The Battle of Vedeno was fought between

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

n federal forces and Chechen rebels for control of the mountainous Vedensky District in southeastern

Chechnya Chechnya ( rus, Чечня́, Chechnyá, p=tɕɪtɕˈnʲa; ce, Нохчийчоь, Noxçiyçö), officially the Chechen Republic,; ce, Нохчийн Республика, Noxçiyn Respublika is a republic of Russia. It is situated in the ...

and its capital

Vedeno Vedeno (russian: Ведено; ce, Ведана, ''Vedana'') is a rural locality (a '' selo'') and the administrative center of Vedensky District, Chechnya. Administrative and municipal status Municipally, Vedeno is incorporated into Vedens ...

Battle

The battle started on 13 August 2001, when Chechen rebels seized the village of Benoi-Yurt, attacked the local military commandant's office, and placed checkpoints on a strategic road that leads further south to the town of

. Pro-

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

administrators were reportedly killed by the rebels. Fierce fighting continued the next day on 14 August, described as the "heaviest attack by Chechen fighters in the past seventeen months." Russian sources denied reports by independent agencies, claiming that the situation was under control; however, federal reinforcements were immediately sent to the area. Russian presidential spokesman

Sergei Yastrzhembsky Sergey Vladimirovich Yastrzhembsky (russian: Серге́й Владимирович Ястржембский, pl, Siergiej Władimirowicz Jastrzębski), born December 4, 1953, Moscow, is a Russian Federation politician and diplomat. He was Yelts ...

called the latest developments "an imitation of activity by 'the gangs'." The Russian army began firing

SCUD A Scud missile is one of a series of tactical ballistic missiles developed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War. It was exported widely to both Second World, Second and Third World, Third World countries. The term comes from the NATO reporti ...

missiles at Vedeno on 15 August. Meanwhile, rebels hit a military

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...

with a

grenade launcher A grenade launcher is a weapon that fires a specially-designed large-caliber projectile, often with an explosive, smoke or gas warhead. Today, the term generally refers to a class of dedicated firearms firing unitary grenade cartridges. The mos ...

near

Tsa Vedeno The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that has authority over the security of transportation systems within, and connecting to the United States. It was created ...

, resulting in its crash and the deaths of both its pilots. Two days later on 17 August, Chechen fighters shot down a third helicopter, then-incumbent minister of information

Movladi Udugov Movladi Saidarbievich Udugov ( ce, Мовла́ди Саидарби́евич Уду́гов; born February 9, 1962 in Germenchuk, Shalinsky District, Chechnya into the Shirdi teip) was the former First Deputy Prime Minister of the Chechen R ...

. The news was partly denied by Russian officials, who only admitted to two helicopters having been shot down. The Russian government announced on 22 August that the army had wounded Shamil Basayev, the country’s most wanted man who killed more than 35 other rebels in Chechnya, while a pro-rebel website insisted more than 40 Russians had died in fierce fighting, including 14 in two separate ambushes.Top Chechen rebel hurt, 35 dead
Reuters, August 22, 2001 On 26 August, Chechen rebels reportedly managed to seize control of Vedeno. At the same time, Russian media, citing military sources, reported an upsurge in the number of attacks on federal forces in Chechnya's northern districts, which were previously regarded as having been pacified.

References

External links

Monthly news
''Prague Watchdog'', August 2001
REBEL FORCES CLAIM THEY SEIZED VEDENO

Jamestown Foundation The Jamestown Foundation is a Washington, D.C.-based conservative defense policy think tank. Founded in 1984 as a platform to support Soviet defectors, its stated mission today is to inform and educate policy makers about events and trends, which ...

, August 30, 2001 {{DEFAULTSORT:Vedeno

Conflicts in 2001 August 2001 events in Russia Battles in 2001