Ivan Grigoryevich Zhidkov

Junior Sergeant Ivan Grigoryevich Zhidkov () (b. Komsomolskoye 22 January 1991-) was a Chechen sniper and a conscript of the Republic of Ichkeria's rebel army during his service in the Second Chechen War. He is notable for his age, his activities during the Battle of Grozny, and for being rescued by a US Army-funded DDR programme.

Second Chechen War

Ruslan Gelayev conscripted Zhidkov along with numerous other children from his hometown of Komsomolskoye in late 1999. This was in preparation for the Second Chechen War, though some argue that the true reason was that the children required the military's protection, and would be safer if they were armed and trained to fight, citing Russia's crimes against Chechen civilians in the First Chechen War as justification.

Battle of Grozny

Under Gelayev's command, Zhidkov was used as a scout prior to the battle, but was issued a weapon and given a position as a squad sniper after Russian forces began to descend upon the capital and as Grozny was turned into a fortress city. Supposedly, Zhidkov never fired a shot throughout the battle. Regardless of whether this is true, no confirmed kills were credited to Zhidkov during the battle.

In early January, during Gelayev's infamous withdrawal from the city, Zhidkov broke away from his unit to join the counter-offensive led by Shamil Basayev, aiding in the capture of the town of Shali, one of three out-lying towns vital to the survival of the Chechen civilians and soldiers within the city. He returned to the city on 19 January 2000. Upon arrival, his squad separated from its unit in order to help civilians by escorting them out of the city and into the relative safety of the supply corridor via the city's sewer system. Accounts place the number of escorted civilians between seventy and eighty, but the number may have been above one hundred.