On Monday, the head of the FSB Nikolai Patrushev reported to President Vladimir Putin on the elimination of terrorist No. 1 Shamil Basayev in Ingushetia. According to Patrushev, Basayev and a dozen other militants were planning a major terrorist attack, timed to coincide with the G8 meeting. Terrorists blew up in a "KamAZ" filled with explosives. Chechen President Alu Alkhanov said death. And Ramzan Kadyrov told Izvestia that he only regrets that Basayev did not die at his hands.

The militants were going to blow up the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ingushetia

It all started with a small report that a KamAZ packed with explosives had been blown up in Ingushetia. The explosion occurred at about midnight near the village of Ekazhevo. The whole village woke up from the roar - windows flew out in many houses.

As it turned out, on the road passing by the village, a KamAZ exploded, literally packed with explosives and weapons. The explosion destroyed two more "nines" accompanying the truck. There were four militants in them. Izvestia immediately called Nazran.

In "KamAZ" the militants were carrying weapons and ammunition, because several terrorist attacks were being prepared, and not only in Ingushetia, ”the FSB department for Ingushetia told us. - The road, along which the truck was driving, is a country road, apparently, the charge detonated during the shaking.

However, this was only the first version. The counterintelligence agents were deliberately cunning. Later it turned out that the explosion was the result of a planned special operation. As Izvestia was told at the Nazran ROVD, special forces blocked a truck and two cars on the outskirts of Ekazhev.

According to investigators, the militants planned on Monday to drive the truck as close as possible to the building of the Ingushetia Ministry of Internal Affairs and blow it up. Experts say that if this plan were carried out, the explosion power would be enough to destroy the Ministry of Internal Affairs building, and nearby residential buildings would also be damaged.

The investigators who arrived at the scene of the explosion found that the force of the explosion was more than one hundred kilograms in TNT equivalent. Two militants were also identified - the well-known terrorists Isa Kushtov and Tarkhan Ganizhev. They have been looking for them in Ingushetia for a long time. Isa Kushtov was involved in the abduction of the father-in-law of the President of Ingushetia Murat Zyazikov - Magomed Chakhkiev. And Tarkhan Ganizhev took part in the armed attack on Ingushetia on June 21-22, 2004.

The explosion was not accidental

The message that Shamil Basayev was among those killed came in the afternoon. FSB Director Nikolai Patrushev reported this to the President. According to him, Basayev was destroyed during a complex special operation. What kind of operation it was can be understood by carefully analyzing the words of the chief counterintelligence officer.

A special operation was carried out in Ingushetia tonight, the preparation of which I reported to you earlier, ”Patrushev told the president. - As a result, Shamil Basayev was destroyed, as well as a number of bandits who prepared and carried out terrorist acts in Ingushetia. This event became possible due to the fact that operational positions were created abroad. First of all, in those countries in which weapons were collected and subsequently delivered to us in Russia for the commission of terrorist acts.

So, not on a pothole "stumbled" "KamAZ", stuffed with explosives. That is, the counterintelligence officers found in some country people who enjoyed the confidence of the "customers of weapons." It was collected, packed and transported, already knowing that it would have to become a "detonator" at the right day and hour. And obviously not one "partisan" was preparing this, otherwise it would not have gone a long way to Basayev. Although there is a possibility that, since Patrushev speaks so openly about this, the cargo was “copied” by jewelry and changed at one of the stages of transportation. Or something was planted in it?

The fact that the threads lead abroad is evidenced by the recent very harsh statement by President Putin that the killers of Russian diplomats must be found and destroyed anywhere in the world. He also said he looked forward to the help of our friends abroad. The president spoke very confidently, but at that time only the liquidation of Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev was recalled from the known special operations. However, it is now clear what Putin had in mind: the FSB reported in detail about the passage of a cargo with weapons across the border, about its receipt by Basayev, etc. And about that real help, which has already been provided by "friends". If so, then the presidential order to find the executioners will most likely be carried out.

Let's pay attention to the fact that the explosion takes place not within the city, not in the village, but on its outskirts. Potholes are everywhere in those parts, but the explosion occurred where the number of accidental victims was minimal. Perhaps this is how the set timer worked. Or was it done remotely? The possibility of a "tail" is categorically excluded, taking into account the experience of Basayev's protection. So there was either a "beacon" or was it directed from a satellite?

The terrorists actually died at the entrance to Nazran. The risk that they would get to the city center increased with every kilometer. Does this mean that Basayev appeared next to the cargo at the last moment - that is, he was hiding either in the vicinity of Nazran, or in general in the city itself? And this is most likely a question of intelligence work. And patient waiting: according to Nikolai Patrushev, the bandits were going to commit a terrorist attack in order to put pressure on the Russian leadership during preparations for the G8 summit.

What we know about Shamil Basayev testifies: he invariably appeared where the next "landmark" in the degree of its cruelty and timed to date (they saw him before May 9 in Grozny, before September 1 in Beslan) was supposed to take place. As a vampire circled in front of the crime scene, and then huddled in a hole ...

This is a well-deserved retribution for the bandits for our children in Beslan, in Budennovsk, for all the terrorist attacks that they committed in Moscow, in other regions of Russia, including Ingushetia and the Chechen Republic, "Vladimir Putin congratulated all employees of special forces.

Ramzan Kadyrov: "Doku Umarov will be next"

The liquidation of Shamil Basayev was the second success of the special services in last month(On June 17, the self-proclaimed President of Ichkeria, Abdul-Halim Sadulayev, who took the place of Aslan Maskhadov, was destroyed).

The President of Chechnya said that the fight against terrorism in the North Caucasus can be considered complete.

We are grateful to those who killed Basayev, but I regret that it was not me who did it, ”Ramzan Kadyrov told Izvestia. - Basayev was not only terrorist number 1, but also my personal enemy, through whose fault 420 of my closest associates, relatives and friends were killed. He took responsibility for the death of my father Akhmat Kadyrov.

Meanwhile, during a meeting with Nikolai Patrushev, Vladimir Putin drew attention to the fact that even after Basayev's death, the terrorist threat has not diminished.

You and I know very well that the terrorist threat is still very high, and it is impossible to weaken the operational work in this direction, the President said. - On the contrary, we need to strengthen it and increase the effectiveness of our actions.

Chronicle of the crimes of "terrorist number 1"

On November 9, 1991, he took part in the hijacking of a Tu-154 passenger plane from the Mineralnye Vody airport to Turkey. On June 14, 1995, he led a hostage-taking in a hospital in Budennovsk, where about 130 people died. In December 1995, he was one of the leaders of the storming of Grozny.

In August-September 1999, he led the invasion of bandit formations into Dagestan. In September 1999, at the direction of Basayev and Khattab, houses in Moscow and Volgodonsk were blown up, killing more than 240 people. On October 23, 2002, by order of Basayev, a detachment of terrorists led by Movsar Barayev took more than 800 hostages at the Theater Center on Dubrovka, then 128 people died. Basayev was involved in the explosion of the House of the Government of Chechnya on December 27, 2002. The terrorist attack killed 80 and injured about 210 people. May 9, 2004 - an explosion at the Dynamo stadium in Grozny. Among the dead were President of Chechnya Akhmat Kadyrov and Chairman of the State Council of the republic Hussein Isaev. June 22, 2004 - an attack on the building of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Nazran in Ingushetia, more than 75 people were killed. From September 1 to September 3, 2004 - a terrorist attack at school No. 1 in Beslan, more than 330 people were killed. October 13, 2005 - an attack on the city of Nalchik, more than 20 people were killed.

Who is Doku Umarov

After the destruction of Shamil Basayev, Doku Umarov remained the only serious figure among the terrorists operating in the North Caucasus. After the elimination of the so-called President of Ichkeria, Abdul-Khalim Sadulayev, it was Doku Umarov who was "appointed" to this post. During the first Chechen campaign, 42-year-old Umarov commanded the Borz special forces subordinate to Dzhokhar Dudayev. In 1997, Umarov became chairman of the Ichkeria Security Council. After the start of the second Chechen campaign, he was appointed "the commander of the southwestern front of the defense of Ichkeria." Umarov is involved in a number of kidnappings in Chechnya. He is considered the customer of the explosions of electric trains in Kavminvody in 2003. He participated and led, together with Basayev, the attack on Ingushetia in 2004, as well as in numerous acts of sabotage.

By the early 2000s Shamil Basayev has become one of the most famous and wanted terrorists in the world. In terms of the amount of blood spilled and cruelty, he could well compete with Osama bin Laden.

Future "terrorist number 1" defended Yeltsin and fought against the Emergency Committee

A former worker of the Aksaysky state farm in the Volgograd region and a student at the Moscow Institute of Land Management Engineers, in August 1991 Basayev stood shoulder to shoulder with the leaders of the capital's intelligentsia at the White House, opposing the State Emergency Committee and in support of Boris Yeltsin.

In November 1991, Basayev carried out his first terrorist attack by hijacking a Tu-154 from the Mineralnye Vody airport to Turkey. That action was without casualties, which is the only such case in the career of the terrorist Basayev.

He participated in the war in Nagorno-Karabakh on the side of Azerbaijan and in the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict on the side of Abkhazia. General Gennady Troshev In his book, he described the actions of Basayev's detachment in Abkhazia: “Basayev's 'Janissaries' (and there were 5,000 of them) were distinguished in that war by senseless cruelty. In the fall of 1993, in the vicinity of Gagra and the village of Leselidze, the “commander” himself personally led the punitive action to destroy the refugees. Several thousand Georgians were shot, hundreds of Armenian, Russian and Greek families were massacred. According to the stories of eyewitnesses who miraculously escaped, the bandits were happy to videotape scenes of bullying and rape. ”

He was glorified by Budennovsk

But the name of Basayev thundered all over the world later, in 1995. On June 14, 1995, Shamil Basayev's detachment captured the Stavropol city of Budennovsk, taking about 1,600 hostages, who were herded into the building of the local hospital.

Basayev achieved negotiations with Prime Minister of Russia Viktor Chernomyrdin, after which his group was able to leave the city. 129 people became victims of the attack on Buddenovsk, 415 people were injured.

In 1999, the raid of Basayev's gang into Dagestan was the prologue to the beginning of the Second Chechen campaign. In 2000, his biography could have ended - when the militants from Grozny broke through the minefields, the terrorist was seriously wounded, which ended in amputation. Unfortunately, then Basayev survived.

Inhuman

Unfortunately - because in the early 2000s he became the organizer and mastermind of the largest terrorist acts in Russia. Among them is the seizure of hostages in the theater center on Dubrovka in 2002, the explosion on May 9, 2004 at the Dynamo stadium in Grozny, as a result of which he died President of the Chechen Republic Akhmat Kadyrov, the explosion of two passenger planes in August 2004, and many others.

The most monstrous terrorist act, the responsibility for the organization of which was claimed by Shamil Basayev, was the seizure of school No. 1 in Beslan in September 2004, which killed 333 people.

This crime forced even his most stubborn defenders in the West to recognize Basayev as a terrorist, calling the criminal a "rebel" and "freedom fighter."

Misfire in Nalchik

In October 2005, Basayev organized a new large-scale sabotage - a detachment of militants attempted to seize the capital of Kabardino-Balkaria, the city of Nalchik.

However, as a result of two days of fierce fighting, the militant group was defeated. 95 militants were killed, about 60 were arrested. The security forces lost 35 people killed, more than 100 were injured. Terrorists also killed 15 civilians, and dozens were injured.

Basayev hastened to announce a successful operation, the destruction of 140 federals and the wounded 160, the seizure of a large number of various weapons, while stating that in Nalchik the militants lost 41 people killed.

However, even his associates did not believe him. The wounded terrorist began to prepare for a new sabotage.

The "ring" shrinks

The special services followed on his trail for many years, reports of his death appeared regularly, but each time Basayev appeared on the video, denying information about his death.

After Beslan, a reward of 300 million rubles was assigned for information on the whereabouts of the terrorist. In another video, Basayev mockingly stated that for that kind of money he was ready to give information about himself personally.

Meanwhile, the "ring" around Basayev was shrinking. The special services have eliminated one leader of the militants after another. But "terrorist number 1" continued to slip away.

Analysts, however, were confident that after the failure in Nalchik, Basayev would try to carry out a large-scale sabotage against a large number victims, which means it will behave actively.

The details of the operation carried out by the Russian special services are still classified as "secret". Most of its participants are also classified. Nevertheless, the general outline of events is known.

"Parcel" under control

Basayev was in dire need of ammunition and explosives, and soon received information that the "brothers in faith" were ready to deliver weapons from Iran. The terrorist seized on this opportunity, and soon a shipment of weapons through Turkey and Georgia arrived in the North Caucasus, in Ingushetia, where Basayev settled.

The terrorist did not know that the cargo was tightly "carried" by the Russian special services, which tried to prevent weapons from being accidentally discovered at one of the checkpoints.

The KAMAZ loaded with weapons successfully crossed the border of Ingushetia, where Basayev's people met him. The night before the car with the weapon was supposed to arrive at Basayev's, the terrorists accompanying the cargo fell asleep extremely soundly. During dinner, a potent sleeping pill was poured into their food.

While Basayev's henchmen slept, all the weapons and explosives in the truck were counted, rewritten and photographed by the FSB officers. Then the cargo was again put into hiding places in the car, and in addition to it a small “gift” was placed - an explosive device. The whole operation took about four hours.

The militants accompanying the KAMAZ woke up, did not notice anything suspicious and continued on their way.

The car with the weapon arrived safely at Basayev's, who never knew that a "Trojan horse" had arrived.

Shamil Basayev, 1995 Photo: www.globallookpress.com

Explosion in the village of Ekazhevo

On the night of July 10, on the outskirts of the village of Ekazhevo near Nazran, the KAMAZ took off. According to one version, Shamil Basayev at that moment in the back was examining the received samples of weapons, according to another, the terrorist was simply standing nearby.

In any case, he had no chance of survival. Together with Basayev, several of his confidants were destroyed.

For local security officials, the explosion of KAMAZ with Basayev and his entourage came as a surprise - the special services did not initiate them into the operation for fear of information leakage.

The remains of "terrorist number 1" had to be collected in a bag - according to one of the security officials, it was literally "smashed into molecules." The collected items were sent for molecular genetic examination, which gave the final answer: the person killed in Ekazhevo is indeed Shamil Basayev.

The terrorist's death was acknowledged by his associates, who, however, assured that Basayev had died by accident, with careless handling of explosives. However, it is difficult to believe that Basayev, who had colossal experience in working with explosive devices, made a gross mistake. And the prompt appearance of the federals at the scene of the explosion indicates that it did not come as a surprise to them.

Bearing in mind the numerous reports of the death of Shamil Basayev that had appeared earlier, some expected that this time the terrorist would appear again.

Basayev's head was brought for examination in a garbage bag

How they prepared and carried out the liquidation of the most famous bandit of Chechnya

Victor Baranets

Scorched beard in a pile of iron

Many probably remember how, after the terrorist attack in Beslan, the FSB announced that it was ready to pay $ 10 million to anyone who would give a tip to terrorist No. 1. And the very next day Basayev on the website of the “Kavkaz Center” poisoned the special services: “Yes, I for that kind of money I'll sit in a KamAZ and go to surrender. " Shrewdly joked. [...] Everything looked something like this: a truck and 3 cars were moving towards Nazran. When the escort vehicles approached the stopped KamAZ, there was an explosion. Shells from the body scattered 150-200 meters. And the cars were turned around so that they only "can be identified as" Zhiguli ".

Among the piles of iron they found a bald head sprinkled with clay with a scorched beard and torn eyes. The special forces officers who examined this prey agreed that the head was very similar to Basayev's. The medical examiners who drove up agreed with this. After the initial investigative actions, it was confirmed that it was Basayev who was killed. And along with him 12 more militants. Basayev's head was thrown into a black cellophane garbage bag and a plywood tag "ShB" was attached. This material evidence, accompanied by a squad of machine gunners in an armored personnel carrier, was taken to Nazran, where in the evening specialists from Moscow arrived to identify corpses. [...]

Enemy # 1. The head of the FSB reported on the destruction of Shamil Basayev

Tatiana Gritsenko

The head of the FSB of the Russian Federation Nikolai Patrushev yesterday reported to President Vladimir Putin the news that all Russian special services and politicians have dreamed of for the last 11 years - on Monday night in Ingushetia Shamil Basayev was “finally” liquidated. This man was not just the most odious, charismatic and elusive of the leaders of the Chechen separatists. For more than a decade, he has been a real symbol of Russian terror and a living testament to the weakness of the federal government. Almost every adult Russian knows the name Shamil Basayev. For the first time, it thundered not only throughout the country, but also throughout the world after the attack on the city of Budennovsk, Stavropol Territory, carried out under his leadership. Since then, he regularly took responsibility for all the bloodiest terrorist attacks - the explosions of apartment buildings in Moscow, the crash of Russian planes, the hostage-taking in Beslan, etc. Moreover, he repeatedly challenged the entire Russian government and the army, commanding militant units in Chechnya and becoming the organizer of the 1999 invasion of Dagestan. It was because of Basayev that the state, for the first time in modern Russian history, changed its principles and announced a prize for his head. Moreover, the reward for information that would help "neutralize" the leader of the Chechen terrorists turned out to be almost unprecedented even in world practice - 300 million rubles. ($ 10.2 million).

As Nikolai Patrushev said at a meeting with the President, in Ingushetia Basayev and the militants killed along with him were also preparing another brutal sabotage. The bandits' plans included "to exert political pressure on the Russian leadership during the G8 summit." True, the head of the FSB did not speak in more detail about the special operation itself, since the head of the FSB did not speak about how the number one terrorist was identified among the remains of other bandits. Meanwhile, Vladimir Putin immediately recognized the destruction of Basayev as "deserved retribution" and ordered to reward all participants in the special operation. And the Prosecutor General of Russia Yuri Chaika said that all criminal cases against Basayev will be terminated for non-rehabilitating circumstances after the identification of his body.

Almost all Moscow politicians, both "pro-Kremlin" and opposition, immediately assessed the reports of Basayev's liquidation as a huge all-Russian success of the special services, which had a turning point. Federation Council Speaker Sergei Mironov is confident that the elimination of the terrorist Shamil Basayev by the special services will help improve the situation in the North Caucasus in general and in Chechnya and Ingushetia in particular. He stressed that the special services, having eliminated Basayev, thereby implemented one of the essential principles- the inevitability of punishment. The head of the Chechen government, Ramzan Kadyrov, who considered Basayev to be his "bloodline", expressed regret that he did not take personal part in the destruction of the terrorist. (Basayev publicly took responsibility for organizing the terrorist attack in Grozny on May 9, 2004, in which Ramzan's father, President of Chechnya Akhmat Kadyrov died. otherwise, he is "completely satisfied with what happened."

Shamil Basayev lost his face. "Terrorist number one" was killed by negligence

Nikolay Sergeev

On Monday night in Ingushetia, a well-known terrorist Shamil Basayev and three other militants were killed in a KamAZ explosion. The director of the FSB of Russia Nikolai Patrushev reported to the president that Basayev was killed during a special operation when he was preparing a terrorist attack for the G8 summit. Law enforcement officials of Ingushetia did not find evidence of the special operation at the scene of the incident. They believe that the Basayevites were blown up by accident. Thus, the question of who will get the $ 10 million assigned for the terrorist's head remains open. In turn, representatives of the Chechen separatists are convinced that no significant changes will take place in Chechnya with the death of Shamil Basayev.

An explosion on the outskirts of the Ekazhevo village of the Nazran district of Ingushetia thundered yesterday at 0.30. It was so powerful that glass flew out all over the area, and the roar could be heard from tens of kilometers away. Immediately, the area was lit up by a glow, as if a whole gas station had blown up into the air. The immediate response team of the local police department was the first to arrive at the scene.

“The place, and this is about one and a half kilometers from Ekazhev, was found quickly,” the police say. “The explosion took place not far from the unfinished estate, consisting of five houses, the Ganizhev brothers, well-known entrepreneurs in the republic. Near the fence, enclosing the cottages, they stumbled upon the still smoking skeleton of a KamAZ truck and three Zhiguli cars badly damaged by the explosion. Judging by the damage, the epicenter of the explosion was in a truck - the Zhiguli was hit by a shock wave and the wreckage of the KamAZ, scattered within a radius of 150-200 meters.

An operational-investigative group of local police and prosecutors worked at the scene until six in the morning. During this time, three relatively intact corpses were found, as well as a fragment of the fourth, several machine guns and a grenade launcher. At the same time, the investigators established that one of the militants, of whom little remained, was blown up as a result of careless handling of explosives, and his comrades were destroyed by a shock wave. The KamAZ that took off into the air contained at least 50 kg of TNT, as well as shells, which were laid in the body in order to increase the power of the explosion.

“The bodies were found near the KamAZ,” the detectives say. “Obviously, the explosion took these people by surprise. All the killed militants were dressed in black "NATO" uniforms, which, together with the faces of the dead, were heavily soaked. None of the victims had beards - so they shouldn't be called beards.

The police quickly identified the bodies of the three militants, since each of them had documents with them. They turned out to be one of the five brothers Ganizhevs Tarkhan (his brothers live in the Tyumen region, where they are engaged in the oil business), who was a liaison in the gang of the field commander Doku Umarov, Isa Kushtov, wanted for thefts since the beginning of the 90s, and then joined the Chechen militants, and also Ali Taziev, known by the nickname Magas. This former employee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ingushetia was wanted by his colleagues for terrorism. It is believed that, on behalf of Shamil Basayev, he organized the assassinations of the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Ingushetia Dzhabrail Kostoev, the commander of the OMON Musa Nalgiev and the Deputy Head of the Sunzhensky District Galina Gubina, the assassination attempt on the Prime Minister of the Republic Ibragim Malsagov, as well as the abduction of the father-in-law of the President of Ingushetia, Magomedia, a local deputy.

After they found another KamAZ with explosives and shells in the estate of the Ganizhev brothers - there were more than a hundred unguided rockets in the back, the detectives decided that there was a militant base here. However, the FSB officers, who arrived at dawn, did not allow the police and prosecutors to complete the examination. A cordon was set up around, through which only security officers and employees of the Prosecutor General's Office were allowed.

At first, the press service of the FSB of Ingushetia announced that there had been a self-detonation of the KamAZ, in which the militants were transporting explosives prepared for the terrorist attack. The Chekists even named the target that the militants were going to blow up with a bomb on wheels - the building of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ingushetia in Nazran. Allegedly, the police were going to take revenge for the successful special operations they carried out. Only in the evening, the director of the FSB Nikolai Patrushev announced that in fact the KamAZ did not explode on its own, but as a result of a special operation. And its goal was the destruction of terrorist # 1 Shamil Basayev, which was achieved.

Basayev, according to the Chekists, was the corpse of the fourth militant who died in Ekazhev, not identified by the police. As they say in the Ingush Ministry of Internal Affairs, they found only a torso from this person, which had no arms, no legs, or a head. In the afternoon, the Chekists discovered other fragments of this man's body, in particular the left half of the head, not far from the explosion site. Shamil Basayev was visually identified by the preserved part of his face. At the same time, legally, he still remains alive. As Kommersant was told in the department of the Prosecutor General's Office for the Southern Federal District, only a DNA examination can confirm or deny the FSB data. By the way, it was carried out after the destruction of Aslan Maskhadov, although his corpse was much more suitable for visual identification. The investigation expects to obtain material for the examination from the relatives of Shamil Basayev. Only after the identification of the terrorist's corpse will dozens of criminal cases be terminated in connection with his death.

Nikolai Patrushev did not give details of the special operation carried out. Some sources in the FSB claim that the Chekists, with the help of local residents, managed to find out that Basayev was preparing a new terrorist attack using a mined car, and the experts were able to remotely activate this explosive using secret technologies. Others claim that he was removed, like Dzhokhar Dudayev, by taking a signal from his mobile phone and sending a radio-controlled missile to the target.

At the same time, Mr. Patrushev linked the liquidation of Basayev with the upcoming G8 summit, on the eve of which the militants were preparing another terrorist attack. In turn, the subordinates of Nikolai Patrushev reminded about the birthday of their boss, who turns 55 today: "It was impossible to imagine a better gift." Meanwhile, in addition to political and career, the Chekists certainly had economic motives. Let us remind you that a reward of $ 10 million is promised for information that will help establish the whereabouts of the terrorist. Now they may well be received by FSB agents, whose names will never be named and their curators.

However, not only employees of the Ingush Ministry of Internal Affairs, but also former colleagues of the Chekists themselves do not believe in the version of remote detonation. "Special radio equipment capable of initiating a remote detonation of an explosive device within the range of these means exist," said Vladimir Mikhailov, the first head of the explosives department of the KGB of the USSR, created in the 1980s. the device is in the so-called finally equipped state, that is, all three components of the explosive device: the charge, the means of initiating the explosion and the fuse are in good working order, assembled into a single device in a firing position. because it can explode by itself. "

The rocket version also looks unconvincing. First, none of the experts on site found any fragments from it. And secondly, it is not clear why the Chekists did not come to check the results of the rocket attack immediately, but only after five and a half hours. Moreover, the attack was called self-detonation.

A spontaneous explosion seems to be the most likely version for the law enforcement officers of Ingushetia. According to them, the militants were indeed preparing a major terrorist attack, having equipped a bomb on wheels from the arsenal located on the estate of the Ganizhev brothers. Obviously, Shamil Basayev made the last preparations himself (by the way, on the Kavkaz Center website, he more than once stated that he was a qualified instructor in mine explosives and showed how to collect bombs). Perhaps, having climbed into the back of the mined KamAZ, he checked the electric circuit of the bomb. The explosion, according to experts, could have occurred due to an accidental short circuit of the wires. This explains the fact that the corpse of the chief "instructor", in contrast to his students, lacked limbs. By the way, the version of the self-detonation of the terrorist was confirmed yesterday by the official website of the militants, Kavkaz Center. [...]

The "military emir of Ichkeria" had one weakness - he liked to show off in front of the press

Victor Baranets

How tracked down

[...] In Chechnya, not without the help of Ramzan Kadyrov, agent networks were formed, which became more and more difficult for Basayev to bypass. And he moved to Ingushetia. Three months ago, his "camp" was spotted in a mountainous area, where Shamil summoned field commanders for instructions. The area was surrounded by Chechen counterintelligence officers, disguised as civilians, who managed to bribe their agents in exchange for guarantees from their families. Since then, the FSB of Ingushetia and Moscow at the Lubyanka began to receive information not only about Basayev's "lying places", his routes, but also about the operations that he planned.

How blew up

This option was foreseen by the FSB from the moment when preparations began for the G8 summit in St. Petersburg. Shamil would not be Shamil if he missed the opportunity to remind of himself at the most "appropriate" moment. A month ago, the signal came: Basayev is planning to jerk a mountain of TNT at a mass event in Nazran - just on the days of the summit. And soon a "dispatch" arrived - a "KamAZ" will be used for the terrorist attack, which, under the guise of a peaceful construction site, will enter Nazran through bribed policemen. It was decided to put their own man on the "tail" of "KamAZ". It took a long and difficult time to find him. Only one ventured - for "big money" (according to various sources - from $ 300 to $ 500 thousand). He attached the explosive mechanism to the "belly" of the "KamAZ" stuffed with TNT (the counterintelligence officers had only to send an electronic signal at the right time).

The FSB agent was in the carriage of the 4th passenger car, which lagged behind at the moment when the KamAZ stopped in front of a cleverly arranged (supposedly natural) obstacle. When three cars drove close to the "KamAZ", the moment came "X" ...

Victory or Luck?

I told my interlocutors that snide remarks are already being heard in the press: Basayev died through negligence, there was no special operation. I was reminded in response: Shamil was an ace of explosives, since at one time he even headed the school of miners-saboteurs. “Tons of TNT passed through his hands, he designed the“ infernal machines ”himself, so only very naive people can consider him a simpleton who did not understand what a KamAZ with explosives was. Or those who want to present Basayev's death as an accidental oversight. This oversight was well prepared "...

by the way

Literally on the eve of Basayev's death, his congratulations to the murderers of Russian diplomats in Iraq appeared on the Internet, revealing the whole essence of the terrorist:

“The mujahideen of the Caucasus express their deep gratitude to those who killed Russian spy diplomats in Iraq. Their destruction is a worthy response to the murder of Chechen diplomat, ex-president of CRI Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev by Russian terrorists from the Russian Foreign Ministry. "

Shamil was happy, however, not for long.

I didn't even finish my studies as a land surveyor

Maxim Chizhikov

Terrorist No. 1 was born on January 14, 1965 in Chechnya, in the village of Dyshni-Vedeno. After leaving school, he worked as a handyman for some time. Three times he entered the law faculty of Moscow State University, but each time he failed at the entrance. Only in 1987, Basayev was able to break into the Moscow Institute of Land Management Engineers, where he was lectured on computer technology by a well-known entrepreneur Konstantin Borovoy. After the first year, Basayev was expelled for academic failure. He hit a business in Moscow, but then he got burned. Then he was forced to flee to Chechnya from creditors. But in 1991 he managed to take part in the defense of the White House in Moscow. Further "running-in" Basayev took place in Abkhazia and in the camps of the mujahideen in Afghanistan. He was married three times, the last time allegedly to a Kuban Cossack woman. One of his wives, Abkhazian Indira Dzheniya, is rumored to have been living in Holland for a long time.

Bloody terrorist path

Aslambek Dolganov, Zarema Merzhoeva

One of the most wanted international terrorists, Abdallah Shamil Abu-Idris, or simply Shamil Basayev, was born in 1965 in the village. Dyshne-Vedeno, Vedeno region of Chechnya.

His teip, or clan, "biltto" is not the largest, some of its branches are of Dagestan origin, which indirectly confirms the version of Basayev's birth from the marriage of an Avar and a Chechen woman. Once, in the presence of the terrorist himself, who was then the chairman of the government of Ichkeria, one of his guards told the Zhizn correspondent that “Shamil’s grandfather came to us in Vedeno to graze cows”. Oddly enough, Basayev did not refute the words of his bodyguard.

In 1988, Basayev entered the Moscow Institute of Land Management Engineers, but after six months he dropped out. For some time he traded computers and copiers in the capital, but to no avail. Basayev did not disdain even the work of a doorman in a cafe on the street. Novoslobodskaya (in Moscow), which was "held" by the Dagestan Tats (Jews) under the Chechen "roof". It was for this occupation that Basayev found himself in the alarming August 1991 coup.

There is a mass of evidence that Basayev took an active part in protecting both the White House and Boris Yeltsin personally. He arrived at the DB with a group of fellow countrymen and ... a suitcase packed with grenades. It is possible that it was in those critical days for millions of destinies that Basayev was recruited by agents of the special services, who came to Moscow at that cursed time more than reporters.

A few months later, Basayev committed his first terrorist attack, taking part in the hijacking of a Tu-154 plane from Mineralnye Vody to Istanbul.

In 1992, after a short military training at a training ground near Volgograd, Basayev went to Abkhazia, heading a battalion of mercenaries, created under the auspices of the Confederation of Mountain Peoples of the Caucasus. Back in Grozny, Basayev's "Abkhaz battalion" became an influential political force in the Chechen Republic, which had declared its independence. J. Dudayev, by his decree, introduced Basayev's battalion into the Chechen armed forces, and promoted him to the brigadier general. However, oddly enough, the "Abkhaz battalion" and Basayev himself observed neutrality and did not take part in numerous showdowns of the driving forces in Chechnya. Somehow: the battle at Tolstoy-Yurt between Maskhadov's army and Avturkhanov's armed opposition; by Labazanov's gang and Dudayev's guard in the Grozny microdistrict; the armed forces of the Chechen Republic and the Gantamirov group in Urus-Martan.
Only once did Basayev join a group of commanders (Umarov, Gelayev, and others) who tried to blackmail Dudayev, demanding that he renounce power. When they presented Dudayev with a written ultimatum, the President of the Chechen Republic responded in the spirit that he doubted their authorship, but “you will not be men if you don’t go all the way.” It is not known what Dudayev heard in response, but after this incident and until the end of his days, no one came to him with ultimatums.

Revenge

Basayev became world famous for the attack on Budennovsk on June 14-17, 1995, during which 130 civilians of the city, as well as police officers and servicemen, were killed.

Residents of Budennovsk declared Basayev their bloodline. However, after this action, the attitude towards him sharply changed not only on the part of the Russian and world public, but also of the Chechen society. Several detachments broke away from Basayev's battalion, including those dissatisfied with the fact that they were used to fight the sick and women in labor.

But he aroused particular hatred of himself among his fellow tribesmen, when, having signed the verdict of the so-called. field-military tribunal, personally gave the order to shoot an elderly rural teacher. The execution of the sentence was filmed by Basayev on a video camera. This later helped the sons of the murdered teacher to establish the culprit of the father's death and to declare a blood feud.

In addition, Ramzan Kadyrov also called Basayev his bloodline, considering it a matter of honor to avenge his father's death as a result of the terrorist attack at the Dynamo stadium on May 9, 2004.

Politics

After the first war and the death of Dudaev, Shamil Basayev became one of the contenders for leadership in Ichkeria. However, in the presidential elections in January 1997, he lost to Aslan Maskhadov. In order not to split society, the newly minted president offered Basayev the post of prime minister. In addition, he gave several key posts in the government to Basayev's people, in particular, the post of Minister of the Fuel (Oil) Industry was given to Basayev's younger brother Shirvani, who later died during an assassination attempt (according to other sources, he disappeared and settled in one of the foreign countries).
When Basayev was prime minister, he demonstratively did not take part in many government meetings, showing with boyish fervor that he did not need money or the glory of a strong business executive. An interesting episode happened to him at one of the narrow meetings. In their office (Prime Minister) Basayev and his deputies discussed the upcoming visit of the Chechen delegation to Moscow. All this time Basayev was playing with ... a grenade. He shifted it from hand to hand, tossed it, and at some point took out the check and put the lemon on the table in front of him.

Are you crazy?! - shouted one of his ministers and, grabbing a grenade, threw it into the next room of the prime minister's rest room. With one throw, he pushed the huge bookcase open, blocking the door with it. There was an explosion that literally smashed the rest room, knocking out windows in it and breaking through the wall. Frightened officials looked from under the table at Basayev, who remained seated in his place and grinned.

Dagestan

Despite the fact that Basayev defiantly avoided politics, he nevertheless remained the most influential leader of Ichkeria, emphasizing from time to time with his antics the formal presidency of Maskhadov. Despite the resistance of the latter, Basayev, together with Khattab, led an armed campaign against Dagestan, which served as the beginning of the second Chechen campaign.

In addition, Basayev took upon himself all the high-profile terrorist attacks committed in the period between the two wars. In particular, the explosions of houses in Volgodonsk and Moscow in September 1999; hostage-taking at the theater center on Dubrovka, where over 100 hostages were killed; bombing of the government house in Grozny on December 27, 2002, as a result of which about 70 people were killed, the raid on Ingushetia on June 22, 2004, which killed 79 people, the seizure of a school in Beslan on September 1, 2004, as a result of which over 350 people were killed hostages, civilians and servicemen, and the attack on Nalchik on October 13, 2005, as a result of which 12 civilians and 35 members of the security forces were killed.

The last one from the blacklist. Who stayed in the North Caucasus?

Vadim Rechkalov

The only thing that does not lend itself to doubt in the history of Basayev's destruction is that Basayev is indeed dead. FSB Director Patrushev would never have made such high-profile reports to Russian President Putin if he was not sure of the reliability of the information. If Patrushev makes a mistake and Basayev publishes a videotape with his own commentary on his “death”, then the FSB director will have to resign.

The destruction of Basayev was made possible, most likely, thanks to the agents finally introduced into Basayev's entourage. The statements of the same Patrushev that Basayev was covered up thanks to foreign connections are nothing more than operational misinformation, a banal "diversion" of the special services covering their agents. At the time when this issue was typeset, the image of the dead Basayev has not yet been made public. But even if he is not shown, it means that the terrorist simply flew into dust from the explosion.

This is an undoubted victory for our special services. Both military and political. A powerful, authoritative, intelligent, and really fair enemy has been destroyed, whose military successes pass through almost all the Caucasian wars - from the Abkhaz to the second Chechen one. His terrorist attacks - from Budennovsk to Beslan - were also the most tragic for Russia. A person who has been directly influencing the fate of our country and our government for the past ten years has been destroyed. It was Basayev who started the second war with a campaign in Dagestan, it was Basayev who organized the attack on Ingushetia, clearly showing our security officials all the power of the terrorist underground.

The political victory lies in the fact that Basayev was not killed by bloodsheds from Kadyrov Jr.'s detachments, that he was not killed in internal squabbles at some shura meeting, but destroyed as a result of a planned and cunning operation of the Russian special services. This is evidenced by the fact that Patrushev, and not the same Ramzan Kadyrov, was the first to report the death of terrorist # 1.

So, the list of Russia's first enemies has been worked out in five years. There were four surnames on this list - Basayev, Khattab, Gelayev, Baraev. People like Dudayev, Yandarbiev, Maskhadov, Sadulayev were of a slightly different kind and did not carry such a forceful threat as the terrorists from the first list.

Who stayed in the North Caucasus? First of all, Doku Umarov, now the so-called president of Ichkeria, is an experienced and dangerous enemy capable of organizing local sabotage with human casualties. Magas and Rappani Khalilov remained. There are either no other notable leaders among the current militants, or they are not yet widely known.

The special operation to destroy Basayev allows our special services to seize the initiative from the current Chechen security officials headed by the Prime Minister of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov, completely cover the republic with their own operational cap and not remove it until all of the above bandits are destroyed or captured. There are reasons for this. A week ago, near Avtury, which was not controlled by our intelligence in any way, a convoy of federals was fired upon, six people were killed. The war continues, someone has to end it, and judging by the destruction of Basayev, ours boast less, but work better. Simply put, by eliminating Basayev, our special services have regained their self-esteem and the moral right to exercise full control in Chechnya. If this chance is not used, then Basayev's death can only be regarded as just retribution. Which is also a lot.

Basayev's head and arms were cut off

[...] All sources agree on one thing: the body was beheaded and without hands.
“It looks like both the head and the arms were cut off,” one of those who saw the terrorist's corpse shared with Zhizn on condition of anonymity. - It is possible, of course, that they were blown off by the explosion. But, apparently, they were cut off after all.

[...] The Prime Minister of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov is shocked by the death of his blood enemy.

I wanted to kill him with my own hands, - Kadyrov told Zhizn. - Unfortunately, the details of the operation are unknown to me: at that time I was in Rostov-on-Don, at the plenipotentiary representative Dmitry Kozak. [...]

Six deaths of Shamil Basayev

Alexander Kukolevsky

On January 21, 1999, the Russian media, citing sources "at a fairly high level," reported that Shamil Basayev was killed in a battle between Aslan Maskhadov's supporters and Wahhabis in Urus-Martan. However, on February 7, the militant appeared on the air of Ichkerian television.

On May 22, 2000, anonymous sources in the joint grouping of troops in the North Caucasus stated that Basayev died of blood poisoning caused by a wound received during a breakout from Grozny and a leg amputation in the field. A few hours later, in an interview with the Kavkaz Center website, the militant called these rumors "bursts of information schizophrenia."

On June 19, 2000, the Military News Agency reported that the day before, Mi-24 helicopters had destroyed an equestrian group in Chechnya, led by "a legless man who looks like Shamil Basayev." A few hours later, presidential aide Sergei Yastrzhembsky announced that on June 18 there was no flying weather in Chechnya, so "the aircraft did not fly and could not destroy any mounted groups."

On April 30, 2002, Chief of the General Staff Anatoly Kvashnin said that Shamil Basayev probably died as a result of a special operation in March-April of the same year. The RTR TV company, citing its own sources, added that he died of his wounds from March 7 to 10. On May 22, the commander of the North Caucasus Military District, Gennady Troshev, confirmed that the militant had died under artillery fire and "it is not possible to find parts of his body." On May 24, human rights activist Alexander Podrabinek said that he was able to contact Shamil Basayev.

On February 3, 2005, Deputy Chairman of the State Security Service of Abkhazia, Yuri Ashuba, announced the possible death of a terrorist, citing two versions: death during a showdown with Arab mercenaries or an exacerbation of chronic kidney disease. On February 8, Kavkaz Center posted a video interview with Shamil Basayev, recorded on February 6.

On October 13, 2005, the Grozny newspaper Chechenskoe obshchestvo, citing a source in the Chechen FSB, reported that Shamil Basayev was killed during an attack on Nalchik by militants while attempting to seize the city airport. On October 16, the terrorist through the "Kavkaz Center" revealed the details of the raid in Kabardino-Balkaria.

How militant leaders died

Evgeny Belov

On the night of April 22, 1996, the President of Ichkeria, Dzhokhar Dudayev, was killed near the Chechen village of Gekhi-Chu. The missile, fired from a Su-24 bomber, was aimed at a signal from its satellite phone.

On June 23, 2001, in the Chechen village of Alkhan-Kala, field commander Arbi Barayev was shot dead during a special operation. The house in which he was hiding was taken by storm.

On March 19, 2002, a Jordanian Khattab was poisoned in the Nozhai-Yurt district of Chechnya. The FSB intercepted a letter from Saudi Arabia addressed to the militant leader and treated him with a poisonous substance that causes cardiac arrest.

On February 13, 2004, in the capital of Qatar, Doha, a jeep of the former president of Ichkeria, Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev, was blown up. The two officers of the Russian special services who carried out the operation were arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment. In December, they returned to their homeland to serve their sentences. Nothing is known about their further fate.

On February 28, 2004, in the Chaekha gorge (Dagestan), field commander Ruslan Gelayev was killed in an accidental clash with border guards.

In April 2004, Abu al-Walid, the leader of Arab mercenaries, was killed in Chechnya during a battle with an army special forces. Details were not provided.

On March 8, 2005, in the Chechen village of Tolstoy-Yurt, President of Ichkeria Aslan Maskhadov was killed during a special operation by the FSB. Maskhadov ordered a guard to shoot him after their bunker was discovered by the troops.

On May 15, 2005, former vice-president of Ichkeria Vakha Arsanov was killed in Grozny. Arsanov and his accomplices, while in a private house, fired at a police patrol and were destroyed by the arriving reinforcements.

On June 17, 2006, on the outskirts of Argun, during a special operation, the President of Ichkeria, Abdul-Halim Saidulaev, who was hiding in the basement of an empty house, was destroyed. According to the Prime Minister of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, the location of the militant was given out by someone from his entourage for 1.5 thousand rubles.

What Shamil Basayev is known for

Shamil Salmanovich Basaev (Abdallah Shamil Abu-Idris) was born on January 14, 1965 in the village of Dyshne-Vedeno. He served in the army - in the airfield fire brigade. In 1987 he entered the Moscow Institute of Land Management Engineers, was expelled from the second year for absenteeism. He was engaged in commerce.

On October 5, 1991, he took part in the seizure of the KGB building of the Chechen-Ingush ASSR by a detachment of militants.

On November 9, 1991, he led an operation to hijack a Tu-154 passenger plane with 171 people on board from Minvod to Ankara. All the hostages were later released.

In 1992-1993 he took part in the Georgian-Abkhaz war as deputy head of the Ministry of Defense of Abkhazia, commander of the troops of the Confederation of the Peoples of the Caucasus.

On June 14, 1995, up to 200 terrorists under the command of Basayev attacked Budennovsk and captured more than 1,000 people. The hostages were released as a result of negotiations. As a result of the action, 129 people were killed and more than 400 were injured.

On August 7, 1999, Basayev led the attack on Dagestan. During the fighting, which took place in the Botlikh and Novolaksky districts until September 15, 126 soldiers were killed.

In September 1999, explosions of three residential buildings in Moscow and Volgodonsk killed more than 230 people. In April 2003, the Prosecutor General's Office officially accused Basayev of organizing the explosions.

On January 9, 2001 in Chechnya, a representative of the "Doctors Without Borders" humanitarian mission, American Kenneth Gluck, was abducted. He was released on February 3. On March 14, 2001, Basayev claimed responsibility for the abduction.

On October 23, 2002 in Moscow, 41 militants took hostage more than 900 spectators and actors of the musical "Nord-Ost". During the assault on October 26, the militants were killed, 127 hostages died from gas poisoning used by the special services, two more were killed by terrorists. On November 1, 2002, Shamil Basayev admitted that he was the organizer of the terrorist attack.

On December 27, 2002, the Government House was blown up in Grozny, more than 70 people were killed. On February 25, 2003, Basayev took responsibility for organizing the terrorist attack.

In 2003, a number of suicide bombings were committed: on July 5 at the Wings rock festival in Tushino, on December 5 in a train in Yessentuki, on December 9 at the National Hotel. Shamil Basayev took responsibility for everything.

On May 9, 2004, Chechen President Akhmat Kadyrov was killed in an explosion in Grozny. On May 17, 2004, Basayev announced that he ordered the murder.

On the night of June 22, 2004, as a result of a militant raid on Ingushetia, 97 people were killed. On July 26, militants circulated a video recording of Basayev's address during the attack.

In August – September 2004, Basayev took responsibility for a series of terrorist attacks: on August 25 - the explosions of passenger liners Tu-134 and Tu-154 (93 people were killed), on September 1 - the seizure of a school in Beslan (330 people were killed).

On October 13, 2005, a detachment of Wahhabis attacked Nalchik. 24 people were killed. On October 17, 2005, Shamil Basayev announced his involvement in the attack.

Shamil Basayev died during the explosion of a KamAZ truck at 2:00 on July 10 of the same year. The truck, loaded to the top with explosives (about 100 kg of TNT), exploded with tremendous force. A wall collapsed from a shockwave in a house nearby. According to the intelligence services, Basayev with several assistants was in the car that accompanied this KamAZ. All this happened near the mountain village of Ekazhevo (Ingushetia).

There are 2 versions of events. According to one of them, KamAZ exploded as a result of a successful operation carried out by the Russian special services to eliminate terrorist # 1. This is what General Nikolai Patrushev, who at that time held the post of director of the FSB, said in an official address.

After the operation, the special group examined the explosion site in detail and fired several control shots at the bodies of the Chechens. It was difficult to identify them due to the force of the explosion, but the Russian military possessed accurate data that it was Basayev with a dozen militants in the car.

According to another version, the explosion of KamAZ happened by accident. A car loaded with ammunition was driven along a mountain road to carry out a terrorist attack. Basayev planned to blow up the building of the Ingush Ministry of Internal Affairs. The road in the mountains is bumpy, so the explosives detonated spontaneously. According to Basayev's supporters, there is no merit of the Russian special services in this.

To this the FSB claims that it was the special operation that caused the explosion of the truck near Ekazhevo. On the eve of the motel, the terrorists were mixed with sleeping pills. The operation involved about 2 dozen people, among them two women disguised as waitresses. While the Chechens were sleeping, the Russian military hijacked a KamAZ with ammunition and carefully "processed" it. All weapons were described, and the truck itself was mined.

After such a powerful explosion, they were able to identify Basayev's body only six months later. A genetic examination was carried out. The fact of his death was confirmed by the Chechen separatists themselves. They announced that Basayev and the "brothers in arms" who died with him had become martyrs, that is, martyrs in the name of faith and Allah.

Shamil Salmanovich Basaev, aka Abdallah Shamil Abu-Idris (January 14, 1965, Dyshne-Vedeno village, Chechen-Ingush ASSR, RSFSR - July 10, 2006, Ekazhevo, Ingushetia, Russia) - an active participant in military operations in Chechnya, one from the leaders of the self-proclaimed Chechen Republic of Ichkeria (CRI) in 1995-2006. He had the rank of brigadier general of the CRI. Organized a number of terrorist attacks on the territory Russian Federation... He was included in the lists of terrorists of the UN, the US State Department and the European Union.

early years

Basayev was born on the Dyshne-Vedeno farm in the Vedeno region of the Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. Until 1970 he lived in Dyshne-Vedeno, after that in the village of Ermolovskaya. In 1982 he graduated high school, and since 1983 for about four years (with interruptions) he worked as a laborer at the Aksaysky state farm in the Volgograd region. In 1983-1985, he served in the Soviet Army (ground support units of the Air Force - in the airfield service fire brigade). At the end of the service, he tried three times to enter the law faculty of Moscow State University, however, he did not pass the results of competitive exams. In 1987 he entered the Moscow Institute of Land Management Engineers, but in 1988 he was expelled for academic failure in mathematics (according to other sources, for absenteeism).

While in Moscow, he worked as a controller in public transport and a watchman at the diner. From 1988 to August 1991 he worked in the Vostok-Alpha firm as the head of the computer sales department, lived with the owner of the firm, Supyan Taramov, who later fought on the side of the federals, and his brother. He went in for sports, received the 1st category in football. It was reported that from 1989 to 1991 he also studied at the Islamic Institute in Istanbul. On August 19-21, 1991, he took part in the defense of the House of Government of the RSFSR ("White House") during the coup of the State Emergency Committee. In an interview with the Moskovskaya Pravda newspaper on January 27, 1996, Basayev said: "I knew that if the State Emergency Committee wins, it will be possible to put an end to the independence of Chechnya ...".

After the defeat of the Emergency Committee, he returned to Chechnya. According to some reports, the return was due to the fact that he owed a huge amount of money.

Becoming

In the summer of 1991, he became a member of an armed group made at the National Congress of the Chechen People (OKChN). According to Basayev himself, from that moment on he independently comprehended the theory of military affairs "from Russian textbooks." In an interview with Nezavisimaya Gazeta on March 12, 1996, Basayev told about it this way: “I began to study because I had a goal. There were about thirty of us guys, we understood that just like that Russia would not let Chechnya go, that freedom is an expensive thing and you have to pay for it in blood. Therefore, we prepared intensively ”. In June-July 1991 he made an armed group "Vedeno". The group was engaged in the protection of buildings in which the congresses of the Confederation of the Peoples of the Caucasus (KNK) and OKChN were held. The group included the inhabitants of the settlement. Benoy, Vedeno, Dyshne-Vedeno, Bamut and some other mountain villages.

In October 1991, he put forward his candidacy for the post of President of Chechnya. After the victory in the elections, Dzhokhar Dudayev formed a sabotage and reconnaissance group, based in the 12th town of Grozny. The group was made with the aim of protecting "the freedom and interests of the CRI and its president." On November 9, 1991, in protest against the attempt to introduce a state of emergency in Checheno-Ingushetia, together with friends Said-Ali Satuyev and Lom-Ali Chachaev (according to some reports, in 1995 they also took part in the terrorist attack in the city of Budennovsk), he hijacked a passenger aircraft Tu-154 from the airport of the city of Mineralnye Vody to Turkey. Upon arrival in Turkey, the invaders surrendered to the authorities and after negotiations were sent to Chechnya.

In 1992 he held the posts of company commander, battalion of special forces of the National Guard of Dzhokhar Dudayev. Due to differences in views on what an independent Chechnya should be, Basayev at that time took a neutral position in relation to Dudayev and his entourage.

Abkhazia and Nagorno-Karabakh

In late 1991 - early 1992, Basayev took part in the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh on the side of Azerbaijan. Later, his detachment, which was distinguished by special cruelty, was taken prisoner along with all members of the bandit formation. It turned out that the militants who fought against the Armenians in Karabakh were part of the group defending Grozny. He fought in the besieged Shusha. According to some reports, Basayev's detachment also participated in the coup of Suret Huseynov and the overthrow of Elchibey, helping to bring Heydar Aliyev to power in Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijani colonel Azer Rustamov, who fought in Karabakh, assesses the role of Basayev and Raduyev in the battles of the summer of 1992 as "invaluable", noting that they left the battlefield after huge losses. According to the former head of the headquarters of the Yerkrapah Union of Armenian Volunteers, Deputy Minister of Emergency Situations of Armenia, Major General Astvatsatur Petrosyan, in the summer of 1992, about 400 Chechen fighters under the command of Basayev fought on the side of Azerbaijanis. On July 3, 1992, during the operation to liberate the village of Karmravan, many of them were killed, and 120 were taken prisoner, after which Shamil Basayev never returned to Karabakh.

In August 1992, he headed a detachment of Chechen volunteers to Abkhazia to participate in the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict on the Abkhaz side. Officially, a detachment of volunteers from the North Caucasus took part in the hostilities as an armed unit of the Confederation of the Peoples of the Caucasus (KNK). In Abkhazia, Basayev showed himself excellently during the battles with Georgian units, was appointed commander of the Gagra front, commander of the KNK corps, deputy minister of defense of Abkhazia, adviser to the commander-in-chief of the armed forces of Abkhazia. Basayev's detachment was in the vanguard of the Abkhaz troops during the assault on the city of Gagra. Received the rank of lieutenant colonel of the KNK troops. For special merits, the President of Abkhazia Vladislav Ardzinba awarded Basayev with the "Hero of Abkhazia" medal. Gennady Troshev in the book “My War. The Chechen Diary of a Trench General "described Basayev's activities in the vicinity of Gagra and the village of Leselidze:

Basayev's "Janissaries" (there were 5 thousand of them) were distinguished by senseless cruelty in that war. In the fall of 1993, in the vicinity of Gagra and the village of Liselidze, the "commander" himself personally led the punitive action to exterminate the refugees. Several thousand Georgians were shot, hundreds of Armenian, Russian and Greek families were massacred. According to the stories of eyewitnesses who miraculously escaped, the criminals were happy to videotape scenes of bullying and rape.

Basayev and the GRU

According to some statements, during the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict, Chechen volunteers underwent training with the participation of Russian military experts. Konstantin Nikitin, a former officer of the FSK special unit "B", claims that Basayev was trained in sabotage by GRU officers on the basis of the 345th airborne regiment (according to the statements of the then Georgian parliament, at the Maikop GRU base). Former leader The FSB Public Relations Center, Alexander Mikhailov, announced that "Russian military experts and advisers working on the Abkhaz side made a huge contribution to the education of Basayev as a military expert and professional saboteur." The chairman of the People's Assembly of Chechnya, Duk-Vakha Abdurakhmanov, claimed that Basayev was a career officer of the GRU; similar statements were also made by Ruslan Aushev and Alexander Lebed. Major General of the KGB of the USSR, retired Yu.I. Drozdov compared Basayev with Bin Laden:

“Basayev is our mistake, and your mistake is Bin Laden. As a result of mistakes in organizing relations between Bin Laden and the head of the local special forces, you and Bin Laden broke up. The same happened with us ”.

In an interview with Nezavisimaya Gazeta on March 12, 1996, Basayev denied information that he was trained on the basis of the Russian 345th Airborne Regiment: "Not a single Chechen studied there, as they were not taken." Representatives of the Chechen separatists have always rejected statements about Basayev's cooperation with the Russian special services, calling them a deliberate attempt to discredit Basayev in the eyes of his supporters.

Return and anti-Dudaev opposition

At the beginning of 1993 he returned to Grozny and formed a separate combat detachment of Chechens who took part in the hostilities on the territory of Abkhazia (later became known as the "Abkhaz battalion"). During the political struggle between President Dudayev and the opposition, he acted as a mediator in the negotiations. In early 1994, he made a trip to Afghanistan and Pakistan as an official representative of the CRI. In April-June, he tried to organize the dispatch of soldiers of his detachment to Afghanistan for special military training, but, according to Basayev, he failed to do this (from the entire group, only 12 people got to Afghanistan, who immediately fell ill with malaria).

After an armed performance by the formations of Umar Avturkhanov and Ruslan Labazanov in the summer of 1994, Basayev entered the hostilities on the side of Dzhokhar Dudayev. The "Abkhaz battalion" became the main force of Dudayev during the assault on R. Labazanov's headquarters in Grozny (July 1994) and the defeat of Labazanov's group in Argun (September 1994). Basayev's soldiers also took part in attacks on the residence of Ruslan Khasbulatov in Tolstoy-Yurt and the base of Bislan Gantamirov in Urus-Martan.

First Chechen war

On November 26, 1994, Basayev's "Abkhaz battalion" formed the backbone of Dudayev's armed formations in repelling the assault on Grozny by the joint forces of Russian tank units and the anti-Dudaev opposition formations.

From November 1994 to March 1995 he was one of the chiefs of defense of Grozny. Despite the withdrawal of the main forces of the militants at the end of January, Basayev's detachment held the defense in the village. Chernorechye (southern suburb of Grozny) until early March. On February 13, 1995, he took part in negotiations with representatives of the Russian command in the village of Sleptsovskaya (Ingushetia).

In 1995, he served as chief of a reconnaissance and sabotage battalion, commander of the Southern Front. Supervised the creation of a defense system near N of the item. Nozhai-Yurt.

On May 9, 1995, he announced that he was focusing on sabotage and subversive activities, because only through such tactics they could force the Russian leadership to sit down at the negotiating table.

On June 14-20, 1995, together with Aslanbek Abdulkhadzhiev and Aslanbek Ismailov, he organized and led a raid by a detachment of Chechen fighters on the territory of the Stavropol Territory, which ended with the seizure of a hospital in the city of Budyonnovsk, Stavropol Territory. After returning to Chechnya, he held the post of commander of the Eastern Front.

On July 21, 1995, “for special services to the Fatherland, for their courage and dedication to repel Russian aggression,” by order of Dzhokhar Dudaev, Basayev was early awarded the title of brigadier general of the CRI.

In April 1996 (after the death of Dudayev) he became one of the leaders of the State Defense Committee and the commander-in-chief of the armed forces of the CRI. He declared that the withdrawal of Russian troops from Chechnya was not enough to end the war, since "Russia must pay us compensation for the damage caused." He called for the withdrawal of all Muslim republics of the North Caucasus from the Russian Federation and their unification into a single state.

In the summer of 1996, he served as commander of the Central Front. He was one of the organizers and leaders of the Jihad operation (August 6, 1996), during which Chechen fighters captured most of Grozny and blocked the groupings of Russian troops in Argun and Gudermes.

Interwar period

In September 1996, he was appointed chairman of the customs committee in the coalition government of the CRI formed by Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev. In November 1996, he refused the post of Deputy Prime Minister offered to him.

In November 1996, he put forward his candidacy for the post of President of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria. He ran in tandem with Vakha Ibragimov (Yandarbiev's foreign policy advisor). According to the results of the elections on January 27, 1997, he received 23.5% of the votes and took second place.

In February 1997 he took part in the organization of the party "Marchonan Toba" (Chechen. "Party of Freedom") and was elected its honorary chairman at the founding congress.

On April 1, 1997, he was appointed first deputy prime minister of the CRI government, oversaw the industry and replaced the chairman of the government (Aslan Maskhadov) during his absence.

On July 10, 1997, he resigned from the post of the first deputy chairman of the CRI government "for health reasons" (the resignation was not accepted).

On January 12, 1998, he was appointed Acting Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of the CRI. On February 12, the composition of the government proposed by Basayev was unanimously approved by the parliament of the CRI.

On April 26, 1998, he was elected chairman of the Congress of the Peoples of Ichkeria and Dagestan (KNID), convened on that day in Grozny on the initiative of the Islamic Nation Congress (headed by Movladi Udugov). The purpose of the creation of the congress was declared "the liberation of the Muslim Caucasus from the Russian imperial yoke."

In 1998, he headed the Chechen Football Federation and worked on the development of sports in the republic. In addition, he himself played for the football club Terek (Grozny).

On July 3, 1998, he submitted a letter of resignation to Maskhadov from the post of prime minister. The reason for the government's resignation was the failure of the cabinet of ministers in implementing the program of economic reforms, but it is possible that one of the reasons was disagreement with Maskhadov's personnel policy (in June 1998, instead of several ministers represented by Basayev, other persons were appointed) and the authorities' sharp actions to disarm the formations opposition.

On July 4, 1998, together with Khattab, he conducted a demonstration exercise of the Islamic Peacekeeping Brigade (military unit of the CNID).

In 1999, together with Khattab and a number of commanders opposed to the government of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, he formed the Supreme Military Majlisul Shura (VVMSh) and was elected its leader (emir).

In the interwar period, Basayev became close to the Wahhabis. He spoke publicly about the likelihood of using weapons of mass destruction against Russia, called for the creation of a “caliphate” from the Caspian to the Black Sea. In an interview with the BBC in 1998, he said: “Personally, I would not want Russia to recognize the independence of Chechnya today, because if this happens, then we will have to recognize Russia - that is, the colonial empire - within its current borders<…>I would not like to confirm their right to rule Dagestan, Kabardino-Balkaria or Tatarstan. "

In August and September 1999, together with Khattab, he headed the Islamic Peacekeeping Brigade and the combined detachments of field commanders during raids on the territory of Dagestan.

Second Chechen war

In late 1999 - early 2000, together with Aslan Maskhadov, he headed the defense of Grozny against federal troops. In early February 2000, he commanded the withdrawal of the main forces of militants from Grozny. At the same time, the militants suffered huge losses, and Basayev himself was blown up by a mine and seriously wounded his right leg, which later had to be amputated in military field conditions. Despite the injury, he continued to exercise military leadership of the actions of the militants. According to the federal forces, the base of Basayev until the spring of 2001 was located in the village of Duisi in the Akhmeta region of Georgia. With a high probability, in October-December 2000, he was undergoing medical treatment in the United States.

In the middle of summer 2002, together with Maskhadov, he organized in the mountains of Chechnya the Great Majlis (conference), which brought together a huge number of field commanders. The Majlis adopted amendments to the Constitution of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, approved in 1992. Also, the State Defense Committee - Majlisul Shura of the CRI was formed, into which the VVMSh led by Basayev was integrated. Basayev took over as head of the GKO-Majlisul Shura military committee.

In early autumn 2002, he formed the Riyadus-Salihiin sabotage and terrorist detachment. After Movsar Barayev's group carried out a mass hostage-taking in Moscow, he resigned from all his posts in the official leadership of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria and called on the Chechen people to rally around Maskhadov. As correspondents noted, during the hostilities in Chechnya, and especially after the death of Khattab in 2002, Basayev's rapprochement with Maskhadov took place, Basayev became more loyal to the President of the CRI. He was the only Chechen in Majlisul Shura who was involved in the distribution of finances between militant groups (all the rest were Arabs). Financial issues became one of the reasons for the disagreement between Basayev and Maskhadov - the 1st had autonomous sources, and the 2nd faced a serious lack of funds when a number of Western countries cut off financial flows of terrorists after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States.

Basayev and Maskhadov (November 2004)

Since 2003, he often moved across the territory of the North Caucasus, most of the time, presumably, spent outside Chechnya. One of the places where Basayev illegally crossed the Russian state border was the Nizhny Zaramag checkpoint, which was solemnly opened in December 2002. From July to the end of August 2003, with his wife Maryam and two guards (one of whom, Khamid Basayev, was Basayev's nephew), he was hiding in a private household in the town of Baksan in Kabardino-Balkaria. At the end of August, the special services received information about Basayev's whereabouts, and on the night of August 24, special forces of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the FSB surrounded the house and attempted an assault. But Basayev with his wife, one of the guards and a guest managed to break out of the encirclement with a fight (Basayev himself was wounded in the leg). Khamid Basayev was seriously wounded and remained in the house. When a policeman approached him, he blew himself up with a grenade.

On August 23, 2005, by the decree of the President of the CRI, Abdul-Halim Sadulayev, he was appointed vice-premier of the CRI (curator of the power block). He was also appointed head of the military committee of the GKO-Majlisul Shura ("the military emir of the Mujahideen of Ichkeria").

On July 10, 2006, the separatists' website Kavkaz Center, referring to the so-called Military Committee of Ichkeria, reported that Shamil Basayev died in the village of Ekazhevo, Nazran District of Ingushetia as a result of an accidental spontaneous explosion of a truck with explosives. According to the Military Committee of the separatists, no special operation was carried out against Basayev.

According to the official version, which later received countless confirmations, the elimination of Basayev was the result of a special operation carried out by the Russian special services during the preparation for a terrorist act in Ingushetia by militants led by Basayev. According to the same version, the FSB special operation, the result of which was the elimination of Basayev and other militants, was prepared ahead of time, even at the stage of manufacturing weapons sold to the militants.

Doom

Reports of the death of Shamil Basayev, as in the case of many other militant leaders, arose many times (the first time back in 1995). In particular, the messages arose in May 2000, February 3, 2005, October 13, 2005.

Shamil Basayev died on the night of July 10, 2006 in the area of ​​the village. Ekazhevo (Nazran region of Ingushetia) as a result of the explosion of a KamAZ truck accompanied by him with weapons and ammunition. According to one version, the truck was intended to blow up the building of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ingushetia. Together with Basayev, the commander of the Ingush sector of the Caucasian Front, Isa Kushtov, and three more militants (Tarkhan Ganizhev, Mustafa Tagirov and Salambek Umadov), as well as the owner of the site, Alikhan Tsechoev, died.

A few hours after the Ingush police found and inspected the explosion site, FSB director Nikolai Patrushev officially announced that Basayev, along with other militants, was killed as a result of a secret special operation, and the planned explosion was associated with the upcoming G8 summit.

The exploded truck carried a large number of unguided rockets, grenade launchers and cartridges of various calibers. Based on this, a version appeared in the press that agents of the FSB added a special explosive device to the batch of weapons during transportation, which detonated at a certain moment.

Sources associated with Chechen separatists tend to argue that explosives were handled by accident and carelessness.

It was possible to finally identify Basayev's body only six months later, after a molecular genetic examination.

In 2011, Channel One aired the documentary “Plan Kavkaz-2: Metastases,” which included an audio recording of Doku Umarov, in which he stated that Basayev was blown up by either Georgian or Russian special services.

Act of terrorism

On June 14, 1995, together with Aslanbek Abdulkhadzhiev and Aslanbek Ismailov, he organized and led a raid by a gang of 200 militants into Russia, during which they captured the city of Budennovsk, Stavropol Territory. When large forces of the Russian army approached the city, the militants took hostage about 1,500 local residents, fortified themselves in the city hospital and demanded an end to hostilities in Chechnya and the beginning of negotiations between the Russian government and Dzhokhar Dudayev. On June 17, the special forces of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the FSB made several unsuccessful attempts to storm the hospital. On June 18, Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin personally held negotiations with Basayev, during which he partially agreed to the conditions of the militants. On June 19, Basayev's detachment freed most of the hostages and returned by buses to the mountainous part of Chechnya. During the attack, more than 130 local residents were killed. According to Basayev, the militants planned to reach Moscow, but were forced to start hostilities in Budennovsk due to their detection by the local traffic police.

The abduction on January 9, 2001 of American Kenneth Gluck, a representative of the Médecins Sans Frontières humanitarian mission in Chechnya. On January 27, Basayev wrote a letter to Glak in which he apologized for the abduction, claiming that it was “an initiative of some of our Mujahideen,” who considered Gluck a spy. On February 3, Gluck was released. It was assumed that he was abducted by militants from the detachment of field commander Rizvan Akhmadov.

Hostage-taking at the theater center on Dubrovka in Moscow on October 23, 2002, which resulted in the death of 129 hostages. Basayev, in a special statement, took responsibility for organizing the seizure. Later, he made another statement on this matter, in which he argued that the group should have seized the buildings. The State Duma and the Federation Council of the Russian Federation.

The explosion of a truck with explosives near the Government House in Grozny on December 27, 2002, as a result of which 72 people (employees of the Chechen government and servicemen) were killed, and the building itself collapsed. On February 10, 2003, Basayev claimed responsibility for the bombing on behalf of the Riyadus-Salihiin detachment, and on February 24, in a separate statement, he described the details of the attack and provided a video recording of the building's explosion. According to Basayev, a Chechen family (dad, daughter and son) was driving the truck, some of which died during the hostilities.

A series of terrorist attacks involving suicide bombers in 2003 - July 5 at the Wings rock festival in Tushino (Moscow), December 5 in a train in Essentuki, December 9 an explosion near the National Hotel (Moscow). For all these attacks Basayev took responsibility on behalf of the Amir (commander) of the Riyadus-Salihiin detachment. But later it was established that all these explosions were carried out by the autonomous group “Jamaat of Mujahideen of Karachay”.

On February 23, 2004, Basayev reported that on February 18, saboteurs from the Riyadus-Salihiin detachment in the vicinity of Moscow detonated 60 grenade launchers and a certain amount of plastic explosive, with the help of which two main gas pipelines were put out of action (one of them was in the Ramensky district of the Moscow region ) and the Moscow Water Heating Power Plant. Three high-voltage power transmission lines that fed the water heating plant were also blown up. According to Basayev, the purpose of the operation was to disable the heating system of Moscow and thereby cause freezing of communications. The Russian leadership, according to Basayev, managed to avoid freezing of the system by sending gas to Moscow, intended for supplies to other countries, during the repair work (in particular, the interruption in gas supplies to Belarus was 4 days). On April 8, a video was presented of the preparation of the militants to carry out explosions. As a result of the damage to the gas pipeline, the gas supply to individual houses of nearby villages, townships and villages was temporarily interrupted. Nikolai Tulaev, a member of the Russian Federation Council's Security Committee, said that Basayev's statement was "propaganda hype."

On March 15, 2004, several power transmission poles were blown up in the Moscow region. As a result of the explosions, three power transmission towers collapsed, and shaped charges from the shots to the grenade launcher were found at the fourth tower. The representative of the Central Internal Affairs Directorate for the Moscow Region said that the blowing up of the power transmission line supports was carried out by the same group as the blowing up of the gas pipeline on February 18.

The explosion on May 9, 2004 at the Dynamo stadium in Grozny, as a result of which the President of the Chechen Republic Akhmat Kadyrov and the Chairman of the State Council of the Chechen Republic Khusein Isaev were killed, and the commander of the United Group of Forces in the North Caucasus, Colonel General Valery Baranov leg). On May 16, Basayev claimed responsibility for this bombing. On June 15, 2006, the Kavkaz Center website posted a video about Basayev's meeting with Dokka Umarov, during which Basayev confirmed his involvement in the assassination attempt on Kadyrov. According to this statement, the perpetrators of the detonation were paid $ 50,000.

In September 2004, Basayev, on behalf of Riyadus-Salihiin, claimed responsibility for the terrorist attacks in Moscow - the explosion on the Kashirskoye highway on August 24 and the bombing of a suicide bomber near the entrance to the Rizhskaya metro station on August 31. Later it was established that these and some other acts of terrorism were committed by the autonomous group Jamaat of the Mujahideen of Karachay.

Explosions of 2 Russian Tu-134 passenger airliners on August 24, 2004. According to Basayev, the terrorists sent by him did not blow up the planes, but only hijacked them. In an interview with Andrei Babitsky, Basayev argued that the planes were shot down by Russian air defense missiles, because the Russian leadership feared that the planes would be aimed at some objects in Moscow or St. Petersburg (similar to the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States).

The seizure of school No. 1 in Beslan (North Ossetia) on September 1-3, 2004, as a result of which over 330 people from among the hostages were killed (182 of them were children). Basayev claimed responsibility for orchestrating the attack in a statement released two weeks after the takeover. He later made another statement on this matter.

On May 27, 2005, Basayev said that the power outage in Moscow, the Moscow region and some other regions was the result of explosions carried out by a special sabotage group of militants on May 24-25. On May 28, Basayev said that the burned down Theater named after Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko was also set on fire by a sabotage group, which "was tasked with destroying economic, political, administrative and cultural and propaganda centers in the cities of Russia, and especially in Moscow." Representatives of the Russian authorities have always denied Basayev's involvement in the energy crisis and the fire in the theater.

Major combat operations

The storming of the city of Grozny by Chechen fighters. Basayev was one of the organizers of the operation and personally commanded the main forces of the militants. After three weeks of constant fighting, the Russian government reached an agreement with the separatists and soon began to withdraw troops from Chechnya.

Militants invaded Dagestan in August-September 1999. Basayev led the combined militant detachments together with Khattab and, according to him, personally carried out preliminary reconnaissance activities.

On the night of June 22, 2004, militants led by Basayev raided Ingushetia, capturing or blocking a number of large administrative and military facilities in Ingushetia for several hours. According to official figures, 97 people were killed in the attack, including 28 civilians. The militants' losses were, according to them, 6 people killed and several wounded (in total, 570 members of local and Chechen armed formations were involved in the operation). On July 26, a video was circulated in which Basayev was captured in a warehouse of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ingushetia on the night of the attack.

The attack on the city of Nalchik (Kabardino-Balkaria) on October 13, 2005, as a result of which, according to official data, 12 civilians and 26 employees of security forces were killed. In total, over 100 militants attacked the city. Of these, approximately 70 were killed, 27 were detained. Later, a video recording of the meeting of the militant commanders that took place on the eve of the attack on Nalchik was circulated. In August 2007, the Russian Prosecutor General's Office for the Southern Federal District officially announced that Basayev was one of the leaders of the attack.

Awards

Shamil Basayev was awarded the highest awards of the self-proclaimed Chechen Republic of Ichkeria: “Koman Siy” (Chechen “Honor of the Nation”) and “Koman Turpal” (Chechen “Hero of the Nation”). For special merits, the President of Abkhazia Vladislav Ardzinba awarded Basayev with the "Hero of Abkhazia" medal. He was posthumously awarded the title "Generalissimo" by Doku Umarov, the president of the self-proclaimed "Chechen Republic of Ichkeria".

Basayev as a writer

At various times he wrote poetry in Russian and Chechen languages, which he signed with pseudonyms.

In 2004, Basayev wrote a book (collection of instructions) entitled "The Book of the Mujahid". The book is written based on the work of Paolo Coelho "The Book of the Warrior of Light", which Basayev revised, "removing some of the excesses, and reinforcing all this with ayats, hadiths and stories from the life of the Askhabs ...".

A family

Father - Salman Basayev, mother - Nura Basaeva (Chechens). Belonged to the Belgata teip. Had 2 brothers (Shirvani, Islam) and a sister (Zinaida). Thanks to his father, Khattab became his named brother.

On June 3, 1995, a missile and bomb attack destroyed the house of Shamil Basayev's uncle Khasmagomed Basayev in Vedeno, as a result of which 12 Basayev's relatives died, including his cousin, sister Zinaida (born in 1964) and her seven children.

The younger brother, Islam, was poisoned in 1999. One of the brothers - Shirvani Basayev - also took part in hostilities against Russia; during the First Chechen War, he was the commandant of the village of Bamut, took part in the Russian-Chechen negotiations. In the winter of 1999-2000. actively participated in the defense of Grozny. In December 2000, it was reported that he was fatally wounded in a battle with Russian troops, but this was later refuted. According to some reports, after being seriously injured and treated in Turkey, he lives in another country.

Father (Salman Basayev) was killed on January 12, 2002 in a clash with Russian troops in the village of Akhkinchu-Borzoy, Kurchaloyevsky district of Chechnya. After the start of the 2nd Russian-Chechen war, Salman Basayev was hiding from the federal forces with distant relatives. According to the testimony of relatives, despite his advanced age, he repeatedly stated that “he would not surrender to living Russians” and always carried two F-1 grenades with him.

Personal life

The first time he married in 1992, a native of Abkhazia Indira Dzhenia, a son from marriage. The second wife, a Chechen, died in the mid-1990s. The message about the third marriage appeared on December 14, 2000 on Angela, a daughter was born. On February 23, 2005, Basayev married a Kuban Cossack woman from the Krasnodar Territory (the sister of one of the militants). On November 29, 2005, he married a 25-year-old resident of Grozny, Elina Ersenoeva, who was later kidnapped by unknown assailants.

Children

After his death, three wives, two sons (born in 1990 and 1992) and three daughters remained. They have different surnames.