Salman Raduyev

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This article is about Salman Raduyev, with the nickname "Titanic". For other uses, see Titanic.

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Salman Raduyev

Salman Raduyev (or Raduev; Russian: Салма́н Раду́ев; February 13, 1967–December 14, 2002) was a rogue Chechen warlord and terrorist.

1 Rise to fame
2 Out of control
3 Decline and death
4 External link

[edit] Rise to fame

Raduyev was appointed the prefect of Gudermes in June of 1992 by his father-in-law, Dzhokhar Dudaev who was the President of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria.

During the First Chechen War Raduyev became a field commander for the separatist Chechen forces. He was one of the best known of the rebel field commanders, commanding strategically important Gudermessky District.^{[citation needed]} On December 14, 1995 Raduyev, along with Sultan Geliskhanov, led a 3-day raid on the city of Gudermes.

On January 9, 1996, Raduyev led the large-scale Kizlyar hostage taking raid into Dagestan, escalating into the following battle of the border village of Pervomaiskoye. The indiscriminate assault by Russian forces resulted in the destruction of Pervomaiskoye and the deaths of numerous civilians.

In March 1996, Raduyev was shot in the head and incorrectly reported dead. This wound earned him the nickname of Titanic because his shattered skull was reconstructed with a steel plates.

[edit] Out of control

In the summer of 1996 Raduyev returned from medical treatment abroad and refused the orders of Zelimkhan Yandarbiev to stop carrying out terrorist operations despite the ceasefire and talks that would lead up to the Khasav-Yurt Accord. He claimed that Dzhokhar Dudaev was alive and issuing orders to him from a secret NATO base in Turkey. In the newspaper interview in 1997, the newly elected Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov described Raduyev as "mentally ill."[1] Even Shamil Basayev called Raduyev "crazy."

Maskhadov reduced Raduyev from the rank of Brigadier General to Private, but further action against him was blocked by a public opposition from numerous pro-Raduyev war veterans. Raduyev's private militia, called "General Dudaev's Army" was also involved in several train robberies and other criminal acts. In the meantime, Raduyev kept claiming responsibility for every explosion in Russia.

[edit] Decline and death

Raduyev was heavily wounded in a car bomb assassination attempt in 1998. In 1999, Raduyev underwent major plastic surgery to reconstruct his face.

Because of his injuries, Raduyev did not take an active role in the Second Chechen War. He was captured in March 2000 by Russian special operations unit Vympel in his home. Raduyev was tried on multiple murder charges and, in December of 2001, was sentenced to life in prison.

On December 14, 2002, Salman Raduyev died in a penal colony from internal bleeding. The circumstances surrounding the death of Raduyev are not clear. According to his family he was murdered while serving a life sentence in a Russian prison. Amnesty International has called for a full investigation into the circumstances surrounding his death.[2]