The city lies on theSunzha River. According to the2021 census, it had a population of 328,533[15] — up from 210,720 recorded in the2002 census,[16] but still less than the 399,688 recorded in the1989 census.[17] It was previously known asGroznaya (until 1870).[2]
In Russian, "Grozny" means "fearsome", "menacing", or "redoubtable", the same word as in Ivan Grozny (Ivan the Terrible). While the official name inChechen is the same, informally the city is known as "Соьлжа-Гӏала" ("Sölƶa-Ġala"), which literally means "the city (гӏала) on theSunzha River (Соьлжа)".[citation needed]
In 1996, during theFirst Chechen War, the authorities of theChechen republic of Ichkeria renamed the city Dzhokhar-Ghala (Chechen:Джохар-ГӀала,romanized: Dƶoxar-Ġala), literally Dzhokhar City, or Dzhokhar/Djohar for short, afterDzhokhar Dudayev, the first president of the republic, was killed by Russia.[citation needed] In December 2005, the Chechen parliament voted to rename the city Akhmad-Ghala (Chechen:Ахмад-ГIала,romanized: Axmad-Ġala), afterAkhmad Kadyrov)[18] – a proposition which was rejected by his sonRamzan Kadyrov, the prime minister at the time and later president of the republic.[19]
The fortress of Groznaya (Гро́зная;lit.fearsome – a feminine form of Grozny, as the word fortress, "крепость", is feminine in Russian) was founded in 1818[2] as a Russian military outpost on theSunzha River by generalAleksey Petrovich Yermolov. As the fort was being built, the workers were fired upon by the Chechens. The Russians found a solution by strategically positioning a cannon outside the city walls. When night fell and the Chechens came out of their hiding places to drag the gun away, all the other guns opened up withgrapeshot. When the Chechens recovered their senses and began to carry away the bodies, the guns fired again. When it was over, 200 dead were counted. Thus did the "fearsome" fort receive its baptism of fire.[20] It was a prominent defense centre during theCaucasian War.
Russian poetsAlexander Griboedov,Alexander Polezhayev,Mikhail Lermontov, the classic of Russian literatureLeo Tolstoy, the Decembrist and writerAlexander Bestuzhev and other famous figures of Russian culture visited the fortress. After the annexation of the region by theRussian Empire, the military use of the old fortress was obsolete and on 11 January 1870 [O.S. 30 December 1869] it was granted town status and renamed Grozny,[21] as the word town, "город", is masculine in Russian. As most of the residents there wereTerek Cossacks, the town grew slowly until the development ofoil reserves in the early 20th century. The founder of the Nobel Prize,Alfred Nobel, took part in the development of the oil industry of the city of Grozny, as well as members of theRothschild family. In addition to the Nobels and Rothschilds, British companies played an important role in the oil industry from 1893 onward. Alfred Stuart, an English engineer, completed the first well in Grozny by drilling in 1893 the largest oil field in the Caucasus region outside theBaku district.[22]
Eleven firms drilled 116 wells before 1900. This encouraged the rapid development ofindustry and petrochemical production. In addition to the oil drilled in the city itself, the city became a geographical centre of Russia's network ofoil fields, and in 1893 became part of the Transcaucasia–Russia-proper railway. The result was the population almost doubled from 15,600 in 1897 to 30,400 in 1913.[21] In early 1914, the then largest oil company,Royal Dutch Shell, was established in the city thus making Grozny one of thelargest industrial centres of the Caucasus.[23] During theRussian Empire, the city was the administrative capital of theGroznensky Okrug of theTerek Oblast.
One day after theOctober Revolution, on 8 November 1917, theBolsheviks headed by N. Anisimov seized Grozny. As theRussian Civil War escalated, the Proletariat formed the 12th Red Army, and the garrison held out against numerous attacks by Terek Cossacks from 11 August to 12 November 1918. However, with the arrival ofDenikin's armies, the Bolsheviks were forced to withdraw and Grozny was captured on 4 February 1919, by theWhite Army. Underground operations were carried out, but only the arrival of the Caucasus front of theRed Army in 1920 allowed the city to permanently end up with theRussian SFSR on 17 March. Simultaneously it became part of theSoviet Mountain Republic, which was formed on 20 January 1921, and was the capital of the Chechen National Okrug inside it.
Entrance sign, built in Soviet-times
On 30 November 1922, the mountain republic was dissolved, and the nationalokrug became theChechen Autonomous Oblast (Chechen AO) with Grozny as the administrative centre. At this time most of the population was still Russian, but ofCossack descent. As Cossacks were viewed as a potential threat to the Soviet nation, Moscow actively[citation needed] encouraged the migration of Chechens into the city from the mountains. In 1934 theChechen-Ingush Autonomous Oblast was formed, becoming theChechen-Ingush ASSR in 1936.
Due to its oil, Grozny withMaikop were the main strategic objectives of the GermanFall Blau operation in summer of 1942 (SeeBattle of the Caucasus).
The failure to take Grozny was a major defeat for Germany and was a factor in holding fast at theBattle of Stalingrad, as that city could have served as a base from which to take Grozny or cut off oil supplies up theVolga River fromAstrakhan. The failure to prioritize Grozny, even transferring critical Panzer divisions north to theSiege of Leningrad, was a major factor inAdolf Hitler taking operational level control of theWehrmacht from his generals who had repeatedly prioritized the two major cities over the oil supplies – against Hitler's express orders. Soviet doctrine however never failed to prioritize the food of Ukraine nor the oil of the Caucasus, which resulted in drastic action after Germany's expulsion/retreat in 1943.
In 1944, the entire population of Chechens and Ingush wasdeported after being falsely accused of collaborating withadvancing armed forces ofNazi Germany. Large numbers of people who were not deemed fit for transport were "liquidated" on the spot,[24] and the adverse situation with transport and the stay in Siberia caused many deaths as well.[25][26] According to internal NKVD data, a total of 144,704 died in 1944–1948 alone (death rate of 23.5% per all groups).[27] Authors such asAlexander Nekrich,John Dunlop andMoshe Gammer, based on census data from the period estimate a death toll of about 170,000–200,000 among Chechens alone,[28][29][30][31] thus ranging from over a third of the total Chechen population that was deported to nearly half dying during those four years (rates for other groups for those four years hover around 20%). All traces of them in the city, including books[32] and graveyards,[33] were destroyed by theNKVD troops. The act was recognized by theEuropean Parliament as an act of genocide in 2004.[34]
Grozny became the administrative centre ofGrozny Oblast of theRussian SFSR, and the city at the time was again wholly Russian. In 1957, the Chechen-Ingush ASSR was restored, and the Chechens were allowed to return. The return of the Chechens to Grozny, which had been lacking ofNakh for thirteen years, would cause massive disruptions to the social, economic and political systems of what had been a Russian city for the period until their return. This caused a self-feeding cycle of ethnic conflict between the two groups, both believing the other's presence in the city was illegitimate. Once again migration of non-Russians into Grozny continued whilst theethnic Russian population, in turn, moved to other parts of the USSR, notably theBaltic states, afterinter-ethnic conflict broke out briefly in 1958.
Soviet-era postage stamp with a view of Grozny's Avgustovskaya Street
According to sociologist Georgy Derluguyan, the Checheno-Ingush Republic's economy was divided into two spheres – much like French settler-ruled Algeria – and the Russian sphere had all the jobs with higher salaries,[35] while non-Russians were systematically kept out of all government positions. Russians (as well as Ukrainians and Armenians) worked in education, health, oil, machinery, and social services. Non-Russians (excluding Ukrainians and Armenians) worked in agriculture, construction, a long host of undesirable jobs, as well as the so-called "informal sector" (i.e. illegal, due to the mass discrimination in the legal sector).[35]
At the same time a great deal of development occurred in the city. Like many other Soviet cities, theStalinist style of architecture was prevalent during this period, with apartments in the centre as well as administrative buildings including the massive Council of Ministers and theGrozny University buildings being constructed in Grozny. Later projects included the high-rise apartment blocks prominent in many Soviet cities, as well as a city airport. In 1989, the population of the city was almost 400,000 people.[36]
This view is disputed by authors, such as Russian economists Boris Lvin andAndrei Illarionov, who argue that Russian emigration from the area was no more intense than in other regions of Russia at the time.[39] According to this view of the ethnic situation in Ichkeria, the primary cause of Russian emigration was the extensive bombing of Grozny (where four out of five, or nearly 200,000 Russians in Chechnya lived before the war) by the Russian military during the First Chechen War.[40]
The covert Russian attempts of overthrowing Dudayev by means of armed Chechen opposition forces resulted in repeated failed assaults on the city. Originally, Moscow had been backing the political opposition ofUmar Avturkhanov [ru] "peacefully" (i.e. without supplying the opposition with weapons and encouraging them to try a coup). However, this changed in 1994, after the coups in neighbouring Georgia and Azerbaijan (both of which Moscow was involved with), when Russia encouraged armed opposition, and occasionally assisted. In August 1994 Avturkhanov attacked Grozny, but was repelled first by Chechen citizens who were then joined by Grozny government troops; Russian helicopters covered his retreat.[41] On 28 September, one of these helicopters was shot down and its Russian pilot was held as aprisoner-of-war by the Chechen government.[42]The last assault, on 26 November 1994, ended with capture of 21Russian Armytank crew members[43] who had secretly been hired asmercenaries by the FSK (formerKGB, not long after renamedFSB); their capture was sometimes cited as one of the reasons forBoris Yeltsin's decision to openly intervene. In the meantime, Grozny airport and other targets were bombed by unmarked Russian aircraft.
During theFirst Chechen War, Grozny was the site of an intense battle lasting from December 1994 to February 1995 and ultimately ending with the capture of the city by the Russian military. Intense fighting andcarpet bombing carried out by theRussian Air Force destroyed much of the city. Thousands ofcombatants on both sides died in the fighting, alongside civilians, many of whom were reportedly ethnic Russians; unclaimed bodies were later collected and buried inmass graves on the city outskirts. The main federalmilitary base in Chechnya was located in the area of Groznyair base.[citation needed]
Chechenguerrilla units operating from nearby mountains managed to harass and demoralize the Russian Army by means of guerilla tactics and raids, such as the attack on Grozny in March 1996, which added to political and public pressure for a withdrawal of Russian troops. In August 1996, a raiding force of 1,500 to 3,000 militants recaptured the city in a surprise attack. They surrounded and routed its entire garrison of 10,000MVD troops, while fighting off the Russian Army units from theKhankala base. The battle ended with a finalceasefire and Grozny was once again in the hands of Chechen separatists. The name was changed to Djohar in 1997 by the President of the separatist Ichkeria republic,Aslan Maskhadov. By this time most of the remaining Russian minority had fled.[44]
Grozny was once again the epicentre of fighting after the outbreak of theSecond Chechen War, which further caused thousands of fatalities. During the early phase of the Russian siege on Grozny on 25 October 1999, Russian forces launched fiveSS-21ballistic missiles at the crowded centralbazaar and a maternity ward,killing more than 140 people and injuring hundreds. During the massive shelling of the city that followed, most of the Russian artillery were directed toward the upper floors of the buildings; although this caused massive destruction of infrastructure, civilian casualties were much less than in the first battles.
The final seizure of the city was set in early February 2000, when the Russian military lured the besieged militants to a promised safe passage. Seeing no build-up of forces outside, the militants agreed.[citation needed] One day prior to the planned evacuation, the Russian Army mined the path between the city and the village of Alkhan-Kala and concentrated most firepower on that point. As a result, both the city mayor and military commander were killed; a number of other prominent separatist leaders were also killed or wounded. Afterwards, the Russians slowly entered the empty city and on 6 February raised the Russian flag in the centre. Many buildings and even whole areas of the city were systematically destroyed. A month later, it was declared safe to allow the residents to return to their homes, although demolition continued for some time. In 2003, the United Nations called Grozny the most destroyed city on Earth, with not a single building left undamaged.[45]
The federal government representatives of Chechnya are based in Grozny. Since 2003, the city has been rebuilt from scratch.[46] Out of several dozens of industrial enterprises, three have been partially rebuilt – the Grozny Machine-Building Factory, theKrasny Molot (Red Hammer) andTransmash factories.[47]
Although most of the city's infrastructure was destroyed during the war, the city's sewage, water, electricity and heating systems have since been repaired, along with 250 kilometers (160 mi) of roads, 13 bridges and some 900 shops.[48] Before the war, Grozny had about 79,000 apartments, and the city authorities expected to be able to restore about 45,000 apartments; the rest were in buildings that were completely destroyed.[49]
Railway connection was restored in 2005, andGrozny's airport was reopened in 2007 with three weekly flights to Moscow. In 2009 the IAC gave Grozny's Severny airport theinternational certificate after checking and evaluating the airport'sairworthiness. On 16 November 2009, the airport had its first international flight, taking pilgrims onHajj to Saudi Arabia via aBoeing 747.[50]
After four years of construction, theAkhmad Kadyrov Mosque was formally opened to the public on 16 October 2008, and is one of the largest mosques in Europe.[48] In 2009, the city of Grozny was honoured by theUN Human Settlements Program for transforming the war-scarred city and providing new homes for thousands.[51]
On 5 November 1932, the Grozny tram system was opened to the public, and by 1990 it was 85-kilometer (53 mi) long, with 107 new Russian-builtKTM-5 trams that it received in the late 1980s, and two depots. The Grozny trolleybus system began operation on 31 December 1975, and by 1990 was approximately 60-kilometer (37 mi) long, with 58 buses and one depot. Both types of transport came under difficult pressure in the early 1990s, with frequent theft of equipment, staff not being properly paid and resultant strikes. A major planned trolleybus route extension to the airport was cancelled.
With the outbreak of theFirst Chechen War both transport services stopped operation in November 1994. During the destructive battles, the tram tracks were blocked or damaged, and cars and buses were turned into barricades. The trolleybus system was luckier, as most of its equipment, including the depot, survived the war. In 1996 it was visited by specialists from theVologda Trolleybus Company, who repaired some of the lines, with services planned to restart in 1997. However, after specialists left, most of the equipment was stolen. The surviving buses were transported toVolzhsky where they were repaired and used on the new trolleybus system there.
After theSecond Chechen War, little of the infrastructure of either system was left. The Ministry of Transport of the Chechen Republic, created in 2002, decided not to rebuild the tram system (considered too expensive and no longer meeting the city's needs, as it had by then lost half of its population). Rebuilding of the trolleybus system, however, is still under consideration.
In 2018 theDelimobilcar sharing company officially provided the capital of the Chechen Republic with 30Hyundai Solaris. To drive the automobiles, the user has to book them through the app of the owning company.[53]
In the same year theDelisamokat provided the city with 120 electric scooters and some scooter stations.
The city is located along theSunzha River, a major tributary of theTerek River. The city is located in a valley approximately 80 kilometres (50 miles) north of the main range of the GreaterCaucasus Mountains.
Grozny has ahumid continental climate (KöppenDfa) with hot summers and cold winters. Precipitation peaks during early summer, where sunshine hours also peak.
Climate data for Grozny (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1938–present)
^Dunlop, John.Russia Confronts Chechnya: The Roots of a Separatist Conflict. Pages 67–69
^Bugai, Nikolai Fedorovich.The Truth about the Deportation of the Chechen and Ingush People. Printed in English inSoviet Studies in History, Fall 1991. Originally in Russian inVoprosy istorii, June 1990.
^Wood, Tony.Chechnya: The Case for Independence. page 37-38
^Carlotta Gall and Thomas De Waal.Small Victorious War. p151-2
^Carlotta Gall and Thomas De Waal.Small Victorious War. p151
^Carlotta Gall and Thomas De Waal.Chechnya:Calamity in the Caucasus.Pages 155–157
^W., Kelly, Michael (9 August 2012).Grozny. Monterey, California: Naval Postgraduate School;Springfield, Va.: Available from National Technical Information Service.OCLC808059507.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
Президент Чеченской Республики. Указ №500 от 30 ноября 2005 г. «Об утверждении перечня субъектов административно-территориального устройства Чеченской Республики». Вступил в силу 30 ноября 2005 г.. Опубликован: База данных "Консультант-плюс". (President of the Chechen Republic. Decree #500 of November 30, 2005On Adopting the List of the Entities Within the Administrative-Territorial Structure of the Chechen Republic. Effective as of November 30, 2005.).
Референдум. 23 марта 2003 г. «Конституция Чеченской Республики», в ред. Конституционного закона №1-РКЗ от 30 сентября 2014 г. «О внесении изменений в Конституцию Чеченской Республики». Вступил в силу со дня официального опубликования по результатам голосования на референдуме Чеченской Республики. (Referendum. March 23, 2003Constitution of the Chechen Republic, as amended by the Constitutional Law #1-RKZ of September 30, 2014On Amending the Constitution of the Chechen Republic. Effective as of the day of the official publication in accordance with the results of the referendum of the Chechen Republic.).
Парламент Чеченской Республики. Закон №44-РЗ от 14 июля 2008 г. «Об образовании муниципального образования город Грозный, установлении его границы и наделении его статусом городского округа», в ред. Закона №21-РЗ от 28 июня 2010 г «О внесении изменений в некоторые законодательные акты Чеченской Республики». Вступил в силу по истечении 10 дней после официального опубликования. Опубликован: "Вести Республики", №162 (844), 26 августа 2008 г. (Parliament of the Chechen Republic. Law #44-RZ of July 14, 2008On Establishing the Municipal Formation of the City of Grozny, on Establishing Its Border, and on Granting It the Status of an Urban Okrug, as amended by the Law #21-RZ of June 28, 2010On Amending Several Legislative Acts of the Chechen Republic. Effective as of after 10 days from the official publication date have passed.).
Парламент Чеченской Республики. Закон №12-РЗ от 20 февраля 2009 г. «Об образовании муниципального образования Грозненский район и муниципальных образований, входящих в его состав, установлении их границ и наделении их соответствующим статусом муниципального района и сельского поселения», в ред. Закона №21-РЗ от 28 июня 2010 г «О внесении изменений в некоторые законодательные акты Чеченской Республики». Вступил в силу по истечении 10 дней после официального опубликования. Опубликован: "Вести Республики", №33 (965), 25 февраля 2009 г. (Parliament of the Chechen Republic. Law #12-RZ of February 20, 2009On Establishing the Municipal Formation of Groznensky District and the Municipal Formations Comprising It, on Establishing Their Borders, and on Granting Them the Status of a Municipal District and Rural Settlement, as amended by the Law #21-RZ of June 28, 2010On Amending Various Legislative Acts of the Chechen Republic. Effective as of after 10 days from the official publication date have passed.).
Olga Oliker,Russia's Chechen Wars 1994–2000: Lessons from Urban Combat. (Santa Monica CA: RAND Arroyo Center, 2001)
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