Of the ninety paratroopers who took the battle against superior terrorist forces, 84 were killed, including 13 officers. They did not flinch, did not retreat, and fulfilled their military duty to the end, stopping the advance of the gang.
Then, in February 2000, the military phase – an important stage – of the second Chechen war was ending. After the fall of Grozny and Shatoy (the last large settlements in Chechnya remaining in the hands of militants), according to the federal command, the defeated militants should have divided into small detachments and dispersed to mountain bases. However, the militants concentrated. Most of their commanders, including Sh. Basayev and Khattab, proposed to break through in a north-eastern direction, towards the Dagestan border. One of the most obvious routes of retreat was the Argun Gorge.
In total, in the area of the village of Ulus-Kert, then, according to various sources, from 1.5 to 2.5 thousand well-trained militants were concentrated.
On the part of the federal troops, to cover this direction, among other units, the 6th company was sent – a combined detachment of paratroopers under the command of Guard Lieutenant Colonel M. Evtyukhin, who was given the task of occupying a line four kilometers southeast of Ulus-Kert, with the aim of to prevent a possible breakthrough of militants in the direction of Vedeno.
The 6th company gained a foothold on the dominant height 776. But the militants went ahead. The battle near Ulus-Kert began on February 29, 2000 and continued throughout the next day. Although the paratroopers received no help other than the breakthrough of 10 scouts of the 4th company and fire support from artillery units, they fought to the death.
The artillerymen “worked” on the heights all night. On the morning of March 1, hand-to-hand fighting ensued, and at a critical moment, Lieutenant Colonel Evtyukhin called in artillery fire “On himself!” On March 2, the remaining militants were scattered by an air and artillery raid. The soldiers of the 1st company of the 1st battalion also tried to help their comrades.
But while crossing the Abazulgol River, they were ambushed and were forced to gain a foothold on the bank. Only on the morning of March 2 did they manage to break through, but it was too late – the 6th company died, only 6 soldiers remained alive.
According to federal forces, militant losses ranged from 400 to 700 people. The remaining militants managed to break out of the Argun Gorge. They went to the mountains and disappeared. Later, some field commanders were killed.
The death of the paratroopers, left without help and cut off from reinforcements, raised a large number of questions among the public and relatives of the victims about the authorities and military command. According to many military analysts and media representatives, the death of the 6th company was caused by a number of mistakes and miscalculations of the Russian command.
On August 2, 2000, on the day of the 70th anniversary of the Airborne Forces, Russian President V. Putin came to the Pskov division and personally apologized to the relatives of the victims for “gross miscalculations that have to be paid for with the lives of Russian soldiers,” admitting the Kremlin’s guilt. But even years later, neither the president nor the military prosecutor’s office explained who exactly made these gross miscalculations, paid for with the lives of soldiers.
Subsequently, all the dead paratroopers were forever included in the lists of the 104th Guards Regiment. By decree of the President of the Russian Federation, 22 paratroopers were awarded the title of Heroes of Russia (21 posthumously), and 68 soldiers and officers of the 6th company were awarded the Order of Courage (63 posthumously).
All of them are guys from 47 republics, territories and regions of Russia and neighboring republics. The films “I Have the Honor”, “Breakthrough”, “Russian Sacrifice”, the musical “Warriors of the Spirit”, the books “Company”, “Breakthrough”, “Step into Immortality”, songs are dedicated to the memory of the Pskov paratroopers. The streets of their native cities were named in their honor, and memorial plaques were installed in educational institutions where the hero-paratroopers studied.
Monuments were erected to them in Moscow and Pskov. However, the anniversary of this battle is not usually celebrated at the official level. Commemorative events in the last days of February – early March are usually carried out by public organizations and relatives…
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