CaptionRussian marines help a wounded fellow soldier after being caught in an ambush near Tsentoroi. In September, Russian forces began military action against Chechen rebels. Initial operations were confined to air attacks, but on 1 October Russian troops entered Chechnya. By the beginning of December the Russians had surrounded the capital Grozny, which they stormed on the 25th. The Russians held that their casualties during the conflict were minimal.