Translated material
Based on the crime
Investigators and politicians are building versions of the murder of Ruslan Yamadayev
Today in Chechnya the funeral of Ruslan Yamadayev , Hero of Russia, ex-State Duma deputy, one of the founders of the Vostok battalion, is due to take place. His body was handed over to relatives yesterday in one of the capital's morgues.Ruslan Yamadayev was shot on Wednesday evening in the center of Moscow on Smolenskaya Embankment in his car when, according to his relatives, he was returning from important negotiations in the Kremlin along with the former military commandant of Chechnya, Colonel General Sergei Kizyun. The latter was seriously wounded as a result of the assassination attempt.
The Investigative Committee under the Prosecutor's Office (SKP) opened a criminal case under the article “murder” on this fact. So far, law enforcement agencies are considering two main versions of the murder - a conflict in business (it is assumed that Ruslan Yamadayev was involved in the gambling business) and revenge. Now several examinations have been appointed in the case and the questioning of witnesses continues, while parliamentarians, meanwhile, express their assumptions. In their opinion, options are possible from the redistribution of political influence in Chechnya to the currently fashionable “Georgian trace”. However, relatives are sure that the killers of Ruslan Yamadayev must be looked for in Chechnya.
Ruslan Yamadayev was shot dead on September 24 at about 5:15 p.m. while driving an armored Mercedes 600 along Smolenskaya Embankment. When the car stopped at a traffic light in the area of house No. 10, opposite the British Consulate and very close to the Government House, an unknown person approached the car and through the open window shot Yamadayev and Kizyun who were in it, according to preliminary data, with a Kedr submachine gun.
Ruslan Yamadayev died on the spot; according to experts, more than ten bullets hit him. During the attack, the former military commandant of Chechnya, retired Colonel General Sergei Kizyun, who was riding in his car, was seriously wounded. However, it is not yet clear whether he became a random victim of the attack or whether the killer was targeting him as well. One way or another, having emptied the clip, the criminal disappeared safely, getting into, according to some witnesses, an Audi that was standing nearby. The announced “Interception” plan did not produce results.
At first, information appeared that the killers could actually be hunting Ruslan’s brother, Hero of Russia Sulim Yamadayev, the former commander of the Vostok battalion, since the deceased was driving his car. However, yesterday, sources close to the investigation reported that the car in which Ruslan Yamadayev was driving was registered to a Moscow resident, A. Kasabaev, who lives on Pererva Street. That is, it is obvious that the criminals were not mistaken after all. Moreover, the killer shot through an open window and saw his victim.
Yesterday, the official representative of the SKP, Vladimir Markin, said that “given the special audacity with which the crime was committed and its resonance,” the Main Investigation Department of the department took over the case of the murder of Ruslan Yamadayev. “The most experienced investigators and criminologists from the central office of the Investigative Committee have been involved in the investigation of the criminal case,” he said. “Over the past 24 hours since the murder, an inspection of the crime scene has been carried out, forensic, ballistic and other examinations have been ordered and are being carried out, and other necessary investigative and operational activities are being carried out aimed at establishing all the circumstances of the crime and the persons involved in its commission.” However, according to sources in law enforcement agencies, so far the investigation has neither suspects nor an exact motive for the murder.
Politicians yesterday actively discussed these very motives. LDPR leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky believes that “most likely the murder of Yamadayev is connected with the distribution of powers, that is, positions of power, between representatives of various teips in the Chechen Republic.” “Now we are faced with a similar situation in Dagestan. Chechnya has its own groups. Not everyone gets posts. Not everyone is happy,” he said.
First Vice Speaker of the Federation Council Alexander Torshin, in turn, said that there may be a “Georgian trace” in the murder of the ex-deputy. “I have reason to believe that Ruslan Yamadayev was killed by mistake, since he was in his brother Sulim’s car at the time of the murder, and most likely they were hunting for him,” Mr. Torshin said. -- After the successful actions of the “East” in South Ossetia, Sulim Yamadayev has every reason to be hated by the Saakashvili regime. Moreover, the handwriting of the committed crime resembles the handwriting of some Georgian politicians. Shooting from a machine gun at an unarmed person - in the Caucasus, few people dirty their hands with such actions.” Also, Mr. Torshin did not rule out that the murder of Ruslan Yamadayev could be aimed at destabilizing the situation in Chechnya on the eve of the parliamentary elections of the republic, which are scheduled to take place on October 12.
Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov said yesterday that blood feud should be considered as the main version of the murder of Ruslan Yamadayev. “I am 80-90% sure that the murder could have been motivated by blood feud,” he said. - Ruslan Yamadayev was involved in numerous abductions of civilians for the purpose of obtaining ransom, and, according to operational data, he shot those for whom money was not given. In Chechnya, killing a person is never forgiven. They can take revenge even after a hundred years.” However, Mr. Kadyrov nevertheless made a reservation that he received the news of Yamadayev’s death “with great regret.” “A Hero of Russia, a former deputy, a Chechen, was killed in the center of Moscow. How can I take this? This is very unpleasant for me. If Ruslan Yamadayev is guilty of something, he should have been tried,” Mr. Kadyrov said.
Relatives of Ruslan Yamadayev also believe that the killers were “blood relatives”. According to the brother of the murdered man, Issa, they had information that an assassination attempt was being prepared on his older brothers in Moscow. The perpetrators, according to the data received, were to be relatives of the Wahhabis killed during the military operations of the “East”. However, according to Issa, “the performers are most likely no longer alive.” “They don’t leave such witnesses,” he said. However, the family took safety precautions. Yesterday in Gudermes, Vostok fighters again took security over the houses of Yamadayev’s relatives. In addition, according to them, “some work” is being carried out in Moscow. It is not clear what we are talking about. But on Wednesday, literally an hour or two after the murder of Ruslan Yamadayev, the battalion intelligence chief, Khamzat Gairbekov, was seen at his car.
Yesterday, the body of Ruslan Yamadayev was handed over to relatives from Moscow morgue No. 4 in the area of Baumanskaya Street. Until this time, there were about three dozen relatives, relatives and friends of the deceased near the morgue building. Several dozen riot policemen watched them from the buses. After the body of Ruslan Yamadayev was handed over, a motorcade of several cars immediately moved towards the airport, where the plane was already waiting.
At the funeral, Sulim Yamadayev publicly accused Ramzan Kadyrov of murdering his brother. “I accuse Ramzan Kadyrov of killing my brother Ruslan, and I promise to take revenge as soon as the holy month of Ramadan ends,” Sulim Yamadayev told Reuters reporters.