Chankala

district Chankala Ханкала ( Russian ) Хан-ГӀала ( Chechen ) Federal district North Caucasus republic Chechnya Urban district Grozny District since 2008 Height of the center 125  m Time zone UTC + 3 Telephone code (+7) 8712 Geographical location Coordinates 43 ° 18 '  N , 45 ° 46'  E Coordinates: 43 ° 18 '10 "  N , 45 ° 46' 20"  E

Location in the western part of Russia

Situation in Chechnya

Chankala ( Russian Ханкала́ ; Chechen Хан-ГӀала ) is a district of Grozny , capital of the Chechen Republic in Russia .

It is located on the eastern outskirts of Grozny, about 5 to 7 km from its center and consists of two residential areas, a good 2 km apart. As a military settlement belonging to a base of the Russian air force , Chankala is a restricted area.

The place was built in the 1940s as a settlement near an airfield of the Soviet Union Air Force . The future cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov was stationed there from 1949 . After the territory was recaptured by the Russian army in the Second Chechnya War , the airfield was expanded into one of the main bases of the Russian Air Force in Chechnya in 2000. Chankala received the status of an urban-type settlement , belonged to the Groznensky rajon and had 7,908 inhabitants at the 2002 census. In 2008, the settlement was subordinated to the administration of the Grozny district and thus effectively incorporated, although it is still on the territory of the Rajon.

In Chankala there is a military base and a military airfield , which is located on the southern edge of the settlement. The Beslan  - Grozny - Gudermes railway passes to the north ( Chankala station ; route km 2135 from Moscow ). The settlement and airfield are bypassed to the south by the regional road R306, which connects Grozny with Argun and represents the eastern connection of the Chechen capital to the M29 trunk road, which runs around the city to the south .

Due to the military importance of the place, there were repeated fighting and incidents in and near Chankala. In the First Chechnya War , after taking Grozny and the surrounding areas in November 1994, the Russian army was able to recapture Khankala and the airfield at the end of December 1994. During the Second Chechnya War, the Russian army captured Khankala on December 14, 1999 while advancing to Grozny via Argun. On 25/26 June 2001 Khankala was attacked by a unit of Chechen separatists, presumably led by Movsar Barayev and in retaliation for the killing of Chechen commander Ali Barayev on 23 June 2001 and on 19 August 2002 by the rebels a helicopter Mil Mi-26 with an Igla - MANPADS fired and had to make an emergency landing, but where he fell into a minefield at the airport; 127 people were killed.

Web links

Commons : Chankala  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Article in Moskovsky Komsomolets of June 27, 2001; on Memorial website (Russian)
2. ↑ Russia to mourn helicopter dead. news.bbc.co.uk, August 21, 2002, accessed September 24, 2019 .