Video recorded on a news station camera fixed on top of a four story building in the heart of Grozny captures the opening moments of the Russian invasion of the Chechen Capital city.

The footage above was recorded on 31 December, 1994. It is the opening of the ground invasion of Grozny by the United Group of Federal Forces lead by Pavel Grachev. Before the invasion began, Grachev was quoted as saying "It is not a question of an assault in the classic sense of the word. What does an assault on a city mean? It means the use of all the forces and weapons in the country's arsenal. It primarily means heavy rocket preparation lasting several hours. It means heavy bombing raids on the whole city with the aim of disabling 60% of the defenders and de-moralizing the rest." Grachev believed that he would be able to seize the entire city of Grozny in just two hours with a singular Russian Airborne division.

By the end of the first day of fighting in Grozny, losses for Russian forces would be unimaginable. 105 of their 120 tanks and armored personnel carriers would be lost. The entire first battalion of the Maikop Brigade and more than half of the 81st Regiment plus hundreds of men from the remaining units, were all reported as dead. The Battle for Grozny would end up raging until March 6th of the following year with the total number of casualties still being unknown to this day.

It is reported that Grachev launched the invasion while heavily intoxicated in celebration of his birthday.