Doku Gapurovich Zavgayev (; ; born 22 December 1940) is a Soviet and Russian diplomat and politician from

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 ...

. He was the leader of the Checheno-Ingush ASSR.

Communist leadership

In 1989, Zavgayev, a former

collective farm Collective farming and communal farming are various types of "agricultural production in which multiple farmers run their holdings as a joint enterprise". There are two broad types of communal farms: agricultural cooperatives, in which member-o ...

manager and senior Communist Party official, was elected as the first Chechen First Secretary of the Checheno-Ingush ASSR since the Chechens' return in 1957. In August 1991 Zavgayev, then communist leader of the Checheno-Ingush ASSR, supported the

1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt The 1991 Soviet coup attempt, also known as the August Coup, was a failed attempt by hardliners of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) to Coup d'état, forcibly seize control of the country from Mikhail Gorbachev, who was President ...

against Soviet President

Mikhail Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet and Russian politician who served as the last leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served a ...

. On 6 September 1991, supporters of the

All-National Congress of the Chechen People The All-National Congress of the Chechen People (; NCChP) of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria came to power on 1 November 1991 under president Dzhokhar Dudayev, a former commander of the Soviet air force base in Tartu, Estonia. Since its formatio ...

(NCChP) led 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 ...

, stormed a session of the Chechen-Ingush ASSR

Supreme Soviet The Supreme Soviet () was the common name for the legislative bodies (parliaments) of the Soviet socialist republics (SSR) in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). These soviets were modeled after the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, establ ...

, killing the Soviet Communist Party chief for Grozny, Vitaly Kutsenko, severely injuring several other Soviet members, and establishing the

Chechen Republic of Ichkeria The Chechen Republic of Ichkeria ( ; ; ; abbreviated as "ChRI" or "CRI"), known simply as Ichkeria, was a ''de facto'' State (polity), state that controlled most of the former Checheno-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, Checheno-Ingus ...

. Zavgayev, the Chairman of the Soviet, was not present. Trying to avoid further bloodshed he was compelled to leave the republic, publicly announcing that he would return.

First Chechen War

By 1994, both the president of Russia,

Boris Yeltsin Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin (1 February 1931 – 23 April 2007) was a Soviet and Russian politician and statesman who served as President of Russia from 1991 to 1999. He was a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) from 1961 to ...

and the heads of the "force ministries" were convinced by Zavgayev that Russia should actively intervene in Chechnya. Zavgayev was appointed a pro-Moscow head of state on 24 October 1995, and was elected in December the same year with 96% of the votes. On 8 December 1995, Zavgayev and

Viktor Chernomyrdin Viktor Stepanovich Chernomyrdin (, ; 9 April 19383 November 2010) was a Soviet and Russian politician and businessman. He was the Minister of Gas Industry of the Soviet Union (13 February 1985 – 17 July 1989), after which he became first chairm ...

signed an agreement as a basis for a Russian-Chechen federation treaty which would give Chechnya broad autonomy akin to that of

Tatarstan Tatarstan, officially the Republic of Tatarstan, sometimes also called Tataria, is a Republics of Russia, republic of Russia located in Eastern Europe. It is a part of the Volga Federal District; and its capital city, capital and largest city i ...

Postwar career

After the 1996 withdrawal of the Russian forces from Chechnya, Zavgayev was appointed Russia's ambassador to Tanzania. From February 2004 he was Deputy Foreign Minister and he was Director General of the Russian

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

from August 2004 to September 2009. From September 2009 to November 2019 he was Russia's ambassador to Slovenia.

Notes

1940 births Living people Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary (Russian Federation) Ambassadors of Russia to Slovenia Ambassadors of Russia to Tanzania Members of the Central Committee of the 28th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Members of the Federation Council of Russia (1996–2000) Members of the Supreme Soviet of Russia Academic staff of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations Heads of the Chechen Republic Leaders ousted by a coup People of the Chechen wars Recipients of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 3rd class Recipients of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 4th class Recipients of the Order of Honour (Russia) Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Chechen politicians Russian people of Chechen descent {{Chechnya-bio-stub