Support The Moscow Times!

FSB Confirms Chechen Warlord Umarov Killed

The head of Russia's Federal Security Service on Tuesday confirmed that notorious Chechen warlord Doku Umarov, long considered Russia's most wanted man, has been killed.

Umarov, who personally threatened the Sochi Winter Olympics in a video disseminated via the Internet, headed the rebel group Caucasus Emirate, which took credit for numerous terrorist attacks as it fought to carve out an independent Muslim state in the Russian North Caucasus.

Among such attacks, the group claimed responsibility for the 2009 bombing of a Moscow-St. Petersburg express train, the 2010 twin Moscow metro bombings and the suicide attack on Domodedovo Airport in 2011, which in all killed more than 100 people.

Umarov's death had many times been proclaimed by the Kremlin-backed head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, but an obituary in March by the authoritative though rebel-sympathizing news site, Kavkaz Center, was the first time his death was declared by supporters.

Tuesday's announcement by Federal Security Service director Alexander Bortnikov is Moscow's first official confirmation of the death. He said Umarov was killed during a combat operation, but didn't go into further detail.

Bortnikov made the comment in a meeting of the National Anti-Terrorist Committee, during which he said that 13 top-ranking members of terrorist groups had been killed by Russian special forces so far this year, Interfax reported.

He also said that from January through March more than 240 suspected terrorists and their accomplices were detained and that about 250 kilograms of explosive material, 79 improvised explosive devices and more than 500 individual weapons were seized.

Sign up for our free weekly newsletter

Our weekly newsletter contains a hand-picked selection of news, features, analysiss and more from The Moscow Times. You will receive it in your mailbox every Friday. Never miss the latest news from Russia. Preview
Subscribers agree to the Privacy Policy

A Message from The Moscow Times:

Dear readers,

We are facing unprecedented challenges. Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has designated The Moscow Times as an "undesirable" organization, criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution. This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a "foreign agent."

These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia. The authorities claim our work "discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership." We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate, unbiased reporting on Russia.

We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, we need your help.

Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just $2. It's quick to set up, and every contribution makes a significant impact.

By supporting The Moscow Times, you're defending open, independent journalism in the face of repression. Thank you for standing with us.

Once
Monthly
Annual
Continue
paiment methods
Not ready to support today?
Remind me later.

Read more