Battle of Grozny ( August 1996 ) In the Battle of Grozny of August 1996 ( also known as Operation Jihad or Operation Zero Option ) , Chechen rebels regained and then kept control of Chechnya ' s capital Grozny in a surprise raid . The Russian Federation had conquered the city during the Battle of Grozny ( 1994 – 1995 ) and posted there a large garrison of federal and republican Ministry of the Interior ( MVD ) troops . The much smaller rebel force infiltrated Grozny and either routed the MVD forces or split them into many pockets of resistance . Chechen separatists then beat back and decimated the Russian Ground Forces units that had been sent to eject the rebels and rescue their own trapped forces . The final result was a ceasefire that effectively ended the First Chechen War of 1994 – 1996 . Background . In July 1996 , the Russian leadership abandoned the uneasy peace process in Chechnya and resumed large - scale military operations . Between July 9 and July 16 , 1996 , Russian forces attacked separatist bases in the foothills and mountains in the south of the Chechen Republic . On July 20 , Russians forces launched a large - scale campaign to pacify the southern highlands , moving most of their combat troops there . On August 6 , the very day of the rebel offensive , Russian forces began a major operation in the village of Alkhan - Yurt by moving 1 , 500 paramilitary Internal Troops and pro - Moscow Chechen policemen of Doku Zavgayev ' s government out of Grozny . Battle . Chechen units attacking Grozny consisted of 1 , 300 – 3 , 000 fighters ( initially , Russian media reported that only 250 fighters had entered the city ) . The Russian garrison inside the city consisted of some 12 , 000 troops . To covercome the Russian numerical superiority , Chechen chief of staff Aslan Maskhadov employed infiltration tactics . Using their intimate knowledge of the city , Chechen units entered Grozny and avoided the network of Russian checkpoints and other positions in a carefully planned and highly - coordinated rapid advance before attacking or blocking targets deep in Moscow - controlled territory . Their main objectives were the command and control assets at the military airfield at Khankala and the militarised Severny Airport ( Grozny Airport ) , along with the headquarters of the FSB and GRU security and military intelligence services . They also blocked roads and took up strategic positions on the approaches to the city . According to Chechen commander Tourpal Ali - Kaimov , 1 , 500 Chechen fighters infiltrated the city , of which 47 were killed during the initial attack . The rebel forces attacked Grozny at 5 : 50 on August 6 in an operation that took three hours . Rather than trying to capture or destroy all individual fortified checkpoints ( " blokpost " ) , barracks , police stations , and other Russian positions , the rebel fighters cut off and isolated most of them , mining the approaches to prevent escape or reinforcements , and waited for the government troops to surrender . By August 9 , Russian news agency Interfax put the number of surrounded troops at some 7 , 000 . In addition to MVD and FSB troops and non - combat personnel , military troops were stationed in the city . The largest pocket was located at the government offices in the center of the city , including the interior ministry building and the republican FSB headquarters . A group of about 10 Russian journalists were trapped in a hotel near the compound . Pro - Russian Chechen government fled to Khankala military base , just outside the capital . In another part of the city , several groups of Russian troops took shelter at the Municipal Hospital 9 , where they held approximately 500 civilians hostage until they were allowed to evacuate . A number of Chechens deemed to be collaborators were rounded up , detained , and executed . According to the human rights organization Memorial , reliable sources stated that the execution list for one region of Grozny comprised more than 200 names . Said - Magomed Kakiyev was the only survivor of a group of 30 Chechen OMON special police officers who were executed by the fighters of Dokka Umarov and Ruslan Gelayev after defenders at the mayor ' s office surrendered on August 6 , reportedly on the promise of free passage . According to Gelayev , " Zavgayev had either 15 or 18 thousand ' Chechen policemen ' [ in all of Chechnya ] , but as soon as we entered Grozny in August 1996 , they all scattered and went home , then they went over to the Mujahideen , except for a few dozens of those who were guilty of shedding Chechen blood . " Within a week , the number of rebel fighters in Grozny grew to between 6 , 000 and 7 , 000 as members of Zavgayev ' s forces changed sides and reinforcements were received . On August 7 , a large armored column from the 205th " Cossack " Separate Motor Rifle Brigade arrived to assist the trapped Russian forces . The day before , a Chechen separatist group led by Akhmed Zakayev had captured a large supply of RPO rocket launchers by seizing Grozny ' s main railway station ( according to the 2002 indictment by the Russian government , Zakayev ' s fighters killed or wounded more than 300 MVD troops at the train station ) ; as a result , Russian tanks became much easier targets for Chechen mobile units . When the Russian military sent another column on August 8 , they too were stopped and lost many vehicles to Chechen ambushes . On the fifth day of the battle , 900 fresh soldiers of the 276th Motor Rifle Regiment attempted to retake the center of the city , but failed at the price of about half of them being killed or wounded within just two days . Only one column of armored vehicles succeeded in delivering some supplies to the besieged federal stronghold in the city center and evacuating some of the wounded . Over the course of five days of their counterattacks , Russian columns lost 18 tanks , 69 other armoured vehicles , and 23 trucks and cars ; in addition , three helicopters were shot down . The head of the International Red Cross in Grozny said that " most of the city is mined , and there ' s a lot of aerial bombardments . " The European Union called on both sides to cease fire immediately , without effect . Russian President Boris Yeltsin declared a day of mourning for the victims in Chechnya . Battles also continued on the outskirts of the city and elsewhere in the republic . On August 19 , Russian General Kostantin Pulikovsky issued an ultimatum that the rebels should leave Grozny within 48 hours or face an all - out attack . The threat resulted in mass panic among the remaining civilian population , estimated by Human Rights Watch at 300 , 000 . Strikes by aircraft and artillery commenced on August 20 . In chaotic scenes , as the bombardment indiscriminately hit residential areas and at least one hospital , terrified refugees fled the city . Many of them were reportedly killed when their columns were hit by artillery fire . In all , about 220 , 000 refugees fled the city . The number of those who remained in the city was estimated by Memorial at between 50 , 000 to 70 , 000 and males older than 11 were considered suspected fighters and as such were not to be let through the Russian lines . Many refugees were also fired on at checkpoints , and Russian state television ORT journalist Ramzan Khadzhiev was executed by federal soldiers while trying to flee the city . Russian General Alexander Lebed , however , managed to mostly avert further bloodshed in Grozny . Meanwhile , the Russian offensive in the southern mountains continued . After returning to Chechnya on August 20 , Lebed ordered a new ceasefire and re - opened direct talks with the rebel leaders , aided by the Organization for Security and Co - operation in Europe ( OSCE ) . On August 22 , Russia agreed to withdraw of all its forces in Chechnya to their bases at Khankala and Severny . On August 30 , 1996 , Generals Lebed and Maskhadov signed the Khasav - Yurt Accord , an agreement that marked the end of the First Chechen War . Aftermath . The Khasav - Yurt Accord paved the way for the signing of two further agreements between Russia and Chechnya . In mid - November 1996 , Boris Yeltsin and Aslan Maskhadov signed an agreement on economic relations and reparations to Chechens who had been affected by the 1994 – 96 war . On May 12 , 1997 , Presidents Maskhadov and Yeltsin signed the Russian – Chechen Peace Treaty , calling for " peace and the principles of Russian - Chechen relations . " The incursion into Dagestan in the summer of 1999 , however , led to a breach of these treaties and the start of the Second Chechen War . In 2000 , Pavel Felgenhauer commented : " In 1996 , Russian generals insisted that they could ' liberate ' Grozny only by totally destroying the city with massive heavy gun and aerial bombardments , but such an indiscriminate attack was not approved by the Kremlin . In 1996 , the Russian public , military and political elite were fed up and opted to withdraw Russian troops . Anyway , the destruction of Grozny in August 1996 was hardly a reasonable option : Thousands of MVD troops were trapped in the city and most likely would have perished together with the Chechens . Today heavy bombs and guns are used against Chechen towns and villages without limitations . "