Tukhchar massacre
The Tukhchar massacre was an incident during the War of Dagestan which was filmed and distributed on tape, in which Russian prisoners of war were executed. Throughout the war, Russian soldiers reported finding taped executions of Russian officers and men. Some videos were later sold as snuff films and ended up online. One tape created in September 1999 showed six Russian servicemen, one as young as 19, being executed by Chechen militants. The method was a pierced trachea. Battle On 5 September 1999, two units of Chechen militants crossed into Dagestan, seizing the border village of Tukhchar, Novolaksky District. The Chechen commander leading the attack was identified as Umar Edilsultanov (known as Karpinsky Amir, named after the microdistrict of Karpinka in Grozny), a subordinate of Abdul-Malik Mezhidov, commander of the Islamic religious police of Ichkeria. Attacking very early in the morning, the Chechens found and exchanged fire with 12 Russian conscripts and one officer of the Kalachevsky brigade stationed at a police checkpoint to strengthen border security. Shortly after the fighting began, the Russian operator of the unit's 30 mm BMP-2 was killed, communication was disrupted, and the Russians had run out of ammunition. Senior lieutenant Vasily Tashkin ordered a retreat to a second checkpoint. During a lull in the battle, local residents told Russian soldiers that the Chechens had given them half an hour to leave the village. The villagers brought with them civilian clothing so they could smuggle the policemen and soldiers out of town safely. Tashkin refused to retreat any further, and his resolve convinced others to stay as well. When the half hour was up, the Chechen militants began to search for the Russian defenders, who had been hidden by the townspeople. Six of them barricaded themselves in a barn, but the Chechens surrounded it and poured gasoline on the walls, threatening to burn the structure down. The Chechen militants called for the Russians to surrender, claiming that their intent was to obtain leverage for a prisoner exchange. Massacre The prisoners were ordered to lie face down on a track outside the village, and Edilsultanov selected five men from his unit to cut the prisoners' throats. The sixth (Alexey Polagaev) was killed by Edilsultanov himself. One of the Russian soldiers, identified as Alexey Lipatov, fled the site, but was shot. The others killed were named as Senior lieutenant Vasily Tashkin, Vladimir Kaufman, Boris Erdneyev, Alexey Polagaev, and Alexey Paranin. Aftermath The morning following the executions, village head Magomed-Sultan Khasanov sought and received permission from the Chechen militants to retrieve the bodies of the Russian soldiers. The Chechens held the village until 8 September. Survivors Alexey Ivanov and Fyodor Tchernavin escaped execution by remaining in hiding. Ivanov spent two days in an attic, while Tchernavin hid for five days in a basement, and it was not until after they were rescued that they learned of their colleagues' deaths. In late September, the soldiers were quietly buried, with their families unaware of the nature of their deaths. Investigation