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Battle of Ulus-Kert
Part of Second Chechen War
File:Ulus-Kert.jpg Russian paratroopers killed in action on Hill 776
Date February 29-March 1 2000 Location Area of Hill 776 near Ulus-Kert, Chechnya Result Disputed
Belligerents
VDV Spetsnaz	Chechen rebels Mujahideen
Commanders and leaders
Mark Yevtukhin † and others	Abu al-Walid and others
Casualties and losses
At least 84 killed	At least 1000 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 (90 men) wiped out near the Argun gorge, over the course of several days, leaving only six survivors on the Russian side.

Controversies

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.

While 84 Russian soldiers and officers were ultimately confirmed killed in battle, Russia's high commanders, including General Georgy Shpak, the Russian Airborne Troops commander, and General Gennady Troshev, commander of federal forces in Chechnya, initially falsely insisted only 31 men died in the battle (Vladimir Putin's spokesman on Chechnya, Sergei Yastrzhembsky, also claimed 31 killed were "the total losses of that company for several days"). The losses of the other Russian units operating in area were never disclosed.

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), and put overall Russian losses at some 200 dead (including "about hundred so-called Pskov commandos"). According to Krasnaya Zvezda (Red Star), the official newspaper of the Russian Ministry of Defence, Chechen casualties included approximately 400 dead, including 200 found on the Hill 776.

Aftermath

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.

All 13 officers and nine enlisted men of the doomed company received the country's highest medal and honorary title of Hero of the Russian Federation, and the events sparked army-sponsored visual arts pieces, including a television miniseries, a film, and a theatrical musical.

References

1. RFE/RL Inc. (7 March 2000). "Chechnya: Russia Provides Conflicting Reports On Casualties". {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)CS1 maint: year (link)
2. GlobalSecurity.org (6 March 2000). "On The Situation in the North Caucasus". {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)CS1 maint: year (link)
3. The Jamestown Foundation (7 April 2005). "Turkish Volunteers in Chechnya". {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)CS1 maint: year (link)
4. Chechenpress (8 March 2005) The battle of Ulus-Kert gives no rest to Moscow

External links

• Nation grieves for lost paratroops of Pskov The Independent
• Chechen photos of the aftermath Kavkaz Center
• ULUS-KERT: An Airborne Company’'s Last Stand U.S. Army Combined Arms Center

• 2000 in Russia
• Battles of the Second Chechen War
• Soviet & Russian Airborne Forces