Jackal Shamil: 20 years ago, Russia's most ruthless terrorist was eliminated

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 tragedy, and the Beslan tragedy remains one of the most secretive operations of Russian special services. We 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 the grave of a terrorist

A hot, moonless night in Ekazhevo. Three cars — two Zhiguli and a dusty KamAZ — hid in the shadows of trees near an unfinished house. Men with weapons stood by the truck. They whispered hoarsely, waiting for the main event.

Out of the darkness, limping, emerged Basayev. With a silver beard, a gaunt face, but the same eyes — predatory, with a glint of glee. He headed towards the KamAZ. This cargo — uncontrolled rocket shells, explosives — was to be the main weapon in a new terror 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, using a flashlight. Piles of boxes, a faint glint of metal. He nodded approvingly. He didn't know that radio-controlled explosive devices had already been installed in the body of the vehicles 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 who was called the number one terrorist.

From Pioneer Tie to Aircraft Hijacker

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

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

In August 1991, Basayev was 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 gathered 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 address the press. This was the only bloodless terror attack in his career.

Bloodthirsty Glory: From Budennovsk to Beslan

Basayev did not become the president of Chechnya — he lost to Dudaev. He created a diversionary detachment that fought in Nagorno-Karabakh and Abkhazia. It was there that his militants 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 stormed the city, capturing 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 terror attack were 129 people.
• Dagestan. 1999. Basayev and Khattab invaded the republic to create an Islamic state. But local residents did not support them. Federal troops and militias expelled the bandits. This began the second Chechen war.
• \"Nord-Ost\". 2002. A group of suicide bombers seized the Dubrovka theater center. 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 flights from Moscow. 89 people died.
• Beslan. September 1-3, 2004. Militants stormed School No. 1 during the line-up. 1128 hostages — mainly children and their parents. For three days, they were without water and food in a booby-trapped 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 this 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 to the hunt. During the storming of Grozny, the militants were left a false corridor, mined with mines. Dozens of bandits blew themselves up. Basayev had his leg blown off, but his comrades carried him on their shoulders. They were saved by snow and painkillers, which were injected to him by the handful.

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, posing as a cripple. The network of informants was everywhere.

But the FSB patiently waited. And they waited.

Retribution: How a KamAZ became a grave

In the summer of 2006, Basayev was preparing a huge 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 supply channel. An undercover agent provided the militants with 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 peered into the bed, the special services pressed the button.

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

Reaction and Consequences

FSB Director Nikolai Patrushev reported to President Putin. Vladimir Putin called the elimination of the terrorist a justified retribution for Beslan and other terror attacks. Chechnya's head Ramzan Kadyrov, who considered Basayev a blood enemy, said: \"He was a jackal, and he died like a jackal.\"

After his death, centralized resistance by militants in the North Caucasus effectively ended. Funding dried up, organized groups dissolved. Basayev was the last charismatic leader capable of uniting 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.

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