Editing Second Chechen War (section)

===Battle for the mountains===
Heavy fighting accompanied by massive shelling and bombing continued through the winter of 2000 in the mountainous south of Chechnya, particularly in the areas around Argun, [[Vedeno]] and [[Shatoy]], where fighting involving Russian [[paratroopers]] had raged since 1999.{{citation needed|date=August 2023}}

On 9 February 2000, a Russian tactical missile hit a crowd of people who had come to the local administration building in Shali, a town previously declared as one of the "safe areas", to collect their pensions. The attack was a response to a report that a group of fighters had entered the town. The missile is estimated to have killed some 150 civilians, and was followed by an attack by combat helicopters causing further casualties.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.crimesofwar.org/expert/chech-oleg.html |author=Oleg Orlov |title=War Crimes and Human Rights Violations in Chechnya |work=crimesofwar.org |date=26 May 2000 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110222152431/http://www.crimesofwar.org/expert/chech-oleg.html |archive-date=22 February 2011}}</ref> [[Human Rights Watch]] called on the Russian military to stop using FAE, known in Russia as "[[vacuum bombs]]", in Chechnya, concerned about the large number of civilian casualties caused by what it called "widespread and often indiscriminate bombing and shelling by Russian forces".<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/644087.stm |title=Russians urged to stop 'vacuum' bombings |work=BBC News |date=15 February 2000 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304091454/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/644087.stm |archive-date=4 March 2016}}</ref> On 18 February 2000, a Russian army transport helicopter was shot down in the south, killing 15 men aboard, Russian Interior Minister [[Vladimir Rushailo]] announced.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/648895.stm |title=Chechens down Russian helicopter |work=BBC News |date=19 February 2000 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090115101006/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/648895.stm |archive-date=15 January 2009 }}</ref>

[[File:После боя. БТР, подбитый боевиками.jpg|thumb|left|[[2000 Zhani-Vedeno ambush|Zhani-Vedeno ambush]], March 2000]]

On 29 February 2000, United Army Group commander [[Gennady Troshev]] said that "the counter-terrorism operation in Chechnya is over. It will take a couple of weeks longer to pick up splinter groups now." Russia's Defense Minister, [[Marshal of the Russian Federation]] [[Igor Sergeyev]], evaluated the numerical strength of the separatists at between 2,000 and 2,500 men, "scattered all over Chechnya." On the same day, a Russian [[Russian Airborne Troops|VDV]] paratroop company from [[Pskov]] was [[Battle of Hill 776|attacked by Chechen and Arab fighters]] near the village of [[Ulus-Kert]] in Chechnya's southern lowlands; at least 84 Russian soldiers were killed in the especially heavy fighting.{{citation needed|date=September 2021}} The official newspaper of the [[Russian Ministry of Defense]] reported that at least 659 separatists were killed, including 200 from the Middle East, figures which they said were based on radio-intercept data, intelligence reports, eyewitnesses, local residents and captured Chechens.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://usacac.army.mil/CAC/milreview/English/JulAug01/JulAug01/bobja01.pdf |title=Reassessing Strategy: A Historical Examination |publisher=Usacac.army.mil |date=11 October 2011 |access-date=17 October 2011 |url-status=dead  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721094635/http://usacac.army.mil/CAC/milreview/English/JulAug01/JulAug01/bobja01.pdf |archive-date=21 July 2011 }}</ref> On 2 March 2000, an [[OMON]] unit from [[Podolsk]] opened fire on a unit from [[Sergiyev Posad]] in Grozny; at least 24 Russian servicemen were [[Grozny OMON fratricide incident|killed in the incident]].

[[File:31 03 00 пермяки.jpg|thumb|Fallen Russian soldiers in the Zhani-Vedeno ambush]]

In March a large group of more than 1,000 Chechen fighters, led by field commander [[Ruslan Gelayev]], pursued since their withdrawal from Grozny, [[Battle of Komsomolskoye|entered the village of Komsomolskoye]] in the Chechen foothills and held off a full-scale Russian attack on the town for over two weeks;{{Citation needed|reason=please provide a reliable source for this dubious assertion|date=June 2009}} they suffered hundreds of casualties,{{Citation needed|date=April 2008}} while the Russians admitted to more than 50 killed. On 29 March 2000, about 23 Russian soldiers were killed in a [[2000 Zhani-Vedeno ambush|separatist ambush on an OMON convoy]] from [[Perm, Russia|Perm]] in Zhani-Vedeno.

On 23 April 2000, a 22-vehicle convoy carrying ammunition and other supplies to an [[Airborne forces|airborne unit]] was ambushed near [[Serzhen-Yurt]] in the Vedeno Gorge by an estimated 80 to 100 "bandits", according to General Troshev. In the ensuing four-hour battle the federal side lost 15 government soldiers, according to the Russian defence minister. General Troshev told the press that the bodies of four separatist fighters were found. The Russian Airborne Troops headquarters later stated that 20 separatists were killed and two taken prisoner.<ref>{{cite web |author=Captain Adam Geibel |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FDF/is_1_31/ai_78974282 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120529015401/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FDF/is_1_31/ai_78974282 |url-status=dead |archive-date=29 May 2012 |title=Ambush at Serzhen Yurt: Command-Detonated Mines in the Second Chechen War |work=Engineer: The Professional Bulletin for Army Engineers |date=February 2001}}</ref> Soon, the Russian forces seized the last populated centres of the organized resistance. (Another offensive against the remaining mountain strongholds was launched by Russian forces in December 2000.){{citation needed|date=August 2023}}