Battle for Height 776

EN Texto em inglês Ainda não há artigo no seu idioma: trecho em inglês.

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 encircle 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. On 29 February 2000, just hours after Russian Defense Minister Igor Sergeyev had assured his government that the Second Chechen War was over, 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. After heavy close-quarters overnight fighting, the Russian position was overrun and almost entirely wiped out. The incident inspired a Kremlin-funded film, and fascinated Russian leader Vladimir Putin. 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.