It is known that the Russian army is known worldwide for its firm will to fight and great military strength. However, in the Chechen war at the end of the last century, Russia experienced a deadly street battle with the direct loss of about 2,000 special forces. Despite such heavy casualties, Russia has not been able to make enough progress. Under these circumstances, Russian President Vladimir Putin initially had to send his air force to bomb the small city of Grozny.
After a brutal urban street fighting, Russian special forces eventually succeeded in retaking the small city called Grozny. Even the United States admitted afterwards that they might not have been able to complete such a battle. Despite the continuous development of science and technology and the emergence of various advanced weapons, street fighting is still an important way for weak countries to fight against strong countries. In urban street fighting, the gap in weapons and equipment is compressed to the same level as much as possible. The defender can rely on adequate pre-battle planning and familiarity with the defensive area to launch a fierce counterattack against the attacker. In short, the outcome of street battles usually depends on which side puts in more troops, which also reflects the brutality of street fighting.
In fact, the street fighting in Grozny is considered the most brutal since World War II, and even comparable to the fighting during World War II. After the illegal occupation of Chechnya, Russia quickly launched an offensive into other parts of Chechnya, and then sent the first combat troops to the capital Grozny in 1994-1995. These included two relatively elite field units, the 81st Motorized Rifle Regiment and the 131st Brigade. However, after entering the center of Grozny, the two forces were severely attacked by two special operations battalions of Chechen illegal armed forces. The 131st Brigade that entered the city center had 300 soldiers, but more than 70 were killed. The motorized rifle regiment also managed to evacuate only 1 officer and 10 soldiers in the city center, and all the rest were killed. In addition to the huge casualties, the loss rate of tanks, armored vehicles and other equipment supplied by Russia to these two forces is as high as a staggering 95%. When the Chechen illegal armed forces did not have time to build positions, they even used the bodies of a large number of Russian soldiers as bunkers. In the face of strong resistance from Chechen illegal armed forces, Russia sent more than 2,000 special forces on December 25, 1999, to disperse its forces to confront Chechen illegal armed forces, and cooperate with the fierce bombing of the Russian Air Force, and finally successfully occupied Grozny at the cost of 1,173 special forces killed.
Grozny is a tough battle for two main reasons. First, the city was built as a fortified fortress during the Soviet era, and the Soviet Union spent a lot of money to build a vast network of underground passages that made it difficult for the attacking side to cope. Second, Chechnya's ranks are filled with large numbers of retired Western special forces members, including Navy SEALs, SAS and Thundering Special Forces. At one point, these forces even accounted for half of the Chechen outlaw. Despite the heavy price Russia paid for the capture of Grozny, in Russia's opinion, it was completely worth it. Because in the Battle of Stalingrad in World War II, the Russians showed an indomitable fighting spirit. In addition, the Grozny street battle was also the first large-scale head-to-head confrontation between Russian special forces and Western special forces, and Chechen illegal armed forces paid a price of 10,000 casualties, and even more than 3,000 Western special forces were killed. Therefore, the Grozny War not only demonstrated the strength of Russian special forces, but also made Western countries jealous of Russia.