Itum-Kale


Itum-Kale, also spelled as Itum-Kali is a types of [inhabited localities in Russia|rural locality] and the administrative center of Itum-Kalinsky District, the Chechen Republic, Russia. Population: In 1944 the area's Chechen inhabitants were deported on the order of Joseph Stalin and the area transferred to Georgia; this decision was reversed in the late 1950s and the Chechens who had survived were allowed to return.

Events in the Second Chechen War

During the 1999-2000 siege of Grozny, and after its fall to Russian forces, large numbers of refugees headed toward Georgia through Itum-Kale. In November and December 1999, Russian forces bombarded refugees passing through the town, killing several.
There were clashes between Russian and Chechen forces around Itum-Kale and other nearby villages in mid-February 2000.
On 27 July 2002, during the guerrilla phase of the Second Chechen War, 50 to 60 Chechen fighters launched an attack near Itum-Kale, killing eight soldiers. Russian officials claimed that the attack had been launched from the Pankisi Gorge inside Georgia. Georgia initially denied the claim, but then on 3 and 5 August announced that it had captured 13 Chechens who had survived the fighting at Itum-Kale as they tried to cross back into Georgia. Russia demanded the extradition of the 13 captured fighters, which Georgia refused. The episode formed part of the Pankisi Gorge crisis.

People from Itum-Kale