“White pantyhose” was the name given to the units of female snipers that allegedly existed in 1990-2000. It was believed that they were mercenaries and fought against the Russian army in Chechnya, Transnistria, Georgia, Nagorno-Karabakh and a number of other armed conflicts in the CIS.
In the detachments of the "White Tights" served mainly young women of Baltic origin. There was no documentary evidence or other evidence of their existence. All "evidence" has the character of legends and army anecdotes. The image of the girls from the White Tights squad was often played up in detective novels of that time.
Where did
They were first discussed in the 1990s in connection with the Georgian-Abkhazian conflict. Official sources confirmed the participation of female snipers in military operations in this region. These ladies fought on the side of the Georgians. Whether these were single cases or there were some special women's units, it was not specified. In army folklore, there were rumors about snipers in skirts: in the past, all of them allegedly were biathletes from the Baltics. They began to fight against the Russian federal troops out of fierce hatred for the Russians. The Chechens paid the mercenaries for their "work" $50 per hour. In 1995, Kommersant published unconfirmed information that female snipers of Slavic appearance were indeed fighting in Grozny. After the anti-terrorist operation in Chechnya, the military spread rumors about allegedly shot terrorists of Latvian, Estonian and Lithuanian origin. The same situation was repeated later in Transnistria.
Russian investigations and the opinion of the Lithuanian ambassador
All these stories have never been confirmed by any official structure of the Russian Federation, including the Foreign Ministry. Russian journalists (Yulia Shum, Dmitry Muratov, and others) have made investigations more than once, but they also did not find any traces of young ladies-snipers. Many researchers of this issue came to the conclusion that the stories about the "White Pantyhose" are just a colorful legend or a skillful propaganda device. In 2001, the journalist of the radio station "Echo of Moscow" N. Boltyanskaya was able to interview the Ambassador of Lithuania to Russia Z. Namavicius. When asked about "White Pantyhose", the latter replied that it was simply ridiculous. In his opinion, the image of a Baltic female sniper who shoots Russians was created to incite ethnic hatred.
Prototypes
The probable prototypes of the fair-haired mercenaries with sniper rifles could be some real-life faces. One of them is a young girl from Poltava, nicknamed "Lolita". She really served in 1995-2001 in the Basayev detachment and subsequently received a term for this. Columnist E. Maetnaya ("Moskovsky Komsomolets") wrote about her. The story of "Lolita" received a wide public outcry and could provoke rumors about the "White Pantyhose". The fact that Shamil Basayev created a women's sniper squad in the 1990s was also confirmed by the Capital News newspaper (Ukraine, 2003). It allegedly recruited a native of Ukraine and the Baltic States, who wanted to earn extra money. The rite was led by Madina, Basayev's sister. In fact, Chechen suicide squads existed in his army. But among them there were no girls of Slavic nationality. Another prototype of the "White Pantyhose" could be a Russian biathlete from St. Petersburg, who really fought on the side of Basayev and shot Russian soldiers for good money. S. Shavrin, a former FSB colonel, spoke about it.
Propaganda reception
There were many other not 100% confirmed cases of arrests of female snipers. But all of them were of various nationalities: Ukrainians, Russians, Tajiks, etc. No reliable evidence of the existence of "White Tights" has been found to this day. This image was most often used to incite ethnic hatred and mythologize the terrorist activities of militants.
The blog, despite the somewhat frivolous title, is not about the attributes of women's clothing, not about women's legs, which are worthy of a separate topic, and not even about fetishism ... "White tights" or "white stockings" is the slang name for a squad of female snipers who fought on the side of anti-Russian forces and separatist regimes on the territory of the former USSR: in Transnistria (on the side of Moldova), in the Georgian-Abkhazian and Chechen wars, in Nagorno-Karabakh, during the events in Dagestan in 1991. I already raised this topic in my post on the blog "Farewell to Arms", but yesterday the murder of Colonel Budanov, who was once convicted for the allegedly innocently murdered Elsa Kungaeva, forced me to create this blog. To the question whether the "white stockings" are not a myth, as the official authorities want to convince us, is it true that on the other side of the hostilities, biathletes from the Baltic States, Ukraine, and Russia participated, there is still no answer. In order not to be unfounded, I will quote the words of FSB Colonel Sh: Of course, you have heard about the Chechen “black widows”. But at that time, not suicide bombers were called that, but female snipers. They were also called "white tights". So we then took one of these "widows". It turned out she was a Leningrad girl, a biathlete. She shot our brother for money.
Dmitry, in order to redirect the vector of installations that are made to our citizens through the media, and there is still an Internet uncensored by the authorities. Here, anyone can express their opinion, different from the opinion of the "party and the government", and roughly speaking, I don't care who gave me what grade.
Gee-gee-gee, thanks. :))
True, I’m not sure that the author of the blog wanted to say that we (Russians, including Colonel Budanov) in Chechnya are at war with ourselves, but so far it turns out something like this from his blog. For some reason, the FSB also dragged in. As if there are only fools sitting there and do not understand that general conclusions should not be drawn from the particular.
P.S. In order not to be unfounded, I will cite the words of FSB Colonel Yu: “Unfortunately, so far we cannot do anything with the directives that are given to our citizens through the media. We do not have the ability to control this process, because of this, tense and embittered moods, and often apathy, prevail in society.” :)
I just put it for you :)) For some reason I didn't put it earlier :/
I don't understand where the "COL" went? Have I already installed it?
Why can't you post it again? The site needs to be updated urgently! :))
The murder of Yuri Budanov was ordered, and his traces lead to Chechnya. This conclusion was reached by law enforcement agencies on the basis of the first results of the investigation and operational data.
As Rosbalt was told by several sources in law enforcement and special services, after three weeks of investigation into the murder of Yuri Budanov, it became obvious that traces of the crime lead to Chechnya. It is this version that has become a priority and every day finds more and more confirmations.
During the investigation, it was established that the criminals had repeatedly tried to organize the murder of the former colonel. At first, the “operation” was being prepared in the spring of 2009 on the territory of the Rostov region, shortly after his release from the colony. The second attempt was made in the first days of May 2011, when the criminals received identification data about Budanov's whereabouts. This data was provided by a law enforcement officer from the Moscow region at the request of his acquaintances from Chechnya.
In early May, the alleged organizers of this crime also arrived in the capital from Chechnya. “A lot has already been clarified in this case: how the preparation was going on, motives, an approximate circle of performers has been outlined,” said a source from the agency in the special services. - There are no detainees yet, but they will certainly be. But whether it will be possible to hold the “customers” accountable is a big question. Now we can say with confidence that this crime was planned on the territory of the Chechen Republic.”
And here's another, so as not to relax. www.youtube.com
Olga Pavlovna, I repeat, we do not need fictional provocative horror stories. You don't have a link to the document.
Thanks to everyone who did not remain indifferent to the topic of the blog, in general, far from sports. But our life is so arranged that sports and politics are closely interconnected in it. Take at least the participation of biathletes in local wars in the Caucasus, is it a myth or a reality? We do not know the answer to this day. But today we are not talking about that. The murder of Y. Budanov - what is it: a blood feud?, a provocation by the secret services?, Budanov’s personal “showdown”, as Kungaeva’s father wants to convince today? It is clear that the murder was a well-planned action, specially timed to coincide with the Day of Russia. Who the killer is, probably, we will never know, or the investigation will slip us "left" killers!
Mercenaries, under the laws of war, are not subject to any conventions. For some reason, no one particularly remembers how they treated our servicemen and the Russian-speaking population. And, as soon as the conversation comes about our adversaries - a sea of sympathy. I want to recall the words of a certain “human rights activist”, deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation S. A. Kovalev “... I will defend the rights of any people, except for the Russian ..”, the diagnosis is clear. All these PACE, the Hague Tribunal, the OSCE - all this is a tool in the hands of dirty politicians who will ALWAYS cause maximum damage to our Motherland, will do everything to destroy it. And we will throw everything we have - all the gold, all the material power - into fooling and fooling people. The human brain, the consciousness of people are capable of change. Having sowed chaos there, we will invariably replace their values with false ones and force them to believe in these false values. How? We will find our like-minded people, our allies in Russia itself. Episode after episode, the grandiose tragedy of the death of the most recalcitrant people, the final, irreversible extinction of its self-consciousness, will be played out. Allen Dulles
Grisha. Unfortunately, this is not a fictional horror story. The commander of the unit then almost fell on trial. For the lynching of his fighters.
Budanov will be buried with military honors
Russia, Moscow region, Khimki
Hundreds of people in Moscow came to say goodbye to Yuri Budanov
The funeral service for former Colonel Yuri Budanov, who was killed in Moscow on June 10, was held at the Church of the Holy Unmercenaries and Wonderworkers Cosmas and Damian in Khimki. The closed coffin with the body was taken out of the church, carried around it, loaded into a car, and the funeral procession moved towards the Khimki cemetery, where the former colonel would be buried. Izvestia 13:36
Hundreds of people came to Pravoberezhnaya Street in Moscow, where the funeral was held. Even more people - up to 2,000 - are expected at the Khimki cemetery itself, where the body of the executed colonel will find its last refuge. Lifenews.ru 13:14
Former Colonel Yury Budanov will be buried at the Khimki Central Cemetery with military honors, representatives of the Moscow military commandant's office who arrived at the ceremony told Interfax-AVN. "The honorary escort will fire three volleys into the air," the source said.
Budanov will be buried with military honors. He is in the ranks - one of many. Rokhlin, Troshev, Budanov... The war is not over, it continues, some naive people believe that it is between Chechens and Russians, by no means, the war is between the West and the East. The West is quite successful in promoting the policy of "divide and rule." According to the reviews of my good friends, I have no reason not to believe them, (on more than one business trip to "hot spots" Budanov was a good commander, and according to the reviews of his subordinates, "Servant to the king, father to soldiers." But, such people After all, they will be able to defend the Motherland in difficult times, and not sell it wholesale and retail, as the current Defense Ministry, headed by the leader, does.
"She died terribly: she was torn apart by tanks."
There is no need for such fictional horror stories.
I will take the liberty of suggesting that among us there can easily be people who directly experienced this horror, who saw blood and tears with their own eyes, who buried their loved ones with their own hands ... People who still wake up in the night from horror, who are not on any google map "They will never see their home again, who will live with this pain to the end ... Where is the truth? I don't know, friends: / I think that the truth is in their pain, in their losses, in what they experienced ... Not us to reason, and even more so not to us to judge :/
Sorry if I offended anyone...
A taboo topic... about which one cannot remain silent! What Olga Pavlovna wrote is pure truth ... But it was done under certain circumstances, well, she, this girl, was not right! And there were other methods of “reimbursing debts”, but the focus of the site is not the same, and it’s not necessary ... One can only say that these “girls” really didn’t want to be captured, and therefore they fired with great enthusiasm at the threat of being taken into captivity! God will judge them... But he will not judge them!
War is a terrible thing. And God forbid any of us survive it ...
Thanks everyone!
And this is the response of impressionable ladies to my private messages. Weak or weak in the gut to answer in public? - “Listen, you, a fighter for the rights of the oppressed, follow the bazaar ... moralist, follow your head ...” Someone here recently sang about openness, honesty and politeness, as many as 300 comments dashed off, but how about it, so in a personal? Hah, well, well...
That's why I write because I know what will always be
I don’t know if there will always be blood feud in the North Caucasus, but there was and is. Do you disagree with this? Or do we just not understand each other? I wrote that there is a blood rush. Only often crimes are given out for her, for other reasons. After all, there, if you look, almost everyone has "bloodlines". Many Ossetians and Chechens do not want to live there. Many people live in Russia. And they don't want to go back.
Bagheera, please do not write about what you found in the search and on Wikipedia. Blood feud in the Caucasus has always been, is now, and always will be. All these quotes from Soviet propaganda brochures have nothing to do with reality.
mitri
According to Chechen concepts, there is no statute of limitations for blood feud (“chir” in Chechen). Even if the avenger does not reach his goal, then the closest relatives, and maybe even the descendants of the offender, may become the object of persecution.
Blood feuds were fought in Chechnya both in the times of the Russian Empire and in the times of the USSR, but it was not possible to eliminate the old cruel custom.
The custom of blood feud is an element of legal systems in which the state either does not exist or is not able to ensure the rule of law (the absence of a monopoly of the right to violence from the state)
As of the beginning of 2009, the legislation of the Russian Federation regards the motive for blood feud in the commission of a murder as an aggravating circumstance. In Soviet times, they learned how to deal effectively with blood feuds, flexibly applying both the Criminal Code and educational measures. The Criminal Code had Article 231, punishing for evading reconciliation (up to two years in prison). It was a strong lever of pressure on those who did not want to reconcile. In every region of Dagestan and Chechnya there were commissions for the reconciliation of bloodlines, which included elders, party and Soviet functionaries, who stifled any conflicts between families and clans in the bud. Now the whole system is broken. Moreover, the ancient tradition of blood feuds has been superimposed on the lawlessness that is happening now in the North Caucasus. People are killed for economic, political and purely criminal reasons, and they hide behind blood feuds
november
In 1996 I happened to visit Ossetia. We then traveled all over the republic. In one village, we were shown a radio relay tower, which our soldiers had blown up during the war. They were forced to do this, since a sniper was sitting at the very top. When the sniper was removed in this way, he turned out to be a woman. I do not remember the details of that story, but she is from Chelyabinsk. Former biathlete. I went to the militants because I had to raise my little son. Her name was not mentioned anywhere. She died terribly: she was torn apart by tanks. The son stayed with his old mother.
Such is the story.
Such layers of "culture" must be burned out, with fire and sword. And there was a full opportunity to eradicate this infection
Well, that's actually the "dirt" itself. Before writing about dirt, it would be nice to at least respect the memory of the dead military and civilians. Only thanks to them is your head on your shoulders, and not on your windowsill ((www.youtube.com
www.youtube.com Cow revenge is not a layer of culture, it is heredity, that is, a defective genetic www.perunica.ru
The ends are known to all, they are called blood feuds.
Budanov was made a scapegoat by our government. And now he was killed and the ends will not be found
Dear Olga-Helga! This dirt, as you put it, may be someone's life! I understand that this did not affect you, but, as it were, it is possible without these epithets. You can not look here, so as not to get dirty in the mud ...
In the case of the murder of Budanov, the version of blood feud will be considered.
Visa Kungaev, father of a Chechen girl killed by a former colonel. “The incident is neither easier nor harder for us,” he said.
One of the main versions that the investigation is currently working on is “murder for the purpose of provocation”.
-----
The first vice-speaker of the Federation Council Alexander Torshin, acting chairman of the chamber, urged "not to draw hasty conclusions and not to appoint the perpetrators without trial and investigation."
He noted that the murder of Budanov "is, first of all, a criminal offense committed in broad daylight in the capital of our country."
"It's a challenge. So let's look for killers, not extreme ones," he stressed, recalling that "it is the duty of the law enforcement agencies to find the criminals, and the courts to punish them."
Torshin recommended that everyone "refrain from political fuss."
Found another...
from the harsh war they are waiting for their children ...
They do not believe in the cruel verdict of the funeral,
sympathy close to the soul not letting go,
taking out of the casket memory caches
those letters that the children wrote on the way.
In them: “Mom, do not cry! I'll be back soon mom!
It’s not scary at all, and we will win!”
And the mother believed fervently and stubbornly,
that her son is strong, that he is not alone,
that spring is coming, the awakening of nature,
that soon the victory - there is a little bit left ...
But the days passed, adding years to her,
and a stone of separation lay on the chest ...
Soldier mothers! Everlasting memory -
about those who will not return home ...
A mournful flame burns in the mother's heart
about the son who perished, who is eternally alive!
Soldier mothers - proud, persistent,
children lost in a terrible hell ...
Soldiers' mothers are worthy of happiness,
from the harsh war they are waiting for their sons ...
At least, on weekends, they didn’t carry this dirt, abomination and spilled blood on display!
Didn't find the poem.
Two mothers met on a high-rise. whose sons died. Fighting each other. Both mothers embraced and mourned the dead together... War. This is mutual grief. There are no winners in a war...
Budanov is equally alien to me both in the hypostasis of a murderer and in the hypostasis of a hero. I wish this thread didn't even exist :/
november
Thanks for the blog. I myself thought about writing yesterday, but I couldn’t ... I’ll leave a comment later. (For a couple of minutes on the net).
On the evening of June 10, football fans began to arrive at the site of the murder of the former colonel. Fans bring flowers to a house on Komsomolsky Prospekt in Moscow and light candles. Security measures around the yard have been reinforced by law enforcement officers.
At present, several dozen people have already laid flowers, most of whom are Spartak Moscow fans.
About 15 trucks and buses of police officers, OMON and military personnel of the Internal Troops arrived at the scene of Budanov's murder. Despite the fact that the territory is still cordoned off, law enforcement officers are allowed to lay flowers for everyone, Interfax reports.
The murder of Budanov from an illegal (he did not start the war) convict made him the hero he was!
Yaroslav SHAPOCHKA,
Igor KOZLOV
"DATA"
At the end of last week, the main topic of the Russian media was the event in the village of Ishcherskaya on the border of Chechnya with North Ossetia: an operational group of the FSB and the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs detained 27-year-old Elena, allegedly a sniper of the armed formation of Shamil Basayev in 1995-1996, there. According to the Izvestia newspaper, Elena, nicknamed Lolita, is suspected of killing 20 Russian soldiers, policemen and FSB officers. The Russians claim that the sniper is a citizen of Ukraine, originally from Poltava, and it was there, according to the special services of the Russian Federation, that she was engaged in biathlon all her childhood and youth ... And in 1995, tempted by the offer of Chechen fighters, she was hired as a sniper in one of the Basaev detachments , and then, after the first Chechen war, she married one of the field commanders. When her husband was killed, Elena went to work for the Chechen customs.
They took a sniper right at the station of the village. During the arrest, they found a Ukrainian passport (however, for some reason with two completely different photographs), according to which the Poltava biathlete permanently resides in the city of Konstantinovka, Donetsk region. But the passport turned out to be ... stolen. And in general, there is so much incomprehensible and even absurdity in the history of Elena that in Moscow no one undertakes to officially comment on this information. By the way, during the operational video filming, the detainee, denying all the charges against her, claimed that she held a weapon only once in her life - during the wedding, Lena's late husband allowed her to shoot into the air from a Kalashnikov assault rifle.
Elena was transferred to Mozdok, where the investigative team of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs is currently studying some of the facts of her biography.
The arrest of Elena-Lolita is regarded by Russian journalists as confirmation of the real existence in Chechnya of mythical sniper girls, the so-called "white tights". For the first time they were talked about during the conflict in Karabakh. As a rule, these were Lithuanians or Latvians involved in biathlon.
Anatoly Sakhno, head of the press center of the SBU, commented on the information about the Ukrainian sniper as follows:
The Security Service of Ukraine has a negative attitude towards mercenaries, regardless of where they fight - in Chechnya or in another region. Today in Russia they say that Ukrainians are fighting on the side of the Chechens, but in fact there is no real evidence of this. The SBU did not receive a single official request from the FSB of Russia about our citizens suspected of participating in the Chechen conflict, and they were not interested in Elena mentioned in Izvestia or, as she was also called in a newspaper article, Lolita. We don't know anything about her.
I would like to add that during the Chechen campaign, a negative image of a Ukrainian may be promoted, but questions about this should be asked not to the SBU, but to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
By the way, discussing the possibility of the existence of special units of female snipers fighting on the side of Chechen fighters, Boris Kagarlitsky, an employee of the Institute for Comparative Politics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, made the following conclusion last fall: this is a myth that works into the hands of military propaganda. “When there is a war, the public needs to create a hateful image of the enemy. The image of "white stockings" is the best suited for this purpose. In this case, we are dealing with the merging of two images of Evil. On one side is a blue-eyed blonde sniper with the appearance of a fascist. A typical image of a witch, so strong in Russian culture. On the other hand - the embodiment of evil in the image of a swarthy Muslim. Their unity perfectly feeds the hatred of the enemy in the Chechen conflict in society ... "
White tights. HELP-2
How many were there? According to information from military sources - at least 150 (apparently, they managed to destroy as many. - Auth.). How many actually - no one knows. The soldiers hated the mercenaries more than their masters. Snipers were not even taken prisoner - they were killed at the place of capture. They were judged according to the laws of war. Cruel, but deserved. During the second war, there were no more "white tights".
Ukrainian intelligence agencies have not received any documentary evidence from their Russian counterparts that Ukrainian citizens are fighting in Chechnya, and leading Russian political scientists argue that female snipers are a myth fanned by military propaganda
The main topic of the Russian media was the event in the village of Ishcherskaya on the border of Chechnya with North Ossetia: an operational group of the FSB and the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs detained 27-year-old Elena, allegedly a sniper of Shamil Basayev's armed group in 1995-1996, there. According to the Izvestia newspaper, Elena, nicknamed Lolita, is suspected of killing 20 Russian soldiers, policemen and FSB officers. The Russians claim that the sniper is a citizen of Ukraine, originally from Poltava, and it was there, according to the special services of the Russian Federation, that she was engaged in biathlon all her childhood and youth ... then, after the first Chechen war, she married one of the field commanders. When her husband was killed, Elena went to work for the Chechen customs.
They took a sniper right at the station of the village. During the arrest, they found a Ukrainian passport (however, for some reason with two completely different photographs), according to which the Poltava biathlete permanently resides in the city of Konstantinovka, Donetsk region. But the passport turned out to be… stolen. And in general, there is so much incomprehensible and even absurdity in the history of Elena that in Moscow no one undertakes to officially comment on this information. By the way, during the operational video filming, the detainee, denying all the charges against her, claimed that she held a weapon only once in her life - during the wedding, Lena's late husband allowed her to shoot into the air from a Kalashnikov assault rifle.
Elena was transferred to Mozdok, where the investigative team of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs is currently studying some of the facts of her biography. "Chechen" Lolita
The special services have been hunting for this Basayev's "wolf" for a long time. After the first Chechen war, she served in Ichkeria at the customs and, feeling safe, did not hide her past. But now, when the terrorists were pressed from all sides, apparently, she decided to take her feet out of Ichkeria. Employees of the FSB, the North Caucasian transport police and the Rostov transport OMON detained a fugitive at the station of the village of Ishcherskaya, located not far from the administrative border between Chechnya and North Ossetia. She was found to have, probably, a stolen passport in the name of a certain citizen from the Donetsk region. In fact, according to representatives of the special services, this is the notorious Lolita, about whom there are legends.- In 1995, - the head of the press service of the North Caucasian Department of Internal Affairs on transport, Lieutenant Colonel of Militia Sergey Nazarov, told the correspondent of "Trud", - 22-year-old Elena, allegedly from the Ukrainian Poltava region, went to Chechnya to fight. She began to fight on the side of the Chechen terrorists, as they promised to pay well in foreign currency. She impressed the militants with her ability to shoot accurately, and therefore she was soon enlisted as a sniper in one of Basayev's detachments. Elena was given the nickname "Lolita".
The name of the "Chechen" Lolita is associated with a pseudo-romantic story that is common among terrorists. Allegedly, the young beauty Elena, a former biathlete, came to Ichkeria to "earn" money for a wedding and a dowry. But soon she was inflamed with passion for one of the field commanders of Basayev's "army". Managed to arouse a response in him. "Wolf" and "she-wolf" got married, but did not live together for long. The bearded "Romeo" was soon killed. And the young widow, with all her bestial hatred, gave herself up to revenge - shooting at our fighters, she tried to get into the secret place from the waist down without fail.
Most likely, in this story there is a lot of the perverted fantasy of the "gray wolves". But something in the course of the ongoing investigation is confirmed.
In the interests of the investigation, representatives of the special services do not disclose the name of Elena and specific episodes of her "exploits". I didn't manage to meet her. However, we were given the opportunity to familiarize ourselves with the operational video recording made during the detention by Yury Baranyuk, a spokesman for the Rostov Internal Affairs Directorate for Transport. It can be seen from it that the "Chechen" Lolita is far from sparkling with beauty, and over the five years of "dirty work" in Ichkeria, she has significantly lost the features of her former youth: a rough voice, rather vulgar behavior, looks much older than her age. All that remains of the "romantic story" is the confession made by Elena-Lolita through a video camera that she came to Chechnya to earn money for a wedding, since mercenaries are well paid here.
Currency "romance"
At the very least, it seems strange that a certain romantic halo is sometimes created around such a vile phenomenon as female mercenaries, even in our other media. Suffice it to recall that it was with the light hand of journalists that the generalized name of hired female snipers "white tights" went for a walk, although it has no serious reality behind it. After all, of course, not a single sniper sits in an ambush in such a catchy and eccentric attire. The origins of the term are elsewhere.
It arose simultaneously with the beginning of regional conflicts on the outskirts of the former USSR. For the first time, “white tights” were discussed in Karabakh, where the Baltic biathletes who had come to the war to “earn” money as snipers were allegedly captured. Well, since during biathlon competitions women wear a peculiar uniform with a white tight-fitting tights, someone launched the metaphor "white tights", which then migrated from Karabakh to Ossetia, from there to Transnistria and Abkhazia, now settled in Chechnya. Here, pseudo-romantic stories about "Ukrainian avengers" were added to the legends about the Baltic "Amazons". Probably, there are forces that would very much like to legalize, first in our minds, and then in practice, the possibility of mutual bloodletting by representatives of fraternal or friendly peoples. In any case, among the hired female snipers (already identified or in operational development) there is no noticeable predominance of either biathletes from the Baltic states, or Ukrainians, and especially Belarusians, which is also often written about at the suggestion of Ichkerian propagandists. And the replicated rumors about "ethnic avengers" often turn out to be fake.
In this regard, the example of the "sensation" around the capture of the allegedly famous sportswoman Milita Trankautienė from the Baltic states, who allegedly was dropped from a helicopter by wounded Russian officers, was indicative in this regard. An investigation of this hype by law enforcement agencies showed that not only such an athlete, but in general a woman with a similar name and surname did not exist in the Baltic countries.
Reliable facts of the participation of female mercenaries in Chechen gangs indicate that it is not the national factor that plays the primary role in motivating their actions, but the elementary desire to quickly get rich in the war. It is for this reason that among Basayev's "wolves" there were also a 30-year-old Azerbaijani woman, recently detained while trying to leave the battle zone under the guise of a refugee with someone else's child in her arms, and a 29-year-old Chechen woman who came to our commandant's office with a confession. According to some of those arrested, in Basayev's "army" snipers are paid $1,000 for each Russian officer they kill. (True, as they say, often counterfeit bills.) That's the whole romance of "white tights" ...
It is significant that even "their own" run away from Basayev with curses as soon as they stop receiving material rewards for the "liberation struggle". Here is a typical story.
“Two months ago,” FSB officer Nikolai Starodymov told a Trud correspondent, “a former sniper from the Basayev detachment, Tamara Topchayeva, came to our unit in the liberated territory of the Nadterechny district with a confession. She was well known to us - at one time she committed atrocities with Basayev's gang in Budennovsk, for which she was awarded the Chechen Order "Honor of the Nation". In 1996, our special services managed to arrest Topchaeva. But the case did not reach the court. She was exchanged for four Russian soldiers captured by the Chechens. With the money "for the liberation struggle" received from Basayev, Topchayeva bought a cafe and prospered for some time. But the "blood dollars" did not go to waste. When the Wahhabis took power in Ichkeria, they burned down the cafe, because according to their canons, it is forbidden for true Islamists to drink alcohol. But it is allowed to have several wives, which Topchaeva's husband took advantage of. He married a younger one, and kicked Tamara out. Recently, she lived in the premises of the former museum. And I didn't see any light in the future.
During the interrogations, Topchaev cursed Basaev for what the world is worth. “They built the palaces themselves, they drive around in Mercedes, but no matter how much I asked Basayev for help, I didn’t give anything, as if I didn’t have any merit,” she poured out her soul to the investigator with an angry resentment in her voice.
Unfortunately, Topchaev had to be released. Her participation in the second Chechen campaign could not be proved. And for the first one, this "she-wolf" fell under the amnesty declared by Yeltsin at the time.
Why are they not being judged?
In stories with "white tights" it is easy to notice one more oddity. On the one hand, there are numerous testimonies about the detention of snipers, on the other hand, not one of them has yet been brought to public trial. Some of them fell under the amnesty, like Topchaeva. But after all, in most publicized cases, "wolves" are taken directly to the battlefield, with weapons in their hands. The amnesty does not apply to such people. Why hasn't a single trial been held so far?
- Russian soldiers hate them so much, - one familiar FSB officer shared his opinion, - that they simply do not bring them to the attention of law enforcement agencies - they are dealt with on the spot. No one raises a hand in criminal proceedings in these cases of lynching. Yes, and try to prove why this or that sniper died. Combat operations are going on, bullets are flying from both sides, and there is no time for examinations at the front.
Indeed, documentary evidence of reprisals against Basayev's "she-wolves" is almost impossible to find. Perhaps only one of them was recorded in Nevzorov's sensational film Purgatory. The film contains monstrous shots, at first, as if from the Chechen side, when two snipers deliberately hit our soldiers between the legs. And then follows a no less terrible episode, filmed as if from our side, when Russian fighters capture the same snipers in battle and shoot them, also aiming at the childbearing places.
In war, emotions and instincts often rule the ball. And not the best. For a woman, whatever she may be, in a normal state it is completely unnatural to shoot at all, especially at the reproductive organ of a man, even if it is an enemy. Nevertheless, many of our fighters testify: Basayev's "wolves" often aim precisely there. The detained mercenaries claim that they are forced to do so by the "bearded men" assigned to each sniper. But this does not make it easier for our soldiers. And in such circumstances, the feeling of revenge is most often hasty than the law, which gives rise to lynching reprisals. Moreover, our fighters, of course, are aware of amnesties, exchanges, and the difficulties of law enforcement agencies in developing an evidence base for the crimes of Basayev's she-wolves.
In this sense, the detention of Elena-Lolita is of particular importance. Law enforcement officers have a rare opportunity to bring the "sniper" case to a fair trial, to tear off the pseudo-romantic tinsel from the image of "white tights", to reveal to the whole world one of the most vile aspects of the hired "Chechen liberation movement", to show, first of all, to our fighters, that evil punishable. And for this, a completely legal path can and should be used.
The arrest of Elena-Lolita is regarded by Russian journalists as confirmation of the real existence in Chechnya of mythical sniper girls, the so-called "white tights". For the first time they were talked about during the conflict in Karabakh. As a rule, these were Lithuanians or Latvians involved in biathlon.
Anatoly Sakhno, head of the press center of the SBU, commented on the information about the Ukrainian sniper as follows:
The Security Service of Ukraine has a negative attitude towards mercenaries, regardless of where they fight - in Chechnya or in another region. Today in Russia they say that Ukrainians are fighting on the side of the Chechens, but in fact there is no real evidence of this. The SBU did not receive a single official request from the FSB of Russia about our citizens suspected of participating in the Chechen conflict, and they were not interested in Elena mentioned in Izvestia or, as she was also called in a newspaper article, Lolita. We don't know anything about her.
I would like to add that during the Chechen campaign, a negative image of a Ukrainian may be promoted, but questions about this should be asked not to the SBU, but to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
By the way, discussing the possibility of the existence of special units of female snipers fighting on the side of Chechen fighters, Boris Kagarlitsky, an employee of the Institute for Comparative Politics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, made the following conclusion last fall: this is a myth that works into the hands of military propaganda. “When there is a war, the public needs to create a hateful image of the enemy. The image of "white stockings" is the best suited for this purpose. In this case, we are dealing with the merging of two images of Evil. On one side is a blue-eyed blonde sniper with the appearance of a fascist. A typical image of a witch, so strong in Russian culture. On the other hand - the embodiment of evil in the image of a swarthy Muslim. Their unity perfectly feeds the hatred of the enemy in the Chechen conflict in society ... "
What did they do with Chechen snipers (women) in the war.
As you know, mostly mercenaries took part in the first and second Chechen companies, but sometimes there were female mercenaries who fought exclusively by killing with sniper rifles. And when they caught the so-called snipers, they did this to them, it was a war and cruel.
For example:
"Typhoon" special forces, said that in the well in the courtyard of the headquarters, especially militant staff colonels drowned a sniper.
The Marines chopped them up with sapper shovels. Here is a video where the Marine says:
Wolves in white pantyhose. Seventeen-year-old biathlete Lolita.
I will kill you slowly because I love you. I'll shoot you in the leg first, I promise to aim for the kneecap. Then a hand. Then eggs. Don't be afraid, I'm a candidate for master of sports. I will not miss, - the voice of the sniper Masha sounded clearly on the radio, as if she was lying somewhere very close, and not hiding hundreds of meters from here.
A seventeen-year-old biathlete who arrived in Chechnya for
earnings from a small Ural town. She had to shoot at her own. However, she didn't care who she aimed at. They just paid better on the other side. The contract soldier with whom she chatted on the radio every night out of boredom had already become accustomed to the caustic notes in her voice. Like the whistle of bullets from her rifle. How to "cargo 200". She didn't have time to kill anyone. And she didn't earn anything. I came across a stretch that ours put in the mountains. A day later they killed him. Shot in the head, bullet - 7.62. Sniper.
"White Pantyhose" - ruthless ghosts, hitting right on target. They are hated. They are afraid. They are being hunted. Only those who kill them know their faces.
Caught alive, these women perceive shooting on the spot, a bullet in the forehead, instant death as the greatest mercy. After them there is nothing left, not even a real name. Only legends and curses.
The True Story of Lolita
A terry pink dressing gown is tightly tightened at the waist, a transparent white scarf is on her head. She either fiddles with him in her hands, then brushes away a tear with him. Dyed blond hair, golden teeth, faded gray-green eyes and white, almost matte skin, it doesn’t seem to be ugly, but it will pass and you won’t notice.
Every evening, when dozens of convicts gather in front of the TV after work in the sewing shop to watch the evening news, she hides in the farthest corner of the cell. "Well, he did the right thing, that he killed. So she, bitch, should be!" the women shout excitedly when they see the trial of Colonel Budanov on the screen. "Yes, crush them, bastards! Wet in the toilet!" - the president's favorite quote is heard from everywhere.
- No one in the zone knows that she was a sniper in Chechnya and shot at Russian soldiers. And in her criminal case there is not a word about this, - they immediately warned me in one of the women's colonies in the Krasnodar Territory. She doesn't shy away from anyone, but she doesn't make friends with anyone either. If you write her real name, she will be killed immediately.
It was about Lena that a terribly romantic story went around Chechnya during the first war. For her extraordinary beauty, youth and ability to shoot accurately, the militants called her Lolita. In the detachment of Shamil Basayev, she appeared in 1995. She came from her native Ukraine to earn ... for her wedding and a dowry. However, she quickly forgot her fiancé, because she fell in love with a real "wolf", field commander Sulima Yamadayev. Under the roar of battle and the whistle of bullets, their happiness did not last long - the "wolf" was killed, much later Aslan Maskhadov posthumously awarded him the rank of brigadier general, and the inconsolable "wolf" began to take revenge. Moreover, it was aimed at our fighters at the "causal place", below the waist. So, at least, the legend went.
“I don’t know anything about Lolita and “white tights,” Lena rolls her eyes theatrically and immediately brings her handkerchief to them. - And I got to Chechnya long before the war, in the very beginning of the 90s. She lived with her parents and little brother in Konstantinovka, Donetsk region, studied well. Mom worked then as a warehouse manager, and my father also did not sit without work. True, often applied to the bottle. After the 8th grade, together with Marinka, my school friend, we went to Nikolaev to study as a cook. For the spring holidays, Marinka offered to go to Chechnya, to trade in clothes. We got to Prokhladny by train, from there we got to Grozny by bus. On the train, our birth certificates were taken away from us, and I wasn’t even 16 then. They locked me up for four days in some apartment, they said that we wouldn’t work the road with just clothes. We worked out ... They would take them out to the field, then into the mountains - who shoots, who else does what - they amused themselves as they wanted. My girlfriend periodically disappeared somewhere, and I was sold to a new tormentor. I can’t remember all this ... - and she cries. “My torment ended only when Musa heard about me and saved me. He didn't know anything about my past. For some reason I believed him.
From the dossier "MK".
Musa Charaev, field commander. An active participant in the hostilities of 1994-1996, together with his detachment, "lit up" in many bloody skirmishes. A friend of Basayev, who often visited his house. And if Charaev before the war was a simple rural tractor driver who earned money by selling wine brought from the Kalinin winery, then after that he was the owner of a decent "piece" of the Baku-Novorossiysk oil pipe, generously presented to him by the President of Ichkeria Aslan Maskhadov.
As investigators were assured by numerous witnesses, during the first Chechen campaign, Lena walked with her head held high and a sniper rifle at the ready. About that combat period of her life, about which she does not want to talk about anything, the only documentary evidence has been preserved. A red book with a photograph and her real name. Next to Basayev's signature is a modest position - a nurse. During the investigation and trial, Lena did not hide the fact that in March 1995 she joined a detachment in Argun, field commander Abdul Khadzhiev-Aslambek. Although she was listed there only as a nurse, in fact she did everything that they said: she washed, cooked, and sometimes, out of old memory, appeased the bearded freedom fighters. However, she did not stay long in Abdul's detachment.
"If only you were alive"
The end of the 95th. Bloody raid of Salman Raduev's gang on Kizlyar and Pervomaiskoye. For two weeks the whole country did not leave the television screens, watching the development of dramatic events. Capturing the helipad. Shooting people. A swift "visit" to the hospital, which almost ended with a repetition of Budyonnovsk. Solemn departure to Pervomaiskoye in a convoy of buses along with the captured hostages. And, finally, the mysterious disappearance from the village, which was practically demolished by artillery from the face of the earth and surrounded by Russian troops in a triple ring. Among several women who participated in that famous Radevsky campaign was Lena.
This fact became known only after the arrest of Salman Raduev himself. An interesting document was found in his archives, in which he asked the head of the Oktyabrsky district of Grozny to allocate a two-room apartment for Elena P. "as an active participant in the hostilities in Kizlyar and Pervomaisky." She got an apartment. Then she met Musa Charaev. "Wolf" and "she-wolf" fell in love with each other - and this was true in the legend about Lolita.
“There was a war,” Lena continues. - Musa and his guys hid in the mountains, and rarely came to Ishcherskaya (a large border junction station, where militants sometimes lay in bed after being wounded. - E.M.). I spoke Chechen very well. My mother-in-law immediately somehow accepted me and even fell in love - she became like a mother. She prayed all the time. Looking at her, I also converted to Islam. And soon a mullah married Musa and me.
Having arranged her personal life, Lena finally called her parents in Konstantinovka. Her mother, who had known nothing at all about her for several years, fainted when she heard her voice. "If only you were alive," she said, and burst into tears. After this call, she began to drink with her father. And six months later, in the summer of 1996, the whole family was poisoned by mushrooms bought at the market. Father and brother were pumped out by doctors. Lena saw her mother already in the coffin. As an active militant and the wife of a field commander, Lolita got into all operational reports. And she immediately received new documents. "To pull less," explains Lena. According to them, she came home for the funeral. After the war, a son was born in the fighting family of the Charaevs. Musa still did not part with the machine gun and his fighters, guarding the piece of the oil pipeline entrusted to him. Lena was given a solid position in customs. “I cleared goods through customs, processed paperwork, took money to Grozny. Nothing special,” Lena is obviously modest, because the treasury will not be trusted to just anyone. But Lena was valued not for this - she checked freight and passenger trains, looking for "FSB agents" in them. If a person seemed suspicious to her, he was removed from the train and taken away in an unknown direction. "She-wolf", - peaceful villagers were afraid of her. "Our she-wolf! The commander was lucky," the former militants approved. In March 1999, Musa was killed. He was found in his own car, not far from the "pipe", with the same machine gun in his hands and two dozen bullets in his back and neck. He never found out that Lena was pregnant again - she wanted to please him the next day.
By order No. 101 of the President of the CRI, Maskhadov, Charaev was posthumously awarded the rank of brigadier general and renamed his native village of Severnaya in the Naur region - the same one where he plowed the land for so long - into Musa-yurt. It turns out that the legend did not lie again.
Fake calculation
Baltic women, Ukrainians, Belarusians, Siberians, Urals, Leningraders, Muscovites and, of course, Chechens themselves—there is no end to the terrible stories about ruthless snipers-mercenaries, who have been roaming the trenches, hospitals and newspaper pages for many years now. True, it is worth noting that the militants themselves are afraid of some fantastic Ossetian women who terribly hate them, allegedly fighting on the Russian side. The most persistent myth about "white tights" is that most of them are biathletes, and from the Baltics. If we put together all the stories about blond beauties who speak Russian with a pleasant slight accent and shoot at our soldiers, it turns out that not a single athlete who has ever held a weapon in her hands has long been left there - or has already been killed, or still fighting. However, in the first Chechen war, our law enforcement agencies still tried to check one chilling story about a Baltic sniper dropped by wounded paratroopers from a helicopter with a grenade into her vagina. officers. Maybe some girl fell, reaching for a cigarette, from a Russian "turntable", only the corpse was never found. As they did not find any traces of a biathlete by the name of Trankautene in the Baltic republics ... The very name "white tights" came from a white leotard, tight-fitting hips, in which biathletes perform at competitions. Before Chechnya, they flashed in almost all the "hot spots" of the former Soviet Union, from Transnistria to Nagorno-Karabakh. However, then the stories about the mercenaries caused only surprise among the military. And the snipers themselves could be counted on the fingers. Chechnya is another matter. Here is a big war and, accordingly, completely different money. In most cases, the Chechens entered into a contract with the newcomer for a month. According to the captured militants, before the crisis, snipers were paid up to 10,000 dollars. Sometimes they paid "without exception" from 500 to 800 bucks "unfastened" for a killed officer and 200 for a soldier. However, such fees were more likely to lure new mercenaries than actually pay them - either the dollars will turn out to be fake, or the field commander will consider that the lady wants too much and it’s cheaper to just kill her. But all the same: in half a year in Chechnya - unless, of course, the feds caught it or sewed their own militants - one could earn for the rest of his life. "Fatima - 170 thousand rubles, Oksana - 150 thousand, Lena - 30 (for two killed scouts)" - this "pay slip" was found in the pocket of a killed sniper near the village of Bechik.
sniper war
It's only in cheap movies that the sniper works alone. In the worst case, he has one assistant - and he will provide cover and count the dead. In the best and most common in Chechnya - "an ambush hunter" (translated from English. - E.M.), a couple of submachine gunners, a machine gunner, grenade launchers and an ammunition carrier cover. By the way, the role of the last member of such a mobile group is generally difficult to overestimate - thanks to him, the militants can "peel" for two hours without a break. "It's better to undereat than not get enough sleep" and "you need to shoot like dancing a waltz: one-two-three - and change position, sitting still is not recommended" - the "golden rules" of every sniper who knows both on that and on that side . Before "lighting up", a good "hunter" prepares 5-8 positions in advance and only then opens fire. "Find and neutralize" the enemy sniper, signalman and senior officers - the combat mission has not changed since the middle of the 18th century, when the first mention of "skirmishers" appeared in archival documents. According to the number of wounds to the head and chest, military doctors dubbed the current war in Chechnya a sniper war. But it begins only when the troops are engaged in positional battles. - Previously, snipers were looked for among professional shooters. It was believed that marksmanship in such work is the most important thing. But lately, especially after Chechnya, we have become convinced that strong nerves and the ability to hide well are still more important, - Colonel Alexander Abin, author of the book "Tactics of using snipers in the city", immediately classified by the FSB, a teacher at the department of tactical and special training, is sure St. Petersburg University of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation. - A real sniper works primarily with his head - he knows engineering, topography, and medicine. There are few such professionals, and they improve all their lives. Aleksey, a sniper from the elite St. Petersburg special forces, is one of them. "The most self-possessed and calm person, he never conflicts with anyone," they say about him in the detachment.
- To aim, I need 2-3 seconds, a maximum of 10, - says Alexey. “I only worry when I can't see the target. As soon as she is in front of my eyes, I instantly calm down and pull the trigger. A good shot comes between heartbeats, and in women, the heart rate is less frequent. They are lighter, so they shoot better. By and large, biathletes need to be taught only tactics, the technique is already disappearing. Athletes are hardy, and without it, nowhere in the mountains. Yes, and they are better armed. They also have SV-94 sniper rifles of 12-millimeter caliber, and "screw cutters", and the same our SVDshki (Dragunov sniper rifle, the "workhorse" of Russian snipers. - E.M.), only modernized. In addition, all optics are anti-reflective. For now, we can only dream of such weapons.
A lieutenant colonel and an ensign tell how they captured a Lithuanian sniper. How she asked not to kill her. She allegedly has two children.
- They tied a grenade to the head, - says the ensign, - they pulled out the pin and let go. Only cowards flew in different directions.It has long been known that one sniper is worth a whole company. The muffled shots from their trouble-free rifles cause much more horror than the sounds of explosions of mines and shells. The military reports that more than half of our soldiers die from fighters who shoot at them from shelters with single fire ... Also, the information that the enemy has a sniper in the ranks has a very depressing effect on the fighters. Not so long ago, an officer died from a sniper's bullet in Khankala. This means that even the base of the feds does not guarantee security.
When the so-called "zelenka" appears in Chechnya, that is, a green cover in the form of grass and leaves, the situation becomes even more difficult. But leaves are not necessary for snipers either - at night they can sneak right up to our positions. Those who smoke in war do not live long - the light of a cigarette in the dark is tantamount to death. One shot one kill. For every sniper from Chechnya, an average of two dozen people are killed.
During the first Chechen campaign, snipers also caused fear - during the storming of Grozny, the units were in a panic when they started shooting federal troops. Experts believe that one experienced sniper can replace a whole platoon of submachine gunners. After all, only 10-15 of his shots can disable the entire company.
There are opinions that da Vinci was the first professional sniper on earth. According to historians, it was he who invented the very first gun for snipers. it was from it that the inventor, being on the fortress walls of Venice, destroyed the enemy. Moreover, at that time he shot from a truly incredible distance of three hundred meters.
The following facts are known about snipers, which are always voiced to our soldiers:
A sniper with a foreign-made weapon or pcp rifle hits his target as an enemy fighter at a distance of 500 meters during the day and 300 meters at night.
The sniper is always looking for the most accessible and vulnerable targets.
So that the sniper does not find the fighter, he needs to carefully disguise himself and prepare several spare positions for himself.
The sniper shoots at uncovered parts of the body and at the head, so don't be skeptical about a helmet and body armor.
Snipers can disguise their shots as rifle shots, so fighters should always be on the lookout for unaimed fire from the enemy.
Chechen snipers are particularly bold. At night, they provoke our fighters to return fire in order to identify their target by flashes of shots and hit it.
Chechen snipers often disguise themselves not only from opponents, but also from their own.
When looking for snipers, one must not forget that they can be anyone - an old grandfather, a 12-year-old boy, and a woman. Characteristic bruises on the shoulder can help to detect them.
