Shali is a town and the administrative center of Shalinsky District of the Chechen Republic, Russia. Population: 47,708 ; 40,356 ; 24,985. Sh…Shali is a town and the administrative center of Shalinsky District of the Chechen Republic, Russia. Population: 47,708 ; 40,356 ; 24,985. Sheikh Mansur was based here in 1786. On January 3, 1995, during the course of the First Chechen War, Shali was repeatedly bombed with cluster bombs by Russian jet aircraft.