Vedeno (Chech. Vedana) is a village in the Chechen Republic. It
is the administrative center of the Vedensky district. The village
is located in the central part of the Vedensky district, in the
interfluve of the Khulkhulau and Akhkichu rivers, 67 km south-west
of the city of Grozny.
Vedeno actually merged with the
village of Oktyabrskoe in the northwest and with Dyshne-Vedeno in
the southeast. Other nearby settlements are Neftyanka in the
southwest, Eshilkhatoy in the west and Ersenoy in the northeast.
Average heights in the village are about 767 meters above sea
level. In the south, the Khoroch ridge rises above the village, with
the peak of the same name.
The climate is humid and temperate
and is determined by the proximity of the Main Caucasian ridge. The
average annual air temperature is +9.0 ° С, and ranges from average
+21.5 ° С in July to average -4.0 ° С in January. The average annual
rainfall is about 600 mm.
In the middle of the 19th century, it was the last
capital of the North Caucasian Imamate, a theocratic Islamic state
that existed on the territory of Dagestan and Chechnya in 1829-1859.
On April 1, 1859, during the Caucasian War, the village of
Vedeno was taken by storm by Russian troops. A fortress was built in
the village.
From September 1919 to March 1920, it was the
capital of the North Caucasian Emirate - an Islamic state,
proclaimed on the territory of Chechnya and Western Dagestan by the
Avar sheikh Uzun-Khadzhi, who with a small detachment occupied the
aul, entrenched in it and declared war on Denikin. Money for the
emirate was printed in Vedeno. The paper was used in different
grades, including ruled school notebooks.
During the period
of the deportation of the Chechen people and the abolition of the
Chechen-Ingush ASSR, Vedeno was one of the rare villages, the name
of which was retained. However, by a decree of the Supreme Soviet of
the RSFSR of June 7, 1944, the Vedeno region of the Dagestan ASSR
was created from the former Vedensky region of the Chechen-Ingush
ASSR with the center in the village of Vedeno.
After the
return of the Chechens from deportation in 1957, the Vedeno region
was restored as part of the Chechen-Ingush ASSR.
During the
First Chechen War, it was taken by Russian troops on June 3, 1995
and was controlled by them until the end of the first campaign.
During the Second Chechen War, on November 17, 1999, near
Vedeno, Russian troops suffered the first major losses - the
reconnaissance group of the 31st separate airborne brigade lost 12
people killed and two more were taken prisoner. Vedeno was taken
again by Russian troops on January 11, 2000.
In August 2001,
military clashes between separatists and regular Russian troops took
place in the village, during which there was an attack on the
military commandant's office.
In March 2006, fighting again
took place in the vicinity of the village, during which more than
3,000 employees of the Chechen militia and OMON units were sent
there, which were opposed by the detachments of Shamil Basayev and
Doku Umarov.
The village is located in the central part of the Vedeno district, in
the interfluve of the Khulkhulau and Akhkichu rivers, 67 km southeast of
the city of Grozny.
Vedeno actually merged with the village of
Oktyabrskoye in the north-west and with Dyshne-Vedeno in the south-east.
Other nearby settlements: Neftyanka in the southwest, Eshilkhatoy in the
west and Ersenoy in the northeast.
The average altitude in the
village is about 767 meters above sea level. In the south, the Khoroch
ridge with the peak of the same name rises above the village.
The
climate is humid and moderate and is determined by the proximity of the
Main Caucasus Range. To the southwest of the village there is Mount
Gorgo-Irzou. The average annual air temperature is +9.0 °C, and ranges
from an average of +21.5 °C in July to an average of −4.0 °C in January.
The average annual precipitation is about 600 mm.
In 1999, in the area adjacent to the village of Vedeno, Russian herpetologists discovered a subspecies of the Caucasian lizard, geographically isolated from other subspecies of this species and named after the name of the village - Darevskia caucasica vedenica (Darevsky & Roitberg, 1999)