Shamil Basayev

Shamil Salmanovich Basayev (Chechen: Салман ВоӀ Шамиль; Salman Voj Şamil; Russian: Шамиль Салманович Басаев; 14 January 1965 – 10 July 2006), also known by his kunya Abu Idris, was a Chechen guerrilla leader, politician, and terrorist who served as a senior military commander in the breakaway Chechen Republic of Ichkeria. He held the rank of brigadier general in the Armed Forces of Ichkeria, and was posthumously declared generalissimo. As a military commander in the separatist armed forces of Chechnya, one of his most notable battles was the separatist recapture of Grozny in 1996, which he personally planned and commanded together with Aslan Maskhadov. He also masterminded several of the worst terrorist attacks that occurred in Russia.

Starting as a field commander in the Transcaucasus, Basayev led guerrilla campaigns against Russian forces for years, as well as launching mass-hostage takings of civilians, with his goal being the withdrawal of Russian soldiers from Chechnya. From 1997 to 1998, he also served as the vice-prime minister of the breakaway state in Aslan Maskhadov's government. Beginning in 2003, Basayev used the nom de guerre and title of "Emir Abdullah Shamil Abu-Idris". As Basayev acquired a reputation for ruthlessness, he became revered among his peers and eventually became the highest-ranking Chechen military commander and was considered the undisputed leader of the Chechen insurgency as well as being the overall senior leader of all other Chechen rebel factions.

Basayev personally led the Budyonnovsk hospital raid in 1995, ordered the Beslan school siege in 2004, and was responsible for numerous attacks on security forces in and around Chechnya. He also masterminded the 2002 Moscow theater hostage crisis, the 2002 Grozny truck bombing, and the 2004 Russian aircraft bombings. He was also one of the leaders of the 2004 Nazran raid. ABC News described Basayev as "one of the most-wanted terrorists in the world", while the Council on Foreign Relations analyst Steven Sestanovich described him as "the most feared and hated man in Russia". Despite his reputation, journalist Tom de Waal described him as "almost unassuming in the flesh", being "of medium height, with a bushy beard and high forehead worthy of a Moscow intellectual, and a quiet voice."