The Alkhan-Kala operation was a '' zachistka'' () operation by

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

n forces in Alkhan-Kala,

Chechnya Chechnya, officially the Chechen Republic, is a Republics of Russia, republic of Russia. It is situated in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe, between the Caspian Sea and Black Sea. The republic forms a part of the North Caucasian Federa ...

, starting on 25 June 2001, during the

Second Chechen War Names The Second Chechen War is also known as the Second Chechen Campaign () or the Second Russian Invasion of Chechnya from the Chechens, Chechen insurgents' point of view.Федеральный закон № 5-ФЗ от 12 января 19 ...

. The week-long sweep of Alkhan-Kala erupted into armed clashes with Chechen separatists, and the initial raid resulted in the death of

Arbi Barayev Arbi Alautdinovich Barayev (; 27 May 1974 – 22 June 2001) was a Chechen warlord who in 1996 became the founder and first leader of the Special Purpose Islamic Regiment (SPIR) in Chechnya. Nicknamed "The Terminator", Barayev and the SPIR were ...

, a high-ranking Chechen insurgent commander and

organized crime Organized crime is a category of transnational organized crime, transnational, national, or local group of centralized enterprises run to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally thought of as a f ...

leader.

Background

The

Chechen Republic of Ichkeria The Chechen Republic of Ichkeria ( ; ; ; abbreviated as "ChRI" or "CRI"), known simply as Ichkeria, was a ''de facto'' State (polity), state that controlled most of the former Checheno-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, Checheno-Ingus ...

(Chechnya) had been '' de facto'' independent from

since the beginning of the

First Chechen War The First Chechen War, also referred to as the First Russo-Chechen War, was a struggle for independence waged by the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria against the invading Russia, Russian Federation from 1994 to 1996. After a mutually agreed on treaty ...

in 1994. During this independence the secular government weakened, and Chechnya came under the increasing influence of

warlord Warlords are individuals who exercise military, Economy, economic, and Politics, political control over a region, often one State collapse, without a strong central or national government, typically through informal control over Militia, local ...

s and Islamist rule. In August 1999, the War of Dagestan began when Chechen Islamists invaded the Russian state of

Dagestan Dagestan ( ; ; ), officially the Republic of Dagestan, is a republic of Russia situated in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe, along the Caspian Sea. It is located north of the Greater Caucasus, and is a part of the North Caucasian Fede ...

, but were defeated by the Russian military in a month. The War of Dagestan was used as a ''

casus belli A (; ) is an act or an event that either provokes or is used to justify a war. A ''casus belli'' involves direct offenses or threats against the nation declaring the war, whereas a ' involves offenses or threats against its ally—usually one bou ...

'' to trigger the

, when Russian federal troops entered Chechnya and ended its independence. By June 2000, the war had entered an "

insurgency An insurgency is a violent, armed rebellion by small, lightly armed bands who practice guerrilla warfare against a larger authority. The key descriptive feature of insurgency is its asymmetric warfare, asymmetric nature: small irregular forces ...

phase", where Russian troops would perform several day-long '' zachistka'' () operations in Chechen villages.

Operation

On 22 June 2001, Russian troops launched a ''zachistka'' on Alkhan-Kala, a large village south-west of

Grozny Grozny (, ; ) is the capital city of Chechnya, Russia. The city lies on the Sunzha River. According to the 2021 Russian census, 2021 census, it had a population of 328,533 — up from 210,720 recorded in the 2002 Russian Census, 2002 ce ...

, triggering an armed clash with Chechen separatists. Alkhan-Kala was the home village of

, one of the most powerful separatist

s in Chechnya and founder of the Special Purpose Islamic Regiment, an Islamist

syndicate that had terrorized Chechnya during its ''de facto'' independence after the

. Officially, Barayev was reported

killed in action Killed in action (KIA) is a casualty classification generally used by militaries to describe the deaths of their personnel at the hands of enemy or hostile forces at the moment of action. The United States Department of Defense, for example, ...

in the initial raid, and his body was later handed over to his family. Barayev's death had previously been reported by Russian media several times, only to re-emerge unscathed every time, however, after the raid the

Kavkaz Center The Kavkaz Center (KC; ) is a privately run website/ portal which aims to be "a Chechen internet agency which is independent, international and Islamic". The stated mission of the site is to report events related to Chechnya and also to "provide ...

announced that "Special Islamic commander Arbi Barayev has become a

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', 'witness' Word stem, stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external party. In ...

." The battle between Russian forces and Chechen separatists continued for six days and resulted in the massive destruction of Alkhan-Kala, with

house-to-house fighting Urban warfare is warfare in urban areas such as towns and cities. Urban combat differs from combat in the open at both operational and the tactical levels. Complicating factors in urban warfare include the presence of civilians and the complex ...

leaving dozens of homes destroyed. According to the Russian officials, many of Barayev's accomplices were killed and some 800 villagers were taken into the custody.

Aftermath

Arbi Barayev had been the most senior separatist leader to have been killed or captured by the Russians since the

began in 1999, and was hailed by Moscow as a major success in winning the war. According to alternative version of Barayev's death, he was captured alive and handed over to the FSB, the main Russian

national security National security, or national defence (national defense in American English), is the security and Defence (military), defence of a sovereign state, including its Citizenship, citizens, economy, and institutions, which is regarded as a duty of ...

agency, but was wanted by members of

GRU Gru is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the ''Despicable Me'' film series. Gru or GRU may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * Gru (rapper), Serbian rapper * Gru, an antagonist in '' The Kine Saga'' Organizations Georgia (c ...

, the Russian foreign

military intelligence Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis List of intelligence gathering disciplines, approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist Commanding officer, commanders in decision making pr ...

agency, for possible involvement in the suspicious death of

German Ugryumov German Alexeyevich Ugryumov (; 10 October 1948, Astrakhan, Soviet Union – 31 May 2001, Khankala, Chechnya, Russia) was a Soviet and Russian navy and security services official. During his childhood he lived in Chelyabinsk Oblast. Naval count ...

. Allegedly, GRU enlisted Chechen fighters involved in a

blood feud A feud , also known in more extreme cases as a blood feud, vendetta, faida, clan war, gang war, private war, or mob war, is a long-running argument or fight, often between social groups of people, especially family, families or clans. Feuds begin ...

with Barayev to raid the FSB compound where he was kept in custody, abduct him and hand him over to GRU at the

Khankala Khankala (, ) is a settlement in Groznensky District of the Chechen Republic, Russia, located to the east of Grozny Grozny (, ; ) is the capital city of Chechnya, Russia. The city lies on the Sunzha River. According to the 2021 Russian ...

military base, where he was subsequently

tortured Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons including punishment, extracting a confession, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties. Some definitions restrict torture to ac ...

to death.The Security Organs of the Russian Federation. A Brief History 1991-2005

References

External links

Russians kill Chechen warlord

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

, 25 June 2001
Chechnya: Barayev Death Highlights Russian Military Corruption

RFE/RL Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a media organization broadcasting news and analyses in 27 languages to 23 countries across Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Caucasus, and the Middle East. Headquartered in Prague since 1995, RFE/RL ...

, 26 June 2001 {{DEFAULTSORT:Alkhan-Kala 2001 in Russia Battles of the Second Chechen War Battles involving Chechnya June 2001 in Asia 2001 in military history Battles involving Russia Battles in 2001