Grozny
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Grozny (, ; ) is the
capital city A capital city, or just capital, is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state (polity), state, province, department (administrative division), department, or other administrative division, subnational division, usually as its ...
of Chechnya,
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 ...
. The city lies on the Sunzha River. According to the 2021 census, it had a population of 328,533 — up from 210,720 recorded in the 2002 census, but still less than the 399,688 recorded in the 1989 census. It was previously known as (until 1870).


Names

In Russian, "Grozny" means "fearsome", "menacing", or "redoubtable", the same word as in Ivan Grozny (
Ivan the Terrible Ivan IV Vasilyevich (; – ), commonly known as Ivan the Terrible,; ; monastic name: Jonah. was Grand Prince of Moscow, Grand Prince of Moscow and all Russia from 1533 to 1547, and the first Tsar of all Russia, Tsar and Grand Prince of all R ...
). While the official name in Chechen is the same, informally the city is known as "" (""), which literally means "the city () on the Sunzha River ()". In 1996, during 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 ...
, the authorities of the Chechen republic of Ichkeria renamed the city Dzhokhar-Ghala (), literally Dzhokhar City, or Dzhokhar/Djohar for short, after Dzhokhar Dudayev, the first president of the republic, killed by the Russian armed forces. In December 2005, the Chechen parliament voted to rename the city "Akhmad-Kala" (after Akhmad Kadyrov) RIA Novosti
City of Grozny. Reference Information
 – a proposition which was rejected by his son Ramzan Kadyrov, the prime minister and later president of the republic.RIA Novosti
Путин считает закрытой тему переименования города Грозного
(''Putin Considers the Proposal to Rename the City of Grozny Closed'')


History


Russian fort

The fortress of Groznaya (; ''fearsome'' – a feminine form of Grozny, as the word fortress, "", is feminine in Russian) was founded in 1818 as a Russian military outpost on the Sunzha River by general Aleksey Petrovich Yermolov. As the fort was being built, the workers were fired upon by the Chechens. The Russians found a solution by strategically positioning a cannon outside the city walls. When night fell and the Chechens came out of their hiding places to drag the gun away, all the other guns opened up with grapeshot. When the Chechens recovered their senses and began to carry away the bodies, the guns fired again. When it was over, 200 dead were counted. Thus did the "fearsome" fort receive its baptism of fire. It was a prominent defense centre during the Caucasian War. Russian poets Alexander Griboedov, Alexander Polezhayev,
Mikhail Lermontov Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov ( , ; rus, Михаи́л Ю́рьевич Ле́рмонтов, , mʲɪxɐˈil ˈjʉrʲjɪvʲɪtɕ ˈlʲerməntəf, links=yes; – ) was a Russian Romanticism, Romantic writer, poet and painter, sometimes called ...
, the classic of Russian literature
Leo Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy Tolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; ,Throughout Tolstoy's whole life, his name was written as using Reforms of Russian orthography#The post-revolution re ...
, the Decembrist and writer Alexander Bestuzhev and other famous figures of Russian culture visited the fortress. After the annexation of the region by the
Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...
, the military use of the old fortress was obsolete and on it was granted town status and renamed Grozny, as the word town, "", is masculine in Russian. As most of the residents there were Terek Cossacks, the town grew slowly until the development of oil reserves in the early 20th century. The founder of the
Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; ; ) are awards administered by the Nobel Foundation and granted in accordance with the principle of "for the greatest benefit to humankind". The prizes were first awarded in 1901, marking the fifth anniversary of Alfred N ...
, Alfred Nobel, took part in the development of the oil industry of the city of Grozny, as well as members of the
Rothschild family The Rothschild family ( , ) is a wealthy Ashkenazi Jews, Ashkenazi Jewish noble banking family originally from Frankfurt. The family's documented history starts in 16th-century Frankfurt; its name is derived from the family house, Rothschild, ...
. In addition to the Nobels and Rothschilds, British companies played an important role in the oil industry from 1893 onward. Alfred Stuart, an English engineer, completed the first well in Grozny by drilling in 1893 the largest oil field in the Caucasus region outside the
Baku Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...
district. Eleven firms drilled 116 wells before 1900. This encouraged the rapid development of industry and petrochemical production. In addition to the oil drilled in the city itself, the city became a geographical centre of Russia's network of
oil field A petroleum reservoir or oil and gas reservoir is a subsurface accumulation of hydrocarbons contained in porous or fractured rock formations. Such reservoirs form when kerogen (ancient plant matter) is created in surrounding rock by the prese ...
s, and in 1893 became part of the Transcaucasia–Russia-proper railway. The result was the population almost doubled from 15,600 in 1897 to 30,400 in 1913. In early 1914, the then largest oil company, Royal Dutch Shell, was established in the city thus making Grozny one of the largest industrial centres of the Caucasus. During the
Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...
, the city was the administrative capital of the Groznensky Okrug of the Terek Oblast.


Soviet regional capital

One day after the
October Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...
, on 8 November 1917, the
Bolsheviks The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...
headed by N. Anisimov seized Grozny. As the
Russian Civil War The Russian Civil War () was a multi-party civil war in the former Russian Empire sparked by the 1917 overthrowing of the Russian Provisional Government in the October Revolution, as many factions vied to determine Russia's political future. I ...
escalated, the Proletariat formed the 12th Red Army, and the garrison held out against numerous attacks by Terek Cossacks from 11 August to 12 November 1918. However, with the arrival of Denikin's armies, the Bolsheviks were forced to withdraw and Grozny was captured on 4 February 1919, by the White Army. Underground operations were carried out, but only the arrival of the Caucasus front of the
Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...
in 1920 allowed the city to permanently end up with the
Russian SFSR The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...
on 17 March. Simultaneously it became part of the Soviet Mountain Republic, which was formed on 20 January 1921, and was the capital of the Chechen National Okrug inside it. On 30 November 1922, the mountain republic was dissolved, and the national okrug became the Chechen Autonomous Oblast (Chechen AO) with Grozny as the administrative centre. At this time most of the
population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...
was still Russian, but of Cossack descent. As Cossacks were viewed as a potential threat to the Soviet nation, Moscow actively encouraged the migration of Chechens into the city from the mountains. In 1934 the Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Oblast was formed, becoming the Chechen-Ingush ASSR in 1936. Due to its oil, Grozny with Maikop were the main strategic objectives of the German Fall Blau operation in summer of 1942 (''See Battle of the Caucasus''). The failure to take Grozny was a major defeat for Germany and was a factor in holding fast at the Battle of Stalingrad, as that city could have served as a base from which to take Grozny or cut off oil supplies up the Volga River from
Astrakhan Astrakhan (, ) is the largest city and administrative centre of Astrakhan Oblast in southern Russia. The city lies on two banks of the Volga, in the upper part of the Volga Delta, on eleven islands of the Caspian Depression, from the Caspian Se ...
. The failure to prioritize Grozny, even transferring critical Panzer divisions north to the
Siege of Leningrad The siege of Leningrad was a Siege, military blockade undertaken by the Axis powers against the city of Leningrad (present-day Saint Petersburg) in the Soviet Union on the Eastern Front (World War II), Eastern Front of World War II from 1941 t ...
, was a major factor in
Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...
taking operational level control of the
Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...
from his generals who had repeatedly prioritized the two major cities over the oil supplies – against Hitler's express orders. Soviet doctrine however never failed to prioritize the food of
Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...
nor the oil of the Caucasus, which resulted in drastic action after Germany's expulsion/retreat in 1943. In 1944, the entire
population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...
of Chechens and Ingush was deported after being falsely accused of collaborating with advancing armed forces of
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
. Large numbers of people who were not deemed fit for transport were "liquidated" on the spot,"The Soviet War against 'Fifth Columnists': The Case of Chechnya, 1942–1944" by Jeffrey Burds
, p.39
and the adverse situation with transport and the stay in Siberia caused many deaths as well. According to internal NKVD data, a total of 144,704 died in 1944–1948 alone (death rate of 23.5% per all groups). Authors such as Alexander Nekrich, John Dunlop and Moshe Gammer, based on census data from the period estimate a death toll of about 170,000–200,000 among Chechens alone, thus ranging from over a third of the total Chechen population that was deported to nearly half dying during those four years (rates for other groups for those four years hover around 20%). All traces of them in the city, including books and graveyards, were destroyed by the
NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (, ), abbreviated as NKVD (; ), was the interior ministry and secret police of the Soviet Union from 1934 to 1946. The agency was formed to succeed the Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU) se ...
troops. The act was recognized by the
European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...
as an act of genocide in 2004. Grozny became the administrative centre of Grozny Oblast of the
Russian SFSR The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...
, and the city at the time was again wholly Russian. In 1957, the Chechen-Ingush ASSR was restored, and the Chechens were allowed to return. The return of the Chechens to Grozny, which had been lacking of Nakh for thirteen years, would cause massive disruptions to the social, economic and political systems of what had been a Russian city for the period until their return. This caused a self-feeding cycle of ethnic conflict between the two groups, both believing the other's presence in the city was illegitimate. Once again migration of non-Russians into Grozny continued whilst the
ethnic An ethnicity or ethnic group is a group of people with shared attributes, which they collectively believe to have, and long-term endogamy. Ethnicities share attributes like language, culture, common sets of ancestry, traditions, society, re ...
Russian population, in turn, moved to other parts of the USSR, notably the Baltic states, after inter-ethnic conflict broke out briefly in 1958. According to sociologist Georgy Derluguyan, the Checheno-Ingush Republic's economy was divided into two spheres – much like French settler-ruled Algeria – and the Russian sphere had all the jobs with higher salaries, while non-Russians were systematically kept out of all government positions. Russians (as well as Ukrainians and Armenians) worked in education, health, oil, machinery, and social services. Non-Russians (excluding Ukrainians and Armenians) worked in agriculture, construction, a long host of undesirable jobs, as well as the so-called "informal sector" (i.e. illegal, due to the mass discrimination in the legal sector). At the same time a great deal of development occurred in the city. Like many other Soviet cities, the Stalinist style of architecture was prevalent during this period, with apartments in the centre as well as administrative buildings including the massive Council of Ministers and the Grozny University buildings being constructed in Grozny. Later projects included the high-rise apartment blocks prominent in many Soviet cities, as well as a city airport. In 1989, the population of the city was almost 400,000 people.


Collapse of Russian authority

After the collapse of the
Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
, Grozny became the seat of a separatist government led by Dzhokhar Dudayev. According to some, many of the remaining Russian and other non-Chechen residents fled or were expelled by groups of militants, adding to a harassment and
discrimination Discrimination is the process of making unfair or prejudicial distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong, such as race, gender, age, class, religion, or sex ...
from the new authorities. These events are perceived by some as an act of an
ethnic cleansing Ethnic cleansing is the systematic forced removal of ethnic, racial, or religious groups from a given area, with the intent of making the society ethnically homogeneous. Along with direct removal such as deportation or population transfer, it ...
of non-Chechens, which has been reflected in the materials of General Prosecutor's office of the Russian Federation. This view is disputed by authors, such as Russian economists Boris Lvin and Andrei Illarionov, who argue that Russian emigration from the area was no more intense than in other regions of Russia at the time. According to this view of the ethnic situation in Ichkeria, the primary cause of Russian emigration was the extensive bombing of Grozny (where four out of five, or nearly 200,000 Russians in Chechnya lived before the war) by the Russian military during the First Chechen War. The covert Russian attempts of overthrowing Dudayev by means of armed Chechen opposition forces resulted in repeated failed assaults on the city. Originally, Moscow had been backing the political opposition of "peacefully" (i.e. without supplying the opposition with weapons and encouraging them to try a coup). However, this changed in 1994, after the coups in neighbouring
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...
and
Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...
(both of which Moscow was involved with), when Russia encouraged armed opposition, and occasionally assisted. In August 1994 Avturkhanov attacked Grozny, but was repelled first by Chechen citizens who were then joined by Grozny government troops; Russian helicopters covered his retreat. On 28 September, one of these helicopters was shot down and its Russian pilot was held as a prisoner-of-war by the Chechen government. The last assault, on 26 November 1994, ended with capture of 21 Russian Army
tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engine; ...
crew members who had secretly been hired as mercenaries by the FSK (former
KGB The Committee for State Security (, ), abbreviated as KGB (, ; ) was the main security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 to 1991. It was the direct successor of preceding Soviet secret police agencies including the Cheka, Joint State Polit ...
, not long after renamed FSB); their capture was sometimes cited as one of the reasons for
Boris Yeltsin Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin (1 February 1931 – 23 April 2007) was a Soviet and Russian politician and statesman who served as President of Russia from 1991 to 1999. He was a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) from 1961 to ...
's decision to openly intervene. In the meantime, Grozny airport and other targets were bombed by unmarked Russian aircraft.


First Chechen War

During 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 ...
, Grozny was the site of an intense battle lasting from December 1994 to February 1995 and ultimately ending with the capture of the city by the Russian military. Intense fighting and
carpet bombing Carpet bombing, also known as saturation bombing, is a large area bombardment done in a progressive manner to inflict damage in every part of a selected area of land. The phrase evokes the image of explosions completely covering an area, in t ...
carried out by the Russian Air Force destroyed much of the city. Thousands of combatants on both sides died in the fighting, alongside civilians, many of whom were reportedly ethnic Russians; unclaimed bodies were later collected and buried in mass graves on the city outskirts. The main federal
military base A military base is a facility directly owned and operated by or for the military or one of its branches that shelters military equipment and personnel, and facilitates training and operations. A military base always provides accommodations for ...
in Chechnya was located in the area of Grozny air base. Chechen
guerrilla Guerrilla warfare is a form of unconventional warfare in which small groups of irregular military, such as rebels, Partisan (military), partisans, paramilitary personnel or armed civilians, which may include Children in the military, recruite ...
units operating from nearby mountains managed to harass and demoralize the Russian Army by means of guerilla tactics and raids, such as the attack on Grozny in March 1996, which added to political and public pressure for a withdrawal of Russian troops. In August 1996, a raiding force of 1,500 to 3,000 militants recaptured the city in a surprise attack. They surrounded and routed its entire garrison of 10,000 MVD troops, while fighting off the Russian Army units from the Khankala base. The battle ended with a final ceasefire and Grozny was once again in the hands of Chechen separatists. The name was changed to Djohar in 1997 by the President of the separatist Ichkeria republic, Aslan Maskhadov. By this time most of the remaining Russian minority had fled.


Second Chechen War

Grozny was once again the epicentre of fighting after the outbreak of the Second Chechen War, which further caused thousands of fatalities. During the early phase of the Russian siege on Grozny on 25 October 1999, Russian forces launched five SS-21 ballistic missiles at the crowded central
bazaar A bazaar or souk is a marketplace consisting of multiple small Market stall, stalls or shops, especially in the Middle East, the Balkans, Central Asia, North Africa and South Asia. They are traditionally located in vaulted or covered streets th ...
and a maternity ward, killing more than 140 people and injuring hundreds. During the massive shelling of the city that followed, most of the Russian artillery were directed toward the upper floors of the buildings; although this caused massive destruction of infrastructure, civilian casualties were much less than in the first battles. The final seizure of the city was set in early February 2000, when the Russian military lured the besieged militants to a promised safe passage. Seeing no build-up of forces outside, the militants agreed. One day prior to the planned evacuation, the Russian Army mined the path between the city and the village of Alkhan-Kala and concentrated most firepower on that point. As a result, both the city mayor and military commander were killed; a number of other prominent separatist leaders were also killed or wounded. Afterwards, the Russians slowly entered the empty city and on 6 February raised the Russian flag in the centre. Many buildings and even whole areas of the city were systematically destroyed. A month later, it was declared safe to allow the residents to return to their homes, although demolition continued for some time. In 2003, the
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...
called Grozny the most destroyed city on Earth, with not a single building left undamaged.


After the wars

The federal government representatives of Chechnya are based in Grozny. Since 2003, the city has been rebuilt from scratch. Out of several dozens of industrial enterprises, three have been partially rebuilt – the Grozny Machine-Building Factory, the ''Krasny Molot'' (Red Hammer) and ''Transmash'' factories. Although most of the city's infrastructure was destroyed during the war, the city's sewage, water, electricity and heating systems have since been repaired, along with of roads, 13 bridges and some 900 shops.The Glittering New Face Of The Once War-Torn Capital Of Chechnya
Retrieved on April 23, 2012
Before the war, Grozny had about 79,000 apartments, and the city authorities expected to be able to restore about 45,000 apartments; the rest were in buildings that were completely destroyed.
Railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...
connection was restored in 2005, and Grozny's airport was reopened in 2007 with three weekly flights to Moscow. In 2009 the IAC gave Grozny's Severny airport the international certificate after checking and evaluating the airport's airworthiness. On 16 November 2009, the airport had its first international flight, taking pilgrims on
Hajj Hajj (; ; also spelled Hadj, Haj or Haji) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for capable Muslims that must be carried out at least once in their lifetim ...
to Saudi Arabia via a
Boeing 747 The Boeing 747 is a long-range wide-body aircraft, wide-body airliner designed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes in the United States between 1968 and 2023. After the introduction of the Boeing 707, 707 in October 1958, Pan Am ...
. After four years of construction, the Akhmad Kadyrov Mosque was formally opened to the public on 16 October 2008, and is one of the largest mosques in Europe. In 2009, the city of Grozny was honoured by the UN Human Settlements Program for transforming the war-scarred city and providing new homes for thousands.


Administrative and municipal status

Grozny is the capital of the republic.Constitution of the Chechen Republic, Article 59 Within the framework of administrative divisions, it is incorporated as the city of republic significance of Grozny – an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the districts.Constitution of the Chechen Republic As a municipal division, the city of republic significance of Grozny is incorporated as Grozny Urban Okrug.Law #44-RZ The city also serves as the
administrative centre An administrative centre is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune, is located. In countries with French as the administrative language, such as Belgi ...
of Groznensky Municipal District,Law #12-RZ but not of the corresponding administrative district.Decree #500


City divisions

For administrative purposes, the city is divided into four city districts: Akhmatovsky, Baysangurovsky, Visaitovsky, Sheikh-Mansurovsky.


Culture and education

Grozny is known for its
modern architecture Modern architecture, also called modernist architecture, or the modern movement, is an architectural movement and style that was prominent in the 20th century, between the earlier Art Deco and later postmodern movements. Modern architectur ...
and as a
spa town A spa town is a resort town based on a mineral spa (a developed mineral spring). Patrons visit spas to "take the waters" for their purported health benefits. Thomas Guidott set up a medical practice in the English town of Bath, Somerset, Ba ...
and although nearly all the town was destroyed or seriously damaged during the Chechen Wars, it has since been entirely rebuilt. It is home to Chechen State University, one of the leading in Russi

The FC Akhmat Grozny, which after a fifteen-year absence from its home town returned to Grozny in March 2008, is the local football club. Also in Grozny is Chechen State Pedagogical Institute and Grozny State Oil Technical University. The main objects of the cultural life of Grozny ar

* Grozny Russian Drama Theater named after M. Lermontov. * Chechen State Drama Theater named after Kh. Nuradilov * Chechen State Theater for Young People * Chechen State Youth Theater Serlo * The State Symphony Orchestra of the Chechen Republic * The National Library of the Chechen Republic * The Republican Children’s Library of the Chechen Republic * The National Museum of the Chechen Republic * Chechen State Philharmonic


Transportation


Train

The first train pulled into the Grozny Railway station on 1 May 1893. It has been running continuosly since then.


Trams and trolleybuses

On 5 November 1932, the Grozny tram system was opened to the public, and by 1990 it was long, with 107 new Russian-built KTM-5 trams that it received in the late 1980s, and two depots. The Grozny trolleybus system began operation on 31 December 1975, and by 1990 was approximately long, with 58 buses and one depot. Both types of transport came under difficult pressure in the early 1990s, with frequent theft of equipment, staff not being properly paid and resultant strikes. A major planned trolleybus route extension to the airport was cancelled. With the outbreak 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 ...
both transport services stopped operation in November 1994. During the destructive battles, the tram tracks were blocked or damaged, and cars and buses were turned into barricades. The trolleybus system was luckier, as most of its equipment, including the depot, survived the war. In 1996 it was visited by specialists from the Vologda Trolleybus Company, who repaired some of the lines, with services planned to restart in 1997. However, after specialists left, most of the equipment was stolen. The surviving buses were transported to Volzhsky where they were repaired and used on the new trolleybus system there. After the Second Chechen War, little of the infrastructure of either system was left. The Ministry of Transport of the Chechen Republic, created in 2002, decided not to rebuild the tram system (considered too expensive and no longer meeting the city's needs, as it had by then lost half of its population). Rebuilding of the trolleybus system, however, is still under consideration.


Airport

The city is served by Grozny Airport.


Sharing system

In 2018 the ''Delimobil'' car sharing company officially provided the capital of the Chechen Republic with 30
Hyundai Solaris The Hyundai Accent (), or Hyundai Verna (현대 베르나) is a subcompact car produced by Hyundai Motor Company, Hyundai. In Australia, the first generation models carried over the Hyundai Excel name used by the Accent's predecessor. The Accen ...
. To drive the automobiles, the user has to book them through the app of the owning company. In the same year the ''Delisamokat'' provided the city with 120 electric scooters and some scooter stations.


Sports

Grozny is home to Russian Football Premier League club FC Akhmat Grozny. After winning promotion by coming 2nd in the Russian First Division in 2007, Akhmat Grozny finished 10th in the Russian Premier League in 2008. The team still plays in the top tier. The club is owned by Ramzan Kadyrov and plays in the recently built city's Akhmat Stadium. Ruud Gullit was the team manager from the beginning of the season 2011, but was later sacked by the club in June. The city is also home to the Fort Grozny motor racing circuit, which opened in 2015.


Geography

The city is located along the Sunzha River, a major tributary of the Terek River. The city is located in a valley approximately 80 kilometres (50 miles) north of the main range of the Greater Caucasus Mountains.


Climate

Grozny has a
humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...
(
Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...
''Dfa'') with hot summers and cold winters. Precipitation peaks during early summer, where sunshine hours also peak.


Twin towns – sister cities

Grozny is twinned with: * Ardahan, Turkey *
Baku Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...
, Azerbaijan * Comrat, Moldova * Sivas, TurkeyUzaklar Yakinlaşti – Sivas Twin Towns
*
Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...
, Georgia Former twin towns: *
Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...
, Poland (from 1997 to 2022, status terminated as a result of the
Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...
)


Notable people

*
Anatoly Karatsuba Anatoly Alexeyevich Karatsuba (his first name often spelled Anatolii) (; Grozny, Soviet Union, 31 January 1937 – Moscow, Russia, 28 September 2008) was a Russian people, Russian mathematician working in the field of analytic number theory, p-ad ...
, mathematician * Artur Sarkisov, former Armenian soccer player * Bekkhan Agayev, political figure * Gennady Troshev, colonel general * Israil Arsamakov, weightlifter * Khassan Baiev, surgeon * Lyudmila Turishcheva, Olympic gymnast * Makka Sagaipova, singer and dancer * Maksharip Muzhukhoev, historian ( dr. of historical sciences), archeologist * Mamed Khalidov, mixed martial arts fighter * Magomed Adiyev, soccer coach * Magomed Ozdoyev, soccer player * Meseda Bagaudinova, pop singer * Pasikhat Dzhukalaeva, supercentenarian * Sukhrab Akhmedov, colonel * Timur Aliev, journalist * Timur Eneev, mathematician * Yuliya Yefimova, swimmer * Yuri Radonyak, boxer * Zelim Bakaev, singer


Visitor attractions

* Akhmad Kadyrov Mosque * Grozny-City Towers Facade Clocks


See also

* Jewish Quarter of Grozny * Church of Saint Michael the Archangel in Grozny


Notes


References


Sources

* * * * * *Olga Oliker, ''Russia's Chechen Wars 1994–2000: Lessons from Urban Combat''. (Santa Monica CA: RAND Arroyo Center, 2001)


Bibliography


External links


Official website of Grozny

Grozny Business Directory

Grozny – Chechnya: Photo Essay
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Grozny: Fallen City
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Putin: "Grozny liberated"
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{{Authority control Terek Oblast Capitals in Asia Populated places established in 1818