# Budyonnovsk hostage crisis (1995)

URL: https://history-russia.com/timeline/1995-budyonnovsk-hostage-crisis
Categories: main-event

Chechen fighters led by Shamil Basayev seized over 1,500 hostages in a hospital in Budyonnovsk in June 1995. Negotiations by Prime Minister Chernomyrdin ended the siege; over 100 hostages died. Later that year 'loans-for-shares' auctions transferred major companies to financiers. The auctions created a class of oligarchs. Both events shaped the troubled politics of the 1990s.

## Why it matters
Both events shaped the troubled politics of the 1990s.

Ruler at the time: [Boris Yeltsin](https://history-russia.com/rulers/boris-yeltsin)

## Sources
- [Wikipedia — Budyonnovsk hospital hostage crisis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budyonnovsk_hospital_hostage_crisis)
- [Wikipedia — Loans for shares scheme](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loans_for_shares_scheme)
- [Wikipedia — History of the Russian Federation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Russian_Federation)
- [Encyclopaedia Britannica topic lookup — Budyonnovsk hostage crisis](https://www.britannica.com/search?query=Budyonnovsk+hostage+crisis)
- [Wikipedia — Timeline of Russian history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_Russian_history)