 According to one of the survivors of the battle, in a report published by "Obshchaya Gazeta", the Chechen insurgents contacted Yevtyukhin by radio and suggested that he let them pass and prevent fighting, but Yevtyukhin refused, upon which the Chechens stormed the hill.After two hours of fighting against, according to Russian sources, 1,800 Chechen fighters, the Russian paratroopers were running low on ammunition and Yevtyukhin radioed for reinforcements, but General Alexander Lentsov refused to commit more troops because of the presence of minefields; one of which the company had run into, and which had blown off both of Yevtyukhin's legs.The General urged the paratroopers to hold on until dawn when reinforcements might be dispatched, but by that time the Chechens had already broken through the Russian lines.