Ruslan Khamidovich Labazanov (1967 – disappeared 1 June 1996) was a pro-Russian Chechen mob boss turned warlord who led the Russian-supported Chechen anti-

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 ...

faction in the

First Chechen War The First Chechen War, also referred to as the First Russo-Chechen War, was a struggle for independence waged by the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria against the invading Russia, Russian Federation from 1994 to 1996. After a mutually agreed on treaty ...

Early life

Labazanov was born in internal exile in

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

in 1967 in the Chechen family of a teyp Nohch-Keloy (clan). He became an Eastern

martial arts Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defence; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; ...

expert and served in the Soviet

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

as a

physical training instructor Physical training instructor (PTI) is a term used primarily in the British Armed Forces and British police, as well as some other Commonwealth countries, for an instructor in physical fitness. United Kingdom In the British Army, specialist Physi ...

. After leaving the army, he became known as a flamboyant, charismatic and extremely violent gangster.

Stockholm International Peace Research Institute Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) is an international institute based in Stockholm, Sweden. It was founded in 1966 and provides data, analysis and recommendations for armed conflict, military expenditure and arms trade a ...

and United Nations Research Institute for Social Development, ''Ethnicity, Nationalism and Conflict in and after the Soviet Union'', 1997 In 1990, he was convicted of murder in

Rostov-on-Don Rostov-on-Don is a port city and the administrative centre of Rostov Oblast and the Southern Federal District of Russia. It lies in the southeastern part of the East European Plain on the Don River, from the Sea of Azov, directly north of t ...

and sentenced to death before escaping from prison in 1991. According to himself, he actually escaped from

Grozny Grozny (, ; ) is the capital city of Chechnya, Russia. The city lies on the Sunzha River. According to the 2021 Russian census, 2021 census, it had a population of 328,533 — up from 210,720 recorded in the 2002 Russian Census, 2002 ce ...

pretrial detention center: "During the 1991 coup, I freed the whole prison, nearly 600 men, ahead of time. They obeyed me."

Biography

In 1992, Labazanov aligned closely with the Chechen President Dzhokhar Dudayev, eventually becoming the chief of Dudayev's personal Presidential Guard and holding a rank of

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

in the

Chechen National Guard 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 ...

(in 1992–1993 he had also been engaged in illegal arms trade) before failing out with him after a year-and-half during the 1993 Chechen constitutional crisis. After a bloody two-day clash between his followers and allies, including Chechen mafia boss

Nikolay Suleimanov Nikolay Suleimanov (; 6 October 1955 – December 1994) nicknamed "Khoza" and "Ruslan", was a Chechen mafia leader active in the 1980s and 1990s. Life Suleimanov was born in Kazakhstan during the years of internal deportation, from the Guching ...

, and Dudayev's loyalists in the centre of the Chechen capital Grozny on June 13–14, Labazanov fled the city and promptly declared a

blood feud A feud , also known in more extreme cases as a blood feud, vendetta, faida, clan war, gang war, private war, or mob war, is a long-running argument or fight, often between social groups of people, especially family, families or clans. Feuds begin ...

against Dudayev for the death of his relative (either a brother or a cousin), whose head was publicly displayed among the heads of three other Labazanov's henchmen.Tracey C. German, ''Russia's Chechen War'', 2003 Labazanov then joined Umar Avturkhanov and the other criminal leader and one-time Dudayev supporter Beslan Gantamirov (the ex-mayor of Grozny) in the anti-Dudayev opposition, called the Chechen Provisional Council, operating as commander of his own

paramilitary A paramilitary is a military that is not a part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. The Oxford English Dictionary traces the use of the term "paramilitary" as far back as 1934. Overview Though a paramilitary is, by definiti ...

outfit, the Niiso (Justice) movement, partially controlling the Shalinsky and Vedensky districts of southern Chechnya. Labazanov assumed a role of a "Chechen

Robin Hood Robin Hood is a legendary noble outlaw, heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature, theatre, and cinema. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions o ...

", a self-styled defender of the people against the oppressive authorities. His private army of about 200 men, mostly former convicts like himself,Svante E. Cornell,''Small Nations and Great Powers: A Study of Ethnopolitical Conflict in the Caucasus'', 2001 was based in and around the town of Argun and supplied with

T-72 The T-72 is a family of Soviet Union, Soviet main battle tanks that entered production in 1973. The T-72 was a development based on the T-64 using thought and design of the previous Object 167M. About 25,000 T-72 tanks have been built, and refu ...

tanks and other heavy weapons provided by the Russian special services. They also provided personal security and other armed men for

Ruslan Khasbulatov Ruslan Imranovich Khasbulatov (, ; 22 November 1942 – 3 January 2023) was a Russian economist and politician and the former chairman of Parliament of Russia of Chechen descent who played a central role in the events leading to the 1993 co ...

(freshly released from Russian prison following his defeat in the

1993 Russian constitutional crisis In September and October 1993, a constitutional crisis arose in the Russian Federation from a conflict between the then Russian president Boris Yeltsin and the country's parliament. Yeltsin performed a self-coup, dissolving parliament and insti ...

), and his abortive peacemaking initiative. In the summer of 1994, Chechnya descended into a fierce civil war-style conflict between the Chechen government and the opposition forces. For the first two months the clashes were sporadic, but on September 4, Dudayev's forces attacked Labazanov's stronghold of Argun and after a fierce all-night battle during which dozens of fighters were killed on both sides succeeded in dislodging him out of the city. The fighting culminated in the November 26 attempted raid on Grozny by the Chechen opposition supported by the covert Russian federal forces, which resulted in the final defeat for the Provisional Council and the open intervention by

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. During the subsequent

of 1994-1996, Labazanov sided with the invading Russian federal forces and promptly was given the rank of

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

in the Russian internal security service FSK (soon to be reorganized into the FSB).Robert Seely, ''Russo-Chechen conflict, 1800-2000: A Deadly Embrace'', 2001 On June 1, 1996, it was reported that Labazanov was slain together with a bodyguard at the village of

Tolstoy-Yurt Tolstoy-Yurt (; ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, rural locality (a ''village#Russia, selo'') and the administrative center of Groznensky District of the Chechnya, Chechen Republic, Russia. Population: The town is named after the ...

, 15 kilometres north of Grozny.Labazanov Killed, Basayev Implicated,

ITAR-TASS The Russian News Agency TASS, or simply TASS, is a Russian state-owned news agency founded in 1904. It is the largest Russian news agency and one of the largest news agencies worldwide. TASS is registered as a Federal State Unitary Enterpri ...

, 06-01-1996 He was reportedly gunned down at point-blank range in his fortified castle-like house, where he had been living with his three wives. The perpetrator was allegedly one of his own men.Sebastian Smith, ''Allah's Mountains: The Battle for Chechnya'', 2006, p. 15 The Russians quickly implicated the Chechen separatist field commander

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 ...

in the killing. According to another version, Labazanov fell victim to blood vengeance by the relatives of a killed Chechen police officer.Joseph Laurence Black, ''The Russian Federation'', 1998

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Labazanov Ruslan 1967 births 1996 deaths Assassinated Chechen military personnel Chechen gangsters Chechen warlords Deaths by firearm in Russia Escapees from Soviet detention Federal Security Service officers Kazakhstani escapees Murdered gangsters People convicted of murder by the Soviet Union People murdered in Russia People of the Chechen wars Soviet military personnel Soviet people convicted of murder Unsolved murders in Russia

Early life

Biography

See also

References