Tukhchar massacre

Tukhchar massacre
	Part of the War in Dagestan
Date	5 September 1999
Location	Tukhchar, Novolaksky District, Dagestan, Russia43°13′18″N 46°24′45″E / 43.22167°N 46.41250°E
Result	Chechen and Dagestani militant victory Seizure of the village; Destruction of checkpoints; Mass execution of POWs;
Belligerents
Islamic International Peacekeeping Brigade	Russia
Commanders and leaders
Umar Edilsultanov	Sr. Lt. Vasily Tashkin (POW)
Units involved
Unknown	Russian Internal Troops 22nd Spetsnaz Operational Brigade; Dagestani militsiya; Dagestani volunteers
Strength
40–200 militants	13 interior troops; 18 militsiya officers; Several volunteers; 1 BMP-2
Casualties and losses
At least 6 killed	6 interior troops captured and executed; 1 BMP-2 gunner killed; 2 militsya officers killed; 1 BMP-2 destroyed;
	Tukhchar Location within Republic of Dagestan

The Tukhchar massacre (Russian: Тухчарская резня, romanized: Tukhcharskaya reznya) was an incident during the War in Dagestan which was filmed and distributed on tape, in which Russian prisoners of war were executed. Throughout the battle, Russian soldiers reported finding taped executions of Russian officers and men. Some videos were later sold as snuff films and ended up being posted online. One tape created in September 1999 showed six Russian servicemen, five as young as 19, who were conscripts, being executed by Chechen and Dagestani militants. The method was piercing the trachea, also known as beheading.