Forever in the memory of the inhabitants of Pskov, and indeed of all Russians who know their history, the feat of the Pskov paratroopers in early March 2000 will remain. completely 6th company of the 104th airborne regiment from Pskov. This price blocked the way for Chechen fighters who intended to break out of the Argun Gorge.
A total of 84 paratroopers were killed. Only six ordinary soldiers survived. It was according to their stories that it became possible to restore the course of events of that bloody drama. Here are the names of the survivors: Alexander Suponinsky, Andrey Porshnev, Evgeny Vladykin, Vadim Timoshenko, Roman Khristolyubov and Alexei Komarov.
How was it?
29.02.2000 was finally taken by Shatoi, which allowed the federal command to interpret this as a signal of the final defeat of the "Chechen resistance".
President Putin listened to a report that "the tasks of the third stage of the North Caucasus operation have been completed." Gennady Troshev, then acting commander of the United Forces, noted that the full-scale military operation had come to an end, only a fewlocal events to destroy the hiding "slug militants".
By this moment, the Itum-Kali-Shatili road was cut by a tactical landing, as a result, several bandit formations in Chechnya fell into a strategic bag. The troops of the central task force methodically pushed the bandits back along the Argun Gorge north of the Georgian-Russian border.
According to intelligence, Khattab's militants were moving in a northeasterly direction towards Vedeno, where they had prepared mountain bases, warehouses and shelters. Khattab planned to capture a number of villages in the Vedensky district to secure a foothold for himself in order to make a breakthrough into Dagestan.
The total length of the Argun Gorge exceeds 30 km, it was really impossible to block all the trails from it.
One of the most dangerous areas where a breakthrough from the gorge could be made was covered by soldiers of the 104th regiment of the 76th Pskov airborne division.
Militant attacks
Khattab chose a simple but effective tactic: by fighting, he probed the weakened places, finding which, he leaned there with all his might to jump out of the gorge.
28.02.2000 militants launched a large-scale attack to the east of Ulus-Kert on the heights where soldiers of the 3rd company under the command of Lieutenant Vasiliev were stationed. The Khattab detachments failed to pass, a well-organized fire system forced them to retreat, while they retreated with significant losses.
Second battalionexercised control over the dominant heights in the Sharoargun gorge.
The place between the Sharo-Argun and Abazulgol rivers was rather vulnerable. To exclude the possibility of penetration of fighters of gangs, Major Sergei Molodtsov, under whose command the 6th company was, received an order to take an additional height about five kilometers from the settlement of Ulus-Kert.
Given that the company commander was recently transferred to the unit, he was backed up by Lieutenant Colonel M. N. Evtyukhin, who commanded the second battalion.
The soldiers had to walk in full armor about fifteen kilometers in order to organize a base camp in a given square.
Among the paratroopers who advanced in the dark was Private Khristolyubov Roman.
Difficulties of forced march
The day before, the company's soldiers made a rather difficult transition from Dombay-Arzy, it was not possible for them to get a good rest. They were armed only with small arms and grenade launchers. The prefix to the radio station, which was supposed to provide covert radio communications, was left at the base.
With us, in addition to water and food, we took several tents and stoves, which were essential when we were in the mountains at that time.
Within an hour, the fighters advanced less than a kilometer. The lack of suitable sites in this mountainous forest area did not allow the transfer of paratroopers by helicopter.
According to survivors, including RomanChristolyubov, the transition was made at the limit of human capabilities.
Some military analysts believe that the decision of the command to transfer the 6th company to Ista-Kord was somewhat belated, so the deadlines were obviously unrealistic.
Before sunrise, the paratroopers of the 6th company under the leadership of the battalion commander Mark Evtyukhin were in place - in the interfluve of the Argun tributaries south of Ulus-Kert.
Clash with militants
As it turned out later, a company of paratroopers, in which a platoon and two reconnaissance groups (a total of 90 people) were reinforced, ended up in the path of a two thousand group of Khattab militants on a two hundred-meter isthmus.
According to radio intercepts, the Khattabs were the first to detect the enemy. Two detachments of bandits moved parallel to the channels of Sharo-Argun and Abazulgol. They decided to bypass the paratroopers, who were resting after the most difficult transition at an altitude of 776.
Ahead were scouts in two groups of 30 militants, followed by two detachments of combat guards of 50 people each.
Senior Lieutenant Alexei Vorobyov's scouts discovered one of these reconnaissance groups, which prevented a sudden attack on the paratroopers.
Near the foot of the 776th height, the scouts managed to quickly destroy the bandit vanguard, but then dozens of militants rushed to the attack, our fighters had to retreat to the main forces, taking the wounded with them.
The company immediately entered the oncoming battle. Behindwhile the scouts managed to hold the enemy, the battalion commander decided to secure at height 776 in order to prevent the militants from leaving the blocked gorge.
The commanders of the gangs Idris and Abu-Walid on the radio station offered the battalion commander to let them through, to which a decisive refusal was received.
The nature of the fight
According to the survivors, including Roman Khristolyubov from Kirov, the bandits rained down a flurry of mortar and grenade launcher fire on our positions.
The highest intensity of the battle was reached by midnight. The superiority of the attackers was very significant, but the paratroopers stood firm. In some places, the opponents engaged in hand-to-hand combat.
Among the first, a sniper shot in the neck killed commander S. Molodov.
From the command, help consisted only in supporting artillery. It was dangerous to use aviation so as not to catch our own. In total, by the morning of March 1, more than a thousand shells were fired at Ista Kord.
Riverbeds were protected from the flanks of the bandits, which did not allow them to make the necessary maneuvers to provide real assistance to the paratroopers.
The enemy set up ambushes along the coast, preventing them from approaching the Argun tributaries.
The first attempts to cross the river ended in failure. Only by the morning of March 2, paratroopers from the 1st company managed to penetrate the height of 776.
Long-awaited help
Some "respite" in the battle came at three in the morning and lasted a couple of hours. "Mujahideen" did not go on the attack, although the mortar andsniper fire continued.
Regiment commander Sergei Melentiev, after listening to the report of the battalion commander Yevtyukhin, gave the order to continue to hold back the enemy attack and wait for help.
When it became clear that there was not enough ammunition in the company to repel the attacks of militants, the battalion commander requested help from Major A. Dostovalov, who was his deputy and was at a distance of about one and a half kilometers. Under his command there were a dozen and a half fighters.
They managed to break through through a continuous flurry of fire to their dying comrades, holding back bandit attacks for two hours.
This served as a powerful emotional charge for the soldiers of the 6th company, who believed that they would not be abandoned.
The platoon was able to hold out for about two hours of battle. By five o'clock, Khattab launched suicide bombers - "white angels". The entire height was surrounded by two battalions. Part of the platoon was cut off and shot in the back.
The soldiers of the company itself had to collect ammunition from the wounded and killed comrades.
End of battle
The forces of the opponents were clearly unequal, soldiers and officers were constantly killed by the paratroopers.
Machine gunner Roman Khristolyubov, together with private Alexei Komarov, tried to carry the commander of the reconnaissance platoon, starley Vorobyov Alexei, out of the fire. He received bullets in the stomach and chest, his legs were broken, but he continued to shoot at the enemy. He managed to destroy the field commander Idris, who heads the Khattabintelligence. Vorobyov ordered both paratroopers to break through to his own, while he himself covered their retreat with machine gun fire.
As Roman Khristolyubov recalls, closer to the morning of March 1, the snow around was completely red with blood.
Battle by this time turned into focal hand-to-hand fights.
In the last attack, the militants met only a few machine guns. According to some reports, battalion commander Mark Evtyukhin, when he realized that the company had only a few minutes left to live, commanded the bleeding captain Romanov to call "fire on himself".
The Romanovs sent their coordinates to the battery. At six ten, as indicated in the documents of the Russian Ministry of Defense, communication with Yevtyukhin was interrupted. He fired at the militants until he ran out of ammo. A sniper bullet hit him in the head.
After the fight
The fighters of the first company, who occupied height 705, 6 on March 2, saw a horrifying picture in front of them: the forest stood as if trimmed, shells and mines broke all the trees, the ground around was littered with the corpses of hundreds of militants, the remains of our guys, who were less hundreds, lay on the stronghold of the company.
Soon, Udugov posted eight photos of Russian servicemen who fell in that battle. The photographs show that many bodies were cut into pieces. With those who still showed signs of life, the bandits brutally de alt with this, miraculously survived Alexander Suponinsky, Andrey Porshnev, Roman Khristolyubov and others.
St. Sergeant Suponinsky said that whenbattalion commander Yevtyukhin and his deputy Dostavalov were killed, only Kozhemyakin survived among the officers, both of whose legs were broken. He gave cartridges to Suponinsky and Porshnev, who were firing nearby. When the bandits got close, the wounded commander ordered the soldiers to jump into a deep ravine. Together with Private Porshnev, Suponinsky spent half an hour under automatic fire from fifty bandits. Then the wounded soldiers managed to crawl away, where the militants could not find them.
Wounded private Yevgeny Vladykin ran out of bullets, the bandits who found him tried unsuccessfully to get information from him. After smashing his head twice with a machine-gun butt, they left him as dead.
Wounded private Vadim Timoshenko hid in the rubble of trees and managed to escape.
Deserved awards
For participation in this battle, Alexander Suponinsky received the Hero of Russia.
Stars of Heroes of Russia were posthumously awarded to the fallen paratroopers in the amount of 21 people.
Survivors Andrei Porshnev, Alexei Komarov, Evgeny Vladykin, Vadim Timoshenko and Roman Khristolyubov also received awards. All of them are holders of the Order of Courage.
Peaceful life
After demobilization, the paratroopers who survived in this terrible meat grinder gradually found themselves in civilian life.
Roman Khristolyubov, whose biography "in civilian life" is similar to many of his peers, considers himself a middle class. He, like many, has his own apartment and car. He lives in the city of Kirov.
An eleven-year-old son named Egor is growing up in his family. There is an interesting job. Roman Khristolubov is an executive director in one of the companies engaged in construction and finishing works.
