The Chechen terrorist Rezvan Chitigov did not live up to his 41st year of birth for exactly a month. Since childhood, preparing to become a warrior, he became one. Only now he did not defend his own country, women and children, but as a brigade leader of the CRI he fought on the side of the militants, was one of the leaders of the unrecognized Ichkeria, deserving the highest award - the Order "Koman Siy". A participant in many terrorist acts, in fact, he was the third most important field commander. How was his fate?
What is known about Chitigov before leaving for the USA
A native of Chechnya was born in 1964, on April 22. The place of his birth is the village of Shali. It was here that he spent his childhood and youth. Who dreamed of becoming Rezvan Chitigov? The biography shows that in the 80s many wanted to connect life with the army, they were brought up at schools for special forces: landing, FSB, SOBR. Among the guys of his generation, he was one of the most purposeful and cool. He was fond of shooting, while he made self-propelled guns, which he then exchanged for real weapons. I trained my body literally to the point of exhaustion, read specialized literature.
He gladly went to serve in the SA, from where he returned as a tank commander. He never became a commando, in the fire department he sat behind the wheel of a ZIL-130 car. He built a locomotive whistle for him, announcing the movement and scaring away the locals.
American period
During the years of perestroika, Rezvan Chitigov became an adherent of Islam, thanks to which he left his homeland under the auspices of cooperation with an international religious foundation. It would seem that he should have chosen Turkey or Jordan as his place of residence, but he moved to the USA.
Here he lived off financial fraud until he enrolled in the volunteers of the national Marine Corps. He studied mine-explosive business, having completed sabotage training courses. After receiving a residence permit, he served as a Marine on a contract basis. According to Chitigov himself, an enviable career in the US Navy awaited him, but the meeting with Emir Khattab turned his whole life upside down.
A native of Jordan called on a fellow believer to return to Chechnya at a difficult time for her. In 1994, he appeared in his native Shali and took an active part in the First Chechen campaign.
Rezvan Chitigov: brigadier general
Among his fellow countrymen, the marine gathered a small detachment from among those oriented towards Wahhabism. His name was American, although the official pseudonym was Ramzan. Chitigov is also known under the call signs "Miner" and "Buran". Soon he led the only tank unit, which was destroyed during hostilities with the federals. Nevertheless, in the battles Rezvan Chitigov proved himself to be a desperate and rather cruel commander. His fighting vehicle was called the "tank of death". That is why he received the above award.
During the second military campaign, Rezvan Chitigov and his detachment were among the defenders of Grozny. Later he showed up in the mountains, participated in the defense of Duba-Yurt and Alkharuzovo, after which he moved to the territory of Georgia. At first he fought under Khattab, then he began to act independently. He settled in the Shali region, becoming a member of the leadership of the self-proclaimed Ichkeria.
Terrorist activity
Back in 1995, Rezvan Chitigov took part in the hostage-taking operation in Budennovsk, his name is associated with the explosion on Manezhnaya Square in Moscow (1999) and the invasion of Dagestan the same year. Being a specialist in explosives, he trained militants, which allowed R. Kadyrov to say that in 90% of cases it was Chitigov who was behind any terrorist attack in the republic. He was also suspected of real connections with the CIA. The field commander had financial receipts from abroad, which allowed him to quickly stand on a par with Basayev and Khattab.
In the summer of 2001, people started talking about Chitigov in connection with the discovery at the base of the Gudermes region of a potent poison - ricin, which was planned to be used against federal troops. Leaflets and radio interceptions really pointed to the hero of the article.
He is credited with the organizers of the disappearance of four employees of the OSCE mission, the blowing up of cars with military personnel and republican policemen (2001-2002). Since that time, the security service and the Chechen Interior Ministry have unsuccessfully tried to get on the trail of the criminal.
Appearance
Rezvan Chitigov, a Chechen by nationality, stood out among the militants for his appearance. He was known as a real dandy, most often appearing in an American leather jacket. Short, fit, he always looked neat and well-groomed, even when he appeared at one of the forest bases. It always seemed like he had just showered and changed clothes the day before. Having a cheerful and sociable character, he still did not get along with people so easily and could not manage large human formations. In his native Shali, he had many friends, but even more enemies.
Liquidation
On March 20, 2005, Rezvan Chitigov returned to Chechnya from Baku, appearing in his native village. This immediately became known to the security service. Exits were made at all the alleged addresses, but the Chechen law enforcement officers missed the criminal.
Noticing the surveillance, he hid in a shelter hidden in the wall of his uncle's apartment. It is unlikely that anyone else could have held out there for three days. It was only possible to stand in the room. On the 23rd, the terrorist sent a radio message asking for help, saying that he was with Ali.
Radio intercept once again brought intelligence officers to the street. Frunze, and they again found no one. But Chitigov left the shelter a little earlier than he should have, while dropping the hatch door. Hearing the sound, the security forces began to storm the apartment. A shootout ensued, during which the gunman received seven fatal wounds.
Chitigov was never brought to trial, he answered for his crimes with his own life.
Many experts who answered YUR's questions, including members of well-known international human rights centers who are sometimes hard to suspect of sympathizing with federal policy in Chechnya, admit that illegal armed formations in this republic are in crisis today. The number of militants is falling, support from the local population is far from what it used to be, and theft of funds from foreign sponsors is rampant among warlords. Meanwhile, the reports of the press center of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation in the North Caucasus characterize the situation in Chechnya as "stably tense." On the territory of the republic, including Grozny, more than a dozen operations are carried out daily to detain militants. In just 7 months of this year, 105 people were killed in the course of hostilities, more than 380 people suspected of participating in illegal armed groups were detained. Recently, the leaders of the militants, through their sources of information, have increasingly begun to admit that they have suffered significant damage at the command level. In July of this year, Doku Umarov, a well-known field commander and “vice-president of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria,” admitted in an interview with Radio Liberty that in recent years federal units have managed to eliminate a significant part of the former command staff of the “armed forces of Ichkeria.”Conditionally liquidated
Of those field commanders who are still alive and at large, two are the most famous - Basayev and Umarov. It is they who still manage to "resurrect" after reports of their destruction. Information about the death of the same Doku Umarov repeatedly appeared in the Russian media. The headquarters of the United Forces reported about its destruction for the first time in 2000. Then it was announced that the commander of the south-eastern front, “Brigadier General” Doku Umarov, and 15 militants from his inner circle were ambushed by federal troops near the village of Galaity in the Nozhai-Yurt district and were killed. But after some time, Umarov reappeared. And it still appears on the air of the aforementioned Radio Liberty. Another most odious terrorist, whose name is constantly circulating conflicting information "alive - destroyed", is Shamil Basayev. Despite reports of his own death, Basayev showed everyone that he was alive by giving an interview to Radio Liberty correspondent Andrei Babitsky in August. A TV interview with the man who claimed responsibility for the tragic Beslan school siege, during which 330 people died (186 of them children), was shown by the American channel ABC. After that, the TV company was deprived of accreditation both in the Russian Foreign Ministry and in the Ministry of Defense.Chronicle of sweeps
There are more than a hundred names in the list of really destroyed Chechen field commanders. YUR offers its own list of the most famous of them. "Generals" of Salman Raduev's army Khunkarpasha Israpilov(call sign "Smerch") and Aslambek Ismailov. Destroyed during the battle for Grozny in 2000. "Smerch" was supposed to lead the march of militants to the Dagestan city of Kizlyar, but was wounded. The operation was carried out Salman Raduev, who captured the city along with a detachment of 500 militants. Informants from the camp of the militants repeatedly reported the planned attack to the headquarters of the group. In addition, two days before the attack, all the Chechen refugees left Kizlyar, but the "federals" were still taken by surprise. Almost two battalions of militants freely passed through the checkpoints. The "Raduyevtsy" seized the maternity hospital and the hospital, driving about a thousand hostages there. Raduev later he was taken prisoner, we are judged, he received a life sentence in the Solikamsk colony No. 14 with the romantic name "White Swan" and died in December 2002 from "inflammation of the vessels of unknown origin" in the second therapeutic department of the city hospital of Solikamsk (Perm region). Native nephew of Dzhokhar Dudayev - Lechi Dudayev. He was killed in the battle for Jokhar-Gala (the Ichkerian self-name of Grozny) in February 2000. For 2.5 months, he fought with a detachment of militants for the city with federal forces. He headed the department of protection of dignitaries. After the election of Dzhokhar Dudayev as president, he was his personal bodyguard, then - the mayor of Grozny. Abu Movsaev- Head of counterintelligence of Ichkeria. Killed in May 2000 near the Argun Gorge. Abusukyan (full name) Movsaev - a former employee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Kalmykia, then - the head of the criminal investigation department of the Shali district of the Chechen-Ingush ASSR. After the attack on Budennovsk (Movsaev is considered one of the organizers of the action) he became a brigadier general, and then - the first deputy minister of Sharia security. The hunt for Movsaev was carried out by special groups created by the GRU of the General Staff and the FSB of Russia. Abu Movsaev enjoyed Basaev's unlimited confidence. He was personally responsible for organizing and covering all contacts of Shamil Basayev with high officials and businessmen. Liquidation Information Isa Istamirova appeared twice. The first time was in January 2000, after the battle on the southwestern outskirts of Grozny. Istamirov was finally liquidated in May, in the south of Chechnya, near the village of Serzhen-Yurt. He served as vice-premier of the Chechen government. With the outbreak of hostilities, he was appointed deputy to Ruslan Gelayev, commander of the southwestern front of the militants. In early October 2000, near the village of Sharoi-Argun, he was killed Baudi Bakuev. The cousin of the "vice-president of Ichkeria" was ambushed during a planned purge. The “General” fired back from the nominal “Stechkin” encrusted with diamonds and gold, was killed by a sniper. Specialized in the slave trade. His militants held dozens of hostages, including a representative of the President of Russia, Valentin Vlasov, and General Gennady Shpigun. According to some reports, Bakuev received about $5 million for the release of Valentin Vlasov. General Shpigun (they asked for 12 million dollars for him) could not be released, he died in captivity. One of the most cruel field commanders, "outrageous" Arbi Baraeva(nicknames: "Emir Tarzan", "Terminator", "Lion of Allah") "killed" twice. According to the first report, he was ambushed and allegedly killed near Urus-Martan in January 2000. According to other statements, he died in June of the same year during the battle near Serzhen-Yurt. The third time turned out to be final - on June 24, 2001, during a special operation in the village of Yermolovka, where he was once born, Arbi Baraev was liquidated. In 1996, Baraev himself appropriated the title of "brigadier general", he called his grouping the "Islamic Regiment of Special Purpose." After the truce in Khasavyurt, Baraev declares Urus-Martanovsky and part of the Grozny rural region of Chechnya a territory with special laws. Even Aslan Maskhadov himself does not risk appearing there. At different times, from 400 to 1000 militants obeyed him. Arbi's nephew - Movsar Baraev was killed in 2002, in October, during the storming of the Dubrovka Theater Center seized by terrorists. "Right hand" Baraev - Magomed Tsagaraev killed in the summer of 2001. He was shot dead by the 15-year-old son of a Chechen police officer. Three militants led by Tsagaraev came to the courtyard of the house of the chief of the Oktyabrsky District Department of Internal Affairs of Chechnya and shot people at point-blank range. The teenager, having heard the shots, took his father's machine gun and opened fire on the militants. Later, the boy died in a Grozny hospital from his wounds. Ruslan Gelaev- Minister of Defense of Ichkeria, in February 2004 destroyed in the mountains of Dagestan. Officially, the death of Gelaev was recorded in the territorial department "Makhachkala" of the North Caucasian Regional Directorate of the Border Guard Service of the FSB. Gelaev was identified by militants captured earlier in the Tsuntinsky district of Dagestan by "special signs". Later, a genetic examination of the body confirmed that the killed militant was indeed Ruslan Gelaev. During the first Chechen campaign, he was responsible for the fighting in Grozny, in the central and western directions. Since the summer of 1995, he headed the so-called southwestern front. In 1997 he received the post of Deputy Prime Minister of Ichkeria. A year later, under the patronage of Shamil Basayev, he became the Minister of Defense. On March 8 of this year, when a bunker was blown up in the village of Tolstoy-Yurt, he was killed Aslan Maskhadov- President of the "Republic of Ichkeria". His posthumous photographs went around all publications. In order to avoid further "resurrection", a medical examination of the body was carried out. The FSB of Russia paid the promised 10 million dollars to citizens who provided intelligence services with information that helped to establish the whereabouts of Maskhadov. The Prosecutor General's Office carried out 7 identifications of Maskhadov's corpse, including four with the participation of his relatives. The place and time of the burial of the body is not disclosed. Maskhadov made his career around President Dzhokhar Dudayev. In March 1994, he headed the Main Staff of the Armed Forces of the Republic. On January 27, 1997, he was elected president of Chechnya. With the start of the counter-terrorist operation in August 1999, Aslan Maskhadov, with whom the federal center broke off relations, went underground. In March, after the liquidation of Maskhadov, he was killed in Chechnya Vakha Arsanov- Vice President of the so-called Ichkeria. Arsanov is one of those who have already been "killed" - in 2000, General Viktor Kazantsev announced his death.On the Arab side
According to intelligence agencies, since the beginning of the counter-terrorist operation in September 1999, up to a thousand foreign mercenaries who fought on the side of Chechen fighters have been destroyed in Russia. Including - almost the entire environment of Khattab, including about 20 field commanders, commanded by Khattab and Abu Al Walid. Emir Khattab. In March 2002, the FSB officially confirmed the fact of his death. Reports of injuries and possible death of this odious terrorist appeared in various media more than once. However, in all previous cases, these data were not confirmed by the Russian competent authorities. This time, the video and photographic evidence of Khattab's death were presented to the general public. The official website of the FSB posted photographs of the burial place with the body of the killed militant. Since the beginning of the Chechen war in 1999, Khattab, a Jordanian by origin, has been high on the list of field commanders wanted by Moscow. The United States believes that Khattab may have been linked to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network. Khattab took part in hostilities in various regions of the world for 17 years, in particular, in Afghanistan and the countries of the Persian Gulf. He worked as an instructor in the camps of the Afghan Mujahideen in Pakistan. Similar training centers for terrorists were organized by him in Chechnya. Khattab recorded his bullying of Russian servicemen in Chechnya, whose ears and noses were cut off and scalped, by Khattab on video and film. Second President of the self-proclaimed Republic of Ichkeria Zelimkhan Yandarbiev, who has lived in Qatar since 2000, died in far abroad countries, as they believe around the world, at the hands of Russian special services. He was blown up in his car in February 2004. The name of Dudayev's "deputy for ideology" Yandarbiev was associated with Nord-Ost. In April 2004 he was killed and Abu Al Waleed- Former commander of the Saudi Arabian special forces, who was involved in the explosions of residential buildings in Moscow in 1999 and a military hospital in Mozdok in the summer of 2003. In July of the same 2004, in the Ingush city of Malgobek, a Abu Kuteib Jammal- organizer and leader of gangs operating on the territory of Chechnya, Ingushetia, Dagestan and Kabardino-Balkaria. In Ingushetia, in February 2005, during a special operation, a native of Kuwait was killed Abu Dzeit- also known as "Little Omar", Al-Qaeda representative in Ingushetia and Chechnya, one of the organizers of the seizure of a school in the city of Beslan. In addition, several hundred more foreign mercenaries fled to Georgia and Azerbaijan after the end of active hostilities. Now the bulk of the field commanders who are wanted are the leaders of bandit groups of 10 to 15 people. The hunt for them continues... P.S. There is another significant factor that has significantly reduced the population of field commanders - their mass transfer in 2000-2002 to the side of the federal forces. The most significant part of the militants who went over to the side of the federals were the so-called "Kadyrovtsy". Former mufti Akhmad Kadyrov later took over as president of Chechnya. Several well-known field commanders, led by the Yamadayev brothers Khalid and Sulim, as well as Salman Abuev, joined the federal troops. Under their command were about 5 thousand people. Sulim Yamadayev headed the special battalion "Vostok", Abuev became the chief of police of the Kurchaloevsky district of Chechnya (he was shot dead by militants). Field commander Turpal-Ali Atgeriev also supported the Russian troops (in Maskhadov's government he served as Minister of State Security). The former prosecutor of Ichkeria, Vakha Murtazaliev, who also worked in the government of Aslan Maskhadov, joined him.The list includes the most notable and significant operations of the FSB in the entire history of its existence. It does not contain cases of catching spies and other little-known operations, due to the fact that from the mid-1990s to our time, the main focus of the FSB is the North Caucasus. It is the elimination and capture of key opponents in this region that has a decisive influence on the development of the situation in the entire direction. Places are distributed according to the significance of the object of the operation or the situation as a whole.
10. Detention of Magas Ali Musaevich Taziev (formerly known as Akhmed Evloev; call sign and nickname - "Magas") - - a terrorist, an active participant in the separatist movement in the North Caucasus in the 1990s - 2000s, an Ingush field commander, since 2007 of the year - the commander (supreme amir) of the armed formations of the self-proclaimed "Caucasian Emirate". He was the second in the leadership hierarchy of the Caucasus Emirate after Doku Umarov. It turned out that since 2007, Ali Taziev, under the surname Gorbakov, lived in one of the private houses in the suburbs of the Ingush city of Malgobek. He introduced himself to his neighbors as a migrant from Chechnya. He behaved quietly and inconspicuously and did not arouse any suspicions. The operation to capture Magas began six months before his arrest. Three times he fell into the sights of snipers, but the order was to take him alive. On the night of June 9, 2010, the house was surrounded by the FSB special forces. At the moment of detention, Taziev did not have time to resist (according to Kavkaz-Center, due to the fact that he was poisoned), the FSB officers did not suffer any losses
9. Elimination of Abu Hafs al-Urdani Abu Hafs al-Urdani - Jordanian terrorist, commander of a detachment of foreign volunteers in Chechnya, took part in the battles on the side of the separatists during the First and Second Russian-Chechen wars. After the death of Abu al-Walid, Abu Hafs replaced him as Amir of foreign fighters and coordinator of financial flows from abroad. Led the attack of militants on the village. Avtury of the Shali region in the summer of 2004, as well as many smaller attacks by militants. Abu Khafs as a military strategist was valued by Aslan Maskhadov, who jointly planned operations with him. On November 26, 2006, Abu Khafs and four other militants were blocked in one of the private houses in the city of Khasavyurt (Dagestan). As a result of the storming of the house by the special forces of the FSB, all the militants were killed.
8. Elimination of Abu Dzeit Abu Dzeit (known as Little Omar, Abu Omar of Kuwait, Hussein, Moor) is an international terrorist, an emissary of the Al-Qaeda organization in the North Caucasus, an organizer of terrorist acts in Bosnia and the Caucasus, including in Beslan. According to some reports, he personally met with Osama bin Laden. In 2002, he was invited to Chechnya by one of the emissaries of Al-Qaeda, Abu Haws. He was a demolition instructor in one of the terrorist camps. Then he was sent by the representative of Abu Khavs in Georgia, to Ingushetia. In 2004, Mavr became the head of an al-Qaeda cell in Ingushetia. He died during an operation to eliminate militants on February 16, 2005 in the Nazran district of Ingushetia.
7. Elimination of Abu-Kuteib Abu-Kuteib is a terrorist, one of Khattab's close associates. He was a member of the "Majlisul Shura of Ichkeria" and was responsible for the propaganda support of the activities of gangs, and was also endowed with the exclusive right to post information on the Internet transmitted by groups of Arab mercenaries from Chechnya. It was he who, in March 2000 in Zhani-Vedeno, organized an attack on a convoy, as a result of which 42 riot policemen from Perm were killed. He was one of the organizers of the militants' invasion of Ingushetia. On July 1, 2004, he was blockaded in the city of Malgobek and, after many hours of fighting, blew up the "shahid's belt" on himself.
6. Liquidation of Aslan Maskhadov Aslan Maskhadov is a military and statesman of the unrecognized Chechen Republic of Ichkeria (ChRI). In the early 1990s, he participated in the creation of the armed forces of the CRI and led the military operations of the separatists against the federal forces. one of the distant relatives. During the assault, Maskhadov resisted, and the special forces blew up the device, from the shock wave of which the house was dilapidated.
5. Liquidation of Arbi Baraev Arbi Baraev, a member of the separatist movement in Chechnya in the 1990s, supported the creation of a "Sharia" state in Chechnya. After the end of the first Chechen war, in 1997-1999, he gained fame as a terrorist and a bandit, a murderer and leader of a gang of slave traders and kidnappers, at the hands of which more than a hundred people suffered in Chechnya and neighboring regions. The liquidation of the Chechen field commander Arbi Baraev was the result of special operation of the FSB and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, which took place from June 19 to 24 in the village of Alkhan-Kala. During the operation, Arbi Baraev and 17 militants from his inner circle were killed, many were taken prisoner, the federal forces lost one person killed during the operation.
4. The liquidation of Dzhokhar Dudayev Dzhokhar Dudayev is a Chechen military and political figure, the leader of the Chechen national liberation movement of the 1990s, the first president of the unrecognized Chechen Republic of Ichkeria. In the past - Major General of Aviation, the only Chechen general in the Soviet Army. According to Russian sources, by the beginning of the first Chechen campaign under the command of Dudayev there were about 15 thousand fighters, 42 tanks, 66 infantry fighting vehicles and armored personnel carriers, 123 guns, 40 anti-aircraft systems, 260 training aircraft, so the advance of the federal forces was accompanied by serious resistance from the Chechen militias and guardsmen Dudayev. On the evening of April 21, 1996, Russian special services located the signal from Dudayev's satellite phone near the village of Gekhi-Chu, 30 km from Grozny. 2 Su-25 attack aircraft with homing missiles were lifted into the air. Dzhokhar Dudayev died from a rocket explosion while talking on the phone with Russian MP Konstantin Borov.
3. Elimination of Khattab Amir ibn al-Khattab - a field commander, a terrorist originally from Saudi Arabia, one of the leaders of the armed formations of the self-proclaimed Chechen Republic of Ichkeria on the territory of the Russian Federation in 1995-2002. He was an experienced and well-trained terrorist, owned all types of small arms. Understood in mine-subversive business. He personally trained suicide bombers subordinate to him. He organized foreign financing for the purchase of ammunition and the arrangement of camps for the training of militants on the territory of Chechnya. Khattab was destroyed in an unconventional way: a messenger delivered a message to the Arab, which contained a horse dose of potent poison. Khattab opened the envelope and died very quickly after that. His bodyguards could not understand what was really happening.
2. Elimination of Shamilya Basaev Shamil Basaev - an active participant in the hostilities in Chechnya, one of the leaders of the self-proclaimed Chechen Republic of Ichkeria (CRI) in 1995-2006. He organized a number of terrorist acts on the territory of the Russian Federation. He was included in the lists of terrorists of the UN, the US State Department and the European Union. According to official data from the FSB, Basayev and his accomplices were destroyed during the explosion of a KamAZ truck filled with explosives in the Nazranovsky district of Ingushetia. This explosion was the result of a carefully planned special operation, which became possible thanks to the operational work of the Russian special services carried out abroad. “Operational positions were set up abroad, primarily in those countries where weapons were collected and subsequently delivered to Russia for terrorist attacks,” Mr. Patrushev said, adding that Basayev and his accomplices were going to carry out a major terrorist attack in order to exert political pressure. on the leadership of Russia during the G8 summit.
1. Capture of "Nord-Ost" The terrorist attack on Dubrovka, also referred to as "Nord-Ost" - a terrorist attack on Dubrovka in Moscow, which lasted from October 23 to 26, 2002, during which a group of armed militants led by Movsar Baraev captured and held hostages from among the spectators of the musical "Nord-Ost". The assault began at 05.17, when the special forces began to launch a special nerve-paralytic substance through the ventilation shafts. At that moment, several hostages called their acquaintances and said that some kind of gas was coming to the recreation center, but their speech quickly became incoherent, and then they could not utter anything at all. The gas suppressed the will of all those present in the hall, and most importantly, the terrorists. If even one of them managed to press a few toggle switches on her belt or connect the wires, the bombs would explode one after another, and the building could simply collapse. A few seconds after the gas began to act, the snipers killed all the female suicide bombers with accurate shots to the head, and then the fighters in gas masks moved on to destroy the other bandits who were in the auditorium. One of them was armed with a Kalashnikov machine gun, but he did not have time to use it, making only one aimless burst. At the same time, part of the special forces who entered the building through the roof dealt with the terrorists in the utility rooms on the second floor, using noise and light grenades. Most of the bandits at the same time were already in an unconscious state, since the gas acted primarily on those.
The first big success in decapitating Chechen separatism after the assassination of Dzhokhar Dudayev was the capture of terrorist No. 2 Salman Raduev, who was arrested by the FSB in Chechnya in March 2000. Raduev became widely known in 1996, after on January 9, under his leadership, militants attacked the Dagestan city of Kizlyar. True, "laurels of fame" in Kizlyar went to Raduev "accidentally". At the last stage, he replaced the wounded field commander Khunkarpasha Israpilov, who was the head of the operation.
The capture of Raduev was masterfully carried out by counterintelligence agents and in such a top-secret regime that the bandit "did not expect anything and was shocked," said FSB director Nikolai Patrushev. According to some reports, Raduev was "tied up" at the moment when he left his shelter "out of need." There is a version that Raduev was handed over by an agent who promised him to sell a large batch of weapons cheaply.
On December 25, 2001, the Supreme Court of Dagestan found Raduev guilty on all counts, except for "organizing illegal armed groups." The demands of the public prosecutor - Vladimir Ustinov - were met, and Salman Raduev was sentenced to life imprisonment. Raduev served his term in the Solikamsk UIN, in the famous colony "White Swan".
In December 2002, Raduev began to complain about his health. On December 6, he developed bruises under his left eye and abdominal pain. A few days later, Raduev became worse, and on December 10, the GUIN doctors decided to place him in a prison hospital in a separate ward. In the hospital, Raduev died on December 14 at 5.30 in the morning. The following is written in the forensic medical conclusion about death: "DIC, multiple hemorrhages, abdominal hematoma, hemorrhage in the brain and left eye."
Raduev's body was buried at the Solikamsk common cemetery.
In April 2002, it became known that field commander Khattab, who was known as an ideologist and organizer of terrorist activities, was killed in Chechnya. It was liquidated as a result of an "intelligence-combat operation" by the FSB back in March 2002. The top-secret operation to destroy Khattab had been in preparation for almost a year. According to the FSB, Khattab was poisoned by one of his confidants. The death of a terrorist was one of the most serious blows for the militants, since after the liquidation of Khattab, the entire system of financing gangs in Chechnya was disrupted.
In June 2001, in Chechnya, as a result of a special operation, the leader of one of the most combat-ready units of Chechen militants, Arbi Baraev, was killed. Together with him, 17 people from his inner circle were killed. A large number of militants were taken prisoner. Baraev was identified by his relatives. The special operation was carried out in the area of the native village of Baraev Yermolovka for six days - from June 19 to 24. During the operation, which was carried out by the regional operational headquarters with the involvement of special forces of the FSB and the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, in particular, the Vityaz group, one Russian serviceman was killed and six were injured. After Baraev was mortally wounded, the militants carried his body into one of the houses and covered it with bricks in the hope that the federal forces would not find him. However, with the help of a search dog, Baraev's body was found.
In November 2003, representatives of the FSB officially admitted that one of the leaders of the Chechen fighters, the Arab terrorist Abu al-Walid, was killed on April 14th. According to the intelligence services, on April 13, information appeared about a detachment of militants who, together with several Arab mercenaries, stopped in the forest between Ishkha-Yurt and Alleroy. This area was immediately attacked from helicopters, and the special forces shot the camp of bandits from grenade launchers and flamethrowers. On April 17, soldiers combed the area between Ishkhoy-Yurt and Meskets, and about 3-4 kilometers from these villages, six dead militants were found in the forest. We managed to identify everyone - they turned out to be Chechens. A kilometer away from those six corpses, a dead Arab was found. With him, in particular, they found a map of the area made from a satellite and a satellite navigator for moving around the area. The body was badly burned. In April, al-Walid's body could not be identified. The special services did not have the terrorist's fingerprints, his relatives did not respond to investigators' requests, and the detained militants who met with him could not say with certainty that the body was his. All doubts disappeared only in November.
On February 13, 2004, Zelimkhan Yandarbiev was killed in Qatar, whom the Chechen separatists, after the death of Dzhokhar Dudayev, declared the president of Ichkeria. Yandarbiev's car was blown up in the Qatari capital Doha. At the same time, two people from his escort were killed. The separatist leader himself was seriously injured and died in the hospital some time later. Yandarbiev has lived in Qatar for the past three years and has been on the international wanted list all this time as the organizer of the attack on Dagestan. The Russian Prosecutor General's Office demanded that Qatar extradite him.
The Qatari special services immediately started talking about the Russian trace in the murder of Yandarbiyev, and already on February 19, three employees of the Russian embassy were arrested on suspicion of committing a terrorist attack. One of them, who is the first secretary of the embassy and has diplomatic status, was released and expelled from the country, while the other two were sentenced by a Qatari court to life imprisonment, while the court concluded that the order to liquidate Yandarbiev was given by the first persons of the Russian leadership. Moscow denied the accusations in every possible way, and Russian diplomats did everything possible to take the unfortunate bombers home as soon as possible.
They were sentenced to life in prison, which under Qatari law means a 25-year prison term, which can later be reduced to 10 years. A month after the trial, an agreement was reached that the convicted Russians would be taken to their homeland, where they would serve their term. The return of Russian scouts really took place, Anatoly Yablochkov and Vasily Pugachev flew to Russia on a special flight of the Rossiya State Customs Committee in December 2004.
In March 2004, it became known about the death of a no less odious leader of the militants - Ruslan Gelaev, who in May 2002 was newly appointed commander-in-chief of the armed forces of Ichkeria by Aslan Maskhadov and reinstated in the rank of "brigadier general". True, he was killed not as a result of a special operation by special services, but in a banal shootout with border guards. Gelaev was destroyed by a border detachment consisting of only two people in the mountains of Dagestan on the Avaro-Kakheti road leading to Georgia. At the same time, the border guards themselves were killed in the shootout. The corpse of the field commander was found in the snow a hundred meters from the bodies of the border guards. It happened, apparently, on Sunday (February 28, 2004). A day later, Gelaev's body was taken to Makhachkala and identified by the previously arrested militants.
Thus, only one "odious militant" remains alive among the major Chechen leaders - Shamil Basayev.
Alexander Alyabiev
The first big success in decapitating Chechen separatism after the assassination of Dzhokhar Dudayev was the capture of terrorist No. 2 Salman Raduev, who was arrested by the FSB in Chechnya in March 2000. Raduev became widely known in 1996, after on January 9, under his leadership, militants attacked the Dagestan city of Kizlyar. True, "laurels of fame" in Kizlyar went to Raduev "accidentally". At the last stage, he replaced the wounded field commander Khunkarpasha Israpilov, who was the head of the operation.
The capture of Raduev was masterfully carried out by counterintelligence agents and in such a top-secret regime that the bandit "did not expect anything and was shocked," said FSB director Nikolai Patrushev. According to some reports, Raduev was "tied up" at the moment when he left his shelter "out of need." There is a version that Raduev was handed over by an agent who promised him to sell a large batch of weapons cheaply.
On December 25, 2001, the Supreme Court of Dagestan found Raduev guilty on all counts, except for "organizing illegal armed groups." The demands of the public prosecutor - Vladimir Ustinov - were met, and Salman Raduev was sentenced to life imprisonment. Raduev served his term in the Solikamsk UIN, in the famous colony "White Swan".
In December 2002, Raduev began to complain about his health. On December 6, he developed bruises under his left eye and abdominal pain. A few days later, Raduev became worse, and on December 10, the GUIN doctors decided to place him in a prison hospital in a separate ward. In the hospital, Raduev died on December 14 at 5.30 in the morning. The following is written in the forensic medical conclusion about death: "DIC, multiple hemorrhages, abdominal hematoma, hemorrhage in the brain and left eye."
Raduev's body was buried at the Solikamsk common cemetery.
In April 2002, it became known that field commander Khattab, who was known as an ideologist and organizer of terrorist activities, was killed in Chechnya. It was liquidated as a result of an "intelligence-combat operation" by the FSB back in March 2002. The top-secret operation to destroy Khattab had been in preparation for almost a year. According to the FSB, Khattab was poisoned by one of his confidants. The death of a terrorist was one of the most serious blows for the militants, since after the liquidation of Khattab, the entire system of financing gangs in Chechnya was disrupted.
In June 2001, in Chechnya, as a result of a special operation, the leader of one of the most combat-ready units of Chechen militants, Arbi Baraev, was killed. Together with him, 17 people from his inner circle were killed. A large number of militants were taken prisoner. Baraev was identified by his relatives. The special operation was carried out in the area of the native village of Baraev Yermolovka for six days - from June 19 to 24. During the operation, which was carried out by the regional operational headquarters with the involvement of special forces of the FSB and the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, in particular, the Vityaz group, one Russian serviceman was killed and six were injured. After Baraev was mortally wounded, the militants carried his body into one of the houses and covered it with bricks in the hope that the federal forces would not find him. However, with the help of a search dog, Baraev's body was found.
In November 2003, representatives of the FSB officially admitted that one of the leaders of the Chechen fighters, the Arab terrorist Abu al-Walid, was killed on April 14th. According to the intelligence services, on April 13, information appeared about a detachment of militants who, together with several Arab mercenaries, stopped in the forest between Ishkha-Yurt and Alleroy. This area was immediately attacked from helicopters, and the special forces shot the camp of bandits from grenade launchers and flamethrowers. On April 17, soldiers combed the area between Ishkhoy-Yurt and Meskets, and about 3-4 kilometers from these villages, six dead militants were found in the forest. We managed to identify everyone - they turned out to be Chechens. A kilometer away from those six corpses, a dead Arab was found. With him, in particular, they found a map of the area made from a satellite and a satellite navigator for moving around the area. The body was badly burned. In April, al-Walid's body could not be identified. The special services did not have the terrorist's fingerprints, his relatives did not respond to investigators' requests, and the detained militants who met with him could not say with certainty that the body was his. All doubts disappeared only in November.
On February 13, 2004, Zelimkhan Yandarbiev was killed in Qatar, whom the Chechen separatists, after the death of Dzhokhar Dudayev, declared the president of Ichkeria. Yandarbiev's car was blown up in the Qatari capital Doha. At the same time, two people from his escort were killed. The separatist leader himself was seriously injured and died in the hospital some time later. Yandarbiev has lived in Qatar for the past three years and has been on the international wanted list all this time as the organizer of the attack on Dagestan. The Russian Prosecutor General's Office demanded that Qatar extradite him.
The Qatari special services immediately started talking about the Russian trace in the murder of Yandarbiyev, and already on February 19, three employees of the Russian embassy were arrested on suspicion of committing a terrorist attack. One of them, who is the first secretary of the embassy and has diplomatic status, was released and expelled from the country, while the other two were sentenced by a Qatari court to life imprisonment, while the court concluded that the order to liquidate Yandarbiev was given by the first persons of the Russian leadership. Moscow denied the accusations in every possible way, and Russian diplomats did everything possible to take the unfortunate bombers home as soon as possible.
They were sentenced to life in prison, which under Qatari law means a 25-year prison term, which can later be reduced to 10 years. A month after the trial, an agreement was reached that the convicted Russians would be taken to their homeland, where they would serve their term. The return of Russian scouts really took place, Anatoly Yablochkov and Vasily Pugachev flew to Russia on a special flight of the Rossiya State Customs Committee in December 2004.
In March 2004, it became known about the death of a no less odious leader of the militants - Ruslan Gelaev, who in May 2002 was newly appointed commander-in-chief of the armed forces of Ichkeria by Aslan Maskhadov and reinstated in the rank of "brigadier general". True, he was killed not as a result of a special operation by special services, but in a banal shootout with border guards. Gelaev was destroyed by a border detachment consisting of only two people in the mountains of Dagestan on the Avaro-Kakheti road leading to Georgia. At the same time, the border guards themselves were killed in the shootout. The corpse of the field commander was found in the snow a hundred meters from the bodies of the border guards. It happened, apparently, on Sunday (February 28, 2004). A day later, Gelaev's body was taken to Makhachkala and identified by the previously arrested militants.
Thus, only one "odious militant" remains alive among the major Chechen leaders - Shamil Basayev.
Alexander Alyabiev
