Sulim Yamadayev

Who was Sulim Yamadayev?

Sulim Bekmirzayevich Yamadayev was a Chechen rebel commander from the First Chechen War who had switched sides together with his brothers Dzhabrail, Badrudi, Isa and Ruslan in 1999 during the outbreak of the Second Chechen War. He was de facto commander of the Russian military Special Battalion Vostok unit belonging to the GRU. As such, until 2008, he was officially in command of the biggest pro-Moscow militia outside the control of the current Chechen president Ramzan Kadyrov. From August 1 to 22 August 2008 Yamadayev was wanted in Russia on a federal warrant. Nevertheless, he served as one of the Russian military commanders in Russia's war with Georgia during the same period.

On 5 March 2003, Sulim's brother Dzhabrail Yamadayev was assassinated by a bomb. On 24 September 2008 Sulim's brother, Ruslan Yamadayev, was shot dead on Smolenskaya Embankment in Moscow. Initial press responses reported name of the victim as Sulim Yamadayev; the name was corrected later. Sulim Yamadayev was shot in Dubai on 28 March 2009, and died in hospital on 30 March 2009.