The majority of the city 's civilian population fled following the missile attacks early in the war , leaving the streets mostly deserted . However , as many as 40,000 civilians , often the elderly , poor , and infirm , remained trapped in basements during the siege , suffering from the bombing , cold , and hunger . Some of them were killed while trying to flee . On December 3 , about 40 people died when a refugee convoy attempting to leave the besieged areas was fired on . Around 250 to 300 people who were killed while trying to escape in October 1999 , between the villages of Goryachevodsk and Petropavlovskaya , were buried in a mass grave . The Russian forces besieging Grozny planned to attack the city with a heavy air and artillery bombardment , intending to level the city to the extent where it was impossible for the rebels to defend it . On December 5 , Russian planes , which had been dropping bombs on Grozny , switched to leaflets with a warning from the general staff . The Russians set a deadline , urging residents of Grozny to leave " by any means possible '' by December 11 , 1999 : The Russian commanders prepared a " safe corridor " for those wishing to escape from Grozny , but reports from the war zone suggested few people were using it when it opened on December 11 . Desperate refugees who got away were telling stories of bombing , shelling and brutality . Russia put the number of people remaining in Grozny at 15,000 , while a group of Chechen exiles in Geneva confirmed other reports estimating the civilian population at 50,000 . Russia eventually withdrew the ultimatum in the face of international outrage from the United States and the European Union . British foreign secretary Robin Cook " wholeheartedly condemned " the Russian move : " We condemn vigorously what Milosevic did in Kosovo and we condemn vigorously what Russia is doing in Chechnya " . ) But the heavy bombardment of the city continued . According to Russia 's ministry for emergency situations , civilians remaining in Grozny had been estimated at anywhere from 8,000 to 35,000
the missile attacks
Grozny ballistic missile attack
Battle of Grozny (1999–2000)