after the fall of Grozny, investigators, soldiers for the russian federation came into possession of a video that was for sale in the black market in the streets of Grozny.
the video, which was shown on Chechen tv channels at least once as propaganda.

it was the footage of executions of six russian conscripts. videos like this had become pretty common during the chechnyan wars, not only as an intimidation tactic but as an income source for basaev's organization, i.e, the islamic international peacekeeping brigade.

it did not take long for the footage to be discovered on the internet as a snuff film.

where it is still quite easy to find in full and enhanced versions today.

video propaganda was a very favourite tool of basaev.
who even filmed himself having an injured foot amputated by dr. khassan baiev, who at the time was the only surgeon remaining in grozny.

so yea, i wanted to cover this very important topic, we're going to talk about this tape called 'Dagestan/tukhchar massacre tape, this clip in particular highlights the true reality of war.
to me, it just encapsulates the brutality, the hopelessness and the inhumane nature of battle.

these days many kids glamorize war because they think it's an edgy 'aesthetic' because how lightly it is handled in videogames, edgy tiktok edits.
which makes these kids think that war is admirable. these pieces of media are almost glamorized and you dont really get true feel for how horrible war really is.

regardlesss, the clip i'm referring to is the infamous Dagestan massacre tape.

chechen militants used to record these type of executions to spread fear among russian soldiers.

this clip shows the brutal execution of six russian conscripts by chechen militants. conscripts are individuals drafted into the military without their consent, often under force.

on sept. 5, 1999, a small brigade of twelve conscripts and an officer were sent to the village to reinforce the local dagestani police and local militias.
led by lieutenant vasily tashkin,
the brigade dug trenches, set up watch towers, and established checkpoints.
in their armory, they had a BMP-2 tank with full ammunition, a PK with several hundred rounds, an SVD with one hundred and twenty rounds, a kalashnikov handbrake and four magazines from machine gunners.
as well as an underbarrel grenade launcher with four grenades.
also, the command of his battalion was stationed nearby in duchy.

in the very early hours that day, a local militia leader allerted Lt. Tashkin and alerted him to what seemed like a large group of militants accumulating in the village of ishkoy yurt.
this area has been very quiet up until this point, but Tashkin knew that any missteps could be catastrophic if they are not ready for anything.
he immediately got up and woke the rest of his battalion to get into position at the southern border.
he took aside a sniper to come with him to the highest point in town, hill 444.3, near the western border to get a better view.
once they made it to the observation tower, they did indeed see an approaching insurgence.
but they were not coming from where they were expecting. the militants traversed the mountain range and were crossing a shallow area of the aksai.
not only that, but they were much closer than what was comfortable.
he radioed to his men to send over the BMP-2 before getting the sniper to open fire.
two men in the front of the single file convoy of militants fell just past the Aksai, meaning the battle had officially begun.

The BMP-2 was slowly getting into position as the firefight began. the russian troops focused on the militants crossing the western border while the dagestani police held their position at the southern border.
a second unit of militants approached from the expected southern border and engaged the police force. it took an unexpectedly long time for the BMP-2 to get into position and take aim at an enemy ZIL cargo truck that was crossing a shallow portion of the aksai.
before the tank could take aim, an enemy grenade hit its target and the tank was literally in flames.
one of the russian gunners died instantly while the other gunner, alexei paranin managed to escape the flames.
The BMP pilot, Alexei Polagaev, wasnt as lucky. he was pulled from the wreckage by fellow soldier ruslan shindin before he was fully consumed by fire.
barely staying conscious, the severely burned alexei was assisted away from the tank before he was eventually able to flee on his own.

Lt. Tashkin called for his men to retreat to a checkpoint deeper into the village. the overwhelmed police force was also forced to fall back after losing two of their men, Lt. Akhmed Davdiev and Sgt. Abdulkasim Magomedov.
the russians and the dagestani police were essentially corralled into the centre of town.
atp, the emir of the chechen militants, umar edilsultanov, made an announcement from the outskirts of tukhchar.
that the russians have about thirty minutes to clear out of the town or face consequences. after the time is up, they intend on implementing a Russian military tactic called ‘Zachistka’, which is essentially a door-to-door clearing operation.

in response to this, several of the Russians accepted help from the civilians who offer them a change of clothing or a place to hide in their homes.
some found refuge in the homes of members of the police force, which are easily identified by the letter ‘M’ painted on their facades.
some also fled the town and hid in nearby corn thickets.

Vasily Tashkin refused to back down, which in turn, convinced four of his men to stay by his side.
ammunition was low and the radios jammed by chechens, this act of these men may have been brave, but foolish in this situation.
the men hid out in a semi collapsed temporary farm building and waited for the militants to move in.

elsewhere in the village, badly injured alexei polagaev struggled to remain standing as he searched for cover after hearing emir mmar’s thirty minute announcement

the rest of alexei's story comes from utro(dot)ru reporter oleg petrovsky who had an interview with tukhchar resident atikat maksudovna tabieva ten years later:

they hid him in a remote room deep in their home and locked the door.
eventually, sixteen militants appeared, led to the home on a tip from a local sympathetic chechen. they ransacked the house and threatened the residents. they pointed their weapons at the children, grabbed atikat's nine year old grandson, named ramazan, and yelled,

"show me where you hid the russians! where did your mother and grandmother hide the soldier? tell us!"

the small boy knew the danger he was in, but he stubbornly refused to admit that alexei was just behind the wall they were standing beside.

"When the bandits pointed their machine gun at me and their command sounded: “Show me where the Russian is!” I just shook my head. The bandits threatened to blow up the house. And I thought: right next to it, there, in the next room, lies a Russian guy, bleeding. His mother and relatives are waiting. Even if they kill us all, I won't betray him. Let's all die together.”"

this line absolutely broke me. i mean, before reading this entire context i thought chechens must be all islamic rhetorics who don't care about human lives.
but this? absolutely opened my eyes. i used to eat up all that right-wing propaganda about chechens being these crazy islamic extremists who dont care about human life and are just out for blood. just another faceless "enemy" group.
but reading this?? nah. it broke smth in me.

this wasnt some trained adult or political genius.
this was a literal CHILD.
and somehow he understood smth most grown adults dont;
that the people we're told to hate arent the real enemy.
this boy had every reason to hate russians.. i mean- they invaded his homeland, killed his people, probably wrecked his life..
but STILL he protected one of them because he saw the human in him. like?? how the hell does a 9 year old have that kind of moral clarity..!!

it made me realize how fking stupid nationalism is. how stupid war is. how we're all just being played by bourgeoisie who want us to see each other as monsters so we dont look up and realize THEY’RE the actual monsters.

now, after this, the militants must have heard one of alexei's painful groans, they shot the lock off of the door and rushed the bed where alexei lay. Shouting 'allahu akbar!' atikat's daughter, gurun dzhaparova, sobbed as she watched the bandits drag alexei away.

just think about that.
this boy survived the battle, shelling, burning and allat tearing through him. a chechen family gave him a second chance at life. but a single groan gave him away.

the rebels yelled "allahu akbar" as they dragged him out.. and gurun, atikat's daughter, could only watch and sob.
after everything they'd done to protect him… just like that, he was gone.

and yea, because for people like me.. who used to think in such far-right terms.. that moment would've once meant "enemy justice."
but now?
i see it for what it was: a war crime. a horror. a human being, brutalized, betrayed, taken by those drunk on ideology and blood, while the people who tried to save him..
the ones we're taught to fear.. mourned him like their own.

the part that really breaks me?

“What will they do to me, mother?”

he asked that as they dragged him away.
he called her mother.
this russian soldier.. probably raised his whole life thinking chechens were his enemies.. looked at this woman, a muslim, in the middle of a war torn village, and saw in her the only safety he had left. that's not just heartbreaking.. that's the collapse of every nationalist, bigoted lies we've ever been told.

and she begged them. physically clung to them. she wasnt scared of them. she was furious at the injustice.
“the wounded are not enemies,” she said.
“we are all human.”
and they told her to shut up and move aside.

in the interview, she said

"According to Sharia, a great sin is to distinguish people by nationality. We are all humans."

like bro i've been an atheist ever since i got into socialism.. always thought religion was just another tool for oppression and control, like how karl marx says it is the opium of masses.
but reading this? idk. it made me pause. because here's a muslim woman, in the middle of a war, risking her life to save someone she's "supposed" to hate.. because of her faith. not in spite of it.

and yea, i still think religion can be weaponized to justify violence (and we see that all the time)

but damn.. it can also be the only thing keeping someone human in a dehumanizing world.
like fr, faith can divide, but it can also be the thing that unites people deeper than any political ideology ever could.
even as a socialist, that's quite hard to ignore.

atikat wasnt only trying to help alexei.. she fought for him.
because to her, nationality didnt matter. faith didnt matter.
in that interview she said:
“somewhere, his mother is waiting.”

and that was enough.

atikat still mourns the soldier all these years later. she asks for forgiveness from alexei's family in siberia for not being able to save the young conscript.

god, man. how many stories like this have we never heard?
how many moments of impossible kindness.. in the middle of war, genocide, imperialist violence..
just get erased because they dont fit the propaganda?

we're told to pick sides. to dehumanize. to believe in borders and enemies and "us vs them".

but this story.. it shatters all of that. it also reminded me of the track "us and them" by pink floyd, hahah.

meanwhile, back at the checkpoint with vasily tashkin, the men use what remaining ammunition they have left to attempt to hold off the chechens.
but once there was no ammo left, there was little else the men could do.
they were ordered to toss out their weapons and surrender, which they initially refused. one of the militants proceeded to circle the structure and douse its perimeter in gasoline. once again, they were ordered to surrender or be burned alive.
the men were again hesitant. the men were then told that they were to be taken as prisoners of war and would be peacefully exchanged for some of their captured men.
vasily tashkin was the only officer in his battalion and was likely aware of the brutality that these militants were capable of.
the hope of survival in the eyes of his young, conscripted men, all of whom were nineteen years old, was likely what convinced tashkin to give in to the demands.
rhe Russians were roughly shoved and hit while being led out to the clearing near the border checkpoint.
the men were ordered to lay face down along an old rail line on the ground with their hands clasped behind their heads. alexei polagaev, who was just found in the home of atikat tabieva, was laid down with the others.

atp, Emir Umar of the Karpinsky Jamaat makes an announcement that would have made the russians aware that their situation was much more dire than they may have thought.
Umar tells his men that in retribution for the deaths of some of their colleagues, they are to collect a blood debt.
this was to become a public execution. he selected men among his ranks to assist in the atrocity.

so, yea. they said they'd "exchange him for prisoners"
they lied. obviously.
instead of that prisoner exchange promise, they were deceived.

and the chechen commander Umar edilsultanov ordered their public execution as revenge for the loss of four friends and relatives in the Chechen war.