back along my route. The reconnaissance went further and at 12.30 went to the vanguard of the "spirits" who were waiting for their own.

The last fight

I think they saw each other almost at the same time, collided head-on. But our scouts were more ready for battle - after all, when you go, the finger is always on the trigger. They instantly make a decision - to destroy, ours were twelve people. They enter the battle, wet the spirits. The scouts report to the battalion commander: "We entered the battle, we have three hundredth (wounded - Ed.) and five hundredth (captured - Ed.), We retreat to the heights." They are heard both in the regiment and here.

Prior to this, the federal forces had driven the militants down the Argun Gorge, but, as General Troshev recalls in his book My War, “we could not then imagine that the enemy would dare to break through to the east with large forces. The bands have merged. Gangs of other field commanders - Shamil Basayev, Vakha Arsanov, Baudi Bakuev, and the Jamaat detachment "clung" to the detachments of Arab mercenaries. They went to Vedeno, where warmth and food were waiting for them, and then they were going to move to Dagestan. All this mass fell upon the paratroopers, who did not even have time to dig in.

In the same book by General Troshev, a table of negotiations between Basayev and Khattab is given at the moment when the scouts entered the battle.

“Basayev: “If there are dogs in front (as the militants called the representatives of the internal troops), we can come to an agreement.”

Khattab: “No, they are goblins (i.e. paratroopers, in the jargon of bandits).”

Then Basayev advises the Black Arab (Khattab), who led the breakthrough:

- Listen, can we go around? They won't let us in, we'll just find ourselves...

“No,” Khattab replies, “we will cut them.”

When the battle began, Khattab sent forward several detachments, horse and foot. Dima with the scouts began to retreat under the height from which no one covered them. The battalion commander did not have time to dig in at a height of 776.0 and ordered to take up defense in the saddle. He had all the officers of the 1st platoon and part of the 2nd platoon here. Major Molodov comes out to meet the scouts in order to take them under an unoccupied height, to where the battalion commander manages to take up defense in the saddle. At this time, the 3rd platoon and part of the 2nd were still on the move. And then along the road, an equestrian group of spirits begins to advance. She finds the 3rd platoon on this rise and destroys it.

It is necessary to take into account the situation in which this platoon of the 6th company was marching. Every thirty or forty minutes cannons fire, machine guns are fired, the echo in the mountains is walking back and forth. It turns out the picture is like this - we go and go, drag and drag, they shoot somewhere. Everyone is calm, as intelligence was ahead. And so, when the horse spirits came out, no one expected to see them. The 3rd platoon almost completely fell down, not even having time to join the battle.

Major Molodov reached the scouts, and together they began to retreat. I understand that then Dimka caught a couple of bullets. For his figure, one hundred and ninety-four centimeters tall, these wounds are nothing, you pulled it over and you don’t feel it. But when Molodov pulled out the scouts, the spirits had already pulled up the snipers. It was then that Molodov was wounded in the neck, where he was not protected by a "rapier" (a type of body armor - Ed.), and died. During the retreat, the scouts destroy the prisoners, pull out the deceased Molodov and their wounded. Command of the 6th company is assumed by Captain Sokolov, deputy commander of the 6th company.

One squad of spirits tried to circle around. But there was a stronghold of the 2nd platoon of the 3rd parachute company, put up by Dimka on February 27th. Their trenches were dug in full profile, minefields were laid. Therefore, the spirits did not climb further and decided to attack ours in the forehead - through the saddle between the heights.

By 4-5 pm on February 29, the general situation around the battlefield was as follows: the checkpoints of the 1st parachute company had already been removed, people were concentrated below, near the village of Selmentauzen. And then they report: "Our guys are fighting, we must again climb Mount Dembayirzy." And in the evening they again had to climb this mountain. It's hard: descents, ascents. Major Baran was appointed senior for release, at that time he was the head of intelligence of the 104th regiment. Major Velichenko, deputy commander of the 1st battalion, was appointed deputy. With them were five or six volunteer officers and about thirty fighters. They went to help exactly along the route Dimka had led the paratroopers the day before. Encountering no fire resistance, they crossed the Abazulgol River, climbed higher, it began to get dark.

For some reason they only had one radio station. Major Baran got in touch with Mark Evtyukhin and, according to him, Evtyukhin's voice was calm. He said that he was correcting artillery fire, taking up defenses, and so on. Then Baran reports to the regiment commander that the "pencils" (soldiers - Ed.) got their feet wet, and asks for a command to withdraw in order to resume movement early in the morning. At Melentiev's command (Colonel Sergey Yuryevich Melentiev, commander of the 104th regiment, led the battle from the command post), Major Baran's group begins to withdraw before reaching the battlefield. We decided to resume traffic in the morning, at four o'clock. My personal opinion - scared. And there everything rumbles, the battle is in full swing.

Hero of Russia, Lieutenant Colonel Teplinskiy, chief of staff of the 104th regiment, reassures everyone: "The spirits will not attack at night." Everyone is waiting for the morning, and the spirits attack all night, the respite was only from three to five o'clock. Dimka got in touch somewhere else at one or two in the morning. On the radio he said: “So where is the help? They are here like the Chinese, everything is teeming.

At night, at an altitude of 787.0, Lieutenant Ermakov was seriously wounded, several soldiers were killed. And here, in my opinion, a mistake is made - Major Dostavalov with the fighters departs from a height. Some say it broke through. But there was nowhere to break through, he made a tactically wrong move - he left the height and exposed the entire left flank. After all, the principle of defense, as it is written in the Combat Regulations: "Not a step back." And it was necessary, on the contrary, to pull up from the saddle to a height and take up all-round defense on it.

Of course, the situation was very difficult - the losses were great, people were dying. Dostavalov could assume that he would approach Mark Evtyukhin and break through with him. But there are many wounded, and not only by the enemy, but also by fragments of their own shells. And they don't give up.

Dimka, as one of the surviving fighters, Sergeant Suponinsky, said, that at night the scout Kozhemyakin came to the saddle, threw off his weapon and said: "That's it, everyone died with me." The paratroopers who survived by the morning of March 1 grappled with the "spirits" hand-to-hand, cut with sapper shovels and knives. But after 7:00 a.m., no one contacted us.

At about six in the morning it began to get light. Major Baran's group again starts moving to help. As soon as they approached the river, they are not crossing yet, they see that two people are moving away, they are carrying a third - the wounded. Major Baran gives a command to Private Golubev, Dimkin's sniper: "Take the fly, suddenly the spirits leave." The sniper replies: "These are ours." The retreating fighters say: “There are a lot of spirits there, don’t even bother.” They began to ask what and how. They say: “Next to us lay a wounded intelligence officer in a white camouflage coat.” There were only scouts in camouflage. They are asked: “Who was lying, Kozhemyakin or Vorobyov?” But they did not know the names of the officers. (Later it was established that it was Alexei Vorobyov, who died from blood loss. - Ed.).

The battle went on until almost noon on March 1. He then fell silent, then started again - someone wounded wakes up, enters the battle. In one place, as the prisoners showed, shouts rose: “Allah Akbar!”, And again the battle gnashed. At that moment, Dimka offered the last resistance. One of the officers of the 104th regiment said: “I climbed this hill up and down. On March 1, following fresh tracks, I climbed, on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th, when all the dead were carried away from a height. The battlefield speaks volumes. Kozhemyakin, the commander of the reconnaissance platoon, is a good hand-to-hand man and, apparently, resisted well. His face was completely smashed with rifle butts, and several stabbed militants were lying nearby. They probably wanted to take him alive as the last officer.

On March 1, at lunchtime, two helicopters passed over the battlefield. The pilots tell the paratroopers: "Why are you sitting there, your dead spirits are already dragging them into a heap." After this message, Major Baran and Major Velichenko again began to move forward and finally, closer to the night, they arrived at the battlefield. They found our eighty-three men dead (the eighty-fourth, Private Timoshin, would be found later) and retreated. And the spirits took out their corpses on March 1st all day.

They say that there is a film that lasts about five hours, they play it in the West. In the detachments of the field commanders there were Western television crews who filmed everything with special movie cameras. They say that our paratroopers were shot in hand-to-hand combat. I haven't been able to find this movie yet. When we were on television, they called from Dagestan - they offered to buy a film, he walks there, wanders somewhere.

Western filmmakers had to film what the spirits were going to do - how they enter Selmentauzen, Khatuni, Vedeno, call their own hostages. After that, an Islamic republic is declared, and they advance to Dagestan. All this had to be done in order to introduce a state of emergency in this region. According to the Constitution, if a state of emergency is declared in one of the regions, then the presidential elections, which were just scheduled for March 26, 2000, are postponed indefinitely. If the elections were postponed, the money of Berezovsky, Gusinsky and other interested parties would play against Putin. I think that our paratroopers thwarted all these plans.

After battle

Nearby on Mount Dembayirza there was one of the Vympel groups (anti-terrorist unit. - Ed.), But she did not go to help. I met with its commander and asked him: “Dimka went to the mountains with you a couple of times, why didn’t you help him?” And he answers me: “There was no order.” At the same time, two groups of scouts from the 45th Airborne Reconnaissance Regiment were brought to the battlefield and also ordered to stand.

When on March 2 the paratroopers again came to the height along with the Vympel and the scouts of the 45th regiment, the movement of the spirits began again. Ours once again departed. And only on March 3, the evacuation of the dead paratroopers began. And on the heights, the Arabs and others remained lying around, in Chechnya no one needs them.

According to some estimates, there were about two and a half thousand spirits, even more. Wounded, bandaged, demoralized, they surrendered in batches. It was Khattab who gave the command to the militants to surrender, but only to the MVD officers. There were a lot of mercenaries among those who surrendered, they were sent to Vedeno under heavy guard. And after two or three days they were free - the local Chechen self-defense forces recaptured them from ours.

Afterword

At a press conference in Pskov on March 14, 2000, which lasted no more than five minutes, journalists asked Defense Minister Igor Sergeev: “How will the people of Russia react to such massive losses suffered by federal troops in the first weeks of March, will they change the attitude of the population towards war?" Igor Sergeev, after a pause, answered in a military blunt way: “I don’t know.” Assistant Acting Russian President Sergei Yastrzhembsky, who was also part of the official delegation that arrived in Pskov for the funeral of the dead paratroopers, avoided talking to the press.

Questions, questions, questions... They remain the same, keeping fathers, mothers, wives and growing sons awake. During a meeting with the families of the dead children, President Vladimir Putin was forced to admit guilt "for gross miscalculations that have to pay for the lives of Russian soldiers." However, none of the names of those people who made these "gross miscalculations" have yet been named. Many officers of the 104th regiment continue to believe that the "corridor" for the passage of the Khattab gang was bought, and only the paratroopers did not know about the deal.

Guards Air Assault Red Banner Regiment 104, 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 response unit.

Story

The regiment was formed in January 1948 as part of units of the 76th, 104th and 346th Guards Airborne Divisions. For excellent combat training in 1976, the regiment became 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 Red Banner Regiment 104 (VDV 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.

At the beginning of 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 became much better. The barracks took on a cockpit look with hallways, showers and closets for personal belongings, with a gym and a relaxation 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 dining room, cleaning the territory and barracks.

Training

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

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

Relatives

Of course, parents, relatives and friends miss and worry about the health and pastime of those who are just starting military service. 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 one hour before lights out, the rest of the time the commander keeps the gadgets at his place and gives the soldier only as a last resort, and after he is noted in a special journal. Field exercises in the unit are held year-round, regardless of the weather, sometimes trips last up to two months. The fighters are famous for their military training, and without constant exercises, the 104th regiment of the 76th division (Pskov) of the Airborne Forces would not have earned such fame.

Helpful information

March first

The whole country remembered the day of the great feat of the soldiers of the sixth company of the second battalion of the 104th paratrooper regiment of the 76th Pskov airborne division. Year 2000. Since the beginning of February, the largest group of militants after the fall of Grozny retreated to the Shatoi region, where it was blocked. After air and artillery preparation, the battle for Shata followed. The militants nevertheless broke through in two large groups: Ruslan Gelaev to the northwest to the village of Komsomolskoye, and Khattab to the northeast through Ulus-Kert, and there the main battle took place.

The federal troops consisted of one company of regiment 104 (airborne division) - the 6th company, who died heroically, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel of the Guards Mark Nikolayevich Evtyukhin, fifteen soldiers from the 4th company of the same regiment under the command of Major of the Guards Alexander Vasilyevich Dostavalov and the 1st company of the first battalion of that the same regiment under the command of Guards Major Sergei Ivanovich Baran. There were more than two and a half thousand militants: the groups of Idris, Abu Walid, 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 take the height of Ista-Kord, which dominated the area. The sixth company, headed by Major Sergei Georgievich Molodov, advanced immediately and managed to occupy only Hill 776, four and a half kilometers from the assigned mountain, where twelve reconnaissance paratroopers were sent.

The height planned by the commander was occupied by Chechen fighters, with whom the reconnaissance 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. Took command

The Brotherhood of War

But just four hours ago, Shatoi fell under the blow of federal troops. The militants furiously broke out of the ring, not looking at the losses. Here they were met by the sixth company. The battle was fought only by the first and second platoons, since the third was destroyed by militants on the slope. By the end of the day, the loss of the company amounted to a third of the total number of personnel. Thirty-one people - the number of paratroopers who died in the first hours of the battle with a dense encirclement by the enemy.

By morning, soldiers from the fourth company, led by Alexander Vasilyevich Dostavalov, broke through to them. He violated the order, leaving well-fortified lines at a nearby height, took only fifteen fighters 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, got ambushed there and entrenched themselves on the shore. Only on the third of March the first company was able to break through to the position. All this time, the battle did not subside everywhere.

Argun Gorge

The night of March 1, 2000 claimed the lives of eighty-four paratroopers who did not let the Chechen bandits through. The death of the sixth company is the heaviest and largest in the Second Chechen War. In Cheryokha, at home, at the native checkpoint, this date is reminded of a stone on which is carved: "From here the sixth company went into immortality." The last words of Lieutenant Colonel Yevtyukhin were heard by the whole world: "I call fire on myself!" When the militants went to break through the 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 combat nevertheless began, although the forces were unequal. The guards did their duty. Everyone who could still hold a weapon entered the fray, and even those who could not. Twenty-seven dead enemies fell on each of the half-dead paratroopers remaining there. The bandits lost 457 of the best fighters, 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 bought the passage for five hundred thousand dollars, but it did not work out. They attacked the company in waves, in a dushman way. Knowing the area well, the militants got close. And then bayonet-knives, butts and just fists were used. Pskov paratroopers held the height for twenty hours.

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

104 Airborne Division (Ulyanovsk)

This formation 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. Composition of the 104th Airborne Division - three regiments based on the 31st Ulyanovsk Airborne Brigade, which are located in Orenburg, Engels and Ulyanovsk.

Glory to the Airborne Forces

The airborne troops originate in August 1930, and this is the only branch of the military in the country where the divisions are all guards. Each of them earned their 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 stationed there took part in the battles in Chechnya and Abkhazia, were part of the UN peacekeepers in Yugoslavia. And every resident of the city knows that the military equipment with the scorpion on board is the 104th Guards Airborne Division named after Kutuzov, transformed from the airborne brigade.