Editing Grozny (section)

===First Chechen War===
{{See also|Battle of Grozny (1994–95)|Battle of Grozny (August 1996)}}
During the [[First Chechen War]], Grozny was the site of an intense battle lasting from December 1994 to February 1995 and ultimately ending with the capture of the city by the Russian military. Intense fighting and [[carpet bombing]] carried out by the [[Russian Air Force]] destroyed much of the city. Thousands of [[combatants]] on both sides died in the fighting, alongside [[civilian]]s, many of whom were reportedly ethnic Russians; unclaimed bodies were later collected and buried in [[mass graves]] on the city outskirts. The main federal [[military base]] in Chechnya was located in the area of Grozny [[air base]]. {{Citation needed|date=October 2010}}

Chechen [[Guerrilla warfare|guerrilla]] units operating from nearby mountains managed to harass and demoralize the Russian Army by means of guerilla tactics and raids, such as the attack on Grozny in March 1996, which added to political and public pressure for a withdrawal of Russian troops. In August 1996, a raiding force of 1,500 to 3,000 militants recaptured the city in a surprise attack. They surrounded and routed its entire garrison of 10,000 [[MVD]] troops, while fighting off the Russian Army units from the [[Khankala]] base. The battle ended with a final [[ceasefire]] and Grozny was once again in the hands of Chechen separatists. The name was changed to Djohar in 1997 by the President of the separatist Ichkeria republic, [[Aslan Maskhadov]]. By this time most of the remaining Russian minority had fled.<ref>{{Cite book|last=W.|first=Kelly, Michael|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/808059507|title=Grozny|date=2012-08-09|publisher=Monterey, California: Naval Postgraduate School;Springfield, Va.: Available from National Technical Information Service|oclc=808059507}}</ref>