Chris Doss The Russia Journal ----------------------------
Moskovsky Komsomlets May 30, 2002 THE CHECHEN GUN Did Russia's commanders sponsor the Chechen war? Author: Viktor Sokirko [from WPS Monitoring Agency, www.wps.ru/e_index.html] AROUND 1994, THE RUSSIAN TOP BRASS ISSUED A NUMBER OF ORDERS FOR THE TRANSFER OF HUGE AMOUNTS OF AMMUNITION AND ARMS TO CHECHNYA. CHECHENS OBTAINED A LOT OF WEAPONS IN OTHER WAYS, INCLUDING ATTACKS ON MILITARY BASES. ALL THIS IS NOW ASSUMED TO HAVE TAKEN PLACE WITH THE GOVERNMENT'S SANCTION.
A group of guerrillas was recently destroyed during a special operation in the Argun Gorge, Chechnya. In the conflict area, the federal troops found a few brand-new American M-16 rifles. There had been no discoveries of foreign weapons here previously, except for guns. There had also been talk of Stingers. However, Chechens had not had even a small batch of weapons with the brand "Made in...".
In the words of the military from the headquarters of the grouping in Khankala, "the requisitioning of American arms testifies to the fact that gunmen, despite the efforts of the federal forces and border guard units of the neighbor countries to close the border, still manage to acquire arms abroad and transfer it by caravans to the territory of Chechnya". The war cannot go on without replenishment, including with arms and ammunitions. Gunmen prefer to replenish their outfit exactly with Russian arms which are more habitual for them and, besides, a Kalashnikov submachine gun is naturally more secure than an American rifle. A huge number of "guns" in Chechnya is of exclusively domestic manufacture. Although, not only "guns"...
Chechnya received the largest batch of arms and ammunition exactly in 1992 from the Russian army. All the subsequent purchases and thefts of this commodity seem just laughable as against that arsenal Russia had given away to Chechnya. This had been comparable with a full arming of real army, which actually was had been the case. It is after the "gift of Grachev" that Dzokhar Dudaev was able to organize his armed forces, of which the remnants are at war by now. In his enciphered message to the North-Caucasian Military District, the "best minister" prescribed passing over the arms and materiel of the 173rd district training center. The amount was determined: military materiel and armament - 50%, ammunition - two units, while automotives, property and reserves of material funds were supposed to realize at depreciated cost. Chechens got nearly everything...
Tanks (42 units) - in full. Armored personnel carriers and combat infantry vehicles (14 and 34) - in full. There were 265 training airplanes made in the Czech Republic in Chechnya (at these, rocket- cannon equipment was supposed to be installed) - all this went to the "hawks of Dudaev". There was no one to fly, but such a store of jet airplanes is not unnecessary. Pilots could be recruited abroad. More so, that among other trophies Chechens got 243 aircraft-launched missiles and 7,000 shells. The entire Chechen aviation was destroyed by Russian bombers back in December 1994 when the first invasion in Chechnya began.
As of 11 December 1994, the grouping of illegal armed units, including volunteers and mercenaries, amounted to about 13,000 people, 40 tanks, 50 armored personnel carriers and combat infantry vehicles, up to 100 field artillery units and mortars, 600 antitank means, and up to 200 aircraft defense systems. Everything was ready for open war against Russia.
They had what to wage the war with. Only ammunition left in Chechnya was 27 railroad cars. And almost 40,000 units of shooting arms on top. "Care" had been taken even about the uniforms at the rate of 38,000 sets and food - 72 tons of provisions. The columns of Russian troops entering Chechnya was not opposed by wild highlanders with fowling-pieces, but quite a prepared army, not to be defeated by one paratrooper regiment. The battles were bloody, especially in Grozny where the gunmen made the most successful use of the tactics of city battle. According to official repots, the federal armed forces destroyed then 6,690 gunmen, 64 tanks, 71 combat infantry vehicles, 108 guns, and 16 Grad units. They seized 179 bases and 11 ammunition storages. However, the casualties among the federals were not a bit less... They might have been if the Chechens had not been carefully armed before.
It goes without saying that even in the distant 1992 Chechens did not only get armed at the expense of the Russian army - they captured arms wherever and however possible. Only from 06 through 09 February in Grozny they destroyed the 566th internal troops regiment, seized the dislocations of four army units, and launched attacks at the military settlements of the 173rd district training center. As a result, they stole over 4,000 units of shooting arms, about 3 million units of ammunition, 186 automobiles, etc. The question of who is guilty of that robbery poised in midair. At least, the same ex defense minister, Pavel Grachev, made no account. There is an supposition that the actions had been sanctioned from the very "top"...
However, the arming of Chechnya at the cost of the Russian army went on later too. The Ministry of Defense tries to hush this issue at all. The matter is that Russia was actively supplying arms and ammunition to the black market, using Chechnya (!) as an offshore zone (the Severny airport). Thus, Grozny was the transfer point for the dispatching of the deadly commodity for the sum of $40 billion only to Yemen. It may be assumed that arms also went to other hotspots of the planet. Dzokhar Dudaev who controlled this "business" received about 15% of the arms "exports" as the "due". If events are compared as to time, a series of explosions at army artillery depots of that time involuntarily evokes suspicions. These could have served to write off dozens of trains with ammunition. The shells and cartridges that had blasted in the Far East settled down in Chechnya, so that in a while they flow to Russian soldiers. (Translated by P. Pikhnovsky)