The Grozny refugee convoy shooting occurred on 3 December 1999, when at least 40 people fleeing the

besieged Besieged may refer to: * the state of being under siege * ''Besieged'' (film), a 1998 film by Bernardo Bertolucci {{disambiguation ...

Chechen capital

Grozny Grozny ( rus, Грозный, p=ˈgroznɨj; ce, Соьлжа-ГӀала, translit=Sölƶa-Ġala), also spelled Groznyy, is the capital city of Chechnya, Russia. The city lies on the Sunzha River. According to the 2010 census, it had a pop ...

were reportedly killed by Russian special police units,

OMON OMON (russian: ОМОН – Отряд Мобильный Особого Назначения , translit = Otryad Mobil'nyy Osobogo Naznacheniya , translation = Special Purpose Mobile Unit, , previously ru , Отряд Милиции Осо� ...

Incident

According to accounts from survivors, a

refugee A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution.

convoy consisting of about 50 people in seven or eight passenger cars and one bus marked with

white flag White flags have had different meanings throughout history and depending on the locale. Contemporary use The white flag is an internationally recognized protective sign of truce or ceasefire, and for negotiation. It is also used to symbolize ...

s, was heading towards the border with the Russian republic of

Ingushetia Ingushetia (; russian: Ингуше́тия; inh, ГӀалгӏайче, Ghalghayče), officially the Republic of Ingushetia,; inh, Гӏалгӏай Мохк, Ghalghay Moxk is a republic of Russia located in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe. ...

, when they approached a federal

roadblock A roadblock is a temporary installation set up to control or block traffic along a road. The reasons for one could be: *Roadworks *Temporary road closure during special events * Police chase *Robbery *Sobriety checkpoint In peaceful circumstances ...

near the village of Goyty. One survivor described masked OMON troops opening fire with

automatic rifle An automatic rifle is a type of autoloading rifle that is capable of fully automatic fire. Automatic rifles are generally select-fire weapons capable of firing in semi-automatic and automatic firing modes (some automatic rifles are capable of ...

s from their position in the nearby forest without warning. The bus exploded as bullets pierced its fuel tank. After the shooting, Russian soldiers gave

first aid First aid is the first and immediate assistance given to any person with either a minor or serious illness or injury, with care provided to preserve life, prevent the condition from worsening, or to promote recovery. It includes initial in ...

and

painkiller An analgesic drug, also called simply an analgesic (American English), analgaesic (British English), pain reliever, or painkiller, is any member of the group of drugs used to achieve relief from pain (that is, analgesia or pain management). It i ...

s to the handful of survivors and brought them to the hospital in

Ordzhonikidzevskaya Sunzha (russian: Сунжа, Sunzha; inh, Шолжа-Пхье, Šolža-Pꜧe; is a town and the administrative center of the Sunzhensky District of the Republic of Ingushetia Russia. Before 2016 it was called Ordzhonikidzevskaya ( inh, Ордж ...

, Ingushetia, where they were interviewed by journalists. The incident happened just a few miles from a major battle at the crossroads of

Urus-Martan Urus-Martan (russian: Уру́с-Марта́н; ce, Хьалха-Марта, ''Ẋalxa-Marta'' or , ''Martanthi'') is a town and the administrative center of Urus-Martanovsky District of the Chechen Republic, Russia, located on the Martan River ...

, which sits astride a road that Chechen militants were using as a supply line. Another battle was under way not far from there, in the village of . The

Russian Ministry of Defence The Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation (russian: Министерство обороны Российской Федерации, Минобороны России, informally abbreviated as МО, МО РФ or Minoboron) is the govern ...

stated that the media reports of this incident were

disinformation Disinformation is false information deliberately spread to deceive people. It is sometimes confused with misinformation, which is false information but is not deliberate. The English word ''disinformation'' comes from the application of the L ...

. Officials were quoted as saying that 30 vehicles were destroyed on roads leading out of Grozny, but that all the cars contained rebels, not civilians. They also said that they had opened a safe passage out of Grozny for the thousands of civilians. A similar incident involving refugees fleeing Grozny was reported in August 1996 during the

First Chechen War The First Chechen War, also known as the First Chechen Campaign,, rmed conflict in the Chechen Republic and on bordering territories of the Russian FederationФедеральный закон № 5-ФЗ от 12 января 1995 (в реда� ...

References

External links

'Russians fired on refugees'

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...

, 4 December 1999 {{DEFAULTSORT:Grozny Refugee Convoy Shooting 1999 murders in Russia 20th-century mass murder in Russia Conflicts in 1999 Deaths by firearm in Russia December 1999 events in Russia History of Grozny Mass murder in 1999 Mass shootings in Russia Massacres in Russia Spree shootings in Russia War crimes of the Second Chechen War

Incident

See also

References

External links