Shatoy ambush

Shatoy ambush
Part of First Chechen War
Date16 April 1996
Location
Result Chechen victory
Belligerents
Russia Chechen Republic of Ichkeria
Commanders and leaders
Pyotr Terzovets  Ruslan Gelayev
Ibn al-Khattab
Units involved

245th Motor Rifle Regiment (of the 47th Guards Tank Division)

  • 2nd Battalion
Detachment led by Gelayev & Khattab
Strength
100–200 Russian troops 43–100 Chechen fighters
Casualties and losses

100–187 killed
8–12 soldiers escaped

27/30–50 military vehicles destroyed
3 killed, 6 wounded

The Shatoy ambush (known in Russia as the Battle of Yarysh-mardy) was a significant event during the First Chechen War. It occurred near the town of Shatoy, located in the southern mountains of Chechnya. Chechen insurgents under the leadership of their Arab-born commander, Ibn al-Khattab, would launch an attack on a large Russian Armed Forces army convoy resulting in a three hour long battle.

The Chechen rebels would succeed in destroying nearly all the vehicles within the convoy, inflicting severe and heavy losses on the Russian troops. The battle signified a major shift in Chechen defensive tactics and marked one of the most debilitating and humiliating defeats suffered by the Russian military during the war.