The Strasbourg court said on Thursday that Russia should pay 20,000 euros ($30,000) in damages to the mothers of Khalid Khatsiyev and Kazbek Akiyev. It also ordered Russia to pay 20,000 euros to the widow of one of the men, as well as 10,000 euros ($15,000) each to four relatives.
The two men were shot down by military helicopters in August 2000 whilst cutting grass. The European Court said that the Russian military had shown an "unnecessary use of force."
Russia defended its actions saying that residents in the area had been warned to remain still and wave a white cloth if they met an anti-terrorist operation.
"The identity of those ordering the attack didn't appear to have been established at all," the court's judgement added.
Russia, which is one of the most common defendants at the court, is also obliged to pay 9,000 euros in legal costs.
Chechnya suffered two devastating separatist wars in the 1990s-early 2000s. Thousands were killed and many more made homeless as federal troops attempted to regain control over the mountainous republic.
Although the active phase of the war is over, sporadic clashes with militants and terrorist attacks are common in the troubled republic, as well as in adjacent republics such as Ingushetia and Daghestan.
