"The destruction of Grozny was apocalyptic... I saw a lot of deaths. I saw people who got wounded by shrapnel from mortar fire and they were dying very slow deaths. But it was very difficult to go and help them because the next target could be you." In December 1994, Russian forces invaded Chechnya and laid siege to the capital Grozny. Aslan Doukaev was a university teacher when the first Chechen war began. He survived months of conflict on the streets before leaving the city for the safety of the mountains.