Battle for Height 776

Battle for Height 776
Part of the Second Chechen War
Map of the breakthrough, including the fight at the Height 776
Date 29 February – 1 March 2000 Location Height 776, Argun Gorge, Chechnya Result Chechen victory
Belligerents
Chechen Republic of Ichkeria	Russia
Commanders and leaders
Shamil Basayev Ibn al-Khattab Abu al-Walid	Mark Yevtyukhin †[1] Viktor Romanov †
Strength
Disputed 70 (per Chechnya)[2] First day; 1000+ (per Russia) Subsequently; 1500-2000+ (per Russia)	90[citation needed]
Casualties and losses
21-25 killed[3] (per Chechnya) 100 killed[4] (per Russian veteran Lobanov) 400–700[5] killed (per Russia)	84 killed 6 wounded[citation needed]
Note: Their respective official figures according to the both sides involved in direct combat at Height 776 (not the entire operation of the breakthrough from the Argun Gorge, which also included other skirmishes in the area ).

The Battle for Height 776, part of the larger Battle of Ulus-Kert, was an engagement in the Second Chechen War that took place during fighting for control of the Argun River gorge in the highland Shatoysky District of central Chechnya, between the villages of Ulus-Kert and Selmentauzen.

In late February 2000, the Russian military attempted to surround and destroy a large Chechen force withdrawing from the Chechen capital Grozny to Shatoy and Vedeno in the southern mountains of Chechnya following the 1999–2000 siege and capture of Grozny.^[6] On 29 February 2000, just hours after Russian Defense Minister Igor Sergeyev had assured his government that the Second Chechen War was over,^[7] an isolated Russian force composed mainly of a company of paratroopers of the 76th Airborne Division from the city of Pskov found itself cut off by a retreating Chechen column led by Shamil Basayev and Ibn Al-Khattab.^[8] After heavy close-quarters overnight fighting, the Russian positions on the hill were overrun and almost entirely wiped out. The incident inspired several propaganda pieces widely publicized in Russia, and fascinated Russian leader Vladimir Putin.^[9]

Uncertainty continues to surround many aspects of the engagement, including the number of combatants, casualties, how much artillery support and close air support was provided, and how long the battle even lasted.