Jackal Shamil: 20 Years Ago, Russia's Most Bloodthirsty Terrorist Was Destroyed

Exactly 20 years ago, on the night of July 10, 2006, a special operation by the FSB put an end to the biography of Shamil Basayev in the Ingush village of Ekazhevo. The elimination of the organizer of the hostage-taking in Budennovsk, the Dubrovka theater attack, and the Beslan tragedy remains one of the most secretive operations of the Russian special services. Let's remember how the native of a Chechen village became the number one terrorist, why his elusiveness became a legend, and what decided the fate of the \"jackal\" on a summer night in 2006.

The Hour of Reckoning: How a KamAZ Became a Grave for a Terrorist

A muggy moonless night in Ekazhevo. Three cars — two Zhiguli and a dusty KamAZ — hid in the shade of trees near an unfinished house. Armed men stood by the truck. Hissing with whispers, they waited for the main event.

Out of the darkness, limping, emerged Basayev. With gray in his long beard, a gaunt face, but the same eyes — predatory, with a glint of enthusiasm. He headed towards the KamAZ. This cargo — unguided rocket shells, explosives — was to be the main weapon in a new attack that Basayev timed to coincide with the G8 summit.

The terrorist wanted to inspect the batch personally. They opened the bed. Basayev peered into the truck, shining a flashlight. Piles of boxes, the faint glint of metal. He nodded approvingly. He didn't know that radio-controlled explosive devices had already been mounted in the bodies of the cars and boxes. They had been tracked through thermal imagers for a long time.

At 2:03 AM, a bomb exploded. Basayev died instantly. His body and the remains of 12 militants were collected around the area. Thus ended an 11-year manhunt for the man called the number one terrorist.

From Pioneer Scarf to Aircraft Hijacker

Shamil Basayev was born in January 1965 in the Chechen village of Dzhishni-Vedeno. He was named after the legendary imam Shamil. In school, he wore a pioneer scarf, engaged in sports, and dreamed of becoming a lawyer.

He served in the army in a fire brigade at an airport. After serving, he moved to Moscow, but failed the entrance exams for the law faculty of MGU three times. He worked as a night watchman, sold computers, played football.

In August 1991, Basayev found himself at the White House, supporting Yeltsin. He believed that the victory of the GKCHP would put an end to Chechnya's independence. That summer, he supported Dzhokhar Dudaev and assembled his first detachment \"Vedeno\". But his fame came in November 1991, when he hijacked a passenger Tu-154 from Mineralnye Vody to Turkey. There were 178 hostages on board. In Ankara, he released everyone but managed to speak to the press. This was the only bloodless terror in his career.

Bloodthirsty Fame: From Budennovsk to Beslan

Basayev did not become the president of Chechnya — he lost to Dudaev. He created a sabotage detachment that fought in Nagorno-Karabakh and Abkhazia. It was there that his fighters became famous for their monstrous cruelty: they slaughtered entire families, recorded executions on camera.

In 1995, Basayev declared: \"We are ready to do anything for independence. Methods do not matter.\" And he kept his word.

• Budennovsk. 1995. Basayev's detachment burst into the city, seized more than a thousand hostages in a hospital. The storming of the forces failed. The government went to negotiations and gave the militants a corridor for retreat. The victims of the attack were 129 people.
• Dagestan. 1999. Basayev and Khattab invaded the republic to create an Islamic state. But the local people did not support them. Federal troops and militias drove out the bandits. This began the second Chechen war.
• \"Nord-Ost\". 2002. A group of suicide bombers seized a theater center on Dubrovka. 912 people became hostages. The special forces used gas, killed all 40 terrorists, but 130 spectators died.
• Aircraft. 2004. Two suicide bombers blew up Tu-134 and Tu-154, flying from Moscow. 89 people died.
• Beslan. September 1-3, 2004. Militants burst into School No. 1 during the assembly. There were 1128 hostages — mainly children and their parents. For three days, they had no water or food in a mined sports hall. The victims were 334 people, including 186 children. This attack made Basayev a personal enemy of millions of Russians.
• Nalchik. 2005. 200 militants attacked the city's law enforcement agencies. The special forces suppressed the attack, but it was an attempt to repeat the scenario of Budennovsk.

Basayev also took responsibility for the assassination of Chechen President Akhmat Kadyrov in May 2004. An explosion at a stadium in Grozny took the life of the father of the current head of the republic.

The Hunt for the \"Uncatchable\"

Russian special services had been tracking Basayev since 1994. A bounty of 300 million rubles was put on his head. The West included him in the list of Al-Qaeda terrorists.

In early 2000, the special operation \"Hunt for Wolves\" almost put an end. During the storming of Grozny, the militants were left a false corridor, mined with mines. Dozens of bandits blew up. Basayev had his leg blown off, but his comrades carried him on their shoulders. They were saved by snow and painkillers that were injected in handfuls.

After the injury, the terrorist became more cautious. He refused to use large detachments and satellite communication, constantly changed his place of residence and appearance. He used deaf couriers and notes. He hid in ordinary houses, pretending to be a cripple. The network of informants was everywhere.

But the FSB patiently waited. And waited.

Vengeance: How a KamAZ Became a Grave

In the summer of 2006, Basayev was preparing a massive terror attack in Nazran for the G8 summit. He wanted to blow up the Interior Ministry complex in Ingushetia and carry out a massacre. For this, he needed weapons.

The FSB intercepted the channel of supply. An embedded agent gave the militants a KamAZ, loaded not only with shells but also with explosives and detonators. More than 100 kilograms of TNT equivalent were waiting for their moment. When Basayev arrived at the car and looked into the bed, the special services pressed the button.

The explosion was so strong that the body of the terrorist was only identified by a prosthetic leg and DNA.

Reaction and Consequences

FSB Director Nikolai Patrushev reported to President Putin. Vladimir Putin called the destruction of the terrorist a justified revenge for Beslan and other attacks. The head of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov, who considered Basayev an archenemy, said: \"He was a jackal, and he died like a jackal.\"

After his death, the centralized resistance of militants in the North Caucasus effectively ended. Funding dried up, organized groups broke up. Basayev was the last charismatic leader able to unite bandits.

Twenty years after the elimination of \"the number one terrorist,\" his name remains a synonym for cruelty, and the FSB operation is an example of how patience and professionalism of special services put an end to even the longest and bloodiest stories.

Permanent link to this publication: