2014 Grozny clashes

{{Short description|2014 attack by Islamist militants in Grozny, Chechnya, Russia}}

{{Infobox Military Conflict

|conflict=2014 Grozny clashes

|image=Grozny Publishing House on fire.webm

|image_size = 300px

|partof= Insurgency in the North Caucasus

|place= Grozny, Chechnya, Russia

|date= 4 December 2014

|result= Russian-Chechen victory

|combatant1= {{flag|Russia}}

{{flag|Chechnya}}

|combatant2=22px Caucasus Emirate

|commander1= {{flagicon|Chechnya}} Ramzan Kadyrov

|commander2= 22px Aslan Byutukayev{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/in-kremlin-economy-speech-putin-rails-at-west-tries-to-avert-russia-recession/2014/12/04/f940afe8-79b4-11e4-8241-8cc0a3670239_story.html |title=In Kremlin speech, Putin rails at West, tries to bolster economy as recession looms |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=2014-12-04 |accessdate=2022-06-08}}

|strength2=

|casualties1= {{flagicon|Chechnya}} 14 policemen killed
{{flagicon|Chechnya}} 36 policemen wounded
{{flagicon|Chechnya}} 1 civilian killed

|casualties2= 22px At least 11 killed

}}

On 4 December 2014, a group of armed militants of the jihadist organization Caucasus Emirate[http://www.svoboda.org/content/article/26724511.html Атака на Грозный], Radio Liberty, 6 December 2014. attacked a traffic police checkpoint outside the city of Grozny, Chechnya, Russia. The militants then entered the city and occupied the "Press House" building in the city center and a nearby school.

According to the BBC, the Islamists had claimed to have launched a suicide attack in response to purported attacks by security forces on Muslim women.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-30323751|title=Russia Chechnya: Deadly rebel attack rocks Grozny|date=4 December 2014|publisher=BBC News|access-date=4 December 2014}}

Timeline

On 4 December 2014, a group of Islamist militants, in three vehicles, killed three traffic policemen, after the latter had attempted to stop them at a checkpoint in the outskirts of Grozny.{{cite web|title=Gun battles erupt in Chechnya's capital after militants launch attack|date=4 December 2014|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/dec/04/police-killed-as-gun-battle-erupts-in-chechnyas-capital|work=The Guardian|first=Shaun|last=Walker|accessdate=4 December 2014}} The militants then occupied a press building and an abandoned school, located in the center of the city. Launching a counter-terrorism operation, security forces, with the use of armored vehicles, attempted to storm the buildings and a firefight ensued.{{cite news|title=Putin thanks Kadyrov, Chechen law enforcers for counterterrorism operation in Grozny|url=http://itar-tass.com/en/russia/765251|accessdate=5 December 2014|work=ITAR-TASS|date=5 December 2014|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20141204215743/http://itar-tass.com/en/russia/765251|archivedate=4 December 2014|location=Moscow}} [http://www.peeep.us/f048b388 Alt URL]

14 policemen, 11 militants and 1 civilian were killed. Additionally 36 policemen were wounded in the incident. The Press House was also burned and severely damaged in the incident.{{cite web|url=http://ria.ru/defense_safety/20141205/1036841192.html|title=В спецоперации в Грозном уничтожено 11 боевиков, заявил Кадыров|date=5 December 2014|accessdate=5 December 2014}}{{cite web|url=http://newsru.com/russia/05dec2014/groznyi.html|title=Во время спецоперации в Грозном погибли 14 полицейских|date=5 December 2014|accessdate=5 December 2014}}

It has been suggested, by The New York Times and The Washington Post writers, that the timing of the attack purposefully coincided with president Vladimir Putin's delivery of an annual state-of-the-nation speech in Moscow.{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/chechen-militants-attack-grozny-shattering-peace-as-putin-gives-speech/2014/12/04/4c77f8df-0dd7-468d-97b0-5c4752808ef8_story.html|title=Chechen militants attack Grozny, shattering peace as Putin gives speech|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=4 December 2014|accessdate=4 December 2014}}{{cite news|title=Islamic Militants Wage Fierce Attack on Grozny, Chechnya's Capital|first1=Andrew E.|last1=Kramer|first2=Neil|last2=MacFarquhar|date=4 December 2014|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/05/world/europe/grozny-chechnya-attack.html?_r=0|work=The New York Times|accessdate=4 December 2014}}

Context

In modern times, the conflict (with the first uprising in 1785){{Cite news|title=Chechnya: Calamity in the Caucasus|first1=Carlotta|last1=Gall|first2=Thomas|last2=De Waal|publisher=NYU Press|date=1 November 1999|page=38}} has included the First Chechen War (1994–1996), the War of Dagestan (1999), the Second Chechen War (1999–2009), the 2002 Grozny truck bombing, and the Insurgency in the North Caucasus (2009–present). Recent events have included the 2010 Chechen Parliament attack, and the 2014 Grozny bombing. The 2004 Beslan school hostage crisis begun by Chechen and Ingush terrorists ended with the deaths of 385 people.

Reactions

Russian president, Vladimir Putin, responded in his annual speech, that "these 'rebels' have shown up in Chechnya again. I'm sure, the local law enforcement authorities will take proper care of them." The head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, said, the "bandits" had died "a dog's death".{{cite web|title=At least 19 people dead as Islamists clash with police in Chechnya|first=Tom|last=Parfitt|date=4 December 2014|accessdate=4 December 2014|url=

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/11272491/Chechen-gunmen-under-siege-in-school-after-several-killed-in-clashes-with-police.html|work=The Daily Telegraph}}

On Kavkaz Center website, a Chechen fighter credited Aslan Byutukayev for the attacks, saying: "There are already results. Allah killed them with our hands."{{cite news|last=Luhn|first=Alec|date=5 December 2014|title=Chechnya's Islamist Insurgency Rears Its Head Once Again in Deadly Grozny Gunfight|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/chechnyas-islamist-insurgency-rears-its-head-once-again-in-deadly-grozny-gunfight/|newspaper=Vice News|access-date=6 December 2014}}

Time magazine noted, that Putin's state-of-the-nation speech was greeted at best with polite applause, as Kremlin critic Carl Bildt, Sweden's former Minister of Foreign Affairs, tweeted: "Street battle in Grozny? Moscow should have more pressing priorities than destabilising Ukraine."{{citation|title=Putin's Rambling State of the Nation Speech Unnerves Russia's Elites|author=Simon Shuster|magazine=Time|date=4 December 2014|url=https://time.com/3619369/vladimir-putin-russia-state-of-the-nation/}}