Battle of Hill 776

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Battle of Hill 776

Date	February 29-March 1, 2000
Location	Near Ulus-Kert, Chechnya
Result	Chechen victory

Combatants

VDV, Spetsnaz and OSNAZ special forces

Chechen and foreign mujahideen

Commanders

Mark Yevtukhin †

Abu al-Walid

Strength

On the hilltop
VDV company of 90 men
In the Ulus-Kert area
Three VDV battalions with attached Spetznaz elements, an artillery battalion, a Vympel group (about 1,000 or more)

More than 90 to 2,000 (probably over 300), including at least 70 involved in the assault on Hill 776

Casualties

At least 84 to 200 killed

25 to 400 killed

The Battle of Hill 776, also known as the Battle of Ulus-Kert, was a controversial battle in the Second Chechen War that saw a company of Russian paratroopers wiped out near the Argun gorge, over the course of several days.

The unit in question was the 6th Company, part of 2nd Battalion, 104th Parachute Landing Regiment, 76th Guards Pskov Airborne Division. Uncertainty continues to surround many aspects of the engagement, including how many casualties the Russians themselves inflicted and why defenders of the Hill 776 received no reinforcements or air support during the course of the battle.

While 84-86 Russian soldiers and officers were ultimately reported killed in battle, the Russian Airborne Troops commander General Georgy Shpak and Chechnya federal commander Gennady Troshev both initially insisted only 31 men died in the battle. [1] All 13 officers and nine of the doomed company's enlisted men received medal of Hero of the Russian Federation. The losses of the other Russian units were not disclosed. According to Krasnaya Zvezda (Red Star), the official newspaper of the Russian Ministry of Defense, Chechen casualties included approximately 400 dead.

The Chechens admitted losing 12 men killed on the Hill 776 and 13 in related fighting in the Ulus-Kert area at the time (including three Turks [2]), and put overall Russian losses at some 200 dead (including "about hundred so-called Pskov commandos" [3]). The non-Chechen sources estimate the strength of the Chechen force at over 300 or more.

Partially owing to these points of controversy, the battle has been seen in Russia in two ways: firstly, as a catastrophic defeat for the Russian military, and secondly, as a glorious last stand made by the paratroopers, confirming the VDV's reputation as an elite force in the same way that Camerone did for the French Foreign Legion, and the battle of Ulus-Kert was quickly enshrined in heroic myth.