Ruslan Gelayev

Ruslan Gelayev
Руслан Гелаев
Prime Minister of Ichkeria
In office 1 January 1997 – February 1997
Preceded by	Aslan Maskhadov
Succeeded by	Aslan Maskhadov
Personal details
Born	16 April 1964 Komsomolskoye (Saadi-Kotar), Chechen–Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, Soviet Union
Died	28 February 2004(2004-02-28) (aged 39) Near Bezhta, Republic of Dagestan, North Caucasus
Awards	Qoman Siy (1995)
Nickname	Black Angel
Military service
Allegiance	Confederation of Mountain Peoples of the Caucasus  Abkhazia Chechen Republic of Ichkeria
Years of service	1992–1993 (Abkhazia) 1993–2004 (Chechnya)
Rank	Brigadier General (demoted in 2000)
Commands	Borz ("Gelayev's spetsnaz") Sharia Guard
Battles/wars	1992–1993 War in Abkhazia First Chechen War Second Chechen War 2001 Kodori crisis

Ruslan (Khamzat) Germanovich Gelayev^[1] (Russian: Руслан Германович Гелаев; Chechen: ГелаевгӀер Герман-воъ Руслан, romanized: Gelaevher German vo' Ruslan) was a prominent commander in the Chechen resistance movement against Russia, in which he played a significant, yet controversial, military and political role in the 1990s and early 2000s. Gelayev was commonly viewed as an abrek and a well-respected, ruthless fighter.^[2] His operations spread well beyond the borders of Chechnya and even outside the Russian Federation and into Georgia. He was killed while leading a raid into the Russian Republic of Dagestan in 2004.