A typical Soviet officer is Dzhokhar Dudayev. Dzhokhar Musaevich Dudayev - militant field commanders - about the war in Chechnya - local conflicts - Russian soldiers as a reliable support for Russia

Chechen military, statesman and political figure, leader of the Chechen separatist movement of the 1990s, first president of the self-proclaimed Chechen Republic of Ichkeria

Biography

Dzhokhar Dudayev was born on February 15, 1944 in the village of Pervomaiskoye (Chechen Yalkhori) of the Galanchozhsky district of the Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (now the Achkhoy-Martan district of the Chechen Republic), the seventh child in the family (he had 9 brothers and sisters). He comes from the Yalkhoroi taipa. Eight days after his birth, the Dudayev family was deported to the Pavlodar region of the Kazakh SSR, among many thousands of Chechens and Ingush during the mass deportation of Chechens and Ingush in 1944 (see Deportation of Chechens and Ingush).

In 1957, he and his family returned to their homeland and lived in Grozny. In 1959 he graduated from secondary school No. 45, then began working as an electrician at SMU-5, while at the same time studying in the 10th grade at evening school No. 55, which he graduated a year later. In 1960, he entered the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of the North Ossetian Pedagogical Institute, then, after listening to a year-long course of lectures on specialized training, he entered the Tambov Higher Military Pilot School with a specialty in “pilot engineer” (1962-1966).

In the Armed Forces of the USSR since 1962, he served in both command and administrative positions.

Since 1966, he served in the 52nd instructor heavy bomber regiment (Shaikovka airfield, Kaluga region), starting as an assistant commander of an airship.

In 1971-1974 he studied at the command department of the Air Force Academy. Yu. A. Gagarin.

Since 1970, he served in the 1225th heavy bomber air regiment (Belaya garrison in the Usolsky district of the Irkutsk region (Sredny settlement), Transbaikal Military District), where in subsequent years he successively held the positions of deputy commander of the air regiment (1976-1978), chief of staff (1978 -1979), detachment commander (1979-1980), commander of this regiment (1980-1982).

In 1982 he became the chief of staff of the 31st heavy bomber division of the 30th air army, and in 1985-1987 the chief of staff of the 13th guards heavy bomber air division (Poltava): he “was remembered by many Poltava residents with whom fate brought him together. According to his former colleagues, he was a hot-tempered, emotional and at the same time extremely honest and decent person. At that time he still remained a convinced communist and was responsible for political work with personnel.”

In 1986-1987, he took part in the war in Afghanistan: according to representatives of the Russian command, he was first involved in developing a plan of action for strategic aviation in the country, then on board a Tu-22MZ bomber as part of the 132nd heavy bomber regiment of Long-Range Aviation, he personally flew combat missions in western regions of Afghanistan, introducing the so-called technique. carpet bombing of enemy positions. Dudayev himself always denied the fact of his active participation in military operations against Islamists in Afghanistan.

In 1987-1991, he was the commander of the strategic 326th Ternopil Heavy Bomber Division of the 46th Strategic Air Army (Tartu, Estonian SSR), and at the same time served as head of the military garrison.

Born on February 15 (according to other sources - 23rd), 1944 in the village of Yalkhori (Yalhoroi), Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. Chechen, native of the Yalkhoroi teip. He was the thirteenth child in the family. On February 23, 1944, the population of the Chechen Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was subjected to repression and was deported to Kazakhstan and Central Asia. D. Dudayev and his family were able to return to Chechnya only in 1957.

Dudayev graduated from the Tambov Military Aviation School and the Yu.A. Gagarin Air Force Academy in Moscow.

In 1962 he began serving in the Soviet Army. He rose to the rank of Major General in the USSR Air Force (Dudaev was the first Chechen general in the Soviet Army). He took part in military operations in Afghanistan in 1979-1989. In 1987-1990 he was commander of a heavy bomber division in Tartu (Estonia).

In 1968 he joined the CPSU and did not formally leave the party.

In the fall of 1990, being the head of the garrison of the city of Tartu, Dzhokhar Dudayev refused to carry out the order: to block television and the Estonian parliament. However, this act had no consequences for him.

Until 1991, Dudayev visited Chechnya on visits, but in his homeland they remembered him. In 1990, Zelimkhan Yandarbiev convinced Dzhokhar Dudayev of the need to return to Chechnya and lead the national movement. In March 1991 (according to other sources - in May 1990) Dudayev retired and returned to Grozny. In June 1991, Dzhokhar Dudayev headed the Executive Committee of the All-National Congress of the Chechen People (OCCHN). (According to the BBC, Boris Yeltsin's adviser Gennady Burbulis subsequently claimed that Dzhokhar Dudayev assured him of loyalty to Moscow during a personal meeting).

At the beginning of September 1991, Dudayev led a rally in Grozny that demanded the dissolution of the Supreme Council of the Chechen Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic due to the fact that on August 19 the leadership of the CPSU in Grozny supported the actions of the USSR Emergency Committee. On September 6, 1991, a group of armed OKCHN supporters led by Dzhokhar Dudayev and Yaragi Mamadayev broke into the building of the Supreme Council of Checheno-Ingushetia and, at gunpoint, forced the deputies to stop their activities.

On October 1, 1991, by decision of the Supreme Council of the RSFSR, the Chechen-Ingush Republic was divided into the Chechen and Ingush Republics (without defining borders).

On October 10, 1991, the Supreme Council of the RSFSR, in a resolution “On the political situation in Checheno-Ingushetia,” condemned the seizure of power in the republic by the Executive Committee of the OKCHN and the dispersal of the Supreme Council of Checheno-Ingushetia.

On October 27, 1991, Dzhokhar Dudayev was elected president of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria. Even after becoming president of Ichkeria, he continued to appear in public in Soviet military uniform.

On November 1, 1991, with his first decree, Dudayev declared the independence of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria (CRI) from the Russian Federation, which was not recognized by either the Russian authorities or any foreign states.

On November 7, 1991, Russian President Boris Yeltsin issued a decree introducing a state of emergency in Checheno-Ingushetia. In response to this, Dudayev introduced martial law on its territory. The Supreme Soviet of Russia, where Yeltsin's opponents held the majority of seats, did not approve the presidential decree.

At the end of November 1991, Dzhokhar Dudayev created the National Guard, in mid-December he allowed the free carrying of weapons, and in 1992 he created the Ministry of Defense.

On March 3, 1992, Dudayev said that Chechnya would sit down at the negotiating table with the Russian leadership only if Moscow recognized its independence, thus leading possible negotiations to a dead end.

On March 12, 1992, the Chechen Parliament adopted the Constitution of the republic, declaring the Chechen Republic an independent secular state. The Chechen authorities, encountering almost no organized resistance, seized the weapons of Russian military units stationed on the territory of Chechnya.

In August 1992, at the invitation of the King of Saudi Arabia, Aravin Fahd bin Abdulaziz, and the Emir of Kuwait, Jabar el Ahded ak-Sabah, Dzhokhar Dudayev visited these countries. He was given a warm welcome, but his request to recognize the independence of Chechnya was refused.

On April 17, 1993, Dudayev dissolved the Cabinet of Ministers of the Chechen Republic, the Parliament, the Constitutional Court of Chechnya and the Grozny City Assembly, and introduced direct presidential rule and a curfew throughout Chechnya.

On June 5, 1993, formations loyal to Dudayev successfully suppressed an armed uprising of the local pro-Russian opposition led by Bislan Gantamirov. A column of tanks and infantry fighting vehicles, partly staffed by Russian contract soldiers, that entered Grozny was destroyed. According to Gantamirov, over 60 of his supporters were killed.

On December 1, 1994, a decree of the President of the Russian Federation “On some measures to strengthen law and order in the North Caucasus” was issued, which ordered all persons illegally possessing weapons to voluntarily surrender them to Russian law enforcement agencies by December 15.

On December 6, 1994, Dzhokhar Dudayev in the Ingush village of Sleptsovskaya met with the Ministers of Defense of the Russian Federation Pavel Grachev and Internal Affairs Viktor Erin.

On December 11, 1994, on the basis of the decree of Russian President Boris Yeltsin “On measures to suppress the activities of illegal armed groups on the territory of the Chechen Republic and in the zone of the Ossetian-Ingush conflict,” units of the Russian Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Internal Affairs entered the territory of Chechnya. The first Chechen war began.

According to Russian sources, by the beginning of the first Chechen campaign, Dudayev commanded about 15 thousand soldiers, 42 tanks, 66 infantry fighting vehicles and armored personnel carriers, 123 guns, 40 anti-aircraft systems, 260 training aircraft, so the advance of the federal forces was accompanied by serious resistance from Chechen militias and guardsmen Dudaeva.

By the beginning of February 1995, after heavy bloody battles, the Russian army established control over the city of Grozny and began advancing into the southern regions of Chechnya. Dudayev had to hide in the southern mountainous regions, constantly changing his location.

According to media reports, Russian special services twice managed to infiltrate their agents into Dzhokhar Dudayev’s entourage and once bombed his car, but all assassination attempts ended in failure.

On the evening of April 21, 1996, Russian special services located the signal from Dudayev’s satellite phone in the area of ​​the village of Gekhi-Chu, 30 km from Grozny. 2 Su-25 attack aircraft with homing missiles were lifted into the air. Dzhokhar Dudayev died from a rocket explosion while talking on the phone with Russian deputy Konstantin Borov. The place where the first president of the self-proclaimed Chechen Republic of Ichkeria is buried is unknown.

Dzhokhar Musaevich Dudayev(Cheche Dudi Musa Kant Dzhokhar; February 15, 1944, Yalkhori, Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, USSR - April 21, 1996, Gekhi-chu, Chechen Republic, Russian Federation) - Chechen military man, statesman and political figure, leader of the Chechen separatist movement 1990s, first president of the self-proclaimed Chechen Republic of Ichkeria. In the past, he was a major general of aviation, the only Chechen general in the Soviet Army.

Biography

Dzhokhar Dudayev was born on February 15, 1944 in the village of Pervomaiskoye (Chechen Yalkhori) of the Galanchozhsky district of the Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (now the Achkhoy-Martan region of the Chechen Republic), the seventh child in the family (he had 9 brothers and sisters). He comes from the Yalkhoroi teip. Eight days after his birth, the Dudayev family was deported to the Pavlodar region of the Kazakh SSR, among many thousands of Chechens and Ingush.

In 1957, he and his family returned to their homeland and lived in Grozny. In 1959 he graduated from secondary school No. 45, then began working as an electrician at SMU-5, while at the same time studying in the 10th grade at evening school No. 55, which he graduated a year later. In 1960, he entered the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of the North Ossetian Pedagogical Institute, then, after listening to a year-long course of lectures on specialized training, he entered the Tambov Higher Military Pilot School with a specialty in “pilot engineer” (1962-1966).

Military career before the start of the Chechen conflict

In the Armed Forces of the USSR since 1962, he served in both command and administrative positions.

Since 1966, he served in the 52nd instructor heavy bomber regiment (Shaikovka airfield, Kaluga region), starting as an assistant commander of an airship.

In 1971-1974 he studied at the command department of the Air Force Academy. Yu. A. Gagarin.

Since 1970, he served in the 1225th heavy bomber air regiment (Belaya garrison near Irkutsk, Trans-Baikal Military District), where in subsequent years he successively held the positions of deputy regiment commander (1976-1978), chief of staff (1978-1979), detachment commander (1979 -1980), commander of this regiment (1980-1982).

In 1982 he became chief of staff of the 31st Heavy Bomber Division of the 30th Air Army, and in 1985 he was transferred to a similar position in the 13th Guards Heavy Bomber Division (Poltava, 1985-1987).

In 1986-1987, he took part in the war in Afghanistan: according to representatives of the Russian command, he was first involved in developing a plan of action for strategic aviation in the country, then on board a Tu-22MZ bomber as part of the 132nd heavy bomber regiment of Long-Range Aviation, he personally flew combat missions in western regions of Afghanistan, introducing the so-called technique. carpet bombing of enemy positions. Dudayev himself always denied the fact of his presence in Afghanistan.

In 1987-1991, he was the commander of the strategic 326th Ternopil Heavy Bomber Division of the 46th Strategic Air Army (Tartu, Estonian SSR), and at the same time held the position of chief of the city’s military garrison.

In the Air Force he rose to the rank of major general of aviation (1989).

Beginning of political activity

On November 23, 1990, at the invitation of the ideologists of the National Congress of the Chechen People (NCCHN) Zelimkhan Yandarbiev and Movladi Udugov, Dudayev arrived in Grozny for the First Chechen National Congress (CNC). On November 25, the congress elected its own governing body - the executive committee, into which, among others, retired Major General Dzhokhar Dudayev was introduced. On November 27, members of the executive committee unanimously adopted a declaration on the formation of the Chechen Republic of Nokhchi-Cho..

President of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria

In May 1991, the retired general accepted an offer to return to Chechnya and lead the growing social movement. On June 9, 1991, at the second session of the Chechen National Congress, Dudayev was elected chairman of the Executive Committee of the OKCHN, into which the former executive committee of the CHNS was transformed. From that moment on, Dudayev, as the head of the Executive Committee of the OKChN, began the formation of parallel authorities in the Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic.

At the beginning of September 1991, he led a rally in Grozny that demanded the dissolution of the Supreme Council of the Chechen Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic due to the fact that on August 19 the party leadership in Grozny supported the actions of the State Emergency Committee. On September 3, Dudayev announced the overthrow of the Supreme Council of the Chechen Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. On the same day, OKCHN forces captured the television center, the Radio House and the House of Political Education. On September 6, the Supreme Council of the Chechen Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was dispersed by armed supporters of the OKCHN. Dudayevites beat up the deputies and threw the chairman of the Grozny City Council, Vitaly Kutsenko, out of the window. As a result, the chairman of the city council was killed and more than 40 deputies were injured. On September 8, Dudayev’s troops captured the airport and thermal power plant-1, and blocked the center of Grozny.

On October 1, 1991, by decision of the Supreme Council of the RSFSR, the Chechen-Ingush Republic was divided into the Chechen and Ingush Republics (without defining borders). On October 27, 1991, he was elected president of the Chechen Republic. With his first decree, Dudayev declared the independence of the self-proclaimed Chechen Republic of Ichkeria (CRI) from the RSFSR, which was not recognized by either the Russian authorities or any foreign states. On November 7, Russian President Boris Yeltsin issued a decree introducing a state of emergency in Chechnya and Ingushetia. In response to this, Dudayev introduced martial law in the territory under his control. An armed seizure of the buildings of law enforcement ministries and departments was carried out, military units were disarmaed, military camps of the Ministry of Defense were blocked, and rail and air transportation was stopped. OKCHN called on Chechens living in Moscow to “turn the capital of Russia into a disaster zone.”

On November 11, the Supreme Council of Russia, where Yeltsin’s opponents had the majority of seats, did not approve the presidential decree, in fact supporting the self-proclaimed republic.

In November-December, the self-proclaimed parliament of the ChRI decided to abolish the existing government bodies in the republic and to recall the people's deputies of the USSR and the RSFSR from the ChRI. Dudayev's decree introduced the right of citizens to purchase and store firearms.

Foreign policy activities

On March 3, 1992, Dudayev said that Chechnya would sit down at the negotiating table with the Russian leadership only if Moscow recognized its independence. Nine days later, on March 12, the CRI parliament adopted the constitution of the republic, declaring it an independent secular state. The Chechen authorities, encountering almost no organized resistance, seized the weapons of Russian military units stationed on the territory of Chechnya.

In August 1992, King Fahd bin Abdulaziz al-Saud of Saudi Arabia and Emir of Kuwait Jaber al-Ahmed al-Jaber al-Sabah invited Dudayev to visit their countries as President of the Chechen Republic. During lengthy audiences with the king and emir, Dudayev raised the issue of establishing interstate relations at the ambassadorial level, but the monarchs noted that they were ready to recognize the independence of Chechnya only after appropriate consultations with Russia and the United States. As a result of the visit, no documents were signed: according to the representative of the Chechen Foreign Ministry Artur Umansky, the Arab leaders wanted to avoid reproaches from Moscow. Nevertheless, at the unofficial level, the monarchs demonstrated their affection to Dudayev in every possible way. King Fahd flew with him to Medina and introduced him to the architectural monuments of the Muslim shrine. Then they prayed at the al-Kaaba temple in Mecca, thereby performing the lesser hajj. And the Emir of Kuwait treated Dudayev to a dinner party in the presence of ambassadors of 70 countries accredited in Kuwait. In Saudi Arabia, the Chechen leader also held talks with the President of Albania, Sali Berisha, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Haris Silajdzic, who were also there.

After this, Dudayev makes visits to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and Turkey. At the end of September 1992, Dzhokhar Dudayev visited Bosnia, where at that time there was a civil war. However, at the Sarajevo airport, Dudayev and his plane were arrested by French peacekeepers. Dudayev was released only after a telephone conversation between the Kremlin and UN headquarters.

After this, Dzhokhar Dudayev headed to the United States, accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister Mairbek Mugadayev and the mayor of Grozny Beslan Gantemirov. According to official sources, the purpose of the visit was to establish contacts with American entrepreneurs for the joint development of Chechen oil fields. The visit ended on October 17, 1992.

1993

On April 17, 1993, Dudayev dissolved the ChRI government, parliament, constitutional court and Grozny city assembly, introducing direct presidential rule and curfew throughout Chechnya.

1995

At the direction of Dzhokhar Dudayev, camps for holding prisoners of war and civilians were created in Chechnya.

Death

From the very beginning of the first Chechen war, Dudayev was hunted by the Russian special services. Three attempts ended in failure. On April 21, 1996, Russian special services located the signal from Dudayev’s satellite phone in the area of ​​the village of Gekhi-chu, 30 km from Grozny. 2 Su-25 attack aircraft with homing missiles were lifted into the air. Dudayev died from a missile strike while talking on the phone with Russian deputy Konstantin Borov. Alla Dudayeva, in an interview with Kommersant, said that she was next to Dzhokhar at the time of his death. She said in particular: And then Dzhokhar began talking to Borov. He told me: “Go to the ravine.” And here I am standing with Vakha Ibragimov on the edge of the ravine, early spring, the birds are singing. And one bird is crying - as if moaning from a ravine. I didn’t know then that it was a cuckoo. And suddenly - a rocket hit behind me. I stood about twelve meters from Dzhokhar and was thrown into a ravine. Out of my peripheral vision I saw a yellow flame. I started to get out. I look - there is no UAZ. And then the second blow. One of the guards fell on top of me; he wanted to lock me up. When it calmed down, he stood up, and I heard Viskhan, Dzhokhar’s nephew, crying. I got out, I don’t understand where everything disappeared: neither the UAZ, nor Vakha Ibragimov, I was walking as if in a dream and then I tripped over Dzhokhar. He was already dying. I didn’t hear his last words, but he managed to tell our guard, Musa Idigov: “Bring the matter to the end.” We picked him up and carried him to the second UAZ, because what was left from the first one was a pile of metal. Hamad Kurbanov and Magomed Zhaniev were killed, Vakha was wounded. Dzhokhar was put in the back seat of the UAZ, Viskhan sat next to the driver, and I hid in the back by the window. They were supposed to come for Vakha later. They still thought that Dzhokhar could be saved. Although I already understood then that it was impossible, I felt such a hole in his head, on the right...

20 years ago, Russian special services carried out their most successful operation of the First Chechen War - on April 21, 1996, Dzhokhar Dudayev was killed by a missile fired from a Russian plane.

Lieutenant Dudayev. Shaikovka military town, Kaluga region, 1967

According to the recollections of Anatoly Chichulin, who took this photograph, Dzhokhar, who had just graduated from military school, “Drank like us. I ate pork lard like everyone else. Conversations were exactly the same.” Navigator Zubarev then raised a toast to Dudayev: “He will fly high... If the air defense doesn’t stop him,” hinting at the great potential of the young lieutenant.
And the starley turned out to be right, Dzhokhar Dudayev became a typical Soviet officer who made a classic career in the Armed Forces of the USSR - a direct example of the excellent performance characteristics of a serviceman, which were written before 1991.

During his service he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner and the Red Star, medals

“During his service in the Armed Forces of the USSR, Dzhokhar Musaevich Dudayev established himself on the positive side as a competent, disciplined, and executive officer.
He constantly improves his combat readiness and professional skills - he entered in 1971, and in 1974 he graduated with honors from the command department of the Air Force Academy. Yu.A. Gagarin.
Over 25 years of service in strategic aviation, he consistently and conscientiously rose through command positions in combat units of the USSR Air Force from assistant commander of a heavy bomber to commander of a long-range strategic bomber division.

Dudayev family. Poltava, 1983

Morally stable - he married the daughter of a fellow soldier, Air Force Major F.V. Kulikov, and has three children (son - born in 1969, daughter - born in 1973, son - born in 1983). Lives with his wife and children, family relations are good.

Colonel Dudayev, 1987. Photo from the home archive of Vladimir Elokhov

Ideologically consistent and politically literate - a member of the CPSU since 1968, constantly carries out political work with personnel, among whom he enjoys authority and respect.
He knows how to keep military and state secrets.”

Colonel Dudayev with navigators after the flight, 1987. Photo from the home archive of Vladimir Elokhov

This was a characterization of Dudayev, close to reality. And here is an extract from the real award sheet:
“From 1988 to 1989, Colonel Dudayev Dzhokhar Musaevich took an active part in the development of combat operations to carry out bombing attacks on rebel targets, and the introduction of new tactical methods of combat operations in the mountainous terrain of the Republic of Afghanistan. He personally carried out 3 combat missions to the areas of Gardez, Ghazni and Jalalabad. The air group led by him completed 591 sorties. 1160 FAB 3000 and 56 FAB 1500 were dropped on the headquarters of the Islamic rebel committee, manpower and other objects. For courage and heroism, skillful leadership of the operational group, Dzhokhar Musaevich Dudayev deserves to be awarded the Order of the Red Banner.”

Dzhokhar Dudayev was the pride of the Chechens - their only Soviet general

There was no need for the murder of Dudayev on April 21, 1996, and it did not bring Russia any practical benefit - four months after his death, the Khasavyurt Agreements were concluded, which recorded the complete defeat of Russia in the First Chechen War.
The deputy head of the Russian delegation for the peaceful resolution of the conflict in Chechnya, Arkady Volsky, once spoke about some interesting details of negotiations with Dudayev several months before his death:
“In the meantime, at an audience with the President [Yeltsin], it was decided that the best way out would be if Dudayev left. The Jordanians immediately agreed to give him a passport. Accordingly, he should have received a substantial amount upon arrival, again - assistance in transportation, an airplane. Security guarantees. We calculated only one option - departure.
[…]
We discussed the [truce] agreement, Dzhokhar generally praised it, adding: “Carry on negotiations. We will draw up a joint resolution and have it approved by the two governments.” After waiting a little, he asks: “Arkady Ivanovich, why were you looking for a personal meeting with me?” Here I laid out with maximum correctness what was discussed in Moscow: Jordanian citizenship, passport, money, guarantees...
He was mortally offended: “How wrong I was in you, Arkady Ivanovich! I didn’t think that you would make such an offer to me. Offer me, a Soviet officer, a general, to flee shamefully. Yes, I will die peacefully here!”

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Dzhokhar Dudayev died there. He died as a typical Soviet officer, at the hands of his fellow pilots - the same typical Soviet officers, with the same typical service characteristics...