Gennady Shpigun
Encyclopedia
Chechnya
The Chechen Republic , commonly referred to as Chechnya , also spelled Chechnia or Chechenia, sometimes referred to as Ichkeria , is a federal subject of Russia . It is located in the southeastern part of Europe in the Northern Caucasus mountains. The capital of the republic is the city of Grozny...
.
He was kidnapped
Kidnapping
In criminal law, kidnapping is the taking away or transportation of a person against that person's will, usually to hold the person in false imprisonment, a confinement without legal authority...
from the airport
Airport
An airport is a location where aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and blimps take off and land. Aircraft may be stored or maintained at an airport...
in Grozny
Grozny
Grozny is the capital city of the Chechen Republic, Russia. The city lies on the Sunzha River. According to the preliminary results of the 2010 Census, the city had a population of 271,596; up from 210,720 recorded in the 2002 Census. but still only about two-thirds of 399,688 recorded in the 1989...
on March 5, 1999, when armed masked men boarded his plane as it was about to leave for Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
. Shpigun's kidnappers, reported at various times to be different Chechen rebel warlords (Shamil Basaev, Arbi Barayev
Arbi Barayev
Arbi Alautdinovich Barayev , nicknamed "The Terminator", was a renegade Chechen warlord often accused of clandestine links with the Russian special services...
, Magomed Khatuev), demanded a ransom of US$15 million for his release. http://www.vesti7.ru/news?id=624http://polit.ru/analytics/2006/03/22/shpigun.html
On March 31, 2000, his body was found in southern Chechnya, near the village of Itum-Kale. Neither the exact cause nor the date of his death could be determined. In June 2000 he was buried in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
's Preobrazhenskoe Cemetery.