Doku Khamatovich Umarov ( ce, Ӏумар Хьамади кӀант Докка, translit='Umar Ẋamadi khant Dokka, ; russian: Доку Хаматович Умаров, Doku Khamatovich Umarov; 13 April 1964 – 7 September 2013
), also known as Dokka Umarov as well as by his
Arabized
Arabization or Arabisation ( ar, تعريب, ') describes both the process of growing Arab influence on non-Arab populations, causing a language shift by the latter's gradual adoption of the Arabic language and incorporation of Arab culture, aft ...
name of Dokka Abu Umar, was a
Chechen mujahid
''Mujahideen'', or ''Mujahidin'' ( ar, مُجَاهِدِين, mujāhidīn), is the plural form of ''mujahid'' ( ar, مجاهد, mujāhid, strugglers or strivers or justice, right conduct, Godly rule, etc. doers of jihād), an Arabic term th ...
in North Caucasus. Umarov was a major military figure in both wars in
Chechnya
Chechnya ( rus, Чечня́, Chechnyá, p=tɕɪtɕˈnʲa; ce, Нохчийчоь, Noxçiyçö), officially the Chechen Republic,; ce, Нохчийн Республика, Noxçiyn Respublika is a republic of Russia. It is situated in the ...
during the 1990s and 2000s, before becoming the leader of the greater
insurgency in the North Caucasus
The insurgency in the North Caucasus (russian: Борьба с терроризмом на Северном Кавказе) was a low-level War, armed conflict between Russia and militants associated with the Caucasus Emirate and, from June ...
. He was active mostly in south-western Chechnya, near and across the borders with
Ingushetia
Ingushetia (; russian: Ингуше́тия; inh, ГӀалгӏайче, Ghalghayče), officially the Republic of Ingushetia,; inh, Гӏалгӏай Мохк, Ghalghay Moxk is a republic of Russia located in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe. ...
and
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
.
During the late 1990s, after Chechnya's first war against Russia,
Movladi Udugov
Movladi Saidarbievich Udugov ( ce, Мовла́ди Саидарби́евич Уду́гов; born February 9, 1962 in Germenchuk, Shalinsky District, Chechnya into the Shirdi teip) was the former First Deputy Prime Minister of the Chechen R ...
's status as war hero enabled him to take the post of the breakaway Republic's Security Minister. Between 2006 and 2007, following the death of his predecessor
Sheikh Abdul Halim
Abdul-Halim Abusalamovich Sadulayev ( ; Chechen: Сайд-Iелийн Абусаламин кІант Iабдул-Хьалим, ''Sadulin Abusalamin-Kant Abdulhalim''; Russian: Абдул-Халим Αбусаламович Сайдулае ...
, Umarov became the underground
President of Ichkeria
The president of Ichkeria, formally the president of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria was the head of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria from 1991 to 2007, the Islamic Republic that existed until the victory of the Russian Federation in the Second ...
of the unrecognized government of the
Chechen Republic of Ichkeria
The Chechen Republic of Ichkeria (; ce, Нохчийн Республик Ичкери, Nóxçiyn Respublik Içkeri; russian: Чеченская Республика Ичкерия; abbreviated as "ChRI" or "CRI") was a ''de facto'' state that ...
, the post that Umarov eventually abolished himself when he renounced and abandoned Chechen nationalism in favour of regional
pan-Islamism
Pan-Islamism ( ar, الوحدة الإسلامية) is a political movement advocating the unity of Muslims under one Islamic country or state – often a caliphate – or an international organization with Islamic principles. Pan-Islamism was ...
and
jihadist
Jihadism is a neologism which is used in reference to "militant Islamic movements that are perceived as existentially threatening to the West" and "rooted in political Islam."Compare: Appearing earlier in the Pakistani and Indian media, Wes ...
ideology. The political mantle of Chechen nationalist separatism was formally taken over by the self-exiled
Akhmed Zakayev
Akhmed Halidovich Zakayev ( ce, Заки Хьалид кlант Ахьмад, Zaki Halid-khant Ahmad; russian: Ахмед Халидович Закаев, Akhmed Khalidovich Zakayev; born 26 April 1959) is a former Deputy Prime Minister and Pri ...
, Umarov's former wartime comrade and friend turned political rival. Having quit the position of Chechen separatist leader, Umarov subsequently became the self-proclaimed
Emir
Emir (; ar, أمير ' ), sometimes transliterated amir, amier, or ameer, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or cerem ...
of the entire
North Caucasus
The North Caucasus, ( ady, Темыр Къафкъас, Temır Qafqas; kbd, Ишхъэрэ Къаукъаз, İṩxhərə Qauqaz; ce, Къилбаседа Кавказ, Q̇ilbaseda Kavkaz; , os, Цӕгат Кавказ, Cægat Kavkaz, inh, ...
region of Russia, declaring it a putative
Islamic state
An Islamic state is a State (polity), state that has a form of government based on sharia, Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical Polity, polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a t ...
of the
Caucasus Emirate
The Caucasus Emirate ( ce, Имарат Кавказ, Imarat Kavkaz, IK; russian: Кавказский эмират, Kavkazskiy emirat), also known as the Caucasian Emirate, Emirate of Caucasus, or Islamic Emirate of the Caucasus, was a Jihadist ...
. In 2010, Umarov abortively resigned from the position and appointed
Aslambek Vadalov
Aslambek Ilimsultanovich Vadalov (russian: Асламбек Илимсултанович Вадалов), also known by his nom de guerre ''Emir Aslambek'', is a Chechen-Russian rebel leader fighting in the North Caucasus. He was appointed the ...
as the new Emir of the Caucasus Emirate, but soon afterwards issued a statement annulling the previous declaration and stating he would remain in his position and rebel
Sharia
Sharia (; ar, شريعة, sharīʿa ) is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the religious precepts of Islam and is based on the sacred scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran and the H ...
court ruled in favour of Umarov over the rift, following which most other Russian rebel leaders re-swore allegiance to him.
For years, Umarov had been the top terrorist leader in Russia. He had taken responsibility for several attacks on civilian targets since 2009, including the
2010 Moscow Metro bombings
The 2010 Moscow Metro bombings were suicide bombings carried out by two Islamic female terrorists during the morning rush hour of March 29, 2010, at two stations of the Moscow Metro ( Lubyanka and Park Kultury), with roughly 40 minutes in betw ...
and the
2011 Domodedovo International Airport bombing
The Domodedovo International Airport bombing was a suicide bombing in the international arrival hall of Moscow's Domodedovo International, in Domodedovsky District, Moscow Oblast, on 24 January 2011.
The bombing killed 37 people and injured 1 ...
.
[Chechen terrorist says he ordered Moscow Metro attacks](_blank)
BBC; retrieved 31 March 2010; accessed 19 March 2014. In 2012, Umarov ordered his followers to halt attacks on the civilian population of Russia, while leaving military and security personnel as legitimate targets. In July 2013, however, he announced the end of this moratorium and calling on Islamic insurgents in the Caucasus and beyond to forcibly prevent the holding of the
Sochi 2014 Olympics. Umarov was internationally wanted by the government of Russia and United States. In 2011, the
United Nations Security Council
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the Organs of the United Nations, six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international security, international peace and security, recommending the admi ...
's
Al-Qaida and Taliban Sanctions Committee
The ISIL (Da'esh) and Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee is a committee of the United Nations Security Council tasked with implementing international sanctions against the Islamic State and al-Qaeda. It was established as the Al-Qaida and Taliban Sancti ...
added Umarov to the list of individuals allegedly associated with
al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremism, Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arab, Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military ta ...
and
Taliban
The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state (polity), state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalism, Islamic fundamentalist, m ...
.
On 18 March 2014, Umarov's death was reported by the Caucasus Emirate-associated Islamist website
Kavkaz Center
The Kavkaz Center (KC; russian: Кавказ-центр, Kavkaz-centr, lit=Caucasus Center) is a privately run website/portal which aims to be "a Chechen internet agency which is independent, international and Islamic". The stated mission of the s ...
, which offered no details but did say his death was confirmed by the Command of the Caucasus Emirate.
He was announced to be replaced by the Caucasus Emirate's senior Sharia
Sharia (; ar, شريعة, sharīʿa ) is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the religious precepts of Islam and is based on the sacred scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran and the H ...
judge Ali Abu Mukhammad, who then officially confirmed the death of Umarov in a video posted on YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
. According to a report posted on Kavkaz Center, Umarov was poisoned on 6 August 2013 and died at dawn on 7 September 2013.[ On 25 September 2017, Russian media reported that the body of Umarov had possibly been found in a remote mountainous area in Ingushetia.
]
Early life
Doku Umarov was born in April 1964 in the small village of Kharsenoi (Kharsenoy) in the southern Shatoysky District
Shatoysky District (russian: Шатойский райо́н; ce, Шуьйтан кӏошта, ''Şüytan khoşta'') is an administrativeDecree #500 and municipalLaw #41-RZ district (raion), one of the fifteen in the Chechen Republic, Russia.It ...
region of the , into what he described as an intelligentsia family[ belonging the Malkoy '']teip
Teips (also taip, teyp; Nakh тайпа ''taypa'' : ''family, kin, clan, tribe''Нохчийн-Оьрсийн словарь (Chechen-Russian Dictionary, A.G. Matsiyev, Moscow, 1961), ''also available online:'Чеченско-Русский сл ...
'' (the same clan as the warlord Arbi Barayev
Arbi Alautdinovich Barayev ( ce, Арби Алаутдинович Бараев; 27 May 1974 – 22 June 2001) was a Chechen warlord and terrorist, who in 1996 became the founder and first leader of the Special Purpose Islamic Regiment (SPI ...
and Chechnya's former foreign minister Ilyas Akhmadov
Ilyas Khamzatovich Akhmadov ( ce, Ilyasaŋ Aẋmad-k̇ant Ẋamzat/Ильясан Ахьмад-кlант Хьамзат, russian: Ильяс Хамзатович Ахмадов; born December 19, 1960) served as the foreign minister of the Chechen ...
). According to some sources, Umarov might have been convicted during his teenage years between 1980 and 1982 for either hooliganism
Hooliganism is disruptive or unlawful behavior such as rioting, bullying and vandalism, usually in connection with crowds at sporting events.
Etymology
There are several theories regarding the origin of the word ''hooliganism,'' which is a d ...
, negligent homicide
Negligent homicide is a criminal charge brought against a person who, through criminal negligence, allows another person to die.
Examples include the crash of Aeroperu Flight 603 near Lima, Peru. The accident was caused by a piece of duct tape ...
, or manslaughter
Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th cen ...
.[ Umarov studied at the Oil Institute in ]Grozny
Grozny ( rus, Грозный, p=ˈgroznɨj; ce, Соьлжа-ГӀала, translit=Sölƶa-Ġala), also spelled Groznyy, is the capital city of Chechnya, Russia.
The city lies on the Sunzha River. According to the 2010 census, it had a pop ...
, graduating with a degree in construction engineering. He later left the republic for the other parts of the Soviet Union and was reportedly working in the construction[ in Moscow][ when the began in December 1994. There were also reports that he was engaged in "semi-criminal activities" in ]Tyumen Oblast
Tyumen Oblast (russian: Тюме́нская о́бласть, ''Tyumenskaya oblast'') is a federal subject (an oblast) of Russia. It is geographically located in the Western Siberia region of Siberia, and is administratively part of the Urals ...
.
Personal life
Dokka Umarov was married, and believed to have six children, the youngest of whom was born in 2006. Two of Umarov's brothers, Isa and Musa, have been killed in combat. Since 2003, several of Umarov's relatives, including all of his immediate family, have been kidnapped by "unidentified armed men"; some were promptly released, but the others have disappeared and may be dead.[Doku Umarov's father killed in Chechnya]
, Caucasian Knot, 20 April 2007; accessed 18 March 2014.
Shortly after the Beslan hostage-taking raid in 2004, during which Umarov's close relatives were held for several days at Khankala
Khankala (russian: Ханкала, ce, Хан-ГӀала, translit=Ẋan-Ġala) is a settlement in Groznensky District of the Chechen Republic, Russia, located to the east of Grozny
Grozny ( rus, Грозный, p=ˈgroznɨj; ce, Соьл ...
military base near Grozny, Prosecutor General of Russia
The Prosecutor General of Russia (also Attorney General of Russia, russian: Генеральный прокурор Российской Федерации, Generalʹnyy prokuror Rossiyskoy Federatsii) heads the system of official prosecution i ...
Vladimir Ustinov
Vladimir Vasilyevich Ustinov (russian: Владимир Васильевич Устинов; born 25 February 1953) is a Russian politician. He currently is the Plenipotentiary Envoy to the Southern Federal District. Until 2008, he was Russia's ...
suggested the practice of taking rebel leaders' relatives hostage. In 2005, the Russian leading human rights group Memorial
A memorial is an object or place which serves as a focus for the memory or the commemoration of something, usually an influential, deceased person or a historical, tragic event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects or works of a ...
blamed pro-Moscow Chechen forces (''Kadyrovtsy
)
, patron =
, motto = Akhmad is strong!(russian: Ахмат — сила!)
, colors = A-TACS
, colors_label =
, march =
, mas ...
'') for a policy of abductions of the rebels' relatives. On 5 May 2005, a group of masked attackers kidnapped Umarov's wife, his one-year-old son, and his 74-year-old father, Khamad (Hamad). According to the rebel sources, Umarov's family was abducted by the employees of the Oil Regiment (''Neftepolk'', headed by Adam Delimkhanov
Adam Sultanovich Delimkhanov (russian: Адам Султанович Делимханов; born 25 September 1969) is a Russian politician of Chechen ethnicity, who has been member of the Russian State Duma since 2007. He is a member of the Uni ...
) and held in the Kadyrov family's private prison in the village of Tsentoroi. On 24 February 2005, Umarov's younger brother Ruslan was kidnapped by armed men and then allegedly tortured by the Federal Security Service
The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB) RF; rus, Федеральная служба безопасности Российской Федерации (ФСБ России), Federal'naya sluzhba bezopasnosti Rossiyskoy Feder ...
(FSB) at Khankala base.[Authorised abuse]
, Caucasian Knot, 24 March 2005. Umarov's wife and son were later freed, but his elderly father and the younger brother both "disappeared
An enforced disappearance (or forced disappearance) is the secret abduction or imprisonment of a person by a state or political organization, or by a third party with the authorization, support, or acquiescence of a state or political organiza ...
"; in April 2007, Umarov declared his father had been murdered in captivity. In August 2005, Umarov's sister, Natalia Khumaidova, was abducted in the Chechen town of Urus-Martan
Urus-Martan (russian: Уру́с-Марта́н; ce, Хьалха-Марта, ''Ẋalxa-Marta'' or , ''Martanthi'') is a town and the administrative center of Urus-Martanovsky District of the Chechen Republic, Russia, located on the Martan River ...
;["Umarov's Sister Is Abducted"](_blank)
, ''The Moscow Times'', 15 August 2005. she was released days later, after local residents protesting for her return rallied and blocked a federal highway. In 2003–2004, his cousin Zaurbek Umarov and nephew Roman Atayev were reportedly detained in Chechnya and Ingushetia
Ingushetia (; russian: Ингуше́тия; inh, ГӀалгӏайче, Ghalghayče), officially the Republic of Ingushetia,; inh, Гӏалгӏай Мохк, Ghalghay Moxk is a republic of Russia located in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe. ...
, and then "disappeared".
First Chechen War and interwar period
Umarov said he returned to Chechnya to fulfill what he called his patriotic duty. During the 1994–1996 war, he took part in the fighting against the intervention of Russian federal forces, initially serving under the command of Ruslan Gelayev
Ruslan (Hamzat) Gelayev (russian: Руслан (Хамзат) Гелаев; was a prominent commander in the Chechen people, Chechen separatist movement against Russia, in which he played a significant, yet controversial, military and political ...
in the special force popularly known as Gelayev's Spetsnaz (''Gelayevskiy Spetsnaz''). In 1996, Umarov left the unit because of disagreements with Gelayev and joined the command of Akhmed Zakayev
Akhmed Halidovich Zakayev ( ce, Заки Хьалид кlант Ахьмад, Zaki Halid-khant Ahmad; russian: Ахмед Халидович Закаев, Akhmed Khalidovich Zakayev; born 26 April 1959) is a former Deputy Prime Minister and Pri ...
, who had also left Gelayev's ranks to lead the splinter unit Wolf (''Borz''). In the course of the war, in which his unit was expanded into a battalion and then a regiment, Umarov was promoted to the rank of brigadier general
Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...
and won two of Chechnya's highest awards for valor and bravery: Hero of the Nation (''Kyoman Turpal'') and Honor of the Nation (''Kyoman Syi'').[Statement of Presidential Administration of Chechen Republic of Ichkeria](_blank)
Chechenpress, 21 June 2006.
RFE/RL, 21 June 2006.
Following the Khasav-Yurt Accord
Khasavyurt Accord ( ce, Хаси-Эвлан Барт, russian: Хасавюртовские соглашения) was an agreement that marked the end of the First Chechen War, signed in Khasavyurt in Dagestan on 30 August 1996 between Alexander L ...
that ended the war in 1996 and the presidential election of Aslan Maskhadov
Aslan (Khalid) Aliyevich Maskhadov (russian: Асла́н (Хали́д) Али́евич Масха́дов; ce, Масхадан Али-воӀ Аслан (Халид), Masxadan Ali-voj Aslan (Xalid); 21 September 1951 – 8 March 2005) was ...
in January 1997, Umarov was named by Maskhadov to head the Chechen Security Council, tasked with helping to contain growing chaos in the ruined republic. In that position, he intervened in July 1998 to quash armed clashes between Chechen moderates and Islamic extremists
Islamic extremism, Islamist extremism, or radical Islam, is used in reference to extremist beliefs and behaviors which are associated with the Islamic religion. These are controversial terms with varying definitions, ranging from academic unde ...
in the city of Gudermes
Gudermes (russian: Гудерме́с; ce, Гуьмсе, ''Gümse'' or , ''Guthermajas'') is a town in the Chechen Republic, Russia, located on the Sunzha River east of Grozny, the republic's capital. Population: 32,000 (1970).
History
Gude ...
. However, Umarov was forced to resign from this post, and the council was disbanded due to his failure to stabilise the situation in Chechnya and persistent rumors of his alleged participation in the practice of taking hostages for ransom (possibly in relationship with Arbi Barayev,[ who was widely accused of being a kidnapper).]
Second Chechen War
Umarov began his participation in the Second Chechen War
The Second Chechen War (russian: Втора́я чече́нская война́, ) took place in Chechnya and the border regions of the North Caucasus between the Russia, Russian Federation and the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, from Augus ...
in September 1999, as a field commander, again cooperating closely with Ruslan Gelayev during the Russian siege for Grozny. In early 2000, Umarov sustained a serious wound to his face and jaw as he was leaving the surrounded Grozny, and was hospitalized in a neutral country, probably Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
[ (or possibly in southern Russia in a secret cooperation with elements within Russian secret services, as it was alleged by '']Novaya Gazeta
''Novaya Gazeta'' ( rus, Новая газета, t=New Gazette, p=ˈnovəjə ɡɐˈzʲetə) is an independent Russian newspaper known for its critical and investigative coverage of Russian political and social affairs. It is published in Mo ...
'' journalist and former Russian military officer Vyacheslav Izmailov[), alongside the also injured and evacuated Zakayev.] After his convalescence (including undergoing extensive plastic surgery[), Umarov raised and led a militia force in Georgia's remote ]Pankisi Gorge
Pankisi ( ka, პანკისი) or the Pankisi Gorge (, ''Pankisis Kheoba'') is a valley region in Georgia, in the upper reaches of River Alazani just south of Georgia’s historic region of Tusheti between Mt Borbalo and the ruined 17th-cent ...
before his return to Chechnya in the summer of 2002.
Back in Chechnya, Umarov became the replacement of Isa Munayev
Isa Akhyadovich Munayev ( ce, Iиса Мунин, russian: Иса Ахьядович Мунаев; 20 May 1965 – 1 February 2015) was a Chechens, Chechen rebel and military commander who fought for the independence of the Chechen Republic of ...
on the post of the commander of Southwestern Front (comprising an estimated 1,000 fighters by 2004), the military region southwest of Grozny that bordered on Georgia and Ingushetia. He was regarded as an ally of Shamil Basayev
Shamil Salmanovich Basayev ( ce, Салман ВоӀ Шамиль ; russian: Шамиль Салманович Басаев; 14 January 1965 – 10 July 2006), also known by his kunya "Abu Idris", was a senior military commander in the Cheche ...
, then based in the south-eastern Vedensky District
Vedensky District (russian: Веде́нский райо́н; ce, Веданан кӏошт, ''Vedanan khoşt'') is an administrativeDecree #500 and municipalLaw #14-RZ district (raion), one of the fifteen in the Chechen Republic, Russia. It is ...
. In 2003, Umarov led his men in the heavy fighting around the town of Shatoy
Shatoy (russian: Шато́й; ce, Шуьйта, translit=Şüyta), is a rural locality (a '' selo'') and the administrative center of Shatoysky District of the Chechen Republic, Russia. Population:
Geography
It is located in the southern part ...
and, according to the Russian sources, ordered the bombing of Ingushetia's FSB headquarters in the Ingush capital of Magas
Magas (russian: Мага́с) is the capital town of the Republic of Ingushetia, Russia. It was founded in 1995 and replaced Nazran as the capital of the republic in 2002. Due to this distinction, Magas is the smallest capital of a federal subje ...
and the attack on electrical infrastructure facilities in the city of Kislovodsk
Kislovodsk (russian: Кислово́дск, lit. ''sour waters''; ; krc, Ачысуу) is a spa city in Stavropol Krai, Russia, in the North Caucasus region of Russia which is located between the Black and Caspian Seas.
Population:
History
I ...
in Stavropol Krai
Stavropol Krai (russian: Ставропо́льский край, r=Stavropolsky kray, p=stəvrɐˈpolʲskʲɪj kraj) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject (a Krais of Russia, krai) of Russia. It is geographically located in the North ...
. After the death of Gelayev in February 2004, many of his remaining men joined Umarov's group. The next summer, together with Basayev, Umarov was one of the leaders of a large-scale raid by Chechen and Ingush fighters that killed scores of Ingushetia's officials and members of the security forces and briefly seized control over the republic's largest town, Nazran
, ''Näsare'') is the largest city in the Republic of Ingushetia, Russia. It served as the republic's capital in 1991–2000, until it was replaced with Magas, which was specially built for this purpose. It is the most populous city in the republic: ...
.
Through 2005, there were numerous inaccurate reports of Umarov's death or grave injury. In January, he was reported to have been killed in a gun battle with Russian special forces near the Georgian border. In March, he was reported to have been seriously wounded by a Spetznaz
Spetsnaz are special forces in numerous post-Soviet states. (The term is borrowed from rus, спецназ, p=spʲɪtsˈnas; abbreviation for or 'Special Purpose Military Units'; or .)
Historically, the term ''spetsnaz'' referred to the So ...
assassination team. In September, the MVD
The Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation (MVD; russian: Министерство внутренних дел (МВД), ''Ministerstvo vnutrennikh del'') is the interior ministry of Russia.
The MVD is responsible for law enfor ...
announced it had found "Umarov's grave", and the following month, in October, he was once again falsely reported dead in the rebel raid on Nalchik, the capital city of Kabardino-Balkaria
The Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (russian: Кабарди́но-Балка́рская Респу́блика, ''Kabardino-Balkarskaya Respublika''; kbd, Къэбэрдей-Балъкъэр Республикэ, ''Ķêbêrdej-Baĺķêr Respublik ...
. In April 2005, Russian special forces destroyed a small guerrilla unit during a battle in a residential area of Grozny after receiving intelligence that Umarov was with them, yet he was not found among the dead. In May 2005, Umarov was reportedly seriously hurt when he stepped on an anti-personnel mine
Anti-personnel mines are a form of mine designed for use against humans, as opposed to anti-tank mines, which are designed for use against vehicles. Anti-personnel mines may be classified into blast mines or fragmentation mines; the latter may ...
. He was said to have lost a leg in the blast, but turned out to be only lightly injured and participated in an attack on the village of Roshni-Chu three months later. In May 2006, Chechen police discovered his headquarters bunker in the center of the village of Assinovskaya on the border with Ingushetia, but Umarov managed to escape. On 2 June 2005 he was appointed as the vice president
A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...
of the separatist government of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria
The Chechen Republic of Ichkeria (; ce, Нохчийн Республик Ичкери, Nóxçiyn Respublik Içkeri; russian: Чеченская Республика Ичкерия; abbreviated as "ChRI" or "CRI") was a ''de facto'' state that ...
(ChRI).
Chechen presidency
As Vice President of Ichkeria
The vice president of Ichkeria was the deputy and the first successor of the President of Ichkeria, replacing the latter in case of death, temporary disability or illness.
Chechen Republic of Ichkeria is a pro-independence movement that controlle ...
, Umarov was automatically elevated to the position as supreme leader of the ChRI following the death of President of Ichkeria
The president of Ichkeria, formally the president of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria was the head of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria from 1991 to 2007, the Islamic Republic that existed until the victory of the Russian Federation in the Second ...
Sheikh Abdul-Halim Sadulayev
Abdul-Halim Abusalamovich Sadulayev ( ; Chechen: Сайд-Iелийн Абусаламин кІант Iабдул-Хьалим, ''Sadulin Abusalamin-Kant Abdulhalim''; Russian: Абдул-Халим Αбусаламович Сайдулае ...
on 17 June 2006. Having become president, Umarov held such posts as the head of the State Defense Council The State Defense Council is the military command committee of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria (ChRI), established by the separatist government of Dzhokhar Dudayev in 1992.
The State Defense Committee was established in a combined emergency sessio ...
; Amir (commander) of the ''Madzhlis Shura'' of the Caucasus
The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range, have historically ...
; Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria; and finally, Amir of the Mujahideen
''Mujahideen'', or ''Mujahidin'' ( ar, مُجَاهِدِين, mujāhidīn), is the plural form of ''mujahid'' ( ar, مجاهد, mujāhid, strugglers or strivers or justice, right conduct, Godly rule, etc. doers of jihād), an Arabic term th ...
of the Caucasus. In his first published comments since assuming the role of president, Umarov vowed to expand the conflict to "many regions of Russia", praised his predecessor Sadulayev, indicated that a special unit was being formed to fight Chechnya's "most odious traitors" (a remark believed to refer to pro-Moscow Chechen leaders) and stressed that Chechen fighters and their allies would attack only military and police targets within Russia, including in the newly declared Urals
The Ural Mountains ( ; rus, Ура́льские го́ры, r=Uralskiye gory, p=ʊˈralʲskʲɪjə ˈɡorɨ; ba, Урал тауҙары) or simply the Urals, are a mountain range that runs approximately from north to south through European ...
and Volga Region
The Volga Region (russian: Поволжье, ''Povolzhye'', literally: "along the Volga") is a historical region in Russia that encompasses the drainage basin of the Volga River, the longest river in Europe, in central and southern European Russ ...
Fronts.
On 27 June 2006, Umarov appointed the maverick Chechen commander Shamil Basayev to the position of vice-president of the separatist government, simultaneously releasing him from his position as first deputy prime minister
A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president, ...
. Umarov's foreign minister, Usman Firzauli, said that the appointment was meant to force Russia into political negotiations, for if they killed Umarov, then the radical Basayev would have become the official leader of the Chechen separatist movement. However, Basayev was killed soon afterward, in July 2006. In October 2007, Umarov posthumously restored the disgraced field commander Arbi Barayev
Arbi Alautdinovich Barayev ( ce, Арби Алаутдинович Бараев; 27 May 1974 – 22 June 2001) was a Chechen warlord and terrorist, who in 1996 became the founder and first leader of the Special Purpose Islamic Regiment (SPI ...
to the rank of brigadier general
Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...
, which had been stripped by Maskhadov in 1998; this was a considered especially strange move given Barayev's infamy and reputed close links with the FSB.
On 18 August 2006, Umarov was falsely announced to have surrendered at the Gudermes residence of Ramzan Kadyrov
Ramzan Akhmadovich Kadyrov ce, КъадаргӀеран Ахьмат-кӏант Рамзан, translit= (born 5 October 1976) is a Russian politician who currently serves as the Head of the Chechen Republic. He was formerly affiliated to the ...
, the Russian-backed leader of Chechnya, under a Russian amnesty provision enacted after Basayev's death. However, Russian authorities later reversed it to a claim of surrender of Umarov's "younger brother and former head of bodyguards". Umarov maintained he has no younger brother and the later reports identified the alleged surrenderee as Doku's older brother, Akhmad, instead. Chechen separatists said that the older Umarov had disappeared two years before when he supposedly gave up and called it "a PR stunt". Umarov previously called the amnesty as ''"a hopeless attempt by the Kremlin
The Kremlin ( rus, Московский Кремль, r=Moskovskiy Kreml', p=ˈmɐˈskofskʲɪj krʲemlʲ, t=Moscow Kremlin) is a fortified complex in the center of Moscow founded by the Rurik dynasty. It is the best known of the kremlins (Ru ...
regime to shroud the real situation in lies."''
On 23 November 2006, large numbers of Defense Ministry and FSB troops, without the participation of Chechen police, supported by helicopters and artillery barrages, were reported to have surrounded Umarov and his forces in a forest near the village of Yandi-Katar in the Achkhoy-Martanovsky District
Achkhoy-Martanovsky District (russian: Ачхо́й-Марта́новский райо́н; ce, Тӏеьха-Мартан кӏошт, ''Theẋa-Martan khoşt'') is an administrativeDecree #500 and municipalLaw #40-RZ district (raion), one of fif ...
, on the internal border between Ingushetia and Chechnya. According to ''Kommersant
''Kommersant'' (russian: Коммерсантъ, , ''The Businessman'' or Commerce Man, often shortened to Ъ) is a nationally distributed daily newspaper published in Russia mostly devoted to politics and business. The TNS Media and NRS Russia ...
'', Umarov was wounded in the operation but managed to escape the pursuit. He spent the winter months traveling across the mountains to the nearby republic of Kabardino-Balkaria
The Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (russian: Кабарди́но-Балка́рская Респу́блика, ''Kabardino-Balkarskaya Respublika''; kbd, Къэбэрдей-Балъкъэр Республикэ, ''Ķêbêrdej-Baĺķêr Respublik ...
to meet with local '' jamaat''s fighting Russian authorities in the region and consolidate the Caucasian Front, the pan-Caucasian Islamic militant network set up by Sadulayev. In April 2007, a group of fighters that might have been personally led by Umarov shot down a special forces helicopter with the Spetsnaz GRU
Spetsnaz GRU or Spetsnaz G.U. (formally known as Special Forces of the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces () is the special forces (''spetsnaz'') of the G.U., the foreign military-intelligence agency of the Armed ...
troops near Shatoy, killing at least 18 Russian soldiers.
Leadership of the Caucasus Emirate
On 7 October 2007, Umarov proclaimed the ''Imarat Kavkaz'' (Caucasus Emirate
The Caucasus Emirate ( ce, Имарат Кавказ, Imarat Kavkaz, IK; russian: Кавказский эмират, Kavkazskiy emirat), also known as the Caucasian Emirate, Emirate of Caucasus, or Islamic Emirate of the Caucasus, was a Jihadist ...
, aimed at uniting Northern Caucasus into a single Islamic state) and at once declared himself its Emir
Emir (; ar, أمير ' ), sometimes transliterated amir, amier, or ameer, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or cerem ...
, thereby converting the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria
The Chechen Republic of Ichkeria (; ce, Нохчийн Республик Ичкери, Nóxçiyn Respublik Içkeri; russian: Чеченская Республика Ичкерия; abbreviated as "ChRI" or "CRI") was a ''de facto'' state that ...
into a ''vilayat
A vilayet ( ota, , "province"), also known by various other names, was a first-order administrative division of the later Ottoman Empire. It was introduced in the Vilayet Law of 21 January 1867, part of the Tanzimat reform movement initiated b ...
'' (province) of the new emirate, which would encompass several other republics of Russian Federation. The move to establish the Emirate was quickly condemned by Akhmed Zakayev
Akhmed Halidovich Zakayev ( ce, Заки Хьалид кlант Ахьмад, Zaki Halid-khant Ahmad; russian: Ахмед Халидович Закаев, Akhmed Khalidovich Zakayev; born 26 April 1959) is a former Deputy Prime Minister and Pri ...
, by then until recently Umarov's own minister of foreign affairs. Zakayev, living in exile in London, called upon all separatist fighters and politicians to pledge allegiance directly to the Chechen parliament in an attempt to isolate his former subordinate from power. Zakayev expressed regret that Umarov had caved to pressure from " provocateurs" and committed a "crime" that undermines the legitimacy of the ChRI. In a one-day period two former senior field commanders, Isa Munayev
Isa Akhyadovich Munayev ( ce, Iиса Мунин, russian: Иса Ахьядович Мунаев; 20 May 1965 – 1 February 2015) was a Chechens, Chechen rebel and military commander who fought for the independence of the Chechen Republic of ...
and Sultan Arsayev, issued statements publicly siding with Zakayev and distancing themselves from Umarov. However, all of the prominent active field commanders in Chechnya, with the sole exception of Amir Mansur (Arbi Evmirzayev, the leader of the Islamic Jamaat of Chechnya who was killed in 2010) and some small-time commanders (such as Amir Khamza of the Islamic Brigade of Chechnya and Amir Surkho of the Staraya Sunzha Sabotage Group), had sided with Dokka Umarov on the decision.
Prominent Radio Liberty
Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...
journalist Andrei Babitsky reported in November 2007 that Umarov had again travelled to Kabardino-Balkaria
The Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (russian: Кабарди́но-Балка́рская Респу́блика, ''Kabardino-Balkarskaya Respublika''; kbd, Къэбэрдей-Балъкъэр Республикэ, ''Ķêbêrdej-Baĺķêr Respublik ...
to rest and recuperate for the winter months. Babitsky said that Umarov was in a poor state of health after taking a fragmentation wound to his mandible (it is possible Umarov received the wound in 2006 when he broke out of a Russian encirclement on the Chechen/Ingush border) and after his leg was injured in a mine explosion. Pro-Moscow Chechen president Ramzan Kadyrov offered him medical care if Umarov were to "beg for forgiveness".
On 9 May 2009, Kadyrov claimed Umarov had been reportedly severely wounded and that four of his bodyguards were killed in an operation commanded by Kadyrov's cousin and deputy, Adam Delimkhanov. Early rumors claimed Umarov had been killed, and in June the Russian authorities forensically examined the four burned corpses to see whether they included that of Umarov. The next month, however, Umarov himself phoned the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a United States government funded organization that broadcasts and reports news, information, and analysis to countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Caucasus, and the Middle East where it says tha ...
to say he is alive;["Chechen rebel chief Umarov says he's alive, planning attacks"]
UNHCR, 3 July 2009. and in an interview conducted in July 2009 with Prague Watchdog
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...
Umarov claimed that the last time he had been wounded was in 1995 during the First Chechen War. On 19 January 2010, Kadyrov announced that he had launched another Delimkhanov-led special operation in Chechnya's mountains to find and eliminate Umarov. Umarov's possible death was reported once again in March 2011, when Russian government said an air strike and special forces raid on a rebel base in Ingushetia killed 17 Chechen and Ingush militants including his deputy Supyan Abdullayev
Supyan Abdullaev (Russian: Супьян Абдуллаев; 8 November 1956 – 28 March 2011) was the vice president of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria. He was appointed to this position (vacant since the death of Shamil Basayev) on 19 March 2 ...
, but Umarov's body was not found there too.
On 1 August 2010, the Russian Islamist website Kavkaz Center
The Kavkaz Center (KC; russian: Кавказ-центр, Kavkaz-centr, lit=Caucasus Center) is a privately run website/portal which aims to be "a Chechen internet agency which is independent, international and Islamic". The stated mission of the s ...
claimed Umarov had officially announced his resignation for health reasons and appointed his military deputy Aslambek Vadalov
Aslambek Ilimsultanovich Vadalov (russian: Асламбек Илимсултанович Вадалов), also known by his nom de guerre ''Emir Aslambek'', is a Chechen-Russian rebel leader fighting in the North Caucasus. He was appointed the ...
as his successor. He appointed Vadalov saying "that jihad
Jihad (; ar, جهاد, jihād ) is an Arabic word which literally means "striving" or "struggling", especially with a praiseworthy aim. In an Islamic context, it can refer to almost any effort to make personal and social life conform with Go ...
should be led by younger and more energetic commanders." Although he added that he would "continue to wage jihad and will do his utmost to help the new leadership. tepping downdoes not mean that I give up jihad. I will do whatever I can by word and deed." On 4 August, he contradicted the claim issued by him on video saying "Due to the situation in the Caucasus I consider that it is impossible for me to quit my duties. The previous declaration is annulled. It is a falsification. I declare that my health is good to serve Allah
Allah (; ar, الله, translit=Allāh, ) is the common Arabic word for God. In the English language, the word generally refers to God in Islam. The word is thought to be derived by contraction from '' al- ilāh'', which means "the god", an ...
. And I will serve the word of Allah and work to kill the enemies of Allah in all the time that he gives me to live on this earth." He called the initial video a "fabrication," but did not say why there was a conflict. Later in 2010, Vadalov and the Arab mujahid Muhannad attempted to overthrow Umarov as the leader of the Caucasus Emirate. The "supreme judge" of the group, Sayfullah and Emir Adam, the "governor of Ingushetia province", continued to support Umarov. Umarov blamed the split in the organization for Muhannad, who was killed by Russian forces in April 2011, paving the way for re-unification. In July 2011, the insurgents' supreme Islamic court ruled in favour of recognizing Umarov as the leader of the Caucasus Emirate.[ ]Amir Khamzat
Aslan Avgazarovich Byutukayev (), also known as Emir Khamzat and Abubakar (22 October 1974 – 20 January 2021) was a Chechen terrorist commander in the Islamic State (IS) Wilayah al-Qawqaz, the commander of the Riyad-us Saliheen Brigade of Mar ...
, the commander of the Riyad-us-Saliheen Martyr Brigade suicide battalion was named the commander of the western sector; Hussein Gakayev was named to lead the eastern sector. Vadalov and Tarkhan Gaziyev consequently followed suit and re-affirmed their allegiance to Umarov.[Bill Roggio]
"Internal divisions resolved, claims Caucasus Emirate"
''The Long War Journal'', July 2011; accessed 18 March 2014. Umarov then warned Russia that it would be the target of a new strengthened insurgency as he promised a year of "blood and tears" as a result of the new unity.
On 16 January 2014, Kadyrov claimed Umarov had been killed by Russian government forces and that his grave was being sought. On 18 March 2014, the Kavkaz Center announced Umarov had been "martyred
A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...
". It reported that the Command of the Caucasus Emirate confirmed Umarov's death but did not off further details, which might indicate his death either in battle or of natural reasons.[ ]Dagestan
Dagestan ( ; rus, Дагеста́н, , dəɡʲɪˈstan, links=yes), officially the Republic of Dagestan (russian: Респу́блика Дагеста́н, Respúblika Dagestán, links=no), is a republic of Russia situated in the North C ...
i militant and Caucasus Emirate's qadi
A qāḍī ( ar, قاضي, Qāḍī; otherwise transliterated as qazi, cadi, kadi, or kazi) is the magistrate or judge of a '' sharīʿa'' court, who also exercises extrajudicial functions such as mediation, guardianship over orphans and mino ...
known as Ali Abu Mukhammad (Magomed Kebekov[''New York Times'' report on possible death of Umarov]
19 March 2014; accessed 21 March 2014.) was reportedly named as his successor.[ There was no immediate independent nor Russian federal confirmation, but it was the first time Umarov's death was reported by his supporters.][ In addition, Mukhammad confirmed Umarov's death in a video posted on YouTube. According to circulating rumors, Umarov might have been poisoned while visiting a rebel winter base in Chechnya during the fall 2013,] or killed by an artillery strike also during that same period. The FSB's National Anti-Terrorism Committee issued the following statement: ''"Foreign media periodically publish information about the liquidation of Doku Umarov, but the Russian special services at this moment do not have such information and will not comment on it."'' On 18 July 2014, a photo showing the dead body of Umarov was published on the Instagram
Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...
account of head of the Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadyrov
Ramzan Akhmadovich Kadyrov ce, КъадаргӀеран Ахьмат-кӏант Рамзан, translit= (born 5 October 1976) is a Russian politician who currently serves as the Head of the Chechen Republic. He was formerly affiliated to the ...
. The photo came from a militant video showing the burial of Umarov.
Attitudes towards targeting civilians
Although Umarov announced in 2006 an end to violence against civilians, three years later, in 2009, he stated he does not believe there are any civilians in Russia, but that civilian casualties would be limited as much as possible. Umarov has personally taken responsibility for attacks in which dozens of civilians have been killed, and has been implicated in others. Umarov was sought by the federal government of Russia for alleged crimes including acts of terrorism. During the 2004 Beslan school hostage crisis
The Beslan school siege (also referred to as the Beslan school hostage crisis or the Beslan massacre) was a terrorist attack that started on 1 September 2004, lasted three days, involved the imprisonment of more than 1,100 people as hostages ( ...
, Umarov had been incorrectly identified by Russian security forces and some hostages as an on-site leader of the hostage takers, a claim which was later officially refuted. Umarov himself condemned the incident.
On several occasions, Umarov firmly denied any involvement in indiscriminate attacks against civilians and questioned its legitimacy and value. In a June 2005 interview with Andrei Babitsky, he criticized Basayev for ordering the Beslan raid, saying that most of the Chechen resistance does not consider the Beslan hostage taking was a legitimate response to Russian actions in Chechnya ("if we resort to such methods, I do not think any of us will be able to retain his human face"). Umarov's controversial appointment of Basayev to the post of prime minister in 2006 was preceded by a public statement rejecting attacks against civilians as a tactic. In another statement in 2004 Umarov wrote: "Our targets are the Russian occupation forces, their military bases, command headquarters and also their local collaborationists who pursue and kill peaceful Muslims. Civil objects and innocent civilians are not our targets."
In early 2009 he was, by his own admission, personally involved in the re-activation of notorious Riyadus-Salikhin suicide formation, first set-up and led by Basayev between 1999 and 2004; in the next months a string of suicide attacks killed dozens of people (mostly police officers) and critically injured the Ingush president Yunus-bek Yevkurov, raising fears of a new campaign of attacks directed against Russian civilians. In a July 2009 interview with ''Prague Watchdog'', when asked if people should expect a repetition of events like the Moscow hostage crisis, Umarov responded: "If that is the will of Allah. Shamil asayevdid not have the opportunities I have right now. As far as possible we will try to avoid civilian targets, but for me there are no civilians in Russia. Why? Because a genocide
Genocide is the intentional destruction of a people—usually defined as an ethnic, national, racial, or religious group—in whole or in part. Raphael Lemkin coined the term in 1944, combining the Greek word (, "race, people") with the Latin ...
of our people is being carried out with their tacit consent."["Our possibilities are endless..." (interview with Dokka Umarov)](_blank)
Prague Watchdog, 6 July 2009; retrieved 27 February 2009. In December 2009, the Caucasus Emirate (via Kavkaz Center) took responsibility for the derailment of Nevsky Express, an "act of sabotage
Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening a polity, effort, or organization through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. One who engages in sabotage is a ''saboteur''. Saboteurs typically try to conceal their identitie ...
" which claimed the lives of 28 people (including government officials and Russian business executives), reportedly ordered by him personally.["North Caucasus group in Russia, train bomb, web claim"](_blank)
BBC News, 2 December 2009.
In January 2010, in a statement about the upcoming "military actions", Umarov said the re-created Riyad-us-Saliheen Brigade of Martyrs will now operate in the Russian cities outside the Caucasus and "the war will come to their homes", possibly indicating the new wave of bombings such as those conducted by the group in Moscow and elsewhere in 2002–2004 under Basayev's orders. On 31 March 2010, Umarov claimed responsibility for personally ordering the Moscow Metro bombings which took the lives of 40 civilians.[Chechen rebel says he ordered Moscow Metro attacks]
BBC; retrieved 31 March 2010; accessed 19 March 2014. He warned that more attacks were to come on Russian soil because of perceived repressions of Chechnya by Prime Minister Putin. On 7 February 2011, Umarov claimed responsibility in a video posted online for ordering a suicide bombing
A suicide attack is any violent attack, usually entailing the attacker detonating an explosive, where the attacker has accepted their own death as a direct result of the attacking method used. Suicide attacks have occurred throughout histor ...
at Domodedovo International Airport Domodedovo may refer to:
* Domodedovo International Airport, an airport in Russia
*Domodedovo (town), a town in Moscow Oblast, Russia
*Domodedovo District, an administrative raion of Moscow Oblast, Russia
*Domodedovo Airlines, a defunct Russian airl ...
, Russia's busiest airport. The bombing killed 36 people, and was described by Umarov as a "special operation" targeting the Russian society and Putin personally. His practice of claiming responsibility for such attacks resulted in some media dubbing him "Russia's bin Laden
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden (10 March 1957 – 2 May 2011) was a Saudi-born extremist militant who founded al-Qaeda and served as its leader from 1988 until his death in 2011. Ideologically a pan-Islamist, his group is designated a ...
."
On 3 February 2012, Umarov made an about-face again. In a video posted online, ordered his subordinates to halt attacks on the civilian population of Russia, while leaving military and security personnel as legitimate targets. Umarov gave this order in response to nationwide protests against the Russian government. In June 2013, however, Umarov, accompanied by his deputy Aslan Byutukayev
Aslan Avgazarovich Byutukayev (), also known as Emir Khamzat and Abubakar (22 October 1974 – 20 January 2021) was a Chechen terrorist commander in the Islamic State (IS) Wilayah al-Qawqaz, the commander of the Riyad-us Saliheen Brigade of Mar ...
, called for his followers in and outside the Caucasus (in particular in Tatarstan
The Republic of Tatarstan (russian: Республика Татарстан, Respublika Tatarstan, p=rʲɪsˈpublʲɪkə tətɐrˈstan; tt-Cyrl, Татарстан Республикасы), or simply Tatarstan (russian: Татарстан, tt ...
and Bashkortostan
The Republic of Bashkortostan or Bashkortostan ( ba, Башҡортостан Республикаһы, Bashqortostan Respublikahy; russian: Республика Башкортостан, Respublika Bashkortostan),; russian: Респу́блик ...
) to use "maximum force" to ensure the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics
, ''Zharkie. Zimnie. Tvoi'')
, nations = 88
, events = 98 in 7 sports (15 disciplines)
, athletes = 2,873
, opening = 7 February 2014
, closing = 23 February 2014
, opened_by = President Vladimir Putin
, cauldron =
, stadium = Fisht Olympic ...
do not take place, claiming that Russia's "barbaric actions" in the region had forced him to retaliate. Umarov said: "Today we must show those who live in the Kremlin that our kindness is not weakness. They plan to hold the Olympics on the bones of our ancestors, on the bones of many, many dead Muslims buried on our land by the Black Sea
The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Roma ...
. We as mujahideen are required not to allow that, using any methods that Allah allows us." Russian state mass media did not report his threat, but Russia's anti-terrorist committee said it was taking measures to "protect Russian citizens" and was "paying special attention to questions of preparation for hold major sporting events of a global scale" while the Sochi 2014 Organising Committee announced that security would be a top priority.
Legal status
Doku Umarov was regarded as the most-wanted man in Russia and was put by the Russian police on Interpol
The International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO; french: link=no, Organisation internationale de police criminelle), commonly known as Interpol ( , ), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and cri ...
's international wanted list. In March 2008, Chechnya's chief prosecutor, Valery Kuznetsov, launched a criminal case against Umarov for "inciting inter-ethnic hatred and calling for the overthrow of the Russian government on the Internet" (the penalty for this being just a fine
Fine may refer to:
Characters
* Sylvia Fine (''The Nanny''), Fran's mother on ''The Nanny''
* Officer Fine, a character in ''Tales from the Crypt'', played by Vincent Spano
Legal terms
* Fine (penalty), money to be paid as punishment for an offe ...
of up to 500,000 rubles and a ban on holding management positions). According to ''Kommersant'', Umarov was earlier on Russia's wanted list, but all the previous and much more serious charges against him (involvement in acts of terrorism, kidnappings for ransom, murders and robberies) were suspended in 2005. The paper noted that the Zakayev-led Chechen separatist government in exile was investigating Umarov for "attempting to liquidate the independent Chechen state" by declaring the creation of the Caucasus Emirate. The Caucaus Emirate itself has been officially labeled by Russia as a terrorist organization since January 2010.
Since 10 March 2011, Umarov has been on the United Nations Security Council
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the Organs of the United Nations, six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international security, international peace and security, recommending the admi ...
's Al-Qaida and Taliban Sanctions Committee
The ISIL (Da'esh) and Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee is a committee of the United Nations Security Council tasked with implementing international sanctions against the Islamic State and al-Qaeda. It was established as the Al-Qaida and Taliban Sancti ...
list of individuals allegedly associated with al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremism, Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arab, Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military ta ...
and the Taliban
The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state (polity), state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalism, Islamic fundamentalist, m ...
for "participating in the financing, planning, facilitating, preparing, or perpetrating of acts or activities by, in conjunction with, under the name of, on behalf of, or in support of, recruiting for, supplying, selling or transferring arms and related materiel to and otherwise supporting acts or activities of" his own organizations (the Caucasus Emirate and its Brigade of Martyrs suicide attack wing) as well as Uzbekistan's Islamic Jihad Union
The Islamic Jihad Union (IJU; ) is a militant Islamist organization founded in 2002 as a splinter group of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU). Headquartered in North Waziristan, a mountainous region of northwest Pakistan, bordering Afgha ...
and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan
The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU; uz, Ўзбекистон исломий ҳаракати/Oʻzbekiston islomiy harakati; russian: Исламское движение Узбекистана ) was a militant Islamist group formed in 1998 ...
.
The United States government offered $5 million for information leading to Umarov's capture since May 2011 on the grounds of his hostility to U.S. interests. The reward was announced in a joint statement of U.S. President Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev
Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev ( rus, links=no, Дмитрий Анатольевич Медведев, p=ˈdmʲitrʲɪj ɐnɐˈtolʲjɪvʲɪtɕ mʲɪdˈvʲedʲɪf; born 14 September 1965) is a Russian politician who has been serving as the dep ...
on cooperation in counterterrorism. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs Philip J. Crowley
Philip J. "P.J." Crowley (born July 28, 1951) is the former United States Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs, having been sworn into office on May 26, 2009. He resigned on March 13, 2011, following comments he made about the treatmen ...
also published a statement stating that "the action taken today against Umarov supports the U.S. effort to degrade Umarov's ability to exert operational and leadership control over Caucasus . We are determined to eliminate the group's ability to direct violent attacks and to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat Umarov's network."
On 8 April 2014, the director of the Russian Federal Security Service
The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB) RF; rus, Федеральная служба безопасности Российской Федерации (ФСБ России), Federal'naya sluzhba bezopasnosti Rossiyskoy Feder ...
Alexander Bortnikov
Alexander Vasilyevich Bortnikov (russian: Алексaндр Васильевич Бoртников; born 15 November 1951) is a Russian intelligence officer who has served as the Director of the Federal Security Service, director of the Russian ...
confirmed the earlier announcement of Kavkaz Center
The Kavkaz Center (KC; russian: Кавказ-центр, Kavkaz-centr, lit=Caucasus Center) is a privately run website/portal which aims to be "a Chechen internet agency which is independent, international and Islamic". The stated mission of the s ...
made on 18 March of the same year about Umarov's death.
Umarov was removed from the US State Department's Rewards for Justice The Rewards for Justice Program (RFJ) is the counterterrorism and counterintelligence platform administered by the U.S. Department of State's Diplomatic Security Service agency. The Rewards For Justice program is seeking information leading to the ...
list in April 2014. According to the website, "Suspects may be removed from the RFJ list for a variety of reasons, including when they are taken into custody by law enforcement or security forces, or are confirmed dead by an official authoritative source."
Religious beliefs and world views
"Barely religious until late in life", Umarov used to be known as practitioner of the region's "traditional Islam", as opposed to "Wahhabis
Wahhabism ( ar, ٱلْوَهَّابِيَةُ, translit=al-Wahhābiyyah) is a Sunni Islamic Islamic revival, revivalist and Islamic fundamentalism, fundamentalist movement associated with the reformist doctrines of the 18th-century Arabians, ...
". In 2006, responding to Russian claims that he was an Islamic extremist, he described himself as a "traditionalist" and said:
: "Before the start of the first war in 1994, when the occupation began and I understood that war was inevitable, I came here as a patriot. I'm not even sure I knew how to pray properly then. It's ridiculous to say I'm a Wahhabist or a radical Muslim."[New "Chechen Leader to Push Nationalist Agenda"](_blank)
Institute for War and Peace Reporting, 23 June 2006.
Umarov denied that Chechen separatism is linked to al-Qaeda or any other international jihadi
Jihadism is a neologism which is used in reference to "militant Islamic movements that are perceived as existentially threatening to the West" and "rooted in political Islam."Compare: Appearing earlier in the Pakistani and Indian media, Wes ...
groups, saying that the rebels' priority is liberty and independence from Russia and peace for the Caucasus. Prior to his 2007 declaration of the Caucasus Emirate, Umarov was commonly viewed as a staunch Chechen nationalist and had been expected to rather curb the pan-Islamist
Pan-Islamism ( ar, الوحدة الإسلامية) is a political movement advocating the unity of Muslims under one Islamic country or state – often a caliphate – or an international organization with Islamic principles. Pan-Islamism was ...
tendencies in the Chechen separatist movement.
In the same 2007 statement in which Umarov proclaimed his Emirate, he expressed solidarity with "brothers in Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
, Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
, Somalia
Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...
and Palestine
__NOTOC__
Palestine may refer to:
* State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia
* Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia
* Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...
" and described not only Russia but "everyone who attacked Muslims" and "wages war against Muslims" as an enemy. His deputy Anzor Astemirov
Anzor Astemirov (russian: Анзор Астемиров, 3 December 1976 – 24 March 2010), also known as Emir Sayfullah (Sword of God), was an Islamist leader of a terrorist group in the Russian republic of Kabardino-Balkaria, in the North ...
later recalled how Umarov told them that "of course we must rely on Allah, not on England, not on America, not on the West, not on anyone except Allah, and we must get rid of all these delusions." In the video in which Umarov claimed responsibility for the Domodedovo International Airport bombing
The Domodedovo International Airport bombing was a suicide bombing in the international arrival hall of Moscow's Domodedovo International, in Domodedovsky District, Moscow Oblast, on 24 January 2011.
The bombing killed 37 people and injured ...
, he criticized the United States and Russia as hypocrites, stating that if they actually followed their own principles, they would have to surrender world power to China due to the senior status of Chinese culture
Chinese culture () is one of the world's oldest cultures, originating thousands of years ago. The culture prevails across a large geographical region in East Asia and is extremely diverse and varying, with customs and traditions varying grea ...
. In March 2013, Umarov urged the Chechen diaspora The Chechen diaspora ( ce, Нохчийн диаспора) is a term used to collectively describe the communities of Chechen people who live outside of Chechnya; this includes Chechens who live in other parts of Russia. There are also significant ...
members to not get involved in the Syrian civil war and instead to join his forces in the North Caucasus. The ideology that Umarov espoused from the declaration of the Caucasus Emirate until his death would describe him as a Salafist-Takfiri jihadist.[Darion Rhodes]
Salafist-Takfiri Jihadism: the Ideology of the Caucasus Emirate
. International Institute for Counter-terrorism, March 2014.
References
External links
Profile: Chechen rebel leader Doku Umarov
at BBC News
BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...
Profile: Who Is Doku Umarov?
at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a United States government funded organization that broadcasts and reports news, information, and analysis to countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Caucasus, and the Middle East where it says tha ...
(2010)
Умаров, Доку: Президент самопровозглашенной республики Ичкерия
at Lenta.ru
''Lenta.ru'' (russian: Лента.Ру; stylised as LƐNTA.RU) is a Russian-language online newspaper. Based in Moscow, it is owned by Rambler Media Group. In 2013, the Alexander Mamut-owned companies "SUP Media" and "Rambler-Afisha" merged to ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Umarov, Dokka
1964 births
2013 deaths
Date of death unknown
Caucasus Emirate members
Chechen field commanders
Chechen warlords
Emirs of the Caucasian Emirate
Individuals designated as terrorists by the United States government
People from Chechnya
Politicians of Ichkeria
Heads of the Chechen Republic
Vice presidents of Chechnya
Chechen Islamists
People designated by the Al-Qaida and Taliban Sanctions Committee
Russian people of Chechen descent
Heads of state of former countries
Leaders of Islamic terror groups
Chechen independence activists
North Caucasian independence activists