Five years after death of Chechen separatists' leader Aslan Maskhadov

Five years ago, on March 8, 2005, it was announced that in the plain Grozny District of Chechnya, as a result of successful operation of Russian special agencies Aslan Maskhadov, President of the self-proclaimed Chechen Republic of Ichkeria (ChRI), was liquidated. Some people in Chechnya still believe that Maskhadov was killed on other day and in other place, while the special operation in Tolstoy-Yurt village, where he was allegedly liquidated, was just an imitation.

Former Colonel of the Soviet and later of the Russian Army Aslan Maskhadov was elected President of the ChRI on January 27, 1999, after open elections held in the republic. Eyewitnesses recollect that the voter turnout was so high that the CEC (Central Electoral Commission) had to prolong the voting by two hours.

Aslan Maskhadov had a persuading victory with 59.3 percent of votes over his main rivals - Shamil Basaev and Zelimkhan Yandarbiev (both liquidated later in operations conducted by Russian special agents). By electing Maskhadov, residents of Chechnya, who had faced the horrors of war, hoped, first of all, that he could fix peace with Moscow.

However, these hopes never came true. Maskhadov's former comrades-in-arms, field commanders of all levels, by all means objected to putting Chechnya into elementary order. It all ended in Basaev's and Khattab's invasion in Dagestan and even larger and bloodier second military campaign in the territory of the Chechen Republic.

In spring 1999, Maskhadov introduced rule of Shariat in Chechnya. In August 1999, he first condemned Basaev and Khattab's attack on Dagestan, but then headed armed resistance to Russian authorities. In March 2000, he was announced into federal, and in 2002 - into international search.

Aslan Maskhadov repeatedly called Russian leaders stop the military campaign and start negotiations on political settlement with account of mutual interests of the parties in conflict. One month before his death he  announced unilateral ceasefire. However, peace initiatives found no support in the Kremlin and among his allies.