Dudayev's widow decided to be frank. President General Dudayev Dudayev's birthday
Dzhokhar Musaevich Dudayev (Chechen DudagӀeran Musan ZhovkhӀar; February 15, 1944, Yalkhoroy, Galanchozhsky district of the Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (now Achkhoy-Martan district Chechen Republic), USSR - April 21, 1996, Gekhi-chu, Russian Federation) - Chechen politician, leader of the 1990s movement for the separation of Chechnya from Russia, the first president of the self-proclaimed Chechen Republic of Ichkeria (1991-1996). In the USSR - Major General of Aviation. Generalissimo of the CRI (1996).
Dzhokhar Musaevich Dudayev was born in the village of Yalkhoroi, Galanchozhsky district, USSR, today an abandoned place. The boy was the 13th child of Musa and Rabiat Dudayev. Dzhokhar had 3 brothers and 3 sisters, as well as 4 half-brothers and 2 sisters, who were his father’s children from a previous marriage. The boy's father was a veterinarian.
The boy's father died when he was only 6 years old. Dzhokhar was a diligent student, which cannot be said about his brothers and sisters. One day, for his leadership qualities, he was elected head of the class. Upon returning to their native places, in 1957, the Dudayev family, already without their father, stopped in Grozny.
In 1957, the Dudayev family, along with other deported Chechens, was returned to native land and they settled in the city of Grozny. Here Dzhokhar studied until the ninth grade and then went to work as an electrician at the fifth SMU. At the same time, the teenager had an exact goal and he knew that he was obliged to get a diploma higher education. Therefore, Dzhokhar did not drop out of school, attended evening classes at school and still graduated from the 10th grade. After that, he submitted documents to the North Ossetian Pedagogical Institute (Faculty of Physics and Mathematics). However, after studying there for a year, the young man realized that he had a different calling. He left Grozny secretly from his family and entered the Tambov Higher Military aviation school.
Dudayev graduated from the Tambov Military Aviation School and the Yu.A. Gagarin Air Force Academy in Moscow.
Ex-State Duma deputy and Dudayev’s constant interlocutor in those days, Konstantin Borovoy, claims that the militant leader wanted to resolve the military conflict peacefully. According to Borovoy, Dudayev was going to make any concessions to end the military operation, but here words differ from deeds - a terrorist attack in Kizlyar and the village of Pervomaisky in January 96, followed by the defeat of the column of 245 in mid-April motorized rifle regiment. After these events, Yeltsin rejected negotiations with the militants and gave the special services the go-ahead to eliminate Dudayev.
IN Armed Forces USSR since 1962, served in both command and administrative positions.
Dudayev began the drill military service in 1966 as assistant bomber commander. After 2 years he joined the party, and in the early 70s he studied at the Air Force Academy.
In 1976−1978 - deputy commander of the 1225th heavy bomber air regiment.
KP: - It is still not completely clear when and how it began
operation, who played in it main role how it was carried out...
VYa: - Well, actually, it’s unlikely that anyone will tell you all the details of that operation. All materials are still classified. Successful “technologies” in such matters are the secret weapon of intelligence today. Don’t reveal your agents... Or those people who still serve or work in the intelligence services or other organizations. Yes, and Yuri Alekseevich and I are forced to “omit” some points for professional reasons... Are you asking who played the main role in that operation? I will answer this way: it was a joint work of the FSB and the GRU.
YA: - With the participation of the Air Force...
KP: - When was the operation “started”?
VYa: - In the spring of 1996. Remember, the day before Raduev and his bandits attacked Dagestan city Kizlyar then unhinderedly breaks into Pervomayskoe and leaves the village, blocked by “38 snipers,” back to Chechnya with impunity. And then - a new problem. In mid-April 1996, in the Shatoi region of Chechnya, near Yarysh-Mardy, a column of the 245th motorized rifle regiment was defeated. There were almost 90 corpses and more than 50 wounded. And out of 27 armored vehicles, the militants burned 24. And this is after Yeltsin the day before, during his visit to Krasnodar, said: “The war is over. I am ready to discuss with Dudayev how we will live with Chechnya.” And when I learned about the defeat of the column, I spoke differently: “I won’t meet with Dudayev. I don’t talk to bandits.” It was clear to everyone that there would be no planned reconciliation with Dudayev.
YuA: - There are other things to consider here. The presidential elections in Russia were approaching. Yeltsin's rating fell below acceptable limits - to 6 percent! And the Duma also demanded that he punish and remove the “siloviki”, primarily Defense Minister Grachev. For large human losses... Meanwhile, Dudayev gave interviews left and right to Moscow and foreign media, humiliated Russian generals. A criminal case was opened against Dudayev, but prosecutors complained that they “couldn’t find him.” They started laughing at our intelligence services. And then there is this tragic incident near the village of Yarysh-Mardy... The President, in a rage, gives the order to eliminate Dudayev. The flywheel was launched...
Since 1970, he served in the 1225th heavy bomber air regiment (Belaya garrison in the Usolsky district Irkutsk region(Sredny village), Transbaikal Military District), where in subsequent years he successively held the positions of deputy commander of an air regiment (1976-1978), chief of staff (1978-1979), detachment commander (1979-1980), commander of this regiment (1980-1982) .
In 1982 he became chief of staff of the 31st Heavy Bomber Division of the 30th air army, and in 1985-1987 he was transferred as chief of staff to the 13th Guards Heavy Bomber Air Division (Poltava): he “was remembered by many Poltava residents with whom fate brought him together. According to his former colleagues, he was a hot-tempered, emotional and at the same time extremely honest and decent person. At that time he still remained a convinced communist and was responsible for political work with personnel.”
Retired Aviation Major General. In 1987 - 1990 he commanded a long-range bomber division in Tartu (Estonia). At the same time, he held the position of chief of the city's military garrison.
On November 23, 1990, at the invitation of the ideologists of the National Congress of the Chechen People (NCCHN) Zelimkhan Yandarbiev and Movladi Udugov, Dudayev arrived in Grozny for the First Chechen National Congress (CNC). On November 25, the congress elected its own governing body- the executive committee, which included, among others, retired Major General Dzhokhar Dudayev. On November 27, members of the executive committee unanimously adopted a declaration on the formation of the Chechen Republic of Nokhchi-Cho.
In March 1991, the Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Chechen National Congress, Dzhokhar Dudayev, demanded the self-dissolution of the Supreme Council of the Chechen Republic due to the fact that the deputies “did not justify the trust of the people,” and in May 1991 announced the transfer of power to transition period into the hands of the Executive Committee of the ChNS.
On June 8-9, 1991, in Grozny, Dudayev gathered part of the delegates of the first congress of the Chechen National Assembly, who proclaimed themselves the “National Congress of the Chechen People” (OCCHN) and elected Dudayev as chairman of the executive committee. OKCHN proclaimed the creation of the “Chechen Republic of Nokhchi-cho”, and the Armed Forces of the Chechen Republic declared “usurpers”. The leadership of the RSFSR and the USSR did not take any measures against the separatists.
On September 3, 1991, Dudayev announced the overthrow of the Armed Forces of the Chechen Republic and accused Russia of pursuing a colonial policy towards Chechnya. On the same day, OKCHN forces captured the television center, the Radio House and the House of Political Education.
On September 6, 1991, Dudayev’s militants, together with criminals released from prison, stormed the building of the Armed Forces of CHIRA. The chairman of the Grozny City Council was thrown out of a window and died, more than 40 deputies were injured or beaten. On the same day, Dudayev announced the need for complete independence from Russia.
On September 8, 1991, the Dudayevites captured the airport and thermal power plant-1, blocked the center of Grozny, and began a riot in the Grozny pre-trial detention center.
During the same period, several mass escapes from places of detention were carried out, including a maximum security colony in the city of Naur, a mass exodus of Russians from the republic began, robberies of refugees were taking place under the pretext of returning “what was acquired in Chechnya” and belonging to the Chechen people.
On July 25, 1992, Dudayev spoke at an extraordinary congress of the Karachay people and condemned Russia for trying to prevent the mountain people from gaining independence. In August the king Saudi Arabia Fahd and the Emir of Kuwait Jaber al-Sabah invited Dudayev to visit their countries as President of the Chechen Republic. After this, Dudayev made visits to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and Turkey.
By the beginning of 1993, the economic and military situation in Chechnya had worsened, and Dudayev had lost his previous support. In response to this, on April 17, 1993, Dudayev dissolved the ChRI government, parliament, constitutional court and Grozny city assembly, introducing direct presidential rule and curfew throughout Chechnya, and also appointed Zelimkhan Yandarbiev as vice-president.
In the summer, constant armed clashes occur on the territory of Chechnya. The opposition is being pushed out to the north of the republic, where alternative authorities have been formed.
At the end of the year, Chechnya refuses to take part in elections State Duma and a referendum on the constitution, the parliament opposes the inclusion in the new Constitution of the Russian Federation of a provision on Chechnya as a subject Russian Federation.
By the beginning of 1994, Dudayev's regime was weakened by internal contradictions, instability and collapse of governance. The opposition forms the Provisional Council of the Chechen Republic, headed by Umar Avturkhanov. In response, Dudayev is launching new repressions against the opposition. In particular, in August, more than 200 oppositionists were killed in the Urus-Martan region. On August 10, a National Congress was held in Grozny, organized by Dudayev’s supporters. The congress spoke in favor general mobilization and the declaration of a “holy war” against Russia.
On September 20, Umar Avturkhanov said that all peaceful ways to solve the Chechen problem had been exhausted. On September 30, helicopters of the Provisional Council raided the Grozny airfield, destroying part of Dudayev’s aircraft.
On October 15, the forces of the Provisional Council entered Grozny, encountering virtually no resistance, but then retreated from the city, as if having received some order from Moscow. After receiving armored vehicles, the military potential of the Provisional Council increased significantly. On November 17, preparations began for a new assault on Grozny.
On the morning of November 26, 1994, Grozny was shelled and stormed by Russian special services and opposition forces. Three armed columns entered Grozny in three directions. The television center was occupied without a fight, and three tanks remained near it. It was also reported that Presidential Palace was captured by a detachment of field commander Ruslan Labazanov, who took part in the assault on the side of the opposition. The tankers who took up positions near the television center were soon attacked by the “Abkhaz battalion” of Shamil Basayev and surrendered to the security guards of the television center. By the end of the day on November 26, the forces of the Provisional Council left Grozny. The defeat of the opposition was due to the different goals of its constituent groups, the limitation of operation planning to the capture of the center of Grozny and the involvement of large forces by the Dudayev regime to repel the assault. Dudayev’s forces captured Russian military personnel who fought on the side of the opposition under a contract with the Federal Counterintelligence Service of the Russian Federation.
After the unsuccessful assault on Grozny, the opposition could only count on military assistance from the center. On December 11, units of the Russian Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Internal Affairs entered the territory of Chechnya on the basis of the decree of Russian President Boris Yeltsin “On measures to suppress the activities of illegal armed groups on the territory of the Chechen Republic and in the zone of the Ossetian-Ingush conflict.” The First Chechen War began.
On the instructions of Dzhokhar Dudayev, camps for holding prisoners of war and civilians, sometimes called concentration camps.
On June 14, 1995, a raid by a detachment of militants under the command of Shamil Basayev on the city of Budyonnovsk (Stavropol Territory) took place, accompanied by a massive hostage-taking in the city. This action led to the death of about 100 civilians. Basayev claimed that Dudayev did not know about this operation. After the events in Budyonnovsk, Dudayev awarded orders to the personnel of Basayev’s detachment. On July 21, 1995, Dudayev awarded Basayev the rank of brigadier general.
From the very beginning of the first Chechen war, Russian special services were hunting Dudayev. Three attempts ended in failure. On April 21, 1996, Russian special services located the signal from Dudayev’s satellite phone in the area of the village of Gekhi-chu, 30 km from Grozny. 2 Su-25 attack aircraft with homing missiles were lifted into the air. Presumably, Dudayev was killed by a missile strike right during a telephone conversation with State Duma deputy Konstantin Borov. Alla Dudayeva, in an interview with the Kommersant newspaper, said that she was next to Dzhokhar at the time of his death. She said, in particular:
Borovoy himself is not sure that Dudayev was liquidated precisely during a telephone conversation with him. According to some reports, Dudayev was going to speak with representatives of King Hassan II of Morocco, whom he himself called a possible candidate for mediation in negotiations with the Kremlin.
In 1994, on December 11, Russian President Boris Yeltsin signed a decree “On measures to ensure legality, law and order and public safety on the territory of the Chechen Republic,” which provided for the disarmament of detachments of supporters of Dzhokhar Dudayev. Troops were brought into Chechnya, and then there was something that would be difficult to call anything other than shameful. Interviews and memories of direct participants in those dramatic and bloody events. The weekly Sobesednik also did not stand aside, whose correspondent conducted a long interview with the widow of the “first president” of the Chechen Republic, Dzhokhar Dudayev.So, Alla Dudaeva(nee Alevtina Fedorovna Kulikova). Daughter of a Soviet officer, former commandant of Wrangel Island. Graduated from the art and graphic department of the Smolensk Pedagogical Institute. In 1967 she became the wife of Air Force officer Dzhokhar Dudayev. She gave birth to two sons and a daughter. She left Chechnya with her children in 1999. Lived in Baku, Istanbul. Now he lives with his family in Vilnius. According to the latest information, he is preparing to obtain citizenship of Estonia, a country where Dzhokhar Dudayev is remembered from Soviet times, when he headed an air division near Tartu.
Interlocutor correspondent Rimma Akhmirova first asked Dudaeva a question about Litvinenko. Of course, before his death, he had close contact with the Chechens and called Akhmed Zakayev his friend. This is what Alla Dudayeva answered: “I think that Alexander converted to Islam before his death in order to be close to his friends in the next world. In recent years, he walked along and managed to tell the world a lot of truth about the KGB, FSK, FSB. And that’s how we met. Dzhokhar had just been killed, and our whole family was planning to fly to Turkey, but in Nalchik we were arrested. I was interrogated by a specially arrived young officer who introduced himself as “Colonel Alexander Volkov.” He also joked that this was not a random name...
“After some time,” Dudayeva continues, “I saw him on TV next to Berezovsky, and recognized him real name- Litvinenko. And that time, television reporters did an interview with me, from which they aired only the piece “Yeltsin is our President” taken out of context, and played it throughout the election campaign. I wanted to make a refutation, but Volkov-Litvinenko then told me: “Think: anything can happen to your bodyguard, Musa Idigov.” Musa was then kept in isolation. Litvinenko was interested in the truth about the death of Dzhokhar. The intelligence services were afraid that he could survive and escape abroad."
The journalist also asked what Alla Dudayeva thought about the rumors and versions according to which Dzhokhar Dudayev was alive. There are even those who claim: Dudayev had doubles, and Alla Dudayeva married one of these doubles. It is clear that the widow denies all these rumors. She spoke in some detail about how, in her opinion, the leader of the Chechen separatists was killed.
“Dzhokhar was given a satellite telephone installation by the Turkish Prime Minister Arbakan. The Turkish “leftists” associated with the Russian intelligence services, through their spy, during the assembly of the phone in Turkey, installed a special microsensor in it that regularly monitors this device. In addition, at the Singnet Super Computer center , located in the Maryland region, USA, a 24-hour surveillance system was installed on Dzhokhar Dudayev’s phone. The US National Security Agency transmitted daily information about Dzhokhar Dudayev’s location and telephone conversations to the CIA. Turkey received these dossiers, and Turkish “leftist” officers passed this dossier on. to the Russian FSB, Dzhokhar knew that a hunt had begun for him. When the connection was interrupted for a minute, he always joked: “Well, are they connected yet?” But he was still sure that his phone would not be detected.
Alla Dudayeva also reported that Dudayev’s burial place is still kept secret. According to her, she believes that someday the former general and former leader of the anti-constitutional regime in Grozny will be buried in the ancestral valley of Yalkharoy. The widow accuses the Russian authorities of the fact that the war is still going on over control over oil flows, since the Chechen land is very rich in non-oil reserves. Here is a very remarkable excerpt from her interview, where we're talking about about how Dudayev offered the Americans the right to 50 years of Chechen oil production.
"...The Americans offered to take an oil concession for 50 years for $25 billion. Dzhokhar named the figure of $50 billion and managed to insist on his own. For a small country, this was a huge amount. Then, in one of Dzhokhar’s speeches on television, his famous phrase"about camel milk that will flow from golden taps in every Chechen house." And then, according to Dudayeva, there was a leak of information, allegedly by Kremlin proteges, former minister oil industry, Salambek Khadzhiev and the head of the government of the Chechen Republic, Doku Zavgaev, themselves offered the Americans for the same fifty years, but for only $23 billion. Because of this, the widow said former general, and the first Chechen campaign began.
In the process of preparing the material for publication, the author turned to Ytra military observer Yuri Kotenko for comment.
He noted, after reading the interview, that this was a classic female perspective on the political and military events of those years. And the first thing I noticed was who Dudayeva calls “her own.” Especially in light of the latest events with former FSB officer Litvinenko. "My friends" recent years he walked along straight path", etc. – even then Litvinenko was one of the Chechen militants.
It is also important to note that Alla Dudayeva again says that her husband is dead. As Yuri Kotenok said, many people in Chechnya believe that Dudayev was not liquidated, that he is alive and hiding in a safe place. Actually, the same thing is now being written in the press, which cannot be convicted of loving Russia, and they are also saying about Basayev. They say that Shamil did his job, he was undercover.
This is not true, and here's why. Such eccentric and narcissistic people as Dudayev and Basayev were cannot lead a quiet secret life, hiding in some quiet place. People who developed grandiose military-terrorist operations against Russia (we are not talking about the possibility of implementation), who claimed to be the leaders of the nation, cannot vegetate in some Turkey, for them this is tantamount to physical death.
And one more remark was made by our military observer. We must never forget that Dudayev openly opposed Russia, it was with his knowledge that genocide was committed in Chechnya against the Russian, Armenian, Jewish and other peoples, and it was under his leadership that multinational Grozny turned into the capital of one nation. He placed himself outside the Constitution of the Russian Federation, in fact, outside the law. And Dudayev was not going to hand over the oil to the Americans for the notorious “milk taps”; grandiose military plans for the fight against the Russian Federation were brewing in the head of the former general of the Soviet Army. He is an enemy, and they treated him like an enemy.
Dzhokhar Dudayev is a very controversial figure in history modern Russia. At the same time, in other countries he is considered a hero.
Start of a career
The future rebel was born in the Chechen-Ingush Republic on February 15, 1944. Some time after his birth, his entire family was deported to Kazakhstan, from where they were able to return to their homeland only in 1957. By 1962, Dudayev lived and worked in Grozny, working as an electrician. And in 1962 he was drafted into the army, where he served until the collapse of the USSR. He rose to the rank of major general of Soviet aviation. Dudayev was a member of the Communist Party and remained in its ranks until it was banned in the Russian Federation. In the army, he was responsible for the political training of recruits.
In the Soviet army
In the period from 1987 to 1989 he took part in the Soviet military operation in Afghanistan and even himself flew the planes that bombed Afghanistan. Used carpet bombing tactics. When he became the leader of Chechnya, he denied his participation in the fight against Afghan Islamists.
Until 1990, he served in Estonia in the city of Tartu as a commander of a military garrison. There is an opinion that Dudayev, during Estonia’s declaration of independence, refused to send troops into Tallinn and block government and television buildings.
Return to homeland
In Chechnya itself during this period the national movement grew. In 1990, a national congress was held in Chechnya, at which Dudayev was elected head of the Executive Committee. The National Committee of the Chechen People was in opposition to the ruling administration in Grozny. Dudayev demanded the resignation of the entire leadership of the Chechen-Ingush Republic. And when the coup took place in Moscow on August 19, 1991, he supported Boris Yeltsin, although the Supreme Council of the Republic supported the organizers of the coup. This step caused Dudayev's popularity to grow and the confidence of the new authorities in Moscow to increase.
Power grab
Dudayev and his associates, whose number was rapidly growing, and who already had weapons in August 1991, first seized television, where they announced that power in the republic would belong to the provisional government, and then on September 6 dispersed the Supreme Council. Council deputies were beaten by armed Chechens, and the head of the Grozny City Council, Vitaly Kutsenko, died after being thrown out of a building window. September 6 is considered the Independence Day of the Republic.
Very soon elections were held in Chechnya, Dudayev won with 90% of the votes. With his first decree, he announced the creation of the independent Chechen Republic of Ichkeria. The republic was not recognized by any state that was part of the UN.
Conflict with Moscow
On November 7, 1991, Boris Yeltsin, by decree, introduced a state of emergency in the republic. In response, Dudayev's supporters seized all administrative buildings in Chechnya, and Dudayev moved the country into a state of military mobilization. Already at that time he promised Russia “a mountain of corpses.” Chechens were allowed to purchase and store weapons. Within a year, the Chechens were able to capture almost all the weapons of the former Soviet military units located on the territory of Chechnya.
Policy
Dudayev dreamed of creating a Military Union of the Caucasian Republics with the aim of military confrontation with Russia. Chechnya was the first to recognize the independence of Georgia, and Georgia, led by Zviad Gamsakhurdia, recognized the independence of Chechnya. When Gamsakhurdia lost power in Georgia, he found political asylum in Chechnya. Dudayev tried to have Chechnya recognized by other Muslim countries, but this never happened.
Inner chaos
At the same time, the socio-economic situation in the country was deteriorating, unemployment was almost 80%. Interestingly, the weapons were transferred to the Chechens on the orders of the then Russian Defense Minister Pavel Grachev. Dudayev sought to introduce direct presidential rule in the country, but faced strong opposition. Dudayev dissolved parliament and introduced a state of emergency, which led to military clashes between the opposition and Dudayev's supporters.
In fact, the country began civil war. The opposition created a Provisional Council, which was supported by Moscow. Grozny was attacked several times, and was even captured, but the opposition was unable to hold it.
Holy war
In response, Dudayev stated that he was announcing “ holy war Russia." In November 1993, Yeltsin signed an order to send troops into Chechnya. This is how the first Chechen war began.
Russian special services were hunting for Dudayev. Several attempts were made on his life. On April 21, 1996, while Dudayev was talking on the phone with Russian deputy Borov, he was hit by a Russian missile, killing him.
Terrorist and hero
In Russia, Dudayev is perceived negatively, however, for example, in Tartu (Estonia) there is a memorial plaque dedicated to Dudayev. In Vilnius and Riga there are streets named after Dudayev. In 2005, Dzhokhar Dudayev Square also appeared in Warsaw.
Translation: Svetlana Tivanova
Born on February 15 (according to other sources - 23rd), 1944 in the village of Yalkhori (Yalhoroi), Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. Chechen, native of the Yalkhoroi teip. He was the thirteenth child in the family. On February 23, 1944, the population of the Chechen Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was subjected to repression and was deported to Kazakhstan and Central Asia. D. Dudayev and his family were able to return to Chechnya only in 1957.
Dudayev graduated from the Tambov Military Aviation School and the Yu.A. Gagarin Air Force Academy in Moscow.
In 1962 he began serving in Soviet Army. He rose to the rank of Major General in the USSR Air Force (Dudaev was the first Chechen general in the Soviet Army). He took part in military operations in Afghanistan in 1979-1989. In 1987-1990 he was commander of a heavy bomber division in Tartu (Estonia).
In 1968 he joined the CPSU and did not formally leave the party.
In the fall of 1990, being the head of the garrison of the city of Tartu, Dzhokhar Dudayev refused to carry out the order: to block television and the Estonian parliament. However, this act had no consequences for him.
Until 1991, Dudayev visited Chechnya on visits, but in his homeland they remembered him. In 1990, Zelimkhan Yandarbiev convinced Dzhokhar Dudayev of the need to return to Chechnya and lead the national movement. In March 1991 (according to other sources - in May 1990) Dudayev retired and returned to Grozny. In June 1991, Dzhokhar Dudayev headed the Executive Committee of the All-National Congress of the Chechen People (OCCHN). (According to the BBC, Boris Yeltsin's adviser Gennady Burbulis subsequently claimed that Dzhokhar Dudayev assured him of loyalty to Moscow during a personal meeting).
At the beginning of September 1991, Dudayev led a rally in Grozny that demanded the dissolution of the Supreme Council of the Chechen Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic due to the fact that on August 19 the leadership of the CPSU in Grozny supported the actions of the USSR Emergency Committee. On September 6, 1991, a group of armed OKCHN supporters led by Dzhokhar Dudayev and Yaragi Mamadayev broke into the building of the Supreme Council of Checheno-Ingushetia and, at gunpoint, forced the deputies to stop their activities.
On October 1, 1991, by decision of the Supreme Council of the RSFSR, the Chechen-Ingush Republic was divided into the Chechen and Ingush Republics (without defining borders).
On October 10, 1991, the Supreme Council of the RSFSR, in a resolution “On the political situation in Checheno-Ingushetia,” condemned the seizure of power in the republic by the Executive Committee of the OKCHN and the dispersal of the Supreme Council of Checheno-Ingushetia.
On October 27, 1991, Dzhokhar Dudayev was elected president of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria. Even after becoming president of Ichkeria, he continued to appear in public in Soviet military uniform.
On November 1, 1991, with his first decree, Dudayev declared the independence of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria (CRI) from the Russian Federation, which was not recognized by either the Russian authorities or any foreign countries.
On November 7, 1991, Russian President Boris Yeltsin issued a decree on the introduction of state of emergency. In response to this, Dudayev introduced martial law on its territory. The Supreme Soviet of Russia, where Yeltsin's opponents held the majority of seats, did not approve the presidential decree.
At the end of November 1991, Dzhokhar Dudayev created national guard, in mid-December allowed the free carrying of weapons, and in 1992 created the Ministry of Defense.
On March 3, 1992, Dudayev announced that Chechnya would sit down at the negotiating table with Russian leadership only if Moscow recognizes its independence, thus bringing possible negotiations to a dead end.
On March 12, 1992, the Chechen Parliament adopted the Constitution of the republic, declaring the Chechen Republic an independent secular state. The Chechen authorities, encountering almost no organized resistance, seized the weapons of Russian military units stationed on the territory of Chechnya.
In August 1992, at the invitation of the King of Saudi Arabia, Aravin Fahd bin Abdulaziz, and the Emir of Kuwait, Jabar el Ahded ak-Sabah, Dzhokhar Dudayev visited these countries. He was given a warm welcome, but his request to recognize the independence of Chechnya was refused.
On April 17, 1993, Dudayev dissolved the Cabinet of Ministers of the Chechen Republic, the Parliament, the Constitutional Court of Chechnya and the Grozny City Assembly, and introduced direct presidential rule and a curfew throughout Chechnya.
On June 5, 1993, formations loyal to Dudayev successfully suppressed an armed uprising of the local pro-Russian opposition led by. A column of tanks and infantry fighting vehicles, partly staffed by Russian contract soldiers, that entered Grozny was destroyed. According to Gantamirov, over 60 of his supporters were killed.
On December 1, 1994, a decree of the President of the Russian Federation “On some measures to strengthen law and order in the North Caucasus” was issued, which ordered all persons illegally possessing weapons to voluntarily surrender them to Russian law enforcement agencies by December 15.
On December 6, 1994, Dzhokhar Dudayev in the Ingush village of Sleptsovskaya met with the Ministers of Defense of the Russian Federation Pavel Grachev and Internal Affairs Viktor Erin.
Based on the decree of Russian President Boris Yeltsin “On measures to suppress the activities of illegal armed groups on the territory of the Chechen Republic and in the zone of the Ossetian-Ingush conflict,” units of the Russian Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Internal Affairs entered the territory of Chechnya. The first Chechen war began.
According to Russian sources, at the beginning, Dudayev commanded about 15 thousand soldiers, 42 tanks, 66 infantry fighting vehicles and armored personnel carriers, 123 guns, 40 anti-aircraft systems, 260 training aircraft, so the advance of the federal forces was accompanied by serious resistance from the Chechen militias and Dudayev’s guards.
By the beginning of February 1995, after heavy bloody battles, Russian army established control over the city of Grozny and began advancing into the southern regions of Chechnya. Dudayev had to hide in the southern mountainous regions, constantly changing his location.
According to media reports, Russian special services twice managed to infiltrate their agents into Dzhokhar Dudayev’s entourage and once bombed his car, but all assassination attempts ended in failure.
In the evening, Russian special services located the signal from Dudayev’s satellite phone in the area of the village of Gekhi-Chu, 30 km from Grozny. 2 Su-25 attack aircraft with homing missiles were lifted into the air. Dzhokhar Dudayev died from a rocket explosion while talking on the phone with Russian deputy Konstantin Borov. The place where the first president of the self-proclaimed Chechen Republic of Ichkeria is buried is unknown.
Dzhokhar Dudayev was born on February 15, 1944 in the village of Pervomaiskoye (Chechen Yalkhori) of the Galanchozhsky district of the Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (now the Achkhoy-Martan region of the Chechen Republic), the seventh child in the family (he had 9 brothers and sisters). He comes from the Yalkhoroi taipa. Eight days after his birth, the Dudayev family was deported to the Pavlodar region of the Kazakh SSR, among many thousands of Chechens and Ingush during the mass deportation of Chechens and Ingush in 1944 (see Deportation of Chechens and Ingush).
In 1957, he and his family returned to their homeland and lived in Grozny. Graduated in 1959 high school No. 45, then began working as an electrician at SMU-5, while at the same time studying in the 10th grade at evening school No. 55, which he graduated a year later. In 1960 he entered the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of the North Ossetian State University pedagogical institute, then, after listening to a year-long course of lectures on specialized training, entered Tambov Higher military school pilots with the specialty “pilot engineer” (1962-1966).
In the Armed Forces of the USSR since 1962, he served in both command and administrative positions.
Since 1966, he served in the 52nd instructor heavy bomber regiment (Shaikovka airfield, Kaluga region), starting as an assistant commander of an airship.
In 1971-1974 he studied at command faculty Air Force Academy named after. Yu. A. Gagarin.
Since 1970, he served in the 1225th heavy bomber air regiment (Belaya garrison in the Usolsky district of the Irkutsk region (Sredniy settlement), Transbaikal Military District), where in subsequent years he successively held the positions of deputy commander of the air regiment (1976-1978), chief of staff (1978 -1979), detachment commander (1979-1980), commander of this regiment (1980-1982).
In 1982 he became the chief of staff of the 31st heavy bomber division of the 30th air army, and in 1985-1987 the chief of staff of the 13th guards heavy bomber air division (Poltava): he “was remembered by many Poltava residents with whom fate brought him together. According to his former colleagues, he was a hot-tempered, emotional and at the same time extremely honest and decent person. At that time he still remained a convinced communist and was responsible for political work with personnel.”
In 1986-1987, he took part in the war in Afghanistan: according to representatives of the Russian command, he was first involved in developing a plan of action for strategic aviation in the country, then on board a Tu-22MZ bomber as part of the 132nd heavy bomber regiment of Long-Range Aviation, he personally flew combat missions in western regions Afghanistan, introducing the so-called methodology. carpet bombing of enemy positions. Dudayev himself always denied the fact of his active participation in military operations against Islamists in Afghanistan.
In 1987-1991, he was the commander of the strategic 326th Ternopil Heavy Bomber Division of the 46th Strategic Air Army (Tartu, Estonian SSR), and at the same time served as head of the military garrison.
In the Air Force he rose to the rank of major general of aviation (1989).
“Dudayev was a well-trained officer. He graduated from the Gagarin Academy and commanded a regiment and division with dignity. Firmly controlled the aviation group during the withdrawal Soviet troops from Afghanistan, for which he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner. He was distinguished by restraint, calmness and concern for people. In his division, a new training base was equipped, canteens and airfield life were equipped, and strict statutory order was established in the Tartu garrison. Dzhokhar was deservedly awarded the rank of major general of aviation,” recalled the Hero of Russia, army general. Pyotr Deinekin.
Beginning of political activity
On November 23–25, 1990, the Chechen National Congress was held in Grozny, which elected an Executive Committee headed by Chairman Dzhokhar Dudayev.
In March 1991, Dudayev demanded the self-dissolution of the Supreme Council of the Chechen-Ingush Republic. In May, the retired general accepted an offer to return to Chechnya and lead the growing social movement. On June 9, 1991, at the second session of the Chechen National Congress, Dudayev was elected chairman of the Executive Committee of the OKCHN (National Congress of the Chechen People), into which the former executive committee of the CHNS was transformed. From that moment on, Dudayev, as the head of the Executive Committee of the OKChN, began the formation of parallel authorities in the Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, declaring that the deputies of the Supreme Council of the Chechen Republic “did not live up to the trust” and declaring them “usurpers.”
The attempted coup in the USSR on August 19-21, 1991 became a catalyst for the political situation in the republic. The Chechen-Ingush Republican Committee of the CPSU, the Supreme Council and the government supported the State Emergency Committee, but the OKCHN opposed the State Emergency Committee. On August 19, at the initiative of the Vainakh Democratic Party, a rally in support of the Russian leadership began on the central square of Grozny, but after August 21 it began to be held under the slogans of the resignation of the Supreme Council along with its chairman. On September 4, the Grozny television center and the Radio House were seized. Dzhokhar Dudayev read out an appeal in which he called the leadership of the republic “criminals, bribe-takers, embezzlers” and announced that from “September 5 until the holding of democratic elections, power in the republic passes into the hands of the executive committee and other general democratic organizations.” On September 6, the Supreme Council of the Chechen Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was dispersed by armed supporters of the OKCHN. Dudayevites beat up the deputies and threw the chairman of the Grozny City Council, Vitaly Kutsenko, out of the window. As a result, the chairman of the city council was killed and more than 40 deputies were injured. Two days later, the Dudayevites captured the Severny Airport and CHPP-1, and blocked the center of Grozny.
On October 1, 1991, by decision of the Supreme Council of the RSFSR, the Chechen-Ingush Republic was divided into the Chechen and Ingush Republics (without defining borders).
President of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria
On October 27, 1991, presidential elections were held in Chechnya, won by Dzhokhar Dudayev, who received 90.1% of the votes. With his first decree, Dudayev proclaimed the independence of the self-proclaimed Chechen Republic of Ichkeria (CRI) from the RSFSR, which was not recognized by either the Russian authorities or any foreign states except the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. On November 2, the Congress of People's Deputies declared the elections invalid, and on November 7, Russian President Boris Yeltsin issued a decree introducing a state of emergency in Chechnya and Ingushetia, but it was never implemented. In response to this, Dudayev introduced martial law in the territory under his control. An armed seizure of the buildings of law enforcement ministries and departments was carried out, military units were disarmaed, military camps of the Ministry of Defense were blocked, and rail and air transportation was stopped. OKCHN called on Chechens living in Moscow to “turn the capital of Russia into a disaster zone.”
On November 11, the Supreme Council of Russia, where Yeltsin’s opponents had the majority of seats, did not approve the presidential decree, in fact supporting the self-proclaimed republic.
In November-December, the parliament of the ChRI decided to abolish the existing government bodies in the republic and to recall the people's deputies of the USSR and the RSFSR from the ChRI. Dudayev's decree introduced the right of citizens to purchase and store firearms.
In December-February, the seizure of abandoned weapons continued. At the beginning of February, the 556th regiment was defeated internal troops, attacks were carried out on military units. More than 4 thousand units were stolen small arms, approximately 3 million ammunition, etc.
In January 1992, Georgian President Zviad Gamsakhurdia was overthrown as a result of an armed coup. Dudayev sent a plane and a special group led by his personal bodyguard Abu Arsanukaev to pick up the Gamsakhurdia family in Yerevan. Dudayev placed the Gamsakhurdia family in his residence in Grozny. In February, Dudayev and Gamsakhurdia unveiled a project to create the “Union of Military Forces of Transcaucasia” - uniting all Transcaucasian and North Caucasian states into a league of republics independent from Russia.
On March 3, Dudayev said that Chechnya would sit down at the negotiating table with the Russian leadership only if Moscow recognized its independence. Nine days later, on March 12, the CRI parliament adopted the constitution of the republic, declaring it an independent secular state. On March 13, Gamsakhurdia signed a decree recognizing the state independence of Chechnya, and on March 29, Dudayev signed a decree recognizing Georgia as an independent state. The Chechen authorities, encountering almost no organized resistance, seized the weapons of Russian military units stationed on the territory of Chechnya. By May the Dudayevites captured 80% military equipment and 75% of small arms of the total amount available to the military in Chechnya. At the same time, after the coup in Azerbaijan, when the Popular Front of Azerbaijan, led by its leader Abulfaz Elchibey, came to power in the country, Dudayev established contact with the new leadership of this South Caucasian republic. In an exclusive interview in 2005, former Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze said the following:
On July 25, Dudayev spoke at an extraordinary congress of the Karachai people and condemned Russia for trying to prevent the mountain people from gaining independence, promising the Karachais to provide any assistance “in the fight for the long-awaited freedom and national dignity.” In August, King Fahd of Saudi Arabia and Emir of Kuwait Jaber al-Sabah invited Dudayev to visit their countries as President of the Chechen Republic. During lengthy audiences with the king and emir, Dudayev raised the issue of establishing diplomatic relations at the ambassadorial level, but the Arab monarchs stated that they would be ready to recognize the independence of Chechnya only after appropriate consultations with Russia and the United States. As a result of the visit, no documents were signed: according to the representative of the Chechen Foreign Ministry Artur Umansky, the Arab leaders wanted to avoid reproaches from Moscow. Nevertheless, at the unofficial level, the monarchs demonstrated their affection to Dudayev in every possible way. King Fahd visited with him the holy city of Medina for Muslims and the main shrine of Islam, the al-Kaaba temple in Mecca, thereby performing the lesser hajj. The Emir of Kuwait hosted a gala dinner in honor of Dudayev in the presence of ambassadors from 70 countries. In Saudi Arabia, the Chechen leader also held talks with the President of Albania, Sali Berisha, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Haris Silajdzic, who were there.
After this, Dudayev makes visits to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and Turkey. At the end of September, Dzhokhar Dudayev visited Bosnia, where at that time there was a civil war. However, at the Sarajevo airport, Dudayev and his plane were arrested by French peacekeepers. Dudayev was released only after telephone conversation between the Kremlin and the UN headquarters.
After this, Dzhokhar Dudayev headed to the United States, accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister Mairbek Mugadayev and the mayor of Grozny Beslan Gantemirov. According to official sources, the purpose of the visit was to establish contacts with American entrepreneurs for the joint development of Chechen oil fields. The visit ended on October 17, 1992.
By the beginning of 1993, the economic and military situation in Chechnya had worsened, and Dudayev had lost his previous support.
On February 19, by his decision, Dudayev approved the constitution of the Chechen Republic, according to which a presidential republic was introduced. A survey was organized on the approval of the Constitution, in which, as the Dudayevites claimed, 117 thousand people took part, of which 112 thousand approved the project.
On April 15, an open-ended opposition rally began on Teatralnaya Square in Grozny. Parliament accepted the call to citizens to restore legitimate power in the republic and appointed