Ruslan Yamadayev
Encyclopedia
Ruslan Bekmirzayevich Yamadayev (December 10, 1961 – September 24, 2008) was a Chechen
military leader and politician. A member of the high-profile Yamadayev
clan, he was assassinated in Moscow
in 2008.
-based Chechen Benoi teip
. Along with his brothers Sulim Yamadayev
and Dzhabrail Yamadayev
, he fought against the Russia
n forces during the First Chechen War
before turning to Russia's side in 1999.
For his struggle against the separatists in the Second Chechen War
, Yamadayev was promoted to the rank of colonel
and granted the title of Hero of the Russian Federation
. From 2003 to 2007, he was a deputy to the State Duma
from Chechnya. In 2004 he was nominated for the Chechen presidency. He also ran several Moscow-based businesses for the Yamadayev clan.
Sergei Kizyun, was hospitalized in grave condition. The Russian police has launched a criminal case on charges of murder
and attempted murder
.
The pro-Moscow president of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov
(who had, in the months prior to the assassination, engaged in a bitter rivalry with the Yamadayevs) denied accusations of being behind the killing, and suggested Yamadayev fell victim of a blood feud
. Sulim Yamadayev also accused Kadyrov and promised to take revenge. Sulim himself was reported killed on March 29, 2009 in Dubai
.
In April 2009, a court in Moscow sanctioned the arrest of Ilimpashi Khatsuyev, suspected of murdering Ruslan Yamadayev.
Chechen people
Chechens constitute the largest native ethnic group originating in the North Caucasus region. They refer to themselves as Noxçi . Also known as Sadiks , Gargareans, Malkhs...
military leader and politician. A member of the high-profile Yamadayev
Yamadayev
Yamadaev is a Chechen surname, most famously attributed to the Yamadayev brothers:*Sulim Yamadayev*Dzhabrail Yamadayev*Ruslan Yamadayev*Badrudi Yamadayev*Isa Yamadayev...
clan, he was assassinated 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...
in 2008.
Biography
Ruslan Yamadayev belonged to the GudermesGudermes
Gudermes is a town in the Chechen Republic, Russia, located on the Sunzha River east of Grozny. Population: 32,000 .Gudermes had a rural locality status until 1941. Later, it became a railroad junction between Rostov-on-Don, Baku, Astrakhan, and Mozdok. Gudermes is home for oil extraction...
-based Chechen Benoi teip
Teip
Teip is a Chechen and Ingush tribal organization or clan, self-identified through descent from a common ancestor and geographic location. There are about 130-233 teips...
. Along with his brothers Sulim Yamadayev
Sulim Yamadayev
Sulim Bekmirzayevich Yamadayev was a Chechen rebel commander from the First Chechen War who had switched sides together with his brothers Dzhabrail, Badrudi, Isa and Ruslan in 1999 during the outbreak of the Second Chechen War. He was de facto commander of the Russian military Special Battalion...
and Dzhabrail Yamadayev
Dzhabrail Yamadayev
Dzhabrail Yamadayev was a Chechen rebel field commander during the First Chechen War. He switched sides together with his brothers, Ruslan and Sulim in 1999 during the outbreak of the Second Chechen War and then became the commander of the Russian special forces unit Vostok...
, he fought against the Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n forces during the First Chechen War
First Chechen War
The First Chechen War, also known as the War in Chechnya, was a conflict between the Russian Federation and the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, fought from December 1994 to August 1996...
before turning to Russia's side in 1999.
For his struggle against the separatists in the Second Chechen War
Second Chechen War
The Second Chechen War, in a later phase better known as the War in the North Caucasus, was launched by the Russian Federation starting 26 August 1999, in response to the Invasion of Dagestan by the Islamic International Peacekeeping Brigade ....
, Yamadayev was promoted to the rank of colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
and granted the title of Hero of the Russian Federation
Hero of the Russian Federation
Hero of the Russian Federation is a Russian decoration and the highest honorary title that can be bestowed on a citizen by the Russian Federation. The President of the Russian Federation is the main conferring authority of the medal, which is bestowed on those committing actions or deeds that...
. From 2003 to 2007, he was a deputy to the State Duma
State Duma
The State Duma , common abbreviation: Госду́ма ) in the Russian Federation is the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia , the upper house being the Federation Council of Russia. The Duma headquarters is located in central Moscow, a few steps from Manege Square. Its members are referred to...
from Chechnya. In 2004 he was nominated for the Chechen presidency. He also ran several Moscow-based businesses for the Yamadayev clan.
Death
On September 24, 2008, Ruslan Yamadayev was assassinated on Smolenskaya Embankment in central Moscow near the Russian White House when returning from a meeting in the Kremlin. He was shot ten times while sitting in a car owned by his brother Sulim Yamadayev. Initial press responses reported the name of the victim as Sulim, which was corrected later. The other victim of the shooting, the former military commandant of Chechnya and retired Colonel GeneralColonel General
Colonel General is a senior rank of General. North Korea and Russia are two countries which have used the rank extensively throughout their histories...
Sergei Kizyun, was hospitalized in grave condition. The Russian police has launched a criminal case on charges of murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
and attempted murder
Attempted murder
Attempted murder is a crime in England and Wales and Northern Ireland.-Today:In English criminal law, attempted murder is the crime of more than merely preparing to commit unlawful killing and at the same time having a specific intention to cause the death of human being under the Queen's Peace...
.
The pro-Moscow president of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov
Ramzan Kadyrov
Ramzan Akhmadovich Kadyrov is the President of Chechnya and a former Chechen rebel.Ramzan is a son of former Chechen President Akhmad Kadyrov, assassinated in May 2004. In February 2007 Kadyrov replaced Alu Alkhanov as President, shortly after he had turned 30, which is the minimum age for the post...
(who had, in the months prior to the assassination, engaged in a bitter rivalry with the Yamadayevs) denied accusations of being behind the killing, and suggested Yamadayev fell victim of a blood feud
Feud
A feud , referred to in more extreme cases as a blood feud, vendetta, faida, or private war, is a long-running argument or fight between parties—often groups of people, especially families or clans. Feuds begin because one party perceives itself to have been attacked, insulted or wronged by another...
. Sulim Yamadayev also accused Kadyrov and promised to take revenge. Sulim himself was reported killed on March 29, 2009 in Dubai
Dubai
Dubai is a city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates . The emirate is located south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula and has the largest population with the second-largest land territory by area of all the emirates, after Abu Dhabi...
.
In April 2009, a court in Moscow sanctioned the arrest of Ilimpashi Khatsuyev, suspected of murdering Ruslan Yamadayev.
External links
- Kadyrov targets the Yamadayev brothers, Kavkaz CenterKavkaz CenterThe Kavkaz Center is a privately run website by pro-Chechen which aims to be "a Chechen internet agency which is independent, international and Islamic" that "does not represent the viewpoint of any state structures"...
, 14 March 2008 (originally The Jamestown FoundationThe Jamestown FoundationThe Jamestown Foundation is a Washington, D.C.-based institute for research and analysis, founded in 1984 as a platform to support Soviet dissidents. Today its stated mission is to "inform and educate" policy makers about events and trends, which it regards as being of current "strategic"...
) - Kadyrov versus the Yamadaevs Becomes Kadyrov versus the Generals, ChechenpressChechenpressState Information Agency Chechenpress is the news agency of the Chechen separatists who proclaim themselves to be the representatives of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria...
, June, 16th 2008 - Ruslan Yamadaev: authorities of Chechnya unfold campaign against "Vostok" commander, MemorialMemorial (society)Memorial is an international historical and civil rights society that operates in a number of post-Soviet states. It focuses on recording and publicising the Soviet Union's totalitarian past, but also monitors human rights in post-Soviet states....
, 28/6/2008 - Russia: A Chechen Assassination, StratforStratforStrategic Forecasting, Inc., more commonly known as STRATFOR, is a global intelligence company founded in 1996 in Austin, Texas by George Friedman who is the founder, chief intelligence officer, and CEO of the company...
, September 25, 2008 - Chechnya's President Lost the Best Enemy, KommersantKommersantKommersant is a commerce-oriented newspaper published in Russia. , the circulation was 131,000.- History :The newspaper was initially published in 1909, and it was closed down following the Bolshevik seizure of power and the introduction of censorship in 1917.In 1989, with the onset of press...
, Sep. 25, 2008 - Yamadaev's murder threatens with consequences for Chechnya's authorities, observers believe, MemorialMemorialA memorial is an object which serves as a focus for memory of something, usually a person or an event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects or art objects such as sculptures, statues or fountains, and even entire parks....
, 25/9/2008 - Russia: Warnings of Another Chechen War, StratforStratforStrategic Forecasting, Inc., more commonly known as STRATFOR, is a global intelligence company founded in 1996 in Austin, Texas by George Friedman who is the founder, chief intelligence officer, and CEO of the company...
, September 26, 2008 - Who is behind the murder of Ruslan Yamadayev: Kadyrov or Medvedev?, Kavkaz CenterKavkaz CenterThe Kavkaz Center is a privately run website by pro-Chechen which aims to be "a Chechen internet agency which is independent, international and Islamic" that "does not represent the viewpoint of any state structures"...
, 26 September 2008 - Speculation Swirls After Kadyrov Rival Is Slain In Russian Capital, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 26 September 2008
- Sulim Goes to Chechnya to Bury Brother Despite Potential Trap, KommersantKommersantKommersant is a commerce-oriented newspaper published in Russia. , the circulation was 131,000.- History :The newspaper was initially published in 1909, and it was closed down following the Bolshevik seizure of power and the introduction of censorship in 1917.In 1989, with the onset of press...
, Sep. 26, 2008 - Sulim Yamadayev hopes that Ramzan Kadyrov did not kill his brother, Kavkaz CenterKavkaz CenterThe Kavkaz Center is a privately run website by pro-Chechen which aims to be "a Chechen internet agency which is independent, international and Islamic" that "does not represent the viewpoint of any state structures"...
, 29 September 2008 - Death of a hero (weekly review), Prague WatchdogPrague WatchdogPrague Watchdog was an English, Czech and Russian-language Prague-based on-line service that collected and disseminated information on the crisis in Chechnya and reporting on the conflict in the North Caucasus, focusing on human rights, humanitarian situation, media access and coverage, and the...
, September 30, 2008 - Moscow Diary: Southern discomfort, BBC NewsBBC NewsBBC News is the department of the British Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs. The department is the world's largest broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online...
, 1 October 2008 - A Blood Feud Made to Order, The St. Petersburg Times, October 3, 2008
- All quiet on the clan front in Chechnya, Prague WatchdogPrague WatchdogPrague Watchdog was an English, Czech and Russian-language Prague-based on-line service that collected and disseminated information on the crisis in Chechnya and reporting on the conflict in the North Caucasus, focusing on human rights, humanitarian situation, media access and coverage, and the...
, October 3, 2008 - Many Reasons To Kill, No Reasons To Protect, Novaya GazetaNovaya GazetaNovaya Gazeta is a Russian newspaper well known in the country for its critical and investigative coverage of Russian political and social affairs....
, 10.10.2008