Kavkaz News: The Story Of The Fall Of Grozny

Transcript From: http://www.chechnya.xnet.is/

February 3rd, 2000

2,970 Mujahideen escaped from the Chechen capital. During the operation 43 fighters died, 37 were wounded -- 10 of them are in critical condition.

Shamil Basayev himself was wounded in the foot. He stepped on a mine-trap, a so-called 'petal' ['lepestok'], that tore off three toes. The same leg was grazed by shrapnel.

According to Shamil Basayev the operation was carried out successfully and absolutely according to plan. He confirmed that 30 mujahideen died from anti-infantry mines. The commanders Aslambek Ismailov and Khunkarpasha Israpilov died during a bombing raid on Alkhan-Kala on the morning of February 1st. The mujahideen buried their slain immediately except for 8 fighters whose corpses remained on the battlefield. 10 mujahideen lost legs -- they are in critical condition.

Basayev says that he presided over an operative consultation of the commanders during which the results of the operations were discussed.
The mujahideen left Dzhokhar by four different routes and nowhere met fierce resistance from the Russians.

The withdrawal has been shielded by a unit of about thousand men. This group's task now is to hinder hostile movements in southwestern, southern and southeastern directions.

After the commanders' meeting presided by Shamil Basayev the Chechen vice prime-minister Akhmed Zakayev said that the operation of the mujahideen was a complete surprise for the Russians. Notwithstanding the death of Aslambek Ismailov and Khunkarpasha Israpilov, it has been a success. At the meeting details of the future operations of the mujahideen were discussed. Zakayev expects that the Russians are going to continue their phantom-fight in the Chechen capital for another few days.

The Russians continue to imitate combat actions and to assault an empty town, to kill the civilians in it, and to smash the remainders of its buildings by massive bombardment. The Chechen command published an official declaration that calls upon the Russians to stop the murder of the civilians who survived the Russian assault for months only by a miracle.

According to the Chechen command the Russians are killing civilians on the pretext of fighting against Chechen rebels. Refugees from Dzhokhar say that it is especially the inhabitants of the 3rd, 4th and 6th Micro-Districts who are suffering. Among the dead are a large number of males under the age of 15.
Several blocks of flats collapsed due to the shelling, burying the women, children and elderly in them under their ruins.

A women from the 3rd Micro-District, Luiza Gaytayeva, reported that Tukhachevsky Street in this district if covered with about 80 corpses of people from her neighbourhood. She says that these people were shot by the Russian aggressors.

After having quoted different versions of General Malofeyev's fate as given by the Chechen command, Kavkaz-Tsentr's correspondents now made their own inquiries in Dzhokhar. Here are the results of these investigations:
The wounded General Maloveyev was captured by a group of Mujahideen in Savodsky District on January 18th or 19th. He was kept prisoner of the Chechens in Dzhokhar for two days. The Chechens didn't believe his statement that he was the General who was in command of the assault on the town. His uniform was lacking insignia of rank. On the third day a member of the Special Administration of the Armed forces of the ChRI appeared and interrogated the general.

In course of fierce fights the Chechen positions next to which the general had been captured were shelled and bombed massively. In one of these bomb-raids the general died. The Mujahideen exchanged his corpse for the bodies of 5 dead Mujahideen and a car with medicaments.

These description of the events is result of accurate interviews of Chechen fighters and commanders by Kavkaz-Tsentr's correspondent.

ENDS

© Scoop Media