Grozny ballistic missile attack

The Grozny ballistic missile attack was a wave of devastating Russian ballistic missile strikes on the Chechen capital Grozny on October 21, 1999, early in the Second Chechen War. The attack killed at least 118 people according to initial reports,, The Guardian, October 23, 1999 mostly civilians, or at least 137 immediate dead according to the HALO Trust count., Mennonite Central Committee, 2000 Hundreds of people were also injured, many of them later died.

The attack

According to WorldNetDaily, U.S. spy satellites (reportedly from the Defense Support Program) tracked several Russian short-range ballistic missiles – believed to have been OTR-21 Tochka (the NATO codename SS-21 Scarab) – launched from the Russian city of Mozdok in North Ossetia-Alania, some 60 miles northeast of Grozny;, WorldNetDaily, October 29, 1999 the first reports from the region suspected the use of Scud missiles (SS-1)., The Independent, October 22, 1999 The hypersonic missiles, 10 in number according to Chechen officials (other sources reported less), fell without warning as the Chechen air defense system was destroyed in the earlier Russian air strikes. The explosions occurred at around 1815 hrs in several areas of the capital, mostly in the downtown area and including the crowded, central outdoor marketplace.

Two of the...
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