Ruslan Labazanov
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Ruslan Labazanov (1967 - June 1, 1996) was an infamous criminal boss (abrek) of the Chechen mafia and former head of a Chechen opposition faction.
A member of the Turkxoj teip (clan), Labazanov was born in Kazakhstan in 1967 and was a physical training instructor in the Soviet Red Army and was a martial arts expert. In 1990 he was convicted of murder in Rostov and spent time in jail before escaping in 1991. For a while he was the head of former Chechen president Dzhokhar Dudaev's personal security guard, before switching to the opposition as the head of his own pro-Russia paramilitary unit. [1]
During the First Chechen War Labazanov developed a reputation as a vicious and corrupt fighter who would change sides quickly if the price is right. [2] On June 1, 1996 it was reported that Labazanov was slain together with his bodyguard in the village of Tolstoi-Yurt, 15 kilometres north of Grozny. Shamil Basayev was later implicated in the murder. [3] According to the other version, he was killed by a members of the Russian forces.
[edit] Notes
Prose contains specific citations in source text which may be viewed in edit mode.
- ^ Hughes, James, Chechnya: The Causes of a Protrated Post-Soviet Conflict, 2001
- ^ The Search for Peace in Chechnya 1994 - 1996, John F. Kennedy School of Government
- ^ Labazanov Killed, Basayev Implicated, ITAR-TASS, 06-01-1996
[edit] External links
- Ruslan Labazanov at Chechen World
