Aslambek Saypiyevich Abdulkhadzhiev (12 April 1962 – 26 August 2002) was a brigadier general in the

Armed Forces of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria The Chechen National Army (, ; ) or Chechen Armed Forces are the united militarized formations of the former de facto Chechen Republic of Ichkeria. On October 15, 2022, the Armed Forces of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria were officially resurrec ...

. He was a deputy of

Shamil Basayev Shamil Salmanovich Basayev (; ; 14 January 1965 – 10 July 2006), also known by his '' kunya'' Abu Idris, was a Chechen guerrilla leader who served as a senior military commander in the breakaway Chechen Republic of Ichkeria. He held the rank ...

, and

commissioner A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to incl ...

of Shalinsky and Vedensky Districts after being appointed by

Dzhokhar Dudayev Dzhokhar Musayevich Dudayev (born Dudin Musa-Khant Dzhokhar; 15 February 1944 – 21 April 1996) was a Chechen politician, statesman and military leader of the 1990s Chechen independence movement from Russia. He served as the first president o ...

in 1994. He participated in the War of Abkhazia as well as in both Russian-Chechen wars.

Role in First Chechen War

Abdulkhadzhiev took part in the Basayev led Budyonnovsk hospital hostage crisis in June 1995. Shamil's fighters seized the Budyonnovsk hospital and the 1,600 people inside for a period of several days. At least 147

civilians A civilian is a person who is not a member of an armed force. It is illegal under the law of armed conflict to target civilians with military attacks, along with numerous other considerations for civilians during times of war. If a civilian enga ...

died and 415 were wounded. They then successfully retreated to

Chechnya Chechnya, officially the Chechen Republic, is a Republics of Russia, republic of Russia. It is situated in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe, between the Caspian Sea and Black Sea. The republic forms a part of the North Caucasian Federa ...

under cover of

hostage A hostage is a person seized by an abductor in order to compel another party, one which places a high value on the liberty, well-being and safety of the person seized—such as a relative, employer, law enforcement, or government—to act, o ...

s. In a ''

Prism PRISM is a code name for a program under which the United States National Security Agency (NSA) collects internet communications from various U.S. internet companies. The program is also known by the SIGAD . PRISM collects stored internet ...

'' (a

Jamestown Foundation The Jamestown Foundation is a Washington, D.C.–based non-partisan defense policy think tank. Founded in 1984 as a platform to support Soviet defectors, its stated mission is to inform and educate policy makers about events and trends, which ...

monthly) interview, Abdulkhadzhiev gave his opinion of the Budyonnovsk tragedy:

AA: Here I must say we do not plan anything like Budennovsk. The Budennovsk tragedy will never be repeated. Moreover, we did not make these plans except as a last resort. Why was the world was silent when Shali was bombed, when some 400 people were killed or wounded? In fact, the evil we did in Budennovsk was not even 30 percent of what they did in Shali. And what was world community's reaction when they wiped out Samashki and Serzhen-Yurt?
Prism: You are saying Budennovsk will never be repeated. Then what will happen?
AA: I want peace. Budennovsk is the way for all small people to save themselves. Today it is possible to have all the might of a big state turned against this state. Therefore, this war is senseless and it must be stopped no matter how much certain politicians would wish it to continue.

Death

Despite being wanted by Russian authorities, Abdulkhadzhiev continued to be a significant force of influence in southern Chechnya until he was killed on 26 August 2002 in Shali by Russian

Spetsnaz SpetsnazThe term is borrowed from rus, спецназ, p=spʲɪtsˈnas; abbreviation for or 'Special Purpose Military Units'; or () are special forces in many post-Soviet states. Historically, this term referred to the Soviet Union's Spet ...

who attempted to capture him.Большой Асламбек подорвался, как Маленький
''

Kommersant (, , ''The Businessman'' or Commerce Man, often shortened to Ъ) is a nationally distributed daily newspaper published in Russia mostly devoted to politics and business. The TNS Media and NRS Russia certified July 2013 circulation of the daily ...

'', 27 August, 2002

References

1962 births 2002 deaths Chechen field commanders Islamic terrorism in Russia People of the Chechen wars Chechen warlords Russian people of Chechen descent North Caucasian independence activists {{Chechnya-bio-stub