The current February increase in the EDV added 4.3 percent to veterans, in particular "Chechens", to the allowance they receive. Social packages for veterans also began to weigh more (medicines, treatment, health restoration in sanatoriums, resorts, travel to public transport). The April recalculation of benefits to beneficiaries is also expected.

Last news. The State Duma is discussing the initiatives introduced by the LDPR deputies, in particular, those who believe that the EMU for combatants should be doubled, there is a proposal to raise this amount to 6,000 rubles. But information on whether any bills have been adopted to increase benefits for war veterans in 2020 has not yet been published by the media.

After amendments were made to the Federal Law on veterans regarding the military who served in the combat areas in Chechnya in 1994-1996, they were given the status of veterans. On the basis of the legislation, it became possible to calculate benefits and additional payments to former military personnel, taking into account their ranks and awards, and to receive pensions for combatants in Chechnya who became disabled.

The participants in combat operations include military personnel - privates, commanding staff Department of Internal Affairs, security agencies that carried out combat missions in Chechnya and in the adjacent territory.

Veteran status is assigned to demobilized soldiers and officers so that they can receive the required social benefits.

The status of a combat veteran is assigned in accordance with the decree of the government of the Russian Federation:

As confirmation, the military personnel are awarded a veteran's certificate. The certificate has a single form on the territory of the Russian Federation. It is issued by the executive authorities that sent citizens to serve in the territory where hostilities took place - these are the internal affairs bodies, the FSB, military registration and enlistment offices.

On pensions for veterans

In 2020, the minimum pension for veterans is 11,220 rubles.(this is the sum of the minimum social allowance and the due (mandatory) social payments). The situation has not changed on the one introduced last year 32 percent allowance for military pensioners, allowing to bring total amount military allowance in 2019 up to 15 thousand rubles

The Law on Veterans of the Chechen War provides for the provision of the military with appropriate pensions and benefits:

1. Ensuring an increased pension, taking into account the legislation of the Russian Federation.
2. The right to a monthly cash remuneration (UDV), which is not subject to taxation.

The sizes of the UDV are presented taking into account the social package, which in 2020 is 1921.75 rubles. and includes:

• 863, 75 (811) - payment for medicines;
• 133.62 (125) - payment for a voucher for sanatorium treatment;
• 124, 05 (116) - payment for travel to the place of treatment and back.

*The value in brackets is the cost of the package in 2018.

Chechen veterans have the right to replace these benefits with money or use them in kind. It can be seen from the table that the refusal of the NSI and the receipt of cash will lead to a shortage of funds for travel, treatment, and rehabilitation by more than half.

Speaking about the size of pensions for combat veterans, you need to know that the pension includes payments on general terms and personal supplements. Each pension is calculated individually.

If a citizen lives, for example, in the northern regions of the Russian Federation, then the corresponding coefficients apply there, which are also calculated for veterans when calculating pensions.

There is a minimum social payment of 4,770 rubles, as well as an additional surcharge of 1,000 rubles - a percentage of the minimum social pension.

Disabled people with injuries received in military operations in Chechnya have additional supplements to their pensions according to the disability group established by the medical commission, which so far remain unchanged:

• 1st group - 3137.6 rubles.
• 2nd group - 2240.7 rubles.
• 3rd group - 1793.7 rubles.

Indexation, carried out annually in the Russian Federation in order to bring the cost of living up to the level of rising inflation, also applies to all payments to veterans.

It is still premature to talk about pensions for veterans of the Chechen war in old age, since they are still far from retirement age. But, taking into account the innovations in the law on the insurance part of the pension, already today working veterans are accumulating seniority and pension points for the upcoming pension.

For officers who have served in Chechnya and have reached retirement age, the pension is calculated based on the new calculation rules for military pensioners who work from 01.01.15. At the time of retirement, they must have at least 6 years of service and 6 pension points in their account.

Veterans' pensions are calculated on an individual basis. It depends on the amount of allowance during the service and on the length of service, that is, the time spent in a hot spot.

The pension should be If its size does not reach the level of the consumer basket, then the territorial PF is obliged to pay the missing amount.

Indexing military pensions, for the "Chechens" in particular, it is planned by 6.3 percent in October this year.

Considering all the merits of military personnel during Chechen war, the state provides them with benefits that are designed to make their life easier and help if they need treatment:

1. Free provision of housing from the municipal fund of the region of residence. At the same time, the veteran must be registered as needing housing. Housing can be provided in the form of a sum of money for the construction or purchase of an apartment.
2. 50% discount for the provision of utilities.
3. Free provision land plot.
4. Free transportation in any city of the Russian Federation.
5. Free provision of disabled people with travel to any point in Russia.
6. Free purchase of medicines.
7. Provision of prostheses to disabled people without payment.
8. Out-of-competition admission to professional educational institutions.
9. Provision of compulsory scholarships for studying veterans.
10. The right to leave up to 35 k.d. without content.
11. The right to provide 1 targeted loan for the purchase of housing, the creation of a business.

Of course, regional and state assistance to a military pensioner is unlikely to fully contribute to "not denying yourself anything", but still it is not out of place to ask if everything possible has been implemented. The calculation of social benefits is an individual matter, it requires documentary evidence.

There may also be doubts about the accrual, so we will take into account: all issues related to social payments and benefits for war veterans are the responsibility of the social protection service for the population of your region.

IT STARTED LIKE THIS

It all started in early November 1994. While we
were still in Dagestan, we were told that
we are going on a business trip to the Caucasus soon, they explained that
some political unrest in the Caucasus, and
we must play the role of peacekeepers. We were given a be-
bandages and said that in the event of a clash with the population
not use any weapon other than the bayonet.
In early December 1994, we were raised on command
“collection” and urgently sent to the territory of Chechnya. Arrive-
whether we go there early morning and, as it turned out, were
near some mountain village. In the afternoon we were given the command “from-
battle”, we again got into cars and, after driving a few
kilometers, turned off the main road into the field. Here
we were given some rest and food. After that we
explained that we were sent here to support the
new forces, but it turned out that they arrived first, before us
there was no one here. We occupied a circle on the field
ranu and began to wait for the order. The main road was
highway Makhachkala - Gudermes. First passing cars
mobiles stopped, and people, Chechens, who were sitting in
them, going out, insulted us, spat and threatened. But
over time, the situation worsened. On the track at
I had to set up a checkpoint. The main task was
guard the nearby bridge.
One morning near the road we saw a large
a crowd of people, they were walking straight at us. Followed again
command “collection”, fasten the “bayonet-knives”. After a few
By the time we were standing in front of a huge crowd. Officer
with great difficulty managed to enter into negotiations with
them and agree not to bring the matter to a fight, which
may end badly. Military people follow orders
and only orders. And they will do it at any cost. The people are gone.
From that time on, we no longer wore white bandages.
Later we learned that during the negotiations we were given time
me to free this place. But we didn't and
fell into blockade. The message was only by air.
Our stay there was complicated by the unusual
climate for us: at night - frosts, during the day it is much warmer
more, but at the same time incessant, penetrating
through the wind. Lived where necessary, at first I slept in
armored personnel carrier. But when the frosts began, the hatches of the armored personnel carrier
covered in mud. Then cargo helicopters MI-26
they brought us materials, and we equipped ourselves with dugouts,
heated by stoves. had to sleep
4-6 hours a day. We didn’t have a bath, we didn’t wash
almost month. True, then near the mountain they discovered a family
nick, they drove a pipe in there, and made a hole on the side. So y
we had at least some opportunity to wash.
At night, militants fired at us from the mountains. Yes, standing in
trench, I met the New, 1995, year, about which in that my
few people remembered. But our officers went out and
zom launched flares, it was very beautiful and
very worrisome.
Time passed imperceptibly, and only at the end of January 1995
year, we were replaced by the Moscow OMON, but we soon recognized
whether that almost their entire detachment was defeated by an attack by a man
Chechen militants.
Alexander Safonov

BAPTISM OF FIRE

War. How distant and unreal she seems from
TV screen and from the pages of newspapers. For me
the war began on December 29, 1994. Then, in the
columns, our 276th regiment was heading to the center of Chechnya -
city ​​Grozniy. Sitting in an infantry fighting vehicle, we are
lo joked and laughed at the fact that we were going to the real
war and that the bullet is a fool. But they couldn't even imagine
to see where we will get on arrival. It is now possible to Chechnya
but go under the contract, and then us, conscripts, yes
what kind of soldiers are there - youngsters after training, no one asked
shival. An order, a command, a marching column... Let's go.
The attack on Grozny is the most memorable day
in my “Chechen” life. It was New Year's Eve
December 31, 1994. Night of fireworks and fireworks.
The gloomy surroundings of the city frightened with their ominous
tire. What awaits us there? It's winter outside. In the south she
just like our spring. As I remember now, mud, wet
snow. Our column slowly advanced along one of the
streets of Grozny. A tense silence, in some places bones are burning
as if someone had just been here. Stopped.
And then it began...
It is not clear where the lines from the car rushed at us.
mats and machine guns. Around high-rise buildings. darkness, eye
poke out. In this darkness, only traces of traces were visible.
serov. It was on them that they had to return fire.
But how to do that? After all, we are all who are in armored vehicles -
terah, who are in infantry vehicles. By order, they began to disperse
sharpen. Yes, what is there! They fled in all directions. Spread
nowhere to hide. From both sides of the street, from different floors,
incessant shooting. Clutter, complete confusion.
Where to run when they shoot all around ?!
Our department - 11 people and the commander, consisting of
whom I was, ran around the corner of some nine-story building.
Breaking the window on the first floor, climbed inside, looked around
foxes. Like no one. They started shooting where they can see
there were queues of tracers. A little quiet. Whether the Chechen
tsy exhausted, whether ours became less. We hear at
Kaz:
- By cars! - And again, shooting from nowhere and at nothing -
where. We rushed to our car. Colon-
no order was given to leave the city. We held out
it's four hours there, although who kept track of the time there. AT
this first battle of mine wounded our commander, young
Dogo lieutenant, most likely, just from the institute.
And in general, we didn’t count many of our guys then
foxes.
Until morning, the column stood outside the city. Then it is disbanded
bled to pieces. And the next decisive step
we did on the evening of January 1, 1995 already, moving
moving in three directions to the center - the "White House".
The baptism of fire was hard. But nothing in life
doesn't come easily. Now I know for sure.

Sergey Ivanov

VALUE FRIENDSHIP

I served in the 76th Guards Air Force
airborne division in the city of Pskov.
Our regiment flew to Chechnya on January 11, 1995. At-
landed at the Vladikavkaz airport. There we were given
equipment and ammunition. Columns sent from the airport
headed for the city of Grozny. I was the second in command
platoon and was the commander of the airborne combat vehicle.
January 13 entered Grozny. The picture appeared
before us is terrible. Lots of corpses lay around.
parts of human bodies, they were gnawed by dogs.
At night, our regiment entered into battle with the militants, they “took” the House
culture. My friend and I rushed to the building
niyu. I was the first to cross the paved path, the next
the rest of the soldiers ran after me. At this time, between
a shell exploded in front of us. I was shell-shocked. Coming in
consciousness, heard the cry of comrades asking for help.
I get up and run to them. The fighter's entire stomach was torn apart by shrapnel.
I take him in my arms and carry him to the nearest five-story building, where
the orderlies were busy. Then he returned to battle again. This night
we had to retreat. Artille came to our aid
leria. After shelling, in the morning, we took the building of the House
culture.
It was my first fight, we lost a lot in this fight.
comrades, and the friend whom I carried from the battlefield, too
died, the wound was fatal.
For the removal of a wounded comrade from the battlefield, I was awarded
den with the Suvorov medal. I received the award in 1996.
Until February 16 they were in Grozny. One and a half weeks
waiting for the weather: it was pouring rain. Then the columns
moved to Gudermes, constantly exposed to shelling
relay, especially at night. Near Gudermes, scatter shelves -
whether by points. Our company was stationed along two roads, along
which the militants were supposed to retreat. From one hundred
their rons were stormed by internal troops, and here they should
we were to storm them we. The fight was successful. We are
many militants lived. In this battle, comrade Su-
Leiman Tagin captured two "spirits".
Guys from Kurgan, Chelyabinsk, Moscow served with me.
you, Minsk and other cities. There have never been any
divisions, everyone was like brothers. In the early days in Chechnya it was
scary, but a person gets used to everything. Gradually and
military hardening, rigidity and courage appeared.
The hardest fight was for taking the dominating
acres near the city of Gudermes. Our platoon went to the
vedka. Ran into an ambush. "Spirits" opened fire. We are from
set foot. In the morning with regimental intelligence, we again sent
lied for "combing" and were surrounded. A little
confused. Our battalion commander, a former "Afghan", who fought
in many hot spots, raised our morale, formed
crying with the words: “Guys, don’t be shy, every landing
a nickname is worth 3 “spirits”. I think these words helped us get out-
you from the environment, however, we then lost comrades:
two scouts and a sapper. They retreated, opening fire. Per-
those “spirits” were hit by our artillery. After the artillery
Rela went on the attack. During the battle we found our re-
byat. Our sapper was born in a "shirt": he lay wounded
on his stomach, the spirits took his machine gun without turning it over
back, thus not noticing signs of life in it.
He told how our wounded "spirits" finished shooting.
In this battle, many militants were killed, but they also lost
many of his comrades. From this dominating skyscraper
after the arrival of a replacement on May 1st, 1995, I will be sent
or to Pskov, to the division, and from there I was demobilized.

Serzhik Miloyan

SOLDIER'S EVERYDAY IN CHECHNYA

For the first time I came to Chechnya on May 7, 1995. Our
the unit was stationed near Bamut.
I remember well the fireworks in honor of Memorial Day.
troubles. It gets dark early in the mountains, the nights are very dark, and therefore
volleys of installations "Grad", shots from mortars and track-
the moat painted the night sky with unthinkable colors.
At the end of May, the maneuver group, which included a platoon,
near Asinskaya station guarded water intakes and canned
plant. There were no active hostilities here.
At the end of June, with a column of 30 vehicles, a maneuverable group
pa went to the Nozhai-Yurt region. Our armored personnel carrier was walking
on patrol - measures five hundred ahead. Near the village of Ore
howo there was an explosion: the car was thrown up and split
in half, eight fighters sitting on the armor, size
thaw around. A shootout broke out. Still, we are lucky
elk to get out of the fire without loss, only a few people
Lovek was shell-shocked, including me.
Then the column passed the city of Grozny and stopped
in the town of Balaisu. They stayed there until August 1995.
Engaged in the search for militants in the mountains according to reconnaissance
ki. It was not easy: off-road, you can’t go through the rocks
you go, and on the roads the bandits guard, and the local population
During the day, the fire treats us with milk, but at night it fired at us.
In mid-August, we were transferred to the Oktyabrsky district
the city of Grozny. They took up positions in dugouts on the hills,
called "Three Fools". The locals treated us
hostile. I heard how once a child of six or seven years old,
pointing at the Russian soldiers, he asked his mother:

Mom, are they killers?
How will you feel after such questions from children?
Raids on the capital of Chechnya, the search for militants is the main
task at that time. Once in the ammunition depot
a militant shell fell. Huge explosion claimed lives immediately
twenty-four Russian soldiers. A terrible case...
After Grozny, we were sent to the village of Shelkovskaya.
Here, right from the combat post, one guy left us.
He was weak-willed, constantly asked to be
sent home. A couple of days later, the body of a run-
the face... with the head cut off.
In September, our unit was transferred to the city
Sernovodsk, where guests had to participate in the assault
Nitsya "ACCA-2". According to intelligence data, about
five hundred fighters. The platoon lost ten people, and I
received a shrapnel wound to the abdomen.
January-April stood in Alkhon-Kala, lived in pa-
patches. The platoon commander died here, he died stupidly:
went to a stall for cigarettes and got a bullet from a passerby
passing by a car. This is not uncommon here.
Later they participated in the cleansing of the villages of Gekhi-Chu, Urus-
Martan, Achkhoy-Martan, Semashki and others. We suffered
there are big losses here. In these situations it was necessary
take command of even ordinary fighters, so
how all the officers died.
The last place of deployment is Achkhoy-Martan. Here for
I ended the first Chechen campaign, hence I
demobilized and went home.
Years passed, but Chechnya did not let me go, I experienced
some kind of nostalgia for her, recalled the fallen combat friends
zey, various events and meetings with interesting people,
I felt on my lips the taste of wild garlic - wild garlic, which in
grows in abundance in the mountains, walnuts, replacing us
dry rations during battles and campaigns, and a lot of things ...
And on October 17, 2002, I again arrived in the North-
ny Caucasus for service under the contract. Service
bu started in the city of Argun, in a reconnaissance platoon, where
stayed until December. Participated in operational-search
events. Although the war is officially over, but
columns Russian troops were constantly subjected to
arrows. At night, they even shot at us from the mosque.
Then the platoon was transferred to the Nozhai-Yurt region. To
At that time, many objects were restored. Me-
native population belonged to the Russian soldiers already
friendly and helped with products. The fighters bought
speakers, learned the Chechen language. I became not only a pony
his mother, but he could also utter individual phrases.
They still went on raids, participated in reconnaissance
search activities: they walked through the mountains and forests in
gang lawsuits. Once near the stream Yaryk Su
(pure water) found traces of "wild boars". Arrange-
ambush: three fighters in camouflage robes took cover
near the trail in the crowns of trees. And so, at five o'clock in the morning,
at least forty bandits appeared, armed to the
bov, with horses. They passed right under us. For a long time
we then sat in a daze, not uttering a word.
In February 2003 they returned to the base. When pass-
marched along the gorge, we were fired from their own "turntables",
had to hide under the rocks. Contacted by radio
with headquarters. And then the path led down, the first
Shaft my friend Renat. Suddenly there was an explosion: a fighter on-
stepped on a mine, as a result received 15 fragmentation
neny. Later we learned that we were walking right through the minefield.
Many, after reading these lines, will say: “What a hunt -
go to Chechnya? And I like to know the danger and
overcome it. The blood in the veins then runs faster,
the taste for life intensifies.
I think, I’m even sure, I’ll rest a little, I’ll close again
I get a contract and go to serve in Chechnya. to someone
after all, you still need to do this difficult work, so let
it will be me, who is not afraid of her, and there - what God will send.

On August 31, 1996, the Khasavyurt Accords were signed, ending the First Chechen War. Journalist Olesya Yemelyanova found the participants in the First Chechen campaign and talked to them about the war, their life after the war, Akhmat Kadyrov and much more.

Dmitry Belousov, St. Petersburg, senior warrant officer of OMON

In Chechnya, there was always a feeling: “What am I doing here? Why is all this necessary? ”, But there was no other work in the 90s. My wife was the first to say to me after the first business trip: “Either me, or the war.” Where will I go? We tried not to get out of business trips, at least there we paid our salaries on time - 314 thousand. There were benefits, "combat" paid - it was a penny, I don’t remember exactly how much. And they gave me a bottle of vodka, it was sickening without it, in such situations you don’t get drunk from it, but it helped to cope with stress. I fought for a paycheck. The family is at home, it was necessary to feed it with something. I did not know any background of the conflict, I did not read anything.
Young conscripts had to be slowly soldered with alcohol. They are only after training, it is easier for them to die than to fight. Eyes run wide, heads are pulled out, they do not understand anything. They will see the blood, they will see the dead - they cannot sleep.
Murder is unnatural for a person, although he gets used to everything. When the head does not think, the body does everything on autopilot. Fighting Chechens was not as scary as fighting Arab mercenaries. They are much more dangerous, they know how to fight very well.

We were prepared for the assault on Grozny for about a week. We - 80 riot police - were supposed to storm the village of Katayama. Later we learned that there were 240 militants there. Our tasks included reconnaissance in force, and then the internal troops were supposed to replace us. But nothing happened. Ours also hit us. There was no connection. We have our own police radio, tankers have their own wave, helicopter pilots have their own. We pass the line, artillery strikes, aircraft strikes. The Chechens got scared, they thought they were some kind of fools. According to rumors, the Novosibirsk OMON was originally supposed to storm Katayama, but their commander refused. Therefore, we were thrown from the reserve to storm.
Among the Chechens, I had friends in the opposition areas. In Shali, for example, in Urus-Martan.
After the hostilities, someone drank himself, someone ended up in a madhouse - some were taken directly from Chechnya to a psychiatric hospital. There was no adaptation. The wife left immediately. I can't remember a good one. Sometimes it seems that it is better to erase all this from memory in order to live on and move forward. And sometimes you want to speak up.
Benefits seem to be, but everything is only on paper. There are no levers on how to get them. I still live in the city, it’s easier for me, but it’s impossible for rural residents. There are arms and legs - and that's good. The main trouble is that you are counting on the state, which promises you everything, and then it turns out that no one needs you. I felt like a hero, received the Order of Courage. It was my pride. Now I look at everything differently.
If I were now offered to go to war, I would probably go. It's easier there. There is an enemy and there is a friend, black and white - you stop seeing shades. And in a peaceful life, you need to twist and bend. It's tiresome. When Ukraine began, I wanted to go, but my current wife dissuaded me.

Vladimir Bykov, Moscow, infantry sergeant

When I got to Chechnya, I was 20 years old. It was a conscious choice, I applied to the military registration and enlistment office and in May 1996 I left as a contract soldier. Before that, I studied at a military school for two years, at school I was engaged in bullet shooting.
In Mozdok we were loaded onto a Mi-26 helicopter. There was a feeling that you see footage from an American movie. When we arrived in Khankala, the fighters, who had already served for some time, offered me a drink. They gave me a glass of water. I took a sip, and my first thought was: “Where would I throw it out?”. The taste of "military water" with bleach and pantocide is a kind of point of no return and understanding that there is no turning back.
I didn't feel like a hero, and I don't. To become a hero in a war, one must either die, or commit an act that has become public knowledge, or be close to the commander. And commanders, as a rule, are far away.
My goal in the war was minimal casualties. I didn't fight for the Reds or the Whites, I fought for my guys. In war there is a reassessment of values, you begin to look at life differently.
The feeling of fear begins to disappear after about a month, and this is very bad, indifference to everything appears. Each of them came out in their own way. Some smoked, some drank. I wrote letters. Described the mountains, the weather, local residents and their customs. Then I tore these letters. Sending was still not possible.

Psychologically, it was difficult, because it is often not clear whether you are a friend or an enemy. It seems that during the day a person calmly goes to work, and at night he comes out with a machine gun and fires at roadblocks. During the day you are on good terms with him, and in the evening he shoots you.
For ourselves, we divided the Chechens into lowland and mountainous. Plain more intelligent people, more integrated into our society. And those who live in the mountains have a completely different mentality, a woman is nobody for them. You ask the lady for documents for verification - and this can be perceived as a personal insult to her husband. We came across women from mountain villages who didn't even have passports.
Once, at the checkpoint at the intersection with Serzhen-Yurt, we stopped the car. A man came out of it, who had a yellow ID in English and Arabic. It turned out to be Mufti Akhmat Kadyrov. We talked quite peacefully on everyday topics. He asked if there was anything he could do to help. We then had difficulty with food, there was no bread. Then he brought two trays of loaves to us at the checkpoint. They wanted to give him money, but he did not take it.
I think that we could end the war in such a way that there would be no second Chechen war. It was necessary to go to the end, and not conclude a peace agreement on shameful terms. Many soldiers and officers then felt that the state had betrayed them.
When I returned home, I threw myself into my studies. I studied at one institute, at the same time at another, and also worked to keep my brain occupied. Then he defended his PhD thesis.
When I was a student, I was sent to a course in psychosocial care for survivors of hot spots organized by a Dutch university. I then thought that Holland did not fight with anyone in recent times. But I was told that Holland participated in the Indonesian war in the late 40s - as many as two thousand people. I offered to show them as educational material videocassette from Chechnya. But their psychologists turned out to be mentally unprepared and asked not to show the recording to the audience.

Andrey Amosov, St. Petersburg, SOBR major

That I would be an officer, I knew from the third or fourth grade. My dad is a policeman, now retired, my grandfather is an officer, my brother is also an officer, my great-grandfather died in Finnish war. At the genetic level, this has borne fruit. At school I went in for sports, then there was an army, a group special purpose. I always had a desire to repay my homeland, and when I was offered to go to a special detachment rapid response, I agreed. There was no doubt whether to go or not, I took an oath. During the military service, I was in Ingushetia, it was clear to me what kind of mentality awaits me. I understood where I was going.
When you go to SOBR, it's stupid not to think that you can lose your life. But my choice was conscious. I am ready to give my life for my country and for my friends. What are the doubts? Politics should be dealt with by politicians, and combat structures should follow orders. I believe that the introduction of troops into Chechnya both under Yeltsin and under Putin was correct so that the radical theme would not spread further on the territory of Russia.
For me, the Chechens have never been enemies. My first friend in the technical school was a Chechen, his name was Khamzat. In Chechnya, we gave them rice and buckwheat, we had good food, but they were in need.
We worked on the leaders of gangs. We captured one of them with a fight at four o'clock in the morning and destroyed it. For this I received the medal "For Courage".

On special assignments, we acted in a coordinated manner, as a single team. Tasks were set different, sometimes difficult. And it's not just combat missions. It was necessary to survive in the mountains, to freeze, to sleep in turns near the potbelly stove and to warm each other with hugs when there was no firewood. All boys are heroes to me. The team helped to overcome fear when the militants were 50 meters away and shouted "Surrender!". When I remember Chechnya, I imagine the faces of my friends more, as we joked, our unity. The humor was specific, on the verge of sarcasm. I think I underestimated it before.
It was easier for us to adapt, because we worked in the same unit and went on business trips together. Time passed, and we ourselves expressed a desire to go to the North Caucasus again. The physical factor worked. The feeling of fear that adrenaline gives had a strong influence. I regarded combat missions as both a duty and a rest.
It would be interesting to look at modern Grozny. When I saw him, he looked like Stalingrad. Now the war is periodically dreaming, there are disturbing dreams.

Alexander Podskrebaev, Moscow, GRU special forces sergeant

I ended up in Chechnya in 1996. We did not have a single conscript, only officers and contractors. I went because the homeland should be defended by adults, and not by young puppies. We didn’t have travel allowances in the battalion, only combat ones, we received 100 dollars a month. I did not go for money, but to fight for my country. “If the homeland is in danger, then everyone should go to the front,” Vysotsky also sang.
The war in Chechnya did not appear out of the blue, it is Yeltsin's fault. He armed Dudayev himself - when our units were withdrawn from there, all the warehouses of the North Caucasian Military District were left to him. I talked with ordinary Chechens, they saw this war in the coffin. They lived normally, life suited everyone. Not the Chechens started the war and not Dudayev, but Yeltsin. One solid base.
Chechens fought some for money, some for their homeland. They had their own truth. I didn't feel like they were absolute evil. But there is no truth in war.
In war, you are obliged to follow orders, there is no getting around, even criminal orders. After you have the right to appeal them, but first you must comply. And we carried out criminal orders. That's when, for example, introduced Maykop brigade to Grozny New Year. The scouts knew that this could not be done, but the order was from above. How many boys were driven to death. It was betrayal in its purest form.

Take, for example, the cash-in-transit KamAZ with money, which was standing near the headquarters of the 205th brigade when the Khasavyurt agreements were signed. Bearded guys came and loaded bags of money. The FSB members allegedly gave money to the militants for the restoration of Chechnya. And we didn’t get paid, but Yeltsin gave us Zippo lighters.
For me, the real heroes are Budanov and Shamanov. My chief of staff is a hero. While in Chechnya, he managed to write scientific work about the rupture of an artillery barrel. This is a man due to whom the power of Russian weapons will become stronger. The Chechens also had heroism. They were characterized by both fearlessness and self-sacrifice. They defended their land, they were told that they were attacked.
I believe that the emergence of post-traumatic syndrome is highly dependent on the attitude of society. If they say “Yes, you are a killer!” in your eyes all the time, it can injure someone. There were no syndromes in the Great Patriotic War, because the homeland of the heroes met.
It is necessary to talk about the war from a certain angle so that people do not engage in nonsense. There will still be peace, only part of the people will be killed. And not the worst part. There is no sense from this.

Alexander Chernov, Moscow, retired colonel, internal troops

In Chechnya, I worked as the head of a computer center. We left on July 25, 1995. There were four of us: I, as the head of the computer center, and three of my employees. We flew to Mozdok, got off the plane. The first impression is wild heat. We were taken by turntable to Khankala. By tradition, in all hot spots, the first day is non-working. I brought with me two liter bottles of White Eagle vodka, two loaves of Finnish sausage. The men put out Kizlyar cognac and sturgeon.
Camp internal troops in Khankala it was a quadrangle surrounded by barbed wire. A rail hung at the entrance in case of artillery raids to raise the alarm. The four of us lived in a trailer. It was quite convenient, we even had a refrigerator. The freezer was full of water bottles because the heat was unbearable.
Our computer center was engaged in the collection and processing of all information, primarily operational. Previously, all information was transmitted via ZAS (classifying communications equipment). And six months before Chechnya, we had a device called RAMS - I don’t know how it stands for. This device made it possible to connect a computer to ZAS, and we could transmit secret information to Moscow. In addition to internal work such as all sorts of information, twice a day - at 6 am and 12 midnight - we sent an operational report to Moscow. Despite the fact that the volume of files was small, the connection was sometimes bad, and the process dragged on for a long time.
We had a video camera and we filmed everything. The most important filming is the negotiations between Romanov (deputy minister of internal affairs of Russia, commander of internal troops Anatoly Romanov) and Maskhadov (one of the separatist leaders Aslan Maskhadov). There were two operators at the talks: from their side and from our side. The secretaries took the cassette from us, and I do not know its further fate. Or, for example, a new howitzer appeared. Romanov told us: "Go and film how it works." Our cameraman also filmed how the heads of three foreign journalists were found. We sent the film to Moscow, where it was processed and shown on television.

May 1996, airfield military base in Khankala

The war was very unprepared. Drunken Grachev and Yegorov sent tankers to Grozny on New Year's Eve, and they were all burned there. Sending tanks to the city is not quite the right decision. And the staff was not prepared. It got to the point that the Marines were removed from Far East and threw it there. People should be run in, and then the boys were almost immediately thrown into battle from training. Losses could have been avoided, in the second campaign they were an order of magnitude smaller. The truce gave a little respite.
I am sure that the first Chechen one could have been avoided. I believe that the main culprits of this war are Yeltsin, Grachev and Yegorov, they unleashed it. If Yeltsin had appointed Dudayev as Deputy Minister of the Interior, entrusted him with the North Caucasus, he would have put things in order there. The civilian population suffered from the militants. But when we bombed their villages, they rose up against us. Intelligence in the first Chechen worked very poorly. There were no agents, they lost all agents. Whether there were militants in the destroyed villages or not, it is impossible to say for sure.
My friend, a military officer, his entire chest in orders, took off his shoulder straps and refused to go to Chechnya. Said it was the wrong war. He even refused to issue a pension. Proud.
My sores worsened in Chechnya. It got to the point where I couldn't work on the computer. Another such mode of operation was that he slept only four hours, plus a glass of cognac at night to fall asleep.

Ruslan Savitsky, St. Petersburg, Private of Internal Troops

In December 1995, I arrived in Chechnya from the Perm region, where I had training in an operational battalion. We studied for six months and went to Grozny by train. We all wrote petitions to be sent to the war zone, not to be forced. If there is only one child in the family, then in general he could easily refuse.
FROM officers we were lucky. They were young guys, only two or three years older than us. They always ran ahead of us, they felt responsible. Of the entire battalion, we had only one officer with combat experience who had gone through Afghanistan. Only riot police directly participated in the cleansings, we, as a rule, held the perimeter.
In Grozny, we lived in a school for half a year. Part of it was occupied by the OMON unit, about two floors - by us. Cars were parked around, the windows were covered with bricks. In the classroom where we lived, there were potbelly stoves, stoked with firewood. Bathed once a month, lived with lice. It was undesirable to go beyond the perimeter. I was taken out of there earlier than the others for two weeks for disciplinary violations.
Hanging out at school was boring, although the food was normal. Over time, out of boredom, we began to drink. There were no shops, we bought vodka from Chechens. It was necessary to go beyond the perimeter, walk about a kilometer around the city, come to the usual a private house and say you need alcohol. There was a high probability that you would not return. I went unarmed. For one machine gun alone, they could kill.

Destroyed Grozny, 1995

Local banditry is a strange thing. It seems like a normal person during the day, but in the evening he dug up a machine gun and went to shoot. In the morning I buried the weapon - and again normal.
The first contact with death was when our sniper was killed. He fired back, he wanted to take the weapon from the dead, he stepped on the stretch and blew himself up. In my opinion, this is a complete lack of brains. I had no sense of the value of my own life. I was not afraid of death, I was afraid of stupidity. There were a lot of idiots around.
When I returned, I went to work in the police, but I did not have a secondary education. I passed the exams externally and came again, but they gave me a ride again, because I got tuberculosis in Chechnya. Also because I drank a lot. I can’t say that the army is to blame for my alcoholism. Alcohol in my life and before it was present. When the second Chechen war began, I wanted to go. I came to the military registration and enlistment office, they gave me a bunch of documents, it discouraged my desire a little. Then another conviction for some garbage appeared, and my service in the army was covered. I wanted courage and buzz, but it did not work out.

Daniil Gvozdev, Helsinki, special forces

I ended up in Chechnya on a conscription. When it came time to go to the army, I asked my coach to arrange me in good troops - we had a special-purpose company in Petrozavodsk. But at the assembly point, my surname sounded with those who go to Sertolovo to become grenade launchers. It turned out that the day before, my coach had left for Chechnya as part of a combined SOBR detachment. I, along with the whole “herd”, got up, went to the train, spent three months in the training unit. Nearby was a part of the paratroopers in Pesochnoye, he repeatedly wrote applications there to be accepted, he came. Then I realized that everything was useless, I passed the exams for the radio operator of the command and staff vehicle of the 142nd. At night, our captain and officers got us up. One walked with tears, said how he respects and loves all of us, the second tried to warn. They said we were all leaving tomorrow. The next night it was so interesting to look at this officer, I did not understand why he shed tears in front of us, he was less than I am now. He cried: “Guys, I will worry about you so much!” One of the guys said to him: "So get ready and go with us."
We flew to Vladikavkaz via Mozdok. For three months we had active studies, they gave me the 159th radio station behind my back. Then they sent me to Chechnya. I stayed there for nine months, I was the only signalman in our company who more or less understood something in communication. Six months later, I managed to knock out an assistant - a guy from Stavropol, who did not understand anything, but smoked a lot, and for him Chechnya was a paradise in general.
We performed different tasks there. Of the simple ones, they can dig up oil there with a shovel and they put such devices: a barrel, gas or diesel heaters under it, they drive the oil to a state where gasoline is obtained at the end. They sell gasoline. They drove huge convoys with trucks. ISIS, banned in Russia, is doing the same in Syria. Some won't come to an agreement, they hand over their own - and their barrels burn, and some calmly does what is needed. There was also constant work - we guarded the entire leadership of the headquarters of the North Caucasus Military District, we guarded Shamanov. Well, reconnaissance missions.
We had a task to capture a militant, some language. We went out into the night to search on the outskirts of the village, saw that cars were coming there, pouring gasoline. We noticed one comrade there, he constantly walked around, changed the heating under the barrels, he has a machine gun, well, if a machine gun means a militant. He had a bottle; The task of capturing the language has gone by the wayside, you must first capture vodka. They crawled through, found a bottle, and there was water! This made us angry, we took him prisoner. This guy, a militant, so thin, after interrogation in the intelligence department, was sent back to us. He said that he used to do Greco-Roman wrestling and did a handstand with a broken rib, I respected him greatly for this. He turned out to be the field commander's cousin, so he was exchanged for two of our soldiers. You should have seen these soldiers: 18-year-old guys, I don’t know, the psyche is clearly broken. We wrote this guy on a green handkerchief: "Nothing personal, we do not want war."
He asks, "Why didn't you kill me?" We explained that we were wondering what he was drinking. And he said that they had one Russian left in the village, they didn’t touch her, because she was a sorceress, everyone went to her. Two months ago, she gave him a bottle of water and said: "You can be killed, drink this water and stay alive."

We were constantly located in Khankala, and worked everywhere. The last we had was a demobilization chord, they released Bamut. Have you seen Nevzorov's film "Mad Company"? So we went along with them, we were on the one hand along the pass, they were on the other. They had one conscript in the company and it was he who was killed, and all the contract soldiers are alive. Once I look through binoculars, and there are some bearded people running around. The commander says: "Let's give them a couple of cucumbers." They asked me on the radio station, they tell me the coordinates, I look - they ran in, waving their hands. Then they show a white whale - what they wore under camouflage. And we realized that it was ours. It turned out that their batteries did not work for transmission and he could not transmit, but he heard me, so they began to wave.
You don't remember anything in combat. Someone says: “When I saw the eyes of this man ...” But I don’t remember this. The battle has passed, I see that everything is fine, everyone is alive. There was a situation when we got into the ring and caused fire on ourselves, it turns out that if I lie down, there is no connection, and I need to correct so that they don’t hit us. I wake up. The guys shout: “Good! Lie down." And I understand that if there is no connection, they will cover their own.
Who came up with the idea of ​​giving children weapons at the age of 18, giving them the right to kill? If they gave it, then make sure that when people return, they will be heroes, and now Kadyrov's bridges. I understand that they want to reconcile the two nations, everything will be erased in a few generations, but how can these generations live?
When I returned, it was the dashing nineties, and almost all my friends were busy with something illegal. I came under investigation, a criminal record... At some point, when my head began to move away from the military fog, I waved my hand at this romance. With the guys veterans opened public organization support for combat veterans. We work, we help ourselves, others. I also paint icons.

Chechen syndrome. Bloody deeds of veterans of Chechnya.
News » Analytics » Auth. column
Today I read in the news that a veteran of military operations in Chechnya beat his drinking companion to death with a chair. Everyone remembers what a hysterical cry on the Web was caused by the murder of the former colonel, murderer and rapist Yuri Budanov. (I will not be surprised even if he is soon called a saint and depicted on icons as a holy martyr killed by vile enemies). At the same time, almost no one discusses the facts when veterans of military operations in Chechnya kill, beat and maim innocent citizens, not somewhere in Chechnya, but thousands of kilometers away, and the crimes committed are particularly cruel and atrocity.

For example, here are some messages from the news feeds:

In the Novgorod region, a man committed a brutal murder to prove his participation in the restoration of constitutional order on the territory of the Chechen Republic. According to the Regnum agency (http://www.regnum.ru/news/1139613.html), the investigative department of the investigative committee at the RF Prosecutor's Office for the Novgorod region said that a 27-year-old man who was military service in Chechnya, drank alcohol with a 20-year-old acquaintance and said that he "participated in hostilities, so he can kill a person." “The statement about the murder of a man caused great doubts among his friend, and in order to prove his abilities, the man went to his previously acquaintance and inflicted multiple wounds on her. At the same time, his drinking buddy kept the woman until her death,” the department said.

Apparently, for someone who served in Chechnya, killing an innocent person is like drinking a bottle of vodka. Interestingly, in the comments to this news on one of the sites, some even sympathize with the killer, they say, they lost their nerve, Chechnya passed, etc. if he were a Caucasian, they would call him a beast that must be destroyed as soon as possible.

Another example:

According to information from the website of the Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee under the Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation for Krasnodar Territory(http://www.skp-kuban.ru/content/section/8/detail/9471/), Denis Mekhov, who previously served in a special forces detachment on the territory of the Chechen Republic, while intoxicated, driving a KamAZ car drove into the territory of the public garden located along Klara Zetkin Street in the village of Uspensky, where traffic is prohibited. At that moment, a local resident passing by began to complain to the driver. After the remark made, Mekhov became furious and hit the woman on the head with a tire iron, after which he drove over the victim in his KamAZ. The woman died from her injuries.

Unfortunately, the website of the RF Investigative Committee for the Krasnodar Territory does not say what exactly the killer did in Chechnya, it is quite possible that this is not his first experience of moving people on KamAZ and I would not be surprised if he practiced this on the inhabitants of Chechnya as well.

Novosibirsk garrison court sentenced senior sergeant to 13 years in prison contract service participant of the counter-terrorist operation in the North Caucasus Maxim Tsatsura. Arriving from Chechnya on vacation, the mortar gunner brutally killed a girl who refused him physical intimacy. (http://www.kommersant.ru/doc/866744) When the girl answered with a categorical refusal, the contractor pushed her out of the car, dragged her by the hair to the trunk and, taking the jack out of it, smashed the victim's head. According to the defendant, he stopped only when the bones of the victim's skull crunched. When, during the process, the protocol of examination of the corpse was announced (experts found more than 100 injuries on the body of the victim). A few days later, the mortar man returned to Chechnya to his duty station as if nothing had happened.

And there are many such examples:

A young nurse, Tatiana from Nizhny Novgorod, had been married for only 10 days when her husband, Alexander, stabbed her to death for not finding his misplaced cigarettes. Then Alexander tried to kill himself with the same knife, but failed.

In Saratov, 20-year-old Aleksey killed a tipsy passer-by with an ax because this man rudely refused an offer to visit.

In the Urals industrial city of Verkh-Isetsk, former army sniper Andrei, after a petty quarrel with his father, sent him to the hospital with a fractured skull, and later tried to commit suicide. All these crimes are linked by the fact that those who committed them fought in Chechnya. So is it a Chechen syndrome or people who are accustomed to blood and lawlessness cannot stop?

According to the Deputy Director of the National Center for Social and Forensic Psychiatry. Serbian Yuri Aleksandrovsky, about one and a half million (including internal troops and police officers) Russian veterans of the war in Chechnya experience the “Chechen syndrome”. Irritability, aggressiveness, neuroses, hysteria - many veterans complain about this. And if help is not provided in time, then the stage comes when mental illness becomes obvious, and sometimes dangerous for others, and the last stage of the disease leads to the destruction of the personality. A person becomes hostile to the outside world, suicides often occur, but most often the violence is directed outward. Also according to the Union of Veterans of Participants local wars, today about 100,000 veterans of local wars are in prisons and colonies only for serious crimes, and there are also not serious ones.

Today there are no official statistics on crimes committed by combat veterans in Chechnya. At the same time, officials refute the concept of the "Chechen syndrome", saying that this concept was invented by journalists. However, it is obvious that some of the veterans who participated in military campaigns in Chechnya apply their bloody experience in peacetime, forgetting that they are no longer in Chechnya, where any lawlessness can be done. As you know, time endures and you always have to answer for the perfect deeds.

While working on the report, I contacted the military commissariat of the Zhigansky ulus. As of September 14, there is a person on the list of participants in hostilities in the Chechen Republic.

While working on the report, I studied the subscription of the newspapers "Republic of Sakha" from 1995. Found a lot interesting information about the fighting in Chechnya. The events that took place in Chechnya did not leave anyone indifferent.

In the newspaper "R. Sakha” dated February 10, 1995 read a cycle of poems “Chechen Notebook” by Ivan Pereverzin, a poet from Lensk. These verses have become a kind of blinding of the situation in Chechnya. G. Lavrentiev in an open letter calls to stop the fratricidal war.

Women actively worked in this direction. Batagay, who demanded to stop sending Yakutians to Chechnya. The Committee of Soldiers' Mothers of Russia also demanded an end to the military action in Chechnya. Every Wednesday at about 10 o'clock in the afternoon they came to the entrance to the State Duma to keep watch in black robes. It was a reminder to politicians that people are dying in Chechnya through their fault.

I want to tell about Kolesov Albert Ilyich.

Albert was born on January 16, 1976. Finished school in 1993. After graduating from school in 1994 - 1995, he worked as a coach in the Kystatyam high school. In June 1995, he went to serve in the army. On June 19, he ended up in the Irkutsk military unit, served for 1 year. After a year of service, they began to recruit soldiers for service in Chechnya. Albert himself says: “I was among the 6th soldiers who voluntarily wrote a statement. I missed my Motherland and relatives very much, and service in Chechnya was counted as follows: one day was counted as two days of service, so I wrote a statement in order to get home faster. After After 6 months of service he came home, and in May 1996 he arrived in the village of Urus-Martan "Gekhi".

Before coming, in Chechnya, in the place "Mozdok", 1 month of training passed. In Chechnya, the civilian population treated us friendly. When I walked around the market, they gave us something for free, treated us. During the service in the daytime, the situation was calm, and at night there were skirmishes. Our service was to dig trenches and carry guards day and night. Near our unit was the village "Gekhi" we also defended it from Chechen fighters.

At one time, a rumor spread that 60 Chechen fighters were stationed in the village. By order, the riot police had to build an assault, they fired missiles from a military helicopter. We asked for help from our battalion. At the appointed time, we helped the riot police in the assault. What was shown on TV, I saw in reality. There were only 16 fighters from Yakutia in our unit. There were also guys from Bashkiria, Buryatia, Tuva. "

At present, Kolesov Albert Ilyich works as a supply manager in the Zhigansky House of Creativity. Engaged in freestyle wrestling school years, participates in freestyle wrestling competitions, visited different uluses of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) (in Vilyuisky, Verkhne-Vilyuisky, Amginsky, Kangalassky, Ust-Aldansky, Nyurbinsky uluses and the city of Mirny). He always won prizes, in republican competitions he always took 4-5 places. Participating in competitions, he visited Kyiv, Krasnoyarsk and Bryansk regions. In the 10th grade Kolesov Albert studied in Amginskaya sports school. In the 11th grade he studied at his native school. After graduating from school, he entered the Olympic Reserve School. After studying for 6 months, he returned to his native ulus. Appointed as a physical trainer. After serving in Chechnya, Kolesov Albert Ilyich got married, has two daughters, works as a supply manager in an orphanage of creativity. Ivanov's wife Maria Aleksandrovna studies in absentia at YSU.

The history of Russia is the history of a feat accomplished. No other state has endured so many wars in its history as Russia has experienced. Khazar hordes, Mongol hordes, Napoleonic armies, the German Wehrmacht - they were all looking for world domination. Everyone got in the way of him, Russia, Russia. Russian people love for their native land, where they were born and raised, for their homeland is characteristic. And this feeling is called patriotism. The patriotism of Russians is manifested in their readiness to defend, not sparing their lives, their Fatherland. My report is dedicated to those who in our peacetime knew the hardships of war. This war has no history yet. She is not written. But this war has witnesses. And they want to be heard, they want to be needed by the truth.

Kolesov Albert Ilyich made his contribution to this war. His not easy army road passed through Chechnya. The road of a graduate of our school turned out to be not easy. Our graduates - soldiers who returned from the Chechen war, brought with them love for the Motherland. Years will pass. Much will be forgotten over time. The wounds will heal. The soldiers will have children. But this war will remain an indelible tragic mark among the people.