On 29 February 2000, just hours after Russian Defense Minister Igor Sergeyev had assured his government that the Second Chechen War was over, an isolated Russian force composed mainly of a company of paratroopers of the 76th Airborne Division from the city of Pskov found itself cut off by a retreating Chechen column led by Shamil Basayev and Ibn Al-Khattab.
On February 29, 2000, shortly after Russian Defense Minister Igor Sergeyev declared that the Second Chechen War was concluded, a small Russian unit from Pskov's airborne division became isolated during the retreat of a Chechen column commanded by Shamil Basayev and Ibn Al-Khattab.