Sulim Yamadayev, a former Moscow-backed strongman and member of a clan that challenged Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov's authority, was shot dead in Dubai over the weekend in an apparent assassination.
Dubai police chief Dalfan Tamim said in a statement that a 36-year-old Chechen man was gunned down in the parking lot of the apartment building where he was living.
Relatives of the victim confirmed that it was Yamadayev, a former commander of the elite Vostok battalion in Chechnya, who was killed in the attack, state-owned Channel One television cited Sergei Krasnogor, Russia's consul in Dubai, as saying Monday.
Police sources said Yamadayev was shot as he walked to his car parked at the luxury Jumeirah Beach Residence in Dubai Marina, the Abu Dhabi daily newspaper The National reported on its web site.
Channel One reported Monday evening that a suspect had been detained Dubai in connection with the murder.
The chief ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, arrived in Moscow on Monday for two days of talks with President Dmitry Medvedev. In a brief report Monday, Channel One showed Medvedev and the UAE delegation discussing bilateral ties, though there was no indication that Medvedev raised the issue of Yamadayev's slaying.
Yamadayev and his brothers Ruslan and Badrudi headed a powerful clan that fell out with Kadyrov after enjoying warm relations with Kadyrov's father, former Chechen President Akhmad Kadyrov, who was assassinated in Grozny in 2004.
Ruslan Yamadayev, a former State Duma deputy from Chechnya and member of its United Russia faction, was gunned down in central Moscow in September. It is unclear whether any suspects have been detained in connection with his slaying.
Sulim Yamadayev is the fifth Chechen exile killed abroad over the past six months. Three former rebels were killed in Turkey, while another was shot dead on the streets of Vienna, where he had received political asylum.
Like the Kadyrovs, Yamadayev and his brothers initially supported Chechnya's independence from Russia in the 1990s. They fought against federal troops during the first Chechen war but switched sides during the second military campaign and supported Kremlin efforts to end Chechnya's de facto independence. With Akhmad Kadyrov, the Yamadayevs arranged for their stronghold -- the Chechen city of Gudermes -- to be taken over by federal troops without a fight. In return, a grateful Kremlin allowed the Yamadayevs to use their commandos to form the elite Vostok battalion under the auspices of the Defense Ministry.
Both Sulim and Ruslan Yamadayev were awarded Hero of Russia medals -- one of Russia's highest honors -- for fighting with federal forces against Chechen rebels. Sulim was made commander of Vostok, while Ruslan was elected to the Duma in 2003. He was not re-elected in December 2007 in what insiders said was a sign that Chechen authorities no longer wanted him in such a high-profile post.
The Yamadayevs were believed to be the only political and military force in Chechnya capable of acting independently of Kadyrov, who became president in February 2007. A standoff between the two clans culminated in April 2008 when a Vostok convoy failed to yield to Kadyrov's motorcade. A furious Kadyrov subsequently ordered a crackdown on the Yamadayevs.
Chechen prosecutors opened an investigation into Sulim Yamadayev on murder charges, and he was subsequently put on a wanted list. Kadyrov's press service distributed a flurry of statements accusing the brothers of organizing extrajudicial killings, torture, extortions and kidnapping.
Kadyrov's spokesman, Alvi Karimov, told Ekho Moskvy radio Monday that Kadyrov regretted the death of his former rival and hoped that the killing would be solved quickly by Dubai authorities.
The killing will not mark a change in the Chechen political landscape dominated by Kadyrov, who stood to gain little from Yamadayev's death, said Nikolai Silayev, a Caucasus analyst with the Moscow State Institute of International Relations. "But this murder could be an act of revenge by one of Yamadayev's enemies, and he had plenty of them," Silayev said.
Kadyrov's efforts to undercut the clan did not stop Sulim Yamadayev from commanding the Vostok battalion during Russia's military operation to push Georgian troops out of South Ossetia in early August. Shortly after the Georgia war, he was fired from the Vostok battalion and his arrest warrant was canceled by Chechen prosecutors.
Yamadayev was not the first Chechen strongman to be killed in the Gulf. Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev, a senior Chechen separatist, was killed in Qatar in 2004 when a bomb tore through his sports utility vehicle in Doha.
Two Russian intelligence service agents were arrested in Qatar and sentenced to life in prison for the bombing. They were extradited to Russia in January 2005, and a month later the Federal Prison Service acknowledged that they were not being held in prison.
Dubai police chief Dalfan Tamim said in a statement that a 36-year-old Chechen man was gunned down in the parking lot of the apartment building where he was living.
Relatives of the victim confirmed that it was Yamadayev, a former commander of the elite Vostok battalion in Chechnya, who was killed in the attack, state-owned Channel One television cited Sergei Krasnogor, Russia's consul in Dubai, as saying Monday.
Police sources said Yamadayev was shot as he walked to his car parked at the luxury Jumeirah Beach Residence in Dubai Marina, the Abu Dhabi daily newspaper The National reported on its web site.
Channel One reported Monday evening that a suspect had been detained Dubai in connection with the murder.
The chief ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, arrived in Moscow on Monday for two days of talks with President Dmitry Medvedev. In a brief report Monday, Channel One showed Medvedev and the UAE delegation discussing bilateral ties, though there was no indication that Medvedev raised the issue of Yamadayev's slaying.
Yamadayev and his brothers Ruslan and Badrudi headed a powerful clan that fell out with Kadyrov after enjoying warm relations with Kadyrov's father, former Chechen President Akhmad Kadyrov, who was assassinated in Grozny in 2004.
Ruslan Yamadayev, a former State Duma deputy from Chechnya and member of its United Russia faction, was gunned down in central Moscow in September. It is unclear whether any suspects have been detained in connection with his slaying.
Sulim Yamadayev is the fifth Chechen exile killed abroad over the past six months. Three former rebels were killed in Turkey, while another was shot dead on the streets of Vienna, where he had received political asylum.
Like the Kadyrovs, Yamadayev and his brothers initially supported Chechnya's independence from Russia in the 1990s. They fought against federal troops during the first Chechen war but switched sides during the second military campaign and supported Kremlin efforts to end Chechnya's de facto independence. With Akhmad Kadyrov, the Yamadayevs arranged for their stronghold -- the Chechen city of Gudermes -- to be taken over by federal troops without a fight. In return, a grateful Kremlin allowed the Yamadayevs to use their commandos to form the elite Vostok battalion under the auspices of the Defense Ministry.
Both Sulim and Ruslan Yamadayev were awarded Hero of Russia medals -- one of Russia's highest honors -- for fighting with federal forces against Chechen rebels. Sulim was made commander of Vostok, while Ruslan was elected to the Duma in 2003. He was not re-elected in December 2007 in what insiders said was a sign that Chechen authorities no longer wanted him in such a high-profile post.
The Yamadayevs were believed to be the only political and military force in Chechnya capable of acting independently of Kadyrov, who became president in February 2007. A standoff between the two clans culminated in April 2008 when a Vostok convoy failed to yield to Kadyrov's motorcade. A furious Kadyrov subsequently ordered a crackdown on the Yamadayevs.
Chechen prosecutors opened an investigation into Sulim Yamadayev on murder charges, and he was subsequently put on a wanted list. Kadyrov's press service distributed a flurry of statements accusing the brothers of organizing extrajudicial killings, torture, extortions and kidnapping.
Kadyrov's spokesman, Alvi Karimov, told Ekho Moskvy radio Monday that Kadyrov regretted the death of his former rival and hoped that the killing would be solved quickly by Dubai authorities.
The killing will not mark a change in the Chechen political landscape dominated by Kadyrov, who stood to gain little from Yamadayev's death, said Nikolai Silayev, a Caucasus analyst with the Moscow State Institute of International Relations. "But this murder could be an act of revenge by one of Yamadayev's enemies, and he had plenty of them," Silayev said.
Kadyrov's efforts to undercut the clan did not stop Sulim Yamadayev from commanding the Vostok battalion during Russia's military operation to push Georgian troops out of South Ossetia in early August. Shortly after the Georgia war, he was fired from the Vostok battalion and his arrest warrant was canceled by Chechen prosecutors.
Yamadayev was not the first Chechen strongman to be killed in the Gulf. Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev, a senior Chechen separatist, was killed in Qatar in 2004 when a bomb tore through his sports utility vehicle in Doha.
Two Russian intelligence service agents were arrested in Qatar and sentenced to life in prison for the bombing. They were extradited to Russia in January 2005, and a month later the Federal Prison Service acknowledged that they were not being held in prison.
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