2010 Chechen Parliament attack

On the morning of 19 October 2010, three armed men attacked the parliament complex of the Chechen Republic in Grozny, a federal subject of Russia. The attackers—wearing combat and sand camouflage and carrying Kalashnikov assault rifles—arrived at the complex around 08:45 local time in a Lada taxi, telling the driver they were bodyguards following deputies' cars. On reaching the front gate, they opened fire on the two police officers stationed at the checkpoint, killing one and severely wounding the other. One attacker detonated an explosive device near the gate, while the other two entered the parliament building, where they killed a police officer guarding the building and a parliamentary administrative manager. Six policemen and eleven civilians were wounded, and shrapnel injuries were reported among parliament employees during a firefight that involved at least two rocket-propelled grenades. People inside the building either fled to the third floor or were evacuated.

President Ramzan Kadyrov personally directed the operation to eliminate the attackers, which lasted 15–20 minutes according to official accounts, though eyewitnesses cited by Kommersant said shooting continued for roughly two hours. Chechen Interior Ministry special police unit Terek entered the building and blocked the staircase, trapping the militants on the ground floor. The militants exhausted their ammunition and then detonated explosives, killing themselves; two reportedly did so specifically to avoid capture. Five Terek personnel were hospitalized. Initial reports citing a deputy interior ministry official said four militants had been killed, but investigators later determined three had taken part and all three died in the attack.

The attack occurred while a Russian federal delegation, including Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliev, was visiting Chechnya; some delegation members were in the complex at the time. A parliamentary session originally scheduled for that morning proceeded a few hours later once the buildings were declared cleared, attended by Kadyrov and Nurgaliev. One attacker was identified as Muslim Chichkanov, a 22-year-old from the village of Sernovodsk who had reportedly been part of an "illegal armed group" since late 2009; the other two were not identified in the available account.

Kadyrov publicly accused exiled Chechen nationalist leader Akhmed Zakayev and his London-based supporters of organizing the attack; Zakayev denied any involvement or knowledge of the perpetrators through a spokesperson. Russia's General Prosecutor's Office subsequently placed Zakayev back on its international wanted list. The Caucasian Knot reported that local experts believed the attack was more likely organized by Chechen field commanders who had split from insurgent leader Dokka Umarov earlier in 2010. European Union officials, including foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and European Parliament President Jerzy Buzek, condemned the attack, and analysts described it as a symbolic challenge to Kadyrov's government and to Russian authority in the region.