Bombing of Katyr-Yurt explained

Bombing of Katyr-Yurt
Location:	Katyr-Yurt, Chechnya
Target:	Village, refugee convoy
Date:	February 4, 2000
Type:	Indiscriminate bombing
Fatalities:	At least 363 civilians killed, more injured
Perps:	Russian Air Force
Motive:	Attack on the retreating rebel forces in area.

The reported bombing of Katyr-Yurt (Chechnya) occurred on February 4, 2000, when Russian forces bombed the village of Katyr-Yurt and afterwards a refugee convoy under white flags.^[1] The village was also previously bombed by the Russians in 1995 and in 1996.^{[2] [3]}

Events

Journalists who managed to report on the area confirmed the use, by the Russians, of the vacuum bomb on the town.^[4] The residents, including many civilian refugees who had fled the fighting Grozny, were not warned in advance or told of safe exit routes by the Russian side. The sudden heavy bombardment of the village began in the early hours of the morning and subsided at approximately 3 p.m. At that time, many of the villagers attempted to leave, believing that the military had granted a safe passage out of the village. As they were leaving by road, planes appeared and bombed the cars.

The final atrocity came in the afternoon of February 4. The Russians told the Chechens they would be able to leave in a convoy of buses with white flags attached. The convoy which the Russians themselves dispatched for the Chechens was then bombed by the Russians.^{[5] [6]}

A resident of the village claimed that Chechen fighters entered the village on 5 February.^[7]

Ultimately, the bombing lasted for two days and resulted in the deaths of at least 363 civilians, all of them formally citizens of Soviet Union. Many more were injured.^[8]

European Court of Human Rights judgments

In the February 24, 2005, ruling, the European Court of Human Rights held Russia responsible for the civilian deaths in Katyr-Yurt:

In 2010, the court delivered a judgement in another case related to Katyr-Yurt events: Abuyeva and Others v. Russia.^[9]

Judgment in the third case related to the bombing was adopted by European Court of Human Rights in 2015.^[10]

See also

• Grozny ballistic missile attack, another attack that resulted in massive civilian losses.
• Russian war crimes

External links

• European Court Hears Chechens' Lawsuits, Associated Press, October 15, 2004
• European Court Rules Against Moscow, Institute for War and Peace Reporting, March 2, 2005
• War Crimes and Human Rights Violations in Chechnya (Memorial)

Notes and References

1. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/673114.stm Eyewitness: Chechnya's war goes on
2. http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-6325661_ITM War with Chechnya spreads as Russians bomb once-peaceful villages
3. https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0DE7D71539F933A05750C0A960958260 Russia Says, 'Sorry'
4. Lester W. Grau and Timothy L. Thomas(2000)"Russian Lessons Learned From the Battles For Grozny "
5. Wood, Tony. Chechnya: The Case for Independence. Page 101
6. Web site: Revealed: Russia's worst war crime in Chechnya . 10 December 2022 . The Guardian.
7. Web site: Массированные неизбирательные бомбардировки и обстрелы гражданского населения . 13 December 2022 . . ru.
8. https://www.theguardian.com/russia/article/0,2763,191798,00.html Revealed: Russia's worst war crime in Chechnya
9. http://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng?i=001-101936 ECHR judgment in the case of Abuyeva and Others v. Russia
10. http://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng?i=001-157697 ECHR judgment in the case of Abakarova v. Russia