Rumors that the Chechen field commander Shamil Basayev has died may be spread by Basayev himself or his closest circle, RIA Novosti reports .

“These are most likely rumors that were spread on the instructions of Basayev himself,” a source in the security forces of the Chechen administration explained to reporters. “Apparently, in this case the goal is to give him and his bandit group a temporary respite.”

The source did not rule out that Basayev may currently be outside Russia for treatment. According to him, Russian law enforcement agencies have no information about Basayev’s death.

A counter-terrorism expert, who spoke to journalists on condition of anonymity, also said that “as far as he knows,” Russian security forces do not yet have direct evidence confirming Basayev’s death.

In his opinion, in any case, international Arab terrorists operating in Chechnya need Basayev alive as a symbol of separatism.

“International terrorists need him alive, for them he is a bogeyman and a cover for the interests of extremist organizations operating in the North Caucasus,” he explained, recalling that it is “under Basayev” that international terrorist organizations allocate financial resources to carry out terrorist attacks.

At the same time, the expert did not rule out that the video interview of Basayev that appeared earlier on the separatists’ website could have been filmed earlier, or it could be about Basayev’s double.

Let us recall that earlier the media disseminated information that Basayev could have been killed in the second half of January. On February 7, a recording of a video interview with Basayev appeared on the separatist website, which was allegedly made on February 6.

In this interview, Basayev refutes rumors of his death.

Basayev himself spreads rumors about his death