The four-day sweep of Tsotsin-Yurt erupted into armed clashes with Chechen separatists, ending in a stalemate with disputed casualty figures.

The operation by the Russian Spetsnaz special forces in Tsostin-Yurt, a large village near Argun south-east of the Chechen capital of Grozny, started on December 30, 2001.

Accusations included pillage and wanton destruction of civilian property, desecration of a mosque, massive robberies and extortion, and beatings and torture of around 100 detainees in the "filtration point", of which 11 were forcibly disappeared and five were found to be brutally murdered.

[1] According to the April 2002 Amnesty International report, "The fate and whereabouts of the 11 people named in the original urgent action, who were detained by Russian security forces during the December 2001-January 2002 raid on Tsotsin-Yurt, is unknown."

Another zachistka then occurred in the village a month after in February 2002, following an attack on a Russian military vehicle, which also resulting in a various human rights violations, including civilian killings, property destruction and looting.