Editing First Chechen War (section)

===Storming of Grozny===
{{Main|Battle of Grozny (1994–95)}}
[[File:Evstafiev-chechnya-palace-gunman.jpg|thumb|A Chechen fighter near the burned-out ruins of the [[Presidential Palace, Grozny|Presidential Palace in Grozny]], January 1995]]
When the [[Russians]] besieged the [[Chechnya|Chechen]] capital, thousands of civilians died from a week-long series of [[Airstrike|air raids]] and artillery bombardments in the heaviest bombing campaign in [[Europe]] since the [[bombing of Dresden in World War II|destruction of Dresden]].<ref>Williams, Bryan Glyn (2001).[https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1475-4967.00012 The Russo-Chechen War: A Threat to Stability in the Middle East and Eurasia?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220316202623/https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1475-4967.00012 |date=2022-03-16 }}. ''[[Middle East Policy]]'' 8.1.</ref> The initial assault on [[New Year's Eve]] 1994 ended in a big Russian defeat, resulting in many casualties and at first a nearly complete breakdown of morale in the Russian forces. The fighting claimed the lives of an estimated 1,000 to 2,000 Russian soldiers, mostly barely trained conscripts; the worst losses were inflicted on the [[9th Infantry Division (Soviet Union)#Post-war service history|131st 'Maikop' Motor Rifle Brigade]], which was destroyed in the fighting near the central railway station.<ref name="Gall">{{cite book|last =Gall|first =Carlotta|author2 =Thomas de Waal|title =Chechnya: Calamity in the Caucasus|publisher =New York University Press|year =1998|url =https://archive.org/details/chechnyacalamity00gall|isbn =978-0-8147-2963-2}}</ref> Despite the early Chechen defeat of the New Year's assault and the many further casualties that the Russians had suffered, [[Grozny]] was eventually conquered by Russian forces after an [[urban warfare]] campaign. After armored assaults failed, the Russian military set out to take the city using air power and artillery. At the same time, the Russian military accused the Chechen fighters of using civilians as [[human shield]]s by preventing them from leaving the capital as it was bombarded.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/545672.stm|title=BBC News – EUROPE – Chechens 'using human shields'|work=bbc.co.uk|access-date=2008-05-29|archive-date=2003-03-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030317185829/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/545672.stm|url-status=live}}</ref> On 7 January 1995, the Russian Major-General Viktor Vorobyov was killed by [[Mortar (weapon)|mortar]] fire, becoming the first on a long list of Russian generals to be killed in Chechnya. On 19 January, despite many casualties, Russian forces seized the ruins of the [[Presidential Palace, Grozny|Chechen presidential palace]], which had been fought over for more than three weeks as the Chechens abandoned their positions in the ruins of the downtown area. The battle for the southern part of the city continued until the official end on 6 March 1995.

By the estimates of Yeltsin's human rights adviser [[Sergei Kovalev]], about 27,000 civilians died in the first five weeks of fighting. The Russian historian and general [[Dmitri Volkogonov]] said the Russian military's bombardment of Grozny killed around 35,000 civilians, including 5,000 children and that the vast majority of those killed were ethnic Russians. While military casualties are not known, the Russian side admitted to having 2,000 soldiers killed or missing.<ref>{{cite journal
 |last=Faurby
 |first=Ib
 |author2=Märta-Lisa Magnusson
 |title=The Battle(s) of Grozny
 |journal=Baltic Defence Review
 |issue=2
 |pages=75–87
 |year=1999
 |url=http://www.caucasus.dk/publication1.htm
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720083643/http://www.caucasus.dk/publication1.htm
 |archive-date=July 20, 2011
}}</ref> The bloodbath of Grozny shocked Russia and the outside world, inciting severe criticism of the war. International monitors from the [[Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe]] (OSCE) described the scenes as nothing short of an "unimaginable catastrophe", while former Soviet leader [[Mikhail Gorbachev]] called the war a "disgraceful, bloody adventure" and German chancellor [[Helmut Kohl]] called it "sheer madness".<ref>{{cite news | title =The First Bloody Battle | work =The Chechen Conflict | publisher =BBC News | date =2000-03-16 | url =http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/482323.stm | access-date =2006-08-10 | archive-date =2016-12-03 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20161203115036/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/482323.stm | url-status =live }}</ref>