Sultan Geliskhanov
Encyclopedia
Sultan Geliskhanov is a former head of the state security service in the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria
and a former field commander in the Chechen
resistance against Russia
.
. According to the other sources he belongs to the Yalxoroj (Ялхорой) teip
(clan) and is originally from the village of Yalxoroj
which is named after this teip.
During the Soviet
period Geliskhanov served as chief of the traffic police
in Gudermes
, Chechnya's second-largest city, reaching the rank of colonel
.
.
In June 1993, Geliskhanov ordered disarmament of all "illegal armed formations" and banned civilians from bearing arms in public (a right given to the people by Dudayev earlier). He then personally led the breaking up of an opposition rally in central Grozny
, during which some 15 people were killed; a year later, he directed large-scale arrests of opposition members. Geliskhanov's DGB successes included the arrest the Chechen mafia
boss Nikolay Suleimanov
and the capture of two high-ranking officers of the Russian Federal Counterintelligence Service (FSK, at the time the main successor agency to the KGB
) clandestinely deployed to Chechnya. Ruslan Labazanov
, opposition co-leader, crime kingpin and renegade former head of Dudayev's bodyguards, publicily swore to kill "especially Dudayev and Geliskhanov."
There were rumours Geliskhanov told the FSK that he has two battalions ready to confront Dudayev, but he denied having said that. He also accused the FSK of spending billion of dollars on terrorism, sabotage, propaganda, disinformation and other subversive actions aimed at toppling the Chechen government.
of 1994-1996, Geliskhanov took part in the Battle of Grozny. The DGB unit under his personal command fled their post after being bombed and without notyfing the HQ, which allowed a Russian infantry force to cross Voikov bridge across the Sunzha River
and approach the City Hospital No.2 (the command center after the evacuation of the Presidential Palace
), eventually forcing the Chechen command to abandon it.
Having abandoned his official post of the Chechen security minister after he had fled from besieged Chechen capital in late January 1995, Geliskhanov engaged in negotiations regarding his surrender, but demanded guarantees of safety. On March 14, 1995, however, the acting Russian federal prosecutor of the Chechen Republic Baskhanov signed an order to initiate criminal proceedings against him along with Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev
, Shamil Basayev
and other Chechen leaders.
Geliskhanov then became a guerrilla leader, gaining reputation as one of the top separatist field commanders. According to Human Rights Watch
, Ishkoy-Yurt, a village located directly across the border with Dagestan
, was reportedly "marked for special retribution" by Russian troops on April 20 because it was the home of Geliskhanov, "a leading Dudayev loyalist". In April-May there were false rumours that he has been "liquidated" by a covert FSK assassination squad.
In 1995, along with Raduyev, Geliskhanov commanded an attack on a convoy of the Russian Interior Ministry, and on December 14 the pair led a large-scale guerrilla raid on Gudermes, seizing much of the city for three days. He also participated in negotiations with federal representatives during the Budyonnovsk hospital hostage crisis
in the role of neutral mediator.
's election as President of Ichkeria
in January 1997, Geliskhanov again joined up with a with Raduyev, an opponent of Maskhadov who has raised an unruly 1,000-strong militia known as General Dudayev's Army, based in downtown Grozny and partially controlling the Gudermessky District of eastern Chechnya. Geliskhanov's Squad, his group of about 100 armed men, was based in the remote Nozhay-Yurtovsky District to the south of Gudermessky.
began in 1999, his men reportedly dispersed and there were reports that he had died. In April 2002, pro-Moscow
President of the Chechen Republic
Akhmad Kadyrov
claimed that Geliskhanov and more than 100 of his fighters planned to give up soon, but this did not take place.
reported that Sultan Geliskhanov and his brother Turpal have voluntarily surrendered in Gudermes to the pro-Moscow Chechen authorities. According to kavkaz.memo.ru, which quoted an unnamed Chechen law-enforcement official as saying Geliskhanov has been interrogated and released, and the only outstanding charge against Geliskhanov was "participation in an illegal armed formation", qualifying him for an amnesty
.
Chechen separatists called Geliskhanov "a private person" and according to Zakayev, by then an envoy of the separatist president Abdul-Halim Sadulayev, "the announced voluntary surrender of a powerful warlord is just an action of propaganda ... Geliskhanov had never fired a shot at federals that war." Geliskhanov himself said he had "long ago become disillusioned with the policy of Aslan Maskhadov". He also claimed that because of his disagreement with the political course of the separatist leadership he had not taken active part in fighting during both the first and second military campaigns and had remained out of the separatist government during the 1995-1999 inter-war period, and said he decided to surrender when Ramzan Kadyrov
personally guaranted safety for the former separatists "with no blood on their hands".
Chechen Republic of Ichkeria
The Chechen Republic of Ichkeria is the unrecognized secessionist government of Chechnya. The republic was proclaimed in late 1991 by Dzokhar Dudayev, and fought two devastating wars between separatists and the Russian Federation which denounced secession...
and a former field commander in the Chechen
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...
resistance against 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...
.
Early life
Sultan Geliskhanov was born in 1955 in internal exile in KazakhstanKazakhstan
Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
. According to the other sources he belongs to the Yalxoroj (Ялхорой) 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...
(clan) and is originally from the village of Yalxoroj
Yalxoroj
Yalkhoroy is a village in the Chechen Republic, Russia. The Yalkhoroy teip dominates this village which is its namesake. The first president of the Chechen Republic, Dzhokhar Dudaev was born here....
which is named after this teip.
During the Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
period Geliskhanov served as chief of the traffic police
Traffic police
Traffic police or Traffic cops may refer to:*Police controlling traffic, see rules of the road*Traffic Cops, a BBC real-life documentary*Highway patrol*Road Policing Unit*Traffic Guard*Sri Lankan Traffic Police*Municipal police...
in Gudermes
Gudermes
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...
, Chechnya's second-largest city, reaching 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...
.
Chechen security service
Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union and Chechnya's delcaration of independence, after Geliskhanov lost in elections to the post of mayor of Gudermes 1992, in 1993 Dzhokhar Dudayev made him Chechen minister of internal affairs and then director of the State Security Department DGB (ДГБ) later the same year. His rise was made possible by his friendship with Dudayev's son-in-law, Salman RaduyevSalman Raduyev
Salman Raduyev was a Chechen separatist warlord considered to be one of the most radical and notorious Chechen rebel commanders of the period between 1994 and 1999...
.
In June 1993, Geliskhanov ordered disarmament of all "illegal armed formations" and banned civilians from bearing arms in public (a right given to the people by Dudayev earlier). He then personally led the breaking up of an opposition rally in central 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...
, during which some 15 people were killed; a year later, he directed large-scale arrests of opposition members. Geliskhanov's DGB successes included the arrest the Chechen mafia
Chechen mafia
The Chechen mafia is one of the largest organized crime groups operating in the former Soviet Union next to established Russian mafia gangs, which originally consisted of criminals of Chechen ethnicity who later also tried to recruit former Russian special military forces, police and army officers...
boss Nikolay Suleimanov
Nikolay Suleimanov
Nikolay Suleimanov, known more commonly as "Khoza", was a leading "authority" of the Chechen mafia organization Obshina.Suleimanov came to Moscow in the early 1980s and helped Khozh-Ahmed Noukhaev and Ruslan A. to set up the Chechen gangs there...
and the capture of two high-ranking officers of the Russian Federal Counterintelligence Service (FSK, at the time the main successor agency to the KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
) clandestinely deployed to Chechnya. Ruslan Labazanov
Ruslan Labazanov
Ruslan Labazanov was a notorious criminal boss of the Chechen mafia and head of a Chechen armed faction, held by some as an example of a modern abrek .-Biography:...
, opposition co-leader, crime kingpin and renegade former head of Dudayev's bodyguards, publicily swore to kill "especially Dudayev and Geliskhanov."
There were rumours Geliskhanov told the FSK that he has two battalions ready to confront Dudayev, but he denied having said that. He also accused the FSK of spending billion of dollars on terrorism, sabotage, propaganda, disinformation and other subversive actions aimed at toppling the Chechen government.
First war with Russia
At the beginning of the First Chechen WarFirst 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...
of 1994-1996, Geliskhanov took part in the Battle of Grozny. The DGB unit under his personal command fled their post after being bombed and without notyfing the HQ, which allowed a Russian infantry force to cross Voikov bridge across the Sunzha River
Sunzha River
The Sunzha is a river in North Ossetia, Ingushetia and Chechnya, Russia, a right tributary of Terek River. It is 278 km long. The Sunzha rises on the Northern slope of the Caucasus Major. Its major tributaries are the Assa River and Argun River. With a turbidity of 3,800 g/m³, it carries 12,2...
and approach the City Hospital No.2 (the command center after the evacuation of the Presidential Palace
Presidential Palace, Grozny
The presidential palace in Grozny was the building in Grozny, capital of Chechnya, which became a world-famous symbol during the early conflict in Chechnya, in which it became the key terrain symbolizing victory. The building was ruined by repeated artillery and air strikes...
), eventually forcing the Chechen command to abandon it.
Having abandoned his official post of the Chechen security minister after he had fled from besieged Chechen capital in late January 1995, Geliskhanov engaged in negotiations regarding his surrender, but demanded guarantees of safety. On March 14, 1995, however, the acting Russian federal prosecutor of the Chechen Republic Baskhanov signed an order to initiate criminal proceedings against him along with Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev
Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev
Zelimkhan Abdumuslimovich Yandarbiyev was a Chechen writer and a politician, who served as acting president of the breakaway Chechen Republic of Ichkeria between 1996 and 1997...
, Shamil Basayev
Shamil Basayev
Shamil Salmanovich Basayev was a Chechen militant Islamist and a leader of the Chechen rebel movement.Starting as a field commander in the Transcaucasus, Basayev led guerrilla campaigns against the Russian troops for years, as well as launching mass-hostage takings of civilians, with his goal...
and other Chechen leaders.
Geliskhanov then became a guerrilla leader, gaining reputation as one of the top separatist field commanders. According to Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
, Ishkoy-Yurt, a village located directly across the border with Dagestan
Dagestan
The Republic of Dagestan is a federal subject of Russia, located in the North Caucasus region. Its capital and the largest city is Makhachkala, located at the center of Dagestan on the Caspian Sea...
, was reportedly "marked for special retribution" by Russian troops on April 20 because it was the home of Geliskhanov, "a leading Dudayev loyalist". In April-May there were false rumours that he has been "liquidated" by a covert FSK assassination squad.
In 1995, along with Raduyev, Geliskhanov commanded an attack on a convoy of the Russian Interior Ministry, and on December 14 the pair led a large-scale guerrilla raid on Gudermes, seizing much of the city for three days. He also participated in negotiations with federal representatives during the Budyonnovsk hospital hostage crisis
Budyonnovsk hospital hostage crisis
The Budyonnovsk hospital hostage crisis took place from 14 June to 19 June 1995, when a group of 80 to 200 Chechen terrorists led by Shamil Basayev attacked the southern Russian city of Budyonnovsk , some north of the border with the Russian republic of Chechnya...
in the role of neutral mediator.
After the war
After the end of the first war, and following Aslan MaskhadovAslan Maskhadov
Aslan Aliyevich Maskhadov was a leader of the Chechen separatist movement and the third President of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria.He was credited by many with the Chechen victory in the First Chechen War, which allowed for the...
's election as President of Ichkeria
President of Ichkeria
This is a list of Presidents of the unrecognised Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, a pro-independence movement that controlled most of Chechnya from 1991 to 1999...
in January 1997, Geliskhanov again joined up with a with Raduyev, an opponent of Maskhadov who has raised an unruly 1,000-strong militia known as General Dudayev's Army, based in downtown Grozny and partially controlling the Gudermessky District of eastern Chechnya. Geliskhanov's Squad, his group of about 100 armed men, was based in the remote Nozhay-Yurtovsky District to the south of Gudermessky.
Second war with Russia
When the Second Chechen WarSecond 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 ....
began in 1999, his men reportedly dispersed and there were reports that he had died. In April 2002, pro-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...
President of the Chechen Republic
President of the Chechen Republic
The President of the Chechen Republic, known commonly as the President of Chechnya, is the highest office within the Government of Chechnya. The office was instituted in 2003 during the course of the Second Chechen War, when the Russian federal government regained control over the...
Akhmad Kadyrov
Akhmad Kadyrov
Hajji Akhmad Abdulkhamidovich Kadyrov , also spelled Akhmat, was the Chief Mufti of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria in the 1990s during and after the First Chechen War...
claimed that Geliskhanov and more than 100 of his fighters planned to give up soon, but this did not take place.
Surrender
On March 28–29, 2006, regnum.ru and kavkaz.memo.ruMemorial (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....
reported that Sultan Geliskhanov and his brother Turpal have voluntarily surrendered in Gudermes to the pro-Moscow Chechen authorities. According to kavkaz.memo.ru, which quoted an unnamed Chechen law-enforcement official as saying Geliskhanov has been interrogated and released, and the only outstanding charge against Geliskhanov was "participation in an illegal armed formation", qualifying him for an amnesty
Amnesty
Amnesty is a legislative or executive act by which a state restores those who may have been guilty of an offense against it to the positions of innocent people, without changing the laws defining the offense. It includes more than pardon, in as much as it obliterates all legal remembrance of the...
.
Chechen separatists called Geliskhanov "a private person" and according to Zakayev, by then an envoy of the separatist president Abdul-Halim Sadulayev, "the announced voluntary surrender of a powerful warlord is just an action of propaganda ... Geliskhanov had never fired a shot at federals that war." Geliskhanov himself said he had "long ago become disillusioned with the policy of Aslan Maskhadov". He also claimed that because of his disagreement with the political course of the separatist leadership he had not taken active part in fighting during both the first and second military campaigns and had remained out of the separatist government during the 1995-1999 inter-war period, and said he decided to surrender when 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...
personally guaranted safety for the former separatists "with no blood on their hands".