The Russian motorized infantry were reluctant to move away from their BTR-80 armored personnel carriers. They huddled close to the vehicles and did not push out patrols, picquets or outposts into the forest paralleling the highway. They also failed to deploy some trip-wire “flash-bang” flares for early warning. They had no apparent artillery fires registered around the position. The audacity of the Chechen attack carried the day.
