Ruslan Gelayev
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Ruslan Gelayev (b. Komsomolskoe, Soviet Union 1964 - d. February 28, 2004), aka Hamzat Gelaev, radio callsign Black Angel, was a Chechen field commander in the Chechen resistance movement against Russia. He was one of the first Chechen fighters awarded the highest Chechen Republic of Ichkeria's medal Kioman Syi (Honor of the Nation).
During the Soviet times, Gelayev was a traffic policeman[citation needed]. His first fighting came in 1992 when, together with several hundred Chechens led by Shamil Basayev, another future warlord, he joined Abkhaz separatists in their war for independence from Georgia. After returning to Chechnya he joined the ChRI armed forces and quickly became a special forces commander.
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[edit] First Chechen War
Gelayev was in the thick of fighting in Chechnya's first war against the Russians in 1994-1996.
On May 27, 1995, Ruslan Gelayev threatened to kill five Russian prisoners of war per day until Russian forces ceased the bombing of the Chechen mountain stronghold of Shatoy; according to the Memorial report and numerous press reports the Chechen side executed eight Russian prisoners in carrying out this threat.
In early 1996 Gelayev became the commander of the South-Western Front. In March 1996 he led a large-scale raid on the embattled Chechen capital Grozny.
In April 1997 Gelayev became deputy prime minister under President Aslan Maskhadov and the following year defence minister -- honorific titles that had little impact on the ground, where he continued to act as a field commander. It was during this time that he went on pilgrimage to Mecca and took the name Hamzat.
[edit] Second Chechen War
At the start of the Second Chechen War, Gelayev commanded a large force of rebels in defense of Grozny, but withdrew from the city in January 2000, which left it open to attack. "Until Gelayev left, the rebels could have indefinitely held off federal troops, according to military experts," Moscow Times wrote.[citation needed] Following the inexplicable withdrawal from Grozny, Gelayev was demoted from Brigadier General to Private and stripped of all military decorations.
Gelayev's forces were taking heavy losses as they withdrew from Grozny to the forests in southern Chechnya. A rogue warlord named Arbi Barayev contacted Gelayev promising him aid and transportation to a safe area. When Gelayev's forces arrived at the specified meeting place, they were ambushed by Russian troops. Gelayev's forces then retreated to his native village of Komsomolskoye. For the next two weeks, more than a thousand rebels were besieged there by the Russian army in one of the largest battles of the war, ending with some 600 rebels being killed. Russian troops' losses numbered more than 300 dead or wounded.
The Russian government had attempted to negotiate with Gelaev in October 2000 since he was believed to be at odds with some of the Islamist commanders, especially Barayev, with whom Hamzat fought a brief personal war following Barayev's betrayal at Komsomolskoye, and a Wahhabi Arab known as Abu Walid.
[edit] Pankisi
Some time after the defeat at Komsomolskoye, Gelayev decided to rebuild his forces in the Pankisi Gorge across the Georgian border. With Georgia engaged in a struggle with Russia over the breakaway provinces of Abkhazia and South Ossetia there was little danger of extradition.
Gelayev had built up a significant armed force of 800 Chechens, together with about 80 international mujahideen, mostly Turks and Arabs. Georgian authorities pretended to be ignorant of their presence, despite having negotiated a deal to supply and arm Gelayev's force in return for a combat on behalf of Georgia in Kodori Gorge in Abkhazia in October of 2001. Gelayev earned admiration from senior Georgian politicians, despite the failure of the attempt; Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze described him as "noble man". From there, Gelayev led a hit-and-run attacks against Russian military targets in Chechnya, Dagestan and Ingushetia. Russians responded in a secret airstrikes on a Georgian territory.
After the unsuccessful raid on Abkhazia, Gelayev was again faced with the problem of re-building his forces, something which would take him almost a year. In September 2002, Gelayev's forces managed another large raid, this into Ingushetia, capturing the villages of Tarskoe and then Galashki. In Galashki, Gelayev's 150 fighters became surrounded, took large losses and were dispersed. According to the Russian officials as many as 40 fighters were reported killed in clashes, as well as 21 Russian servicemen. Gelayev spent most of 2003 trying to regroup his forces.
[edit] Death
In the winter of 2003-2004 Gelayev was attempting to lead a 40-strong unit of his forces from a raid in Dagestan into the safe haven of Georgia, but was faced with heavy resistance; 29 rebels and 12 Russian soldiers were reported to die in the fighting and accidents.
On February 28, 2004 Gelaev was killed in the result of a skirmish a Russian border guard patrol he encountered while attempting to cross the border into Georgia alone; before he died from bleeding, he killed two of the soldiers.
