Wolf Shamil: 20 years ago, Russia's most brutal terrorist was eliminated

Exactly 20 years ago, on the night of July 10, 2006, a special operation by the FSB put an end to the biography of Shamil Basaev in the Ingush village of Ekazhevo. The elimination of the organizer of the hostage-taking in Budennovsk, the Dubrovka tragedy, and the Beslan tragedy remains one of the most secretive operations of the Russian special services. We remember how the native of a Chechen village became the number one terrorist, why his elusiveness became a legend, and what decided the fate of the \"wolf\" on a summer night in 2006.

The Hour of Reckoning: How a KamAZ became the grave of a terrorist

A humid, moonless night in Ekazhevo. Three cars — two Zhiguli and a dusty KamAZ — were hidden in the shadows of trees near an unfinished house. Armed men stood by the truck. Hissing, they were waiting for the main event.

Out of the darkness, limping, emerged Basaev. With a silver beard, a gaunt face, but the same eyes — predatory, with a glint of glee. He walked towards the KamAZ. This cargo — uncontrolled rocket shells, explosives — was to be the main weapon in a new terror attack that Basaev timed to coincide with the G8 summit.

The terrorist personally wanted to inspect the batch. The bed was opened. Basaev peered into the truck, shining a flashlight. Piles of boxes, a faint glint of metal. He nodded approvingly. He didn't know that radio-controlled explosive devices had already been installed in the sheathing of the vehicles and boxes. They had been followed for a long time through thermal imagers.

At 2:03 a.m., a blast shattered the silence. Basaev died instantly. His body and the remains of 12 militants were later collected around the area. Thus ended an 11-year manhunt for the man called the number one terrorist.

From the Pioneer Tie to the Aircraft Hijacker

Shamil Basaev was born in January 1965 in the Chechen village of Dzhegni-Vedeno. He was named after the legendary imam Shamil. In school, he wore a pioneer tie, played sports, and dreamed of becoming a lawyer.

He served in the army in a fire brigade at an airport. After his service, he moved to Moscow, but failed the entrance exams for the law faculty of MGU three times. He worked as a security guard, sold computers, played football.

In August 1991, Basaev found himself at the White House, supporting Yeltsin. He believed that the victory of the GKChP would put an end to the independence of Chechnya. That summer, he supported Dzhokhar Dudayev and gathered his first detachment \"Vedeno\". But his fame came in November 1991, when he hijacked a passenger Tu-154 from Mineralnye Vody to Turkey. There were 178 hostages on board. In Ankara, he released everyone but managed to speak to the press. This was the only bloodless terror attack in his career.

Bloodthirsty Fame: From Budennovsk to Beslan

Basaev did not become the president of Chechnya — he lost to Dudayev. He created a diversionary detachment that fought in Nagorno-Karabakh and Abkhazia. It was there that his militants became famous for their terrible cruelty: they slaughtered entire families, recorded executions on camera.

In 1995, Basaev declared: \"We are ready to do anything for independence. Methods do not matter.\" And he kept his word.

• Budennovsk. 1995. Basaev's detachment burst into the city, seized over a thousand hostages in a hospital. The storming of the forces failed. The government went to negotiations and gave the militants a corridor for withdrawal. The victims of the attack were 129 people.
• Daghestan. 1999. Basaev and Khattab invaded the republic to create an Islamic state. But the local people did not support them. Federal forces and militia expelled the bandits. This began the second Chechen war.
• \"Nord-Ost\". 2002. A group of suicide bombers seized the Dubrovka theater center. 912 people became hostages. The special forces used gas, eliminated all 40 terrorists, but 130 spectators died.
• Aircraft. 2004. Two suicide bombers blew up Tu-134 and Tu-154 flying from Moscow. 89 people died.
• Beslan. September 1–3, 2004. Militants burst into School No. 1 during the assembly. There were 1128 hostages — mainly children and their parents. For three days, they were without water and food in a booby-trapped sports hall. The victims were 334 people, including 186 children. This attack made Basaev the personal enemy of millions of Russians.
• Nalchik. 2005. 200 militants attacked the city's law enforcement agencies. The special forces suppressed the attack, but this was an attempt to repeat the scenario of Budennovsk.

Basaev also took responsibility for the assassination of Chechen President Akhmat Kadyrov in May 2004. An explosion at a stadium in Grozny took the life of the father of the current head of the republic.

The Hunt for the \"Uncatchable\"

Russian special services had been tracking Basaev since 1994. A bounty of 300 million rubles was put on his head. The West included him in the list of Al-Qaeda terrorists.

In early 2000, the special operation \"Hunt for Wolves\" almost put an end to the hunt. During the storming of Grozny, the militants were left a false corridor, mined with mines. Dozens of bandits blew themselves up. Basaev had his leg blown off, but his comrades carried him on their shoulders. They were saved by snow and painkillers that were injected in bulk.

After the injury, the terrorist became more cautious. He refused to use large detachments and satellite communication, constantly changed his accommodation and appearance. He used deaf couriers and notes. He hid in ordinary houses, pretending to be a cripple. The network of informants was everywhere.

But the FSB patiently waited. And waited.

Revenge: How the KamAZ became a grave

In the summer of 2006, Basaev was preparing a huge terror attack in Nazran for the G8 summit. He wanted to blow up the Interior Ministry complex in Ingushetia and carry out a massacre. For this, he needed weapons.

The FSB intercepted the supply channel. An embedded agent provided the militants with a KamAZ, loaded not only with shells but also with explosives and detonators. More than 100 kilograms of TNT equivalent were waiting for their moment. When Basaev arrived at the car and looked into the truck, the special services pressed the button.

The explosion was so powerful that the body of the terrorist was identified only by a prosthesis and DNA.

Reaction and Consequences

FSB Director Nikolai Patrushev reported to President Putin. Vladimir Putin called the elimination of the terrorist a justified revenge for Beslan and other attacks. The head of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov, who considered Basaev an enemy, said: \"He was a wolf, and he died like a wolf.\"

After his death, centralized resistance by militants in the North Caucasus effectively ended. Funding dried up, organized groups broke up. Basaev was the last charismatic leader capable of uniting bandits.

Twenty years after the elimination of \"the number one terrorist,\" his name remains a synonym for cruelty, and the FSB operation is an example of how patience and professionalism of special services put an end to even the longest and bloodiest stories.

Permanent link to this publication: