| 01/07/2015 at 22:37
7 NICHOLAY'S STORY "CONNECTION". "NEGOTIATION". BEGINNING. PART 1.
166th Motorized Rifle Brigade, reconnaissance company, 166th brigade, mad company, purgatory
The seventh article by Nikolai “Connection” All events are real, the characters too, except for the main character “Saint”. 166 OMSB Mad Company.
From myself: this story describes how Nevzorov’s journalists came and interviewed the participants of the “Mad Company”, whose names later served as prototypes for the main characters in the film “Purgatory”.
Denis knelt down on the bank of a small stream, took off his shoes and blissfully dipped his feet into the cold, clear water. I thought that not taking off my shoes for five days was certainly too much, and you might forget what your own feet look like. He lifted with his fingers two shapeless sticky lumps, which were actually called socks, and began to vigorously wash them.
Well, he poisoned the water,” Seryoga Kuchin and Lekha Shvets came up and sat down next to each other.
Do not be afraid. This does not flow into our Don.
The scouts indulged in relaxation on the outskirts of Bamut. Yesterday we entered it calmly, one might say without firing a single shot, except, of course, for a daylong, massive artillery barrage. We found the usual sight - dilapidated houses and not a soul around.
Now the entire village and the area around it is filled with troops, and you can indulge in idleness. Moreover, the scouts deserved it. If you believe the official reports, which none of them believed anymore, but listened to on the radio today, then two servicemen died during the capture of Bamut. One of them, Pashka, comes out.
Denis, look what the infantry found,” the Sniper held out some piece of paper.
The saint unfolded it and began to read it with interest. This creation was called “Memo to a soldier of the liberation army of Chechnya” and was printed in a typographical way. It listed punishments for various offenses. The magnitude of the punishment was measured in blows with sticks. For the simplest violations, such as unkempt appearance or being late in formation, they were punished with five strokes with a stick. For more serious offenses, ten, fifteen, and so on.
What struck Denis most was the uniqueness of the scale of values. For sleeping on duty, the most terrible crime from Nikolaev's point of view, fifty sticks were given, and for arguing with the commander - eighty. While drug use is only twenty.
Funny piece of paper, where did you find it?
We picked it up somewhere in the ruins, so I begged to show it to my friends.
It turns out interesting: if they are patriots, they fight for an idea, then there should be no violations, there is nothing to punish for. So?
So! – Sniper agreed.
And if they printed such a memo, then it is intended for mercenaries. So?
What's wrong? Well, well, well!
I’m saying that I saw a blond head, just like yours, even lighter, there on the hill. Moreover, it was printed not in some Arabic, but in Russian.
What the hell! “The saint, in his hearts, kicked the water with his bare foot so that the splashes sparkled like a fan in the sun. – Communications says that when we approached Bamut, someone got on the air on our frequency, and the call signs were in pure Ukrainian language.
The sniper scratched the back of his head.
It turns out that we are fighting with mercenaries, or with whom?
Do I know? And whether we fight at all, we only bury the boys.
We were silent. Lyokha recalled:
We should talk to the company commander, but Saint. Go up that “hill” and give Pashka a cross.
I'll talk.
The next day, a company commander came to the Kobrovites and brought with him two staff members. One is a short blond man with a video camera, the other is a tall brunette man with a professional camera around his neck.
Smaglenko, gather your people,” the company commander ordered, looking around slyly.
When everyone lazily settled down in a small courtyard on pebbles and logs, squinting in the bright sun, the company commander introduced:
Attention! These are correspondents. The commander asked for assistance. And this, comrade correspondents, is our best platoon - the first. In full,” the company commander paused slightly, “almost in full force.”
The one who was taller stood up and for some reason took out his ID and showed everyone his ID, then introduced himself, gave his last name, his first name and that of his colleague. He said that they were from the team of the famous journalist Nevzorov and had come to film stories about fighters and various military actions. The guys sat and looked at these people with a bored look. They were no longer afraid of God or the devil, and no one cared deeply about these correspondents and their stories. But this guy spoke with such sincerity that it began to captivate. He did not fawn, did not persuade, he simply and sincerely explained what he wanted and asked him to help him with it.
We want to film a fight scene. For example, taking this house or not is better than that. Help us. Several people pretend to attack - run and shoot. We will film all this and show it on TV. They wanted to go to the special forces, but they have an awards ceremony there today. They only removed the formation and the recipients,” he hesitated a little and added, “they reward those who distinguished themselves, so to speak, right on the battlefield.”
Cool,” Max added sarcastically.
There were no people willing to act “for TV.” All this made Denis even more bored, he thought at least these people would tell the truth about them, but they were just a “re-enactment”. I couldn’t resist and asked as sarcastically as possible:
Listen, my dear, why don’t you show up a couple of days ago - then they could film a real fight scene. Or vice versa, wait a couple of days - maybe something will turn up.
The brunette was not at all embarrassed by this, he began to easily explain:
You see, real, real combat is not as fleeting as it needs to be for the screen. We need dynamics. And you all know much better than me that a real, real battle is extended over time.
The light, graceful sycophancy had an effect - the first volunteers appeared and the process, as they say, began. The plump blond quickly distributed the roles. Who is running where and shooting where. He was immediately corrected that if we shoot like that, we’ll shoot ourselves. He easily agreed and immediately changed the script.
While preparations were underway, the brunette took a video camera and began asking the fighters a variety of questions and recording the answers.
Gradually everyone began to stir. I even began to like this cheerful buffoonery, and new suggestions began pouring in on how to make the plot better.
Add blood...
I will play the wounded...
I'm a prisoner!
Let's get the hell out of here!...
But all this was tactfully rejected.
The saint looked at the performance from the outside and realized that these professionals were 100% right. It turned out fast, loud and bright, just like in a movie. But in a real battle, everything is really stretched out over time. You don’t notice this, because in battle you live a thousand parallel seconds, noticing and recording a thousand events happening nearby at that moment. Your time, your feelings, your emotions, your thoughts are filled to the limit.
Every boy who has fought at least once in his life knows this. Watching a fight from the outside is not that exciting - clumsy movements, ridiculous blows. But when you fight yourself, when your attention is focused on any movement of the enemy’s arm or leg, all elongation in time disappears. Your own movements seem lightning fast and ultra-precise, just like in the movies.
After filming, the correspondents put the equipment into cases. The scouts, of course, invited them to dinner.
No, thanks, guys,” the brunette politely refused, looked towards Sannikov and continued, “Now, if only I could go on reconnaissance with you...
Dash-ktan, I really (the word stuck) need to go,” Svyaz perked up. - Yes, and Pashka’s cross is ready.
The cross is a sacred thing,” Nikolaev supported.
Baikal smiled slyly once again that day:
Yes, talkers! Clean weapons, eat and rest until evening.
Until the evening?
Smaglenko, I’m with you in half an hour! – and, waving the journalists with him, he left.
Well, it’s clear that nothing is clear,” the Saint muttered and went to clean “Natasha”, pushing through the crowd of friends and strangers who had gathered to watch “how they make a movie.”
They cleaned their weapons and animatedly discussed who said what to the camera and who portrayed themselves in what way.
Guys! I didn’t ask when they will show it?
They said on the first Thursday of June.
Wow, that's almost three weeks. I’ll have time to write to my people so they can admire me. What kind of transmission?
Unwatched program - “Wild Field”.
Yes, lucky, - the guys from other platoons who came to the light were jealous.
“Well, what’s wrong with that,” Denis was surprised, “I’ve been shown on TV so many times in civilian life.”
Didn't you dream?
No. One day I came to Moscow to visit a friend. We walked around the city, stopped near Dynamo at a kiosk, grabbed a beer, started drinking. I saw some guy with a microphone coming right up to us. With him is another with a television camera, a third with some kind of box around his neck and wearing headphones, a sound engineer, probably. This guy comes up and sticks the microphone in and asks: “How do you look into the future?” I'm confused. I don’t remember what I said, something about optimism. I asked a friend, then said “thank you” and went to ask others. We called out to him, saying, when will they show it? He speaks then on the Good Evening Moscow TV channel. A couple of days later we are waiting, we are sitting at my friend’s house, he warned the whole family that they will show our interview with him, almost like a press conference. Well, of course, everyone is interested, they also sat down and waited. The channel begins and at the beginning of the credits they say what will be in the program. I read it carefully - there seems to be nothing on our topic at the beginning. And I pressed myself, I want it on the point, it’s scary. I say, at the beginning, it doesn’t seem to be about us, I’ll run and sit down quickly. I ran. Sat down. Only... I hear the whole family in one voice: “Denis! Hurry! They are showing you!” Well, where to go soon? You can't interrupt the process. So I screwed up my interview.
The laughter was loud, and the comments were full of options. Dim Dimych was delighted that he could return to his favorite topic.
How is it that “the process cannot be interrupted”? For some people the process was even interrupted. So he even ran the hundred-meter dash. From a low start! – he patted Max on the shoulder.
Yeah, from very low! Gardin snapped.
Max, tell me, in the end, what happened to you?
Okay,” he finished cleaning. He clicked the receiver cover on his RPK, released the spring, put the safety on, and inserted the magazine. He carefully placed his favorite weapon on his lap, preparing to tell.
It was near Tsentoroy. After they took him, we were assigned a position immediately behind the outermost houses, on a hillock. The platoon commander ordered everyone to open a trench for kneeling shooting. Communication even then threw himself into refusal. I don’t know what.
I don't like this thing. It's like digging your own grave.
But it’s necessary!
But he dug it up!
But what!
In general, I don’t know what’s going on. Communications with the platoon commander were arguing, I set up my trench as it should be, and then I was also pinned down. And where to? Not in front of the position. I saw bushes about a hundred meters away, near the yard, and thought of going there. I just sat down, just rolled my eyes, when suddenly a bullet whistled right next to my ear. I have a black bandage like this, tied in a knot on one side. So the bullet pierced the tip of the bandage. I just had time to realize that I was falling on my side, and my knee was sticking up like that. The next bullet pierced the hebe under the knee like that. Well, I think it's crazy. It is not clear where they are shooting from. There was nowhere to hide, the trousers were from winter clothing then, with straps, I only managed to throw on one strap and go back. I’m running and I hear bullets splashing behind me.
Stop, stop! – Communication interrupted him cheerfully, “Let me tell you further.” My trench was the outermost one. I dug it out just the right size for me, just to be sure. And at that time I was near the head. I hear shots, and Max runs, shouting: “They’re shooting! Max! Anxiety!" Everyone jumps into place, and I dive into the nearest trench. It turned out to be Max. I look, and he is so beautiful - he rushes in a classic manner, with full swing, and behind him fountains take off. And I don’t understand where it comes from. All of us froze, and Max was running. He runs to the last trench and fishes there.
Yeah, killing you, Communication, isn’t enough.
This turned out to be my trench! I made it according to my size, so as not to dig too much, but you can see for yourself the size of us. In general, we are all in the trenches. Someone is shooting at us, but it’s not at all clear from where, only bullets are whistling. I feel good, spacious and bursting with laughter. And Max dived like a fish and started yelling at me with obscenities. To be honest, I have never heard anything like this before.
You'll hear more! I can’t turn around or get out, and my pants are hanging out.
In general, the spirit apparently ran out of ammunition. Everything calmed down. Then the whole platoon tried to calm Max down so that he wouldn’t kill me in my trench.
I send everyone interested in the military operations of this military unit here http://aventure56.livejournal.com According to journalistic custom, the material is made in the style of “universal lament for those killed alive,” but if you do not take into account the tone of the material, the article deserves attention as one of the first mentions in the press of the 166th Tver brigade. I added illustrations to the post from the blog of photo reporter Alexei Sazonov http://mnalex2002.livejournal.com/14595.htmlHere I would like to cite an excerpt from correspondence with Valery Pavlovich Kislev, the author of the book “Reconnaissance Battalion” and the two-volume book about the 245th infantry regiment “Confession of the Invincible Regiment” and “The Glory of the Invincible Regiment.” This is what he wrote to me about the 166th Tver brigade: “Not far from us, in Ivanovo, at the beginning of the 1st campaign, the 166th motorized brigade was formed - I just ran away three times, even before sending".
PAST HOME - TO WAR. Another batch of hastily trained soldiers is sent from Tver to Chechnya.//Newspaper "Soviet Russia" N2 (11132), 01/6/1995
Soldier Dima Sukharev was traveling from Vladimir to Tver by train. He didn’t drive, as if he was flying on wings. Still would! The path did not lie somewhere, but to the side of my birthplace. Kalashnikov is just a stone's throw from Tver, where Dmitry was drafted from. The soldier dreamed that he would see his relatives. They will visit him in the unit or he will receive a leave of absence. I was lucky, in a word: just a little over six months after being drafted, I was home. Yes, and there will be something to talk about. Now he is not a greenhorn, but a tank driver. I wonder how his gallant friends and girlfriends will greet him, in his fitted, well-worn uniform?..
But the soldier’s New Year’s dreams were not destined to come true. Upon arrival at the unit, Dmitry was told that he was included in the list of those who, after short preparation, would go to Chechnya. Here's some "luck": I was in a hurry to go home to go to war. And not a tanker, but a motorized rifleman.
During these New Year's days, Tver has become a tragic city for dozens of mothers from all over Russia. By someone's order, a motorized rifle unit is formed in an ancient Russian city to be sent to Chechnya. Soldiers and sergeants are sent here from wherever they remain. And, apparently, there are now few of them in the army destroyed by the “reformers.” I judge this by a number of indirect but compelling signs. Tanker Sukharev had to be urgently retrained as an infantryman, not because of the excess of ordinary motorized riflemen. Alexey Pipkin was transferred to the Tver unit from the Podolsk region. The soldier himself does not know what position he was in. Performed the duties of... a fireman. In six months, I received information about the quality of coal and fuel oil, learned to use a shovel perfectly, and maintain pressure and temperature in the boiler. I didn’t have to hold the machine gun in my hands. And in Tver he was told that in ten days (that’s how long was left before departure) he should become a mortarman.
While the soldier was telling me all this, my parents stood gloomily nearby. Although, they believe, they were lucky: they found their son without much trouble. It's more difficult for others. O. Khaziakhmetova came to Tver all the way from Magnitogorsk. They have been huddling at the station for more than one night now. And in the morning he comes to the checkpoint, asks questions, demands to find his son Igor. In vain. Mothers give different answers every day. At first they said that he had already been sent to Chechnya. Then they reported that it seemed to be at the training ground, since it was not on the list of those sent. Now they say they don’t know where it went...
How can one understand such absurdity! - the unhappy woman cannot hold back her tears.
Lyudmila Vasilyeva from Moscow cannot see her son Vitaly. In the last days of December he was transferred from Smolensk to Tver. They say that he is learning a new specialty at the training ground. There are only two weeks left for study.
You must understand,” Lyudmila Ivanovna convinces me, “that to acquire military skills you need at least six months. What kind of smart guy ordered these untrained kids to hell? Let Yeltsin, Grachev and other Kremlin sages first send their children, sons-in-law and other relatives to Chechnya. And ours will follow these commanders...
Various rumors are circulating in the regional center. Including about conscripts, who, without training or preparation, are going to be thrown into battle almost from military registration and enlistment offices. It was not possible to find out whether this is actually so. The TASS correspondent was not allowed into the unit or into the training ground. The commanders and their educational assistants flatly refused to talk to the personnel. It’s not difficult to understand them: they follow orders. But the silence of commanders is more expressive these days than any words. Many officers in the unit served in Afghanistan and well understand the senselessness and treachery of yet another massacre.
The other day there was a police presence at the military town. The operational group of the Proletarsky district police department went there in response to a call from the unit on duty: the parents, they say, were disturbing public order. The police arrived and saw this picture. Truck after truck units leave the gate. In the backs, like cartridges in a clip, there are soldiers in full gear with matte gleaming helmets. Mothers who had arrived the day before to see their sons were ready to throw themselves under the wheels. They demanded that we stop sending them until they saw their children. The unit commander, however, immediately ordered the lists of those sent (more than 400 people) to be read out. There were none of them whose mothers had gathered at the gate. It turned out that this group was also transferred to Tver from another Russian city. And on the same day, they were sent by military transport aircraft to Mozdok. One of the aviation chiefs who controlled the loading of the planes shared their impressions.
The guys are well equipped. Dress warmly, everyone has a bulletproof vest, chemical kit, dry rations, and a sleeping bag. But... Kuga is green.
Yuri BUROV.
(Our own correspondent).
Tver.
Ilya Anatolyevich Kasyanov (05/28/1961-11/19/1999) - Russian lieutenant colonel, Hero of Russia, head of intelligence of the 166th Guards Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade, hero of the Chechen War.
In 1978, after graduating from the Minsk Suvorov School, he entered the Kiev Higher Combined Arms Command School for reconnaissance. Faculty from which he graduated in 1982.
After graduating from college in 1982, he served as a reconnaissance platoon commander in the Far Eastern Military District.
Since mid-1984, captain, reconnaissance company commander. From 1984 to 1986 he fought in Afghanistan and was wounded twice. On November 21, 1984, on the western outskirts of Herat, Kasyanova’s infantry fighting vehicle ran over a hidden guided landmine with its right track. The explosion tore out a third of the vehicle's body, and the turret was pushed vertically upward. The tower, turning over in the air with the hatch down, fell to the ground, pinching but not crushing Kasyanov’s torso. From 1984 to 1985 he spent in the hospitals of Shindand, Tashkent, Rostov-on-Don, Kyiv, where doctors performed very complex operations on him and saved his leg. For Afghanistan, the commander of the reconnaissance company, Captain Kasyanov, was nominated for the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, but received the Order of the Red Star
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Since 1986, Ilya Kasyanov served in the Belarusian Military District. Then in the Northern Group of Forces from 1988 to 1992 he served in Poland.
Since June 1993, he has been appointed chief of intelligence of the 166th GMORB. In 1994, the brigade was sent to Chechnya. From January to July 1995 he carried out a combat mission in the Chechen Republic.
In Chechnya:
The 166th Motorized Rifle Brigade, which was transferred to Chechnya in January 1995, initially became part of the North group, but did not participate in battles and was in reserve. On February 12, it was transferred to strengthen the South-East group of troops. The brigade maneuvered from the area of eastern Grozny without losses and straddled the Alkhan-Yurt - Chechen-Aul road. Thus, the exit for militant detachments from the Aldy and New Fisheries areas was blocked.
On February 18, the command of the 166th Motorized Rifle Regiment and the 506th Motorized Rifle Regiment was tasked with storming the commanding heights in the New Fisheries area on the southern outskirts of Grozny and thereby completing the encirclement of the capital of Chechnya. These heights were considered not criminal: the militants attached special importance to them and created a well-fortified defense system there, and a selected unit was sent to protect them. The preparation of four assault groups and the overall leadership of the daring combat operation were entrusted to the intelligence chief of the 166th Motorized Rifle Brigade, Major I.A. Kasyanov. Before the upcoming operation to encircle Grozny, he spent two days with the assault groups in intensive training, during which they practiced combat techniques in the mountains in conditions of limited visibility.
The assault began on the night of February 20-21. At 5.30 am on February 21, the assault group under the command of the reconnaissance company commander, Captain I.A. Batalova (06/02/1967 - 12/09/2004) managed to silently bypass the strongholds of the militants, took possession of the dominant height of 398.3 in a sudden raid and concentrated on it. By the morning of February 21, units of the 166th Motorized Rifle Regiment from the south and the 506th Motorized Rifle Regiment from the north occupied six heights in New Fisheries.
Batalov Igor Adolfovich
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The militants initially retreated, believing that they were attacked by a large group. However, a massive attack was subsequently launched. For 40 minutes, artillery pieces and mortars cleared the heights, after which the militants launched an assault. On the afternoon of February 21, the Dudayevites carried out several counterattacks, trying to regain the heights, but they were all repulsed. In the battle, the tank of the commander of the tank company of the 506th MRR, Captain V.I., was hit. Sinelnika (04/05/1966 - 02/21/1995). The company commander died from his injuries. On February 22, enemy attacks continued, but 166 motorized infantry fighting vehicles and 506 small and medium-sized infantry rifles were already firmly holding the commanding heights. The defense of the height by I.A. Kasyanov’s scouts lasted two days. The success of the decisive and bold actions of the scouts ensured that the brigade carried out the destruction of militants in the New Fisheries area. The remnants of Dudayev’s detachments defending Grozny were surrounded in the areas of New Fisheries, Aldy and the suburb of Chernorechye. The blockade ring around the Chechen capital has closed. Victory of A.I. scouts Kasyanova was also brilliant because there were no losses: among the scouts there were only four wounded.
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On May 15, 1995, Lieutenant Colonel I. A. Kasyanov and his subordinate, reconnaissance company commander Captain Igor Adolfovich Batalov were awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation.
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In the summer of 1995, the exact date is not known to me, I.A.’s business trip. Kasyanov ended and his post was replaced by Kosarev Valery Yuryevich.
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In 1996, after the signing of the Khasavyurt Agreement, Lieutenant Colonel Kasyanov continued to serve as chief of intelligence of the 166th GMORB in the city of Tver.
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In 1997, Kasyanov completed courses for training UN military observers, and served as a military observer in Yugoslavia and Western Sahara, Morocco, and was awarded the UN Medal “In the Service of Peace.”
In 1998, after his return, he was appointed as a teacher at the training center of the Combined Arms Academy.
At the end of October 1999, Kasyanov went with a group of listeners on his second business trip to Chechnya, near Bamut.
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Here's what we found out from unofficial sources:
Kasyanov with a group of officers, among whom was the commander of the 693rd regiment, went out on reconnaissance. Four hundred meters from the front edge. And then the mortar started firing at them.
12 hours 30 minutes.
There are four mines around, three more are definitely covering the group. Five people are killed, Ilya is wounded. My legs and arm were cut by shrapnel, as was my neck. There were 18 fragments in his bulletproof vest. Those who told me about this suggest that the Chechens had a good spotter. And it is quite possible that he acted on our part. And then...
The artillery processed the place where the fire was coming from, but there was no one there anymore. Most likely, the mortar was in the back of the truck. A helicopter is called to pick up the wounded Ilya. The "vertushechnik" cannot land the car. They say that he had no experience of flying in the mountains. After some time, the second “spinner” comes. At this time, fog falls on Bamut. I've been to this area of Chechnya and remember the damned gray cotton wool. The helicopter pilot shouts on the radio: “Indicate the landing site...” Flares take off, but because of the fog they are not visible to the pilot. Six unsuccessful approaches, and the rotorcraft leaves for base. A decision is made to transport Kasyanov in an armored vehicle. On the way, Ilya injects himself with promedol. There is no surgeon in the regiment's medical unit, but one is needed. Then Kasyanov is sent to doctors by units of internal troops. This time he can no longer inject himself. It is done by those who are nearby. Then it's really bad. In the medical unit there were neither conditions for blood transfusions nor the blood itself.
18 hours 50 minutes.
After being wounded, Ilya lived for another 6 hours and 20 minutes.
All. He was 38 years old.
As the “Afghan”, reserve lieutenant colonel Stas Nazimov, would bitterly and rightly say at the wake:
- Ilya was ready to give the last drop of his blood, but Russia did not have one pint for him...
Posthumously awarded the Order of Courage.
He was buried in the city of Tver, on September 12, 2006, on the Walk of Fame of the Dmitrovo-Cherkassy Cemetery. Here he had to bury his comrades more than once. Here he told his friend Alexander Kharchenko
Streets in the village of Mamulino, Tver Region and the city of Tver are named after the Hero. Memorial plaques were installed: in the city of Dzerzhinsk (Tver?) on the facade of school No. 14, a memorial plaque was installed on the house on the street. Tereshkova, 50a, in which he lived with his parents.; in Minsk on the building of the Minsk Suvorov Military School.
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166th Motorized Rifle Reconnaissance Squad of Chechnya..
ITAR-TASS war correspondent Alexander Kharchenko talks about the tragic events that occurred on November 8, 1999.
I LOST MY YOUNGER BROTHER IN BATTLE...
It is the night of November 8th, but there is no sleep. I don't understand what's happening to me. Like I was sick. I wander around the apartment, trying to read, but the letters are difficult to form into words.
I still don’t know that the coming day will tear my soul with a Caucasian knife. And not just mine.
Ilya! Killed? Can't be! When? 8th. What? Near Bamut?
On the phone is the voice of the former deputy commander of the 166th Tver Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade, reserve colonel Sergei Ustyanov:
- The information is being checked, but it looks like it will be confirmed... I'll call you after twelve.
I'm dialing hotline numbers in Moscow. I hear: “We don’t have such information.” And it already seems that... It just seems.
Back on November 4, Ilya came to me, called Seryozha Barkov, the chairman of our regional organization "Combat Brotherhood", and took books on the history of Chechnya, which I specially selected for him.
I left the recorder with a request to have it repaired.
On the afternoon of the 9th I called Alena, Ilya’s wife.
- How are you? There is a problem?
- Everything is fine, Sasha. He'll be back on the 20th.
- Maybe I'll meet him earlier. Here one business trip rolls up...
We didn't know anything yet.
By evening it started snowing in Tver. He wrapped a fresh grave in a white shroud on the Alley of Glory of the Dmitrovo-Cherkassy cemetery. Nature seemed to ask for forgiveness from the Hero of Russia, Lieutenant Colonel Ilya Kasyanov, who came to this earth with the best intentions - to live and fight evil.
So much has already been written and said about the heroes of the first Chechen war that it is time to compile a large reference book with a complete list of the exploits of that war. However, it was not by chance that the legendary special forces company of the 166th separate motorized rifle brigade entered the history of military operations. The militants, who resisted the onslaught of the Russian military to the last, nicknamed this company “mad.”
About misconceptions
The most daring military operations during the first Chechen campaign are usually attributed, rightly or wrongly, to the GRU special forces. The special forces of the GRU General Staff owe part of their fame to the film “Purgatory” about the events in Chechnya, where Russian soldiers are shown in the role of such crazy people. By some strange coincidence, after the release of the scandalous feature film, the reconnaissance company of the 166th motorized rifle brigade began to be assigned specifically to the GRU special forces. However, the “mad” were never included in the special forces of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff and could not be included by definition. The Gyurza company often worked side by side with GRU soldiers, but was never part of this special unit.
Another subject of controversy among ordinary people and everyone who was interested in the fighting during the first Chechen war was the company commander himself - Major Alexey Efentyev with the call sign “Gyurza”. In the heat of controversy and the abundance of information, he is called the “sole” commander of the reconnaissance company, but in reality, Efentiev was the last person to command the company until its disbandment. The military, who have long since retired, say that Efentyev’s first acquaintance with the company was not easy. The nature of the fighting, its severity and fierce resistance from the militants, and the complex nature of the fighters also affected it.
"Gyurza"
Efentyev himself, in numerous interviews that “covered” him on the wave of military glory, never spoke of himself as a special person and never considered himself a hero. However, Efentyev’s colleagues, and simply those who encountered him, sometimes by accident, in Chechnya say that the major’s uncompromisingness and toughness caused discomfort only to those who did not understand why they were holding a weapon in their hands. However, it was “Gyurza”, a graduate of the Baku Higher Combined Arms Command School, who was assigned not only a call sign recognizable from radio traffic, but also another nickname that did not arise out of nowhere.
Before he took command of a separate reconnaissance company of the 166th Motorized Rifle Brigade, Efentyev managed to serve in Afghanistan immediately after graduating from college. From 1987 to 1988, “Gyurza” commanded the reconnaissance group. It was then, according to those who were familiar with Efentiev, that the playful nickname “Lesha - the golden hoof” stuck to him. By some almost animal instinct, Efentyev was able to determine the direction of enemy fire by sound and “measured” the distance to the object by eye. The military says that such abilities are rare among commanders - about one in a hundred. What explains this feeling and the unique army “sense” is difficult for the common man to understand, but where “Gyurza” led his group, there were never losses. 
“You need to feel the war, to be in the center of the battle. Understand that a machine gun is not just a piece of hardware, but your working tool, your best friend. It’s like being a great racing driver and feeling with every part of your body any, even the smallest, change in the car’s behavior on the track,” say former scouts.
Another feature of the service under the command of “Gyurza” was the training of contract soldiers newly arrived in the company. Having not been fired upon, having served only compulsory service, recruits often did not understand where the enemy was “working” on them from. Such miscalculations could cost the fighters their lives, so “Gyurza” and the squad commanders taught the “young ones” right on the spot, organizing short training sessions with live fire. For such initiatives, Efentiev himself and his subordinates could easily have gone to court, but saving lives in that war was placed above the established rules - delay could lead to irreparable consequences.
Combat brigade
The basis of the “Gyurza” combat group was not youngsters who took a machine gun in their hands for the first time, but seasoned, life-taught, and wise in their own way, simple Russian men. The backbone of the reconnaissance company consisted of completely different people with completely different destinies. Former policeman, gravedigger at the cemetery, teacher, miner. However, all of them, gathered by fate in one place and arriving to fight for their Motherland, voluntarily did their work as true professionals. Mature men showed boyish agility when a combat mission required it, and enormous human experience in short moments of calm. The main comedian in the company was “Mitrokha”, also known as “Dmitrich” - a sniper who had been a shooter, a machine gunner, and a squad leader - a strong native of Ivanovo, and “Petrovich” - a former police captain - was considered the most experienced and reasonable. People of different ages In the battles in the Caucasus, many things were connected, but the main thing was a sense of duty, need, importance and the need to be close to comrades in arms and the desire to “crush” the enemy to the last. Some soldiers of the Gyurza reconnaissance company did not have time to really recover from their wounds before they immediately fled from the hospital, taking only their pants and shirt. This is exactly how Kostantin Mosalev is remembered, whom the director awarded with the nickname “Kostya Pitersky” in the film “Purgatory.” In fact, Mosalev’s nickname in the detachment was “Skull”. Because of the characteristic black bandana with white skulls that stands out from the crowd. Rabid
The militants did not like to get involved with the reconnaissance company. They knew they would drive until the last minute. It is not known who nicknamed Efentyev’s company “mad,” but the nickname stuck firmly not only among Chechen fighters, but also among tank crews, special forces and even staff officers. As soon as they talked about the battle of the “mad men” over the radio, it immediately became clear that a real battle was going on somewhere. The “mad men” rushed into battle without thinking. Instincts and the ability to beat the enemy not with numbers, but with skill, worked. Efentyev’s company could fight with all its strength against forty militants and emerge victorious, and always, according to those who witnessed the events in Bamut and Grozny, drove the enemy to the last. In addition to dozens of raids deep into Basayev’s positions, there is a reconnaissance company under the command of Efentyev and an operation to unblock , or, more correctly, a rapid breakthrough through the encircled Coordination Center in Grozny, completely occupied by militants. Thanks to this risky and, according to many experts, impossible from the point of view of the group’s safety, not only high-ranking officers, but also many Russian journalists were saved. However, the Grozny feat happened two months after another significant event. 
The majority of military personnel note the special professionalism of “Gyurza” and the entire “mad” company in the actions to liberate Bamut. It was the reconnaissance of the 166th brigade that bypassed the militants in the mountains and got behind them. Faced with the advance detachment, the scout patrol entered the battle, “putting down” 12 bandits. The surviving militants rushed as hard as they could to Bamut, from where they began to report via radio communications about a “reconnaissance brigade” in their rear. Largely thanks to the reconnaissance of the 166th Brigade and the actions of the 136th Motorized Rifle Brigade, which took on a heavy battle on the slope of the gorge, Bamut itself was able to be recaptured relatively easily. The company itself, under the command of Major Efentyev, even after disbanding on the eve of the second Chechen war, thanks to the personnel and personal qualities of each fighter , still remains one of the most combat-ready army units in the modern history of the Russian Armed Forces.
I would like to remind everyone about the legendary reconnaissance “Mad Company” of the 166th separate motorized rifle brigade under the command of “Gyurza”.
The fear of the Chechen fighters was so great that when the “Czechs” learned (usually through radio interception) that the “Mad Company” was moving into their area, they immediately abandoned their positions (no matter how strong they were) and took flight ( even if they outnumbered the “Mad Company” many times over).
Alexey Viktorovich Efentyev, the son of a hereditary military man, was born in 1963. He served in the ranks of military sailors. After demobilization, he entered the famous Baku Higher Military Combined Arms Command School, and immediately after graduating with the rank of lieutenant he was sent to Afghanistan. During his service in war-torn Afghanistan, Alexey Efentyev went from platoon commander to head of an intelligence group. After that there was Nagorno-Karabakh. From 1992 to 1994, Captain Alexey Efentyev was the chief of staff of a separate reconnaissance battalion in Germany.
Since 1994, Alexey Efentyev has been in Chechnya. The military unit he commanded was one of the best and most combat-ready units of the Russian troops. A. Efentyev’s call sign “Gyurza” was well known. "Gyurza" was a legend of the first Chechen war. His combat record included dozens of dangerous raids behind the rear of Dudayev’s army of militants, the assault on Bamut and the lifting of the blockade from the special Coordination Center surrounded in the center of Grozny, when, thanks to the heroism of “Gyurza”, many high ranks of the Army and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, as well as a large group of Russian correspondents, were saved . For this feat in 1996, A. Efentyev was nominated for the title “Hero of Russia”.
During his service in hot spots, he was awarded the Order of Military Merit, the Red Star, and the Order of Courage, the medal "For Distinction in Military Service, First Class", two medals "For Military Merit" and other awards and insignia. A. Efentyev was the hero of numerous television programs on central television channels, and also became the prototype of “Gyurza” in Alexander Nevzorov’s film “Purgatory”.
After the first Chechen war, “Gyurza” brought into his company more than half of the army men with whom he fought in the separate 166th motorized rifle brigade. He pulled some out of deep drinking, some he literally picked up on the street, some he saved from being fired. The “special forces”, led by their commander, themselves erected a monument to their comrades who died in Chechnya. We used our own money to order a granite monument and built the foundation for it ourselves.
The reconnaissance unit commanded by “Gyurza” was nicknamed “mad” by Chechen fighters. So that they would not be confused with ordinary infantry, the special forces tied black bandages on their heads, taken from the killed "Czechs", it was something like an initiation: each new arrival had to remove the black bandage from the "Czech" he killed and cut off his ears (according to Karan, it is considered that Allah draws into paradise by the ears and the special forces cut off the ears of the killed, thereby depriving the Muslim militant of the opportunity to get into paradise. This obscured the enormous psychological impact of the enemy). They invariably went first and entered into battle, even when the numerical advantage was far from being on their side. In April 1996, near Belgatoy captured by militants, machine gunner Romka, without stopping firing, at point-blank range, at full height, without hiding, went to the firing point, like Alexander Matrosov. The hero died, and his body was pulled out from under the fire of the Chechens by his comrade Konstantin Mosalev, whom A. Nevzorov would later show in the film “Purgatory” under the pseudonym “Pitersky”.
Bamut was taken by the reconnaissance company of the 166th brigade, which bypassed Bamut through the mountains from the rear. On the approach to Bamut, the advanced scout patrol encountered a detachment of militants who were also heading to Bamut. During the battle, 12 militants were killed (the bodies were left abandoned). Private Pavel Naryshkin was killed and junior sergeant Pribylovsky was wounded. Naryshkin died saving the wounded Pribylovsky. The retreating Chechens took a roundabout route to Bamut and panic began there about the “Russian special forces brigade in the rear” (radio interception). After which the militants decided to break into the mountains along the right slope of the gorge, where they came upon the advancing battalion of the 136th MSBr. In the oncoming battle, about 20 militants were killed, the losses of the 136th brigade were 5 people killed and 15 people were wounded. The remnants of the militants were partially scattered, partially broke through and went into the mountains. About 30 more were captured within 24 hours during pursuit by aircraft and artillery. It was the reconnaissance detachment of the 166th brigade that was the first to enter Bamut. It was these contract soldiers who were filmed in Nevzorov’s report.
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