Aviator

Air Force Commander Dzhokhar Dudayev became Secretary of the Security Council of Chechnya

Khairudi Visengeriev became the new secretary of the Chechen Security Council instead of Rudnik Dudayev, who died on December 11 last year. Most recently, Mr. Visengeriev worked as an assistant to the First Deputy Prime Minister of Chechnya, now acting Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov.

This, however, is not the first high position he held in the Chechen leadership. In 1992, a career Soviet officer Visengeriev was appointed by Dzhokhar Dudayev as commander of the 1st squadron of the Chechen Air Force (the name “Ichkeria” appeared a little later among the separatists).

At the height of the first Chechen war in Russia, data from the so-called Chechen state commission on the reception of weapons and equipment after the first withdrawal of Russian troops from the republic in 1992 was published. The documents of the state commission contained impressive figures that differed from those officially recognized by the General Staff. According to her, at two military air bases - in Kalinovskaya and Khankala - two helicopters and more than 250 aircraft remained, the vast majority of which were training. From this virtually abandoned property, the 1st squadron of separatist aviation was formed. President Dudayev, himself a former Soviet aviation general, had special feelings for this branch of the military. He entrusted the leadership of the republican Air Force to a graduate of the Higher Military School in Yeisk, then a 39-year-old first-class test pilot, Major Khairudi Visengeriev.

When the first Chechen war began, the separatist planes were never able to take off. By the time of the second withdrawal of troops from the republic after the signing of the Khasavyurt agreements, the Russian leadership nevertheless decided to take into account previous mistakes and no longer leave aviation there. However, Mr. Visengeriev did not remain without work: in Chechnya there was still an increased demand for people with a thorough education, especially with a military education. According to some reports, Khairudi Visengeriev held a high command position in 2003 at the headquarters of the Vostok battalion, created on the basis of a special forces company of the Chechen commandant’s office from Chechens who had experience in combat operations, but decided to enter the second war on the side of Russia. “Vostok,” commanded by the former General of the Army of Ichkeria, and now Hero of Russia Sulim Yamadayev, at that time reported directly to the General Staff and only later was reassigned to the command of the 42nd Division of the Ministry of Defense. Recently, the former pilot worked in the Chechen government, dealing with issues, again related to the security forces. For example, he supervised the interdepartmental commission on combating drugs.

He replaced Rudnik Dudayev in the Security Council, who also has a rich Soviet biography behind him: he began his service in the KGB of Uzbekistan. In 2000, he found himself in a completely civilian position as chairman of the CIS Council for Relations with Muslims in Far Abroad Countries, from where he moved to the then provisional administration of Akhmat Kadyrov as the latter’s deputy. Rudnik Dudayev had a fairly trusting relationship with Kadyrov Sr., although some analysts considered the former security officer to be something of a “sovereign eye” in Grozny. In any case, he never belonged to those who are considered to be “Kadyrov’s clan.” The position of Secretary of the Security Council was initially largely symbolic, but at the same time it required the person replacing it to have precise knowledge of the entire system of work of law enforcement agencies - both republican and federal.

After the death of Akhmat Kadyrov, the republican security structures were placed under the control of his son, who was appointed first deputy prime minister. Ramzan Kadyrov is clearly not inclined to tolerate other, even symbolic, bosses next to him. Moreover, Rudnik Dudayev demonstrated his dissatisfaction with the abuses of the republican authorities. The sudden death of the Secretary of the Security Council, which, according to the working version of the investigation, was the result of a fire in his home and carbon monoxide poisoning, made it possible to count on the appearance in the Security Council of a person more loyal to the current Grozny regime. However, it is not a fact that the former commander-in-chief of the Ichkerian Air Force will turn out to be just such a person - even after many months of work in the apparatus of Mr. Kadyrov Jr.

Ivan SUKHOV