20 years ago, his name thundered throughout the country. They hated this man, they wanted him the most terrible and painful death. Who was Salman Raduyev and why did he end up in one of the worst prisons in Russia? Find out!
short biography
Raduev Salman Betirovich was born on February 13, 1967 in the city of Gudermes. He graduated with honors from school number 3 and since March 1985 began to work as a plasterer in his native city. In 1987, while in military service, joined the Communist Party. Later, in his interviews, he repeatedly said that he has a higher economic education and even graduated from graduate school, but so far it has not been possible to confirm these data. After the army, he worked as a gas welding master, and from the beginning of the 1990s he went into private business. His company was engaged in the sale of consumer goods.
Dudaev regime
In 1992, became the prefect of Gudermes. At this time, he embarks on the path of crime. His armed groups begin to engage in attacking trains, embezzlement of state property and racketeering. He gives his band a loud name “Presidential Berets”. The formation becomes the guard of President Dzhokhar Dudaev. With the head he was connected not only with common matters, but also with kinship - he married the daughter of his second cousin. By the beginning of the first Chechen campaign, the guard became a special forces unit called the Borz. In 1994, at the initiative of the local population, he was removed from the post of prefect.
The first Chechen campaign
Having been appointed and became commander of the North-Eastern Front of the Armed Forces of Ichkeria, he embarks on active hostilities. Together with his detachment, Gudermes is captured and is running for the post of head of administration. Within 9 days, they successfully hold the city.
Raid on Kizlyar
It was at this time that the name of Raduyev became known throughout the country. This happened by accident, because dubious merit went to him at the last moment. 350 militants headed to Dagestan. They went there not only for reconnaissance - in Kizlyar there was a helicopter base of the Russian troops and a military camp of the troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. After an unsuccessful attack (the militants destroyed two helicopters), they decide to leave the city. Their path lay in Chechnya. But in order to leave Kizlyar unhindered, they had to take more than three thousand people hostage. As they moved to a safe area, they released most of the prisoners, leaving 100 people to cover.
On the border with Chechnya, Russian troops fired warning shots at the group. Together with the hostages, Raduyev’s detachment strengthened in the village of Pervomaiskoe. A week later the assault began, but some of the terrorists managed to escape. At this point, the combat commander Ismailov was killed, and the operation took place under the leadership of Raduyev. In total, 70 militants were killed during the assault. Losses among civilians and hostages - more than 200 people. After this operation, Raduev received the rank of brigadier general.
Terrorist №2
In the period between the two wars, Raduyev managed not only to carry out intimidation operations in the Caucasus, but also to take responsibility for all terrorist attacks in Russia. The authorities put him on the international wanted list, and meanwhile he entered into an open confrontation with Aslan Maskhadov. He rejected all possibilities of resolving the military conflict and urged field commanders to carry out as many terrorist attacks in Russia as possible. A Sharia court sentenced him to 4 years in prison, but he refused to comply. Among other things, he also attributed to his services the assassination attempt on Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze.
Unkillable
In the period from 1996 to 2000. several times reports appeared in the press about the death of Raduyev. But each time they turned out to be false, and the gunman continued his bloody marches. In 1996, he was lucky - the whole family died in the explosion of his house at the beginning of the year, but he himself was absent at that moment. Then in March, an explosive bullet hit his head. He survived, but the plastic surgeon was forced to collect his face in pieces. He lost his eyes, and German doctors restored his nose.
After that, he received the nickname Titanic, due to the titanium plate implanted during the operation. Three years later, his nose was replaced with a fake made of plastic. After the arrest, photos of Salman Raduyev appeared on the front pages of the print media. Looking at a man with a disfigured appearance, it was hard to believe that he could do so many terrible things. Many were interested in that with the face of Salman Raduyev. Now we know how his appearance was so mutilated. In 1997, several assassination attempts were committed against him, as a result of which he received serious injuries. During the second Chechen campaign, he was again recognized as killed several times, but his arrest in 2000 swept away all speculation once and for all.
Sentence
The investigation of all the crimes of the field commander and one of the most wanted terrorists lasted almost two years. 129 volumes of the criminal case and a long list of charges ended with the sentence of life imprisonment. He was to serve his term in the Perm Region in a maximum security penal colony No. 14, better known as the White Swan. Salman Raduyev admitted that he was pleasantly surprised by the verdict, but still filed a cassation appeal. He did not want to plead guilty to all the crimes he was charged with. The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation examined the complaint and upheld the verdict. The only thing Raduev and two other terrorists achieved was that they significantly reduced the amount of the lawsuit. Instead of 268 million rubles, they had to pay only 222 thousand.
In prison
Salman Raduyev did not spend much time in custody. December 6, 2002 he had a hemorrhage in the eye. A week later, Salman was transferred to the regional Perm hospital, where he died a day later. In order to exclude all rumors of violent death, doctors on camera conducted an autopsy on the gunman. The final diagnosis is hemorrhagic vasculitis of unknown origin. No criminal proceedings were instituted against his death. However, this did not convince everyone to create a sensation from his death. Messages began to appear that he was regularly beaten, starved and bullied. The deceased terrorist no longer looked so dangerous, and even fans appeared. The people quickly forgot about hundreds or even thousands of people whose blood was in the hands of this dangerous action movie.
After a couple of years, rumors reached their zenith, and the Federal Penitentiary Service was ready to exhume the body to refute all allegations of violent death. Validov Bislan, convicted from the city of Grozny, said that he had witnessed how many times Raduyev was beaten in a walking yard under his windows. There were other people who were ready to confirm that the appearance of the militant left no doubt that he was regularly subjected to executions. Soon, exhumation was abandoned. The body of a terrorist rests in a cemetery in the Perm region. He was buried by general rules. None of the relatives wanted to take his body.