In Chechnya, militant leader Aslan Maskhadov was killed. This was announced today by the official representative of the joint press center of the regional headquarters for managing the counter-terrorism operation in the North Caucasus, Major General Ilya Shabalkin.

According to him, Aslan Maskhadov was killed during a special operation carried out by special forces of the Federal Security Service of Russia in the village of Tolstoy-Yurt, Grozny region.

As a source in the law enforcement agencies of the Chechen Republic told RBC, A. Maskhadov was killed during the battle. He and his accomplices took refuge in a bunker under one of the Tolstoy-Yurt houses.

According to I. Shabalkin, A. Maskhadov was identified by local residents, as well as federal forces. He also added that among those detained were Ilikhanov, Murdashev and his nephew Veskhan, who were hiding in the same bunker with the leader of the Chechen separatists.

“There are no losses among the FSB special forces,” the ROS representative emphasized.

Today it was reported that in this village the militants were planning an attack on the building of the district administration, the local police department and the commandant's office, but thanks to timely information received, the attack was prevented. During the special operation carried out by federal forces, several terrorists were captured, and the rest were pursued.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has already been informed of the incident. As Channel One reports, FSB head Nikolai Patrushev told him about this. In response, the head of state stated the need to conduct an additional examination of the identification of A. Maskhadov’s body. He also said that if information about the destruction of the leader of the Chechen separatists is confirmed, all participants in the special operation should be presented with government awards.

At the same time, V. Putin noted that even if the information is confirmed, the fight against extremism in Chechnya does not end. “There is still a lot of work there; we need to step up efforts to normalize life in the republic,” he added.

First Deputy Prime Minister of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov, in turn, said that the body of Aslan Maskhadov, after completing legal procedures, will be handed over to relatives for burial if they make a corresponding request. He also noted that “they wanted to take Maskhadov alive, but he died as a result of careless handling of the weapon of the bodyguard who was next to him.”

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Aslan Maskhadov was killed in Chechnya