Said-Magomed Shamaevich Kakiyev (russian: Саид-Магомед Шамаевич Какиев, also spelled Kakiev; born 22 February 1970) is a
colonel
Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations.
In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...
in the Russian Army, who was the leader of the
GRU
The Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, rus, Гла́вное управле́ние Генера́льного шта́ба Вооружённых сил Росси́йской Федера́ци ...
Spetsnaz
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 ...
Special Battalion Zapad ("West"), a
Chechen military force, from 2003 to 2007. Inside
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 ...
his men were sometimes referred to as the ''Kakievtsy''. Unlike the other
Chechen pro-Moscow forces in Chechnya, Kakiyev and his men are not former rebels and during the
were some of the few Chechen militants who fought on the
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
n side.
Kakiyev has been declared a
Hero of the Russian Federation
Hero of the Russian Federation (russian: Герой Российской Федерации, Geroy Rossiyskoy Federatsii), also unofficially Hero of Russia (russian: link=no, Герой России, Geroy Rossii), is the highest honorary title ...
, has twice received the
Order of Courage and was awarded two specially engraved guns by the Russian
Minister of Defense
A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...
.
He had been engaged in power struggles for overall military authority with the president of Chechnya
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 ...
and the commander of the
Special Battalion Vostok
Special Battalions ''Vostok'' and ''Zapad'' (russian: Специальные батальоны "Восток" и "Запад", lit. "East" and "West") were two Spetsnaz units of the GRU, the military intelligence agency of Russia, based in Chech ...
("East")
Sulim Yamadayev
Suleiman Bekmirzayevich Yamadayev (; 21 June 1973 – 30 March 2009) was a Chechen rebel commander from the First Chechen War who had switched sides together with his brothers Dzhabrail, Badrudi, Isa and Ruslan in 1999 during the outbreak ...
. In 2007, having left the post of battalion commander, he was appointed deputy military commissar of Chechnya for military-patriotic education of youth.
Before the First Chechen War
Said-Magomed Kakiyev was born on 22 February 1970 in the village of Ken-Yurt,
Nadterechny District
Nadterechny District (russian: Надте́речный райо́н; ce, Теркан кӀошт, ''Terkan khoşt'') is an administrativeDecree #500 and municipalLaw #16-RZ district (raion), one of the fifteen in the Chechen Republic, Russia. It ...
,
. He belongs to the
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 ...
Zandakhoy
Zandkhoy, Zandakhoy ( Chechen: Зандакъой, Зандкъой, Zandaq̇oy, Zandq̇oy) is a Chechen teip (clan) from the historic region of Ichkeria and belongs to the tukkhum Nokhchmakhkakhoy, also called ''Ichkerians''. The centre of the t ...
.
After he finished a
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 ...
vocational school in 1989 he went to serve in the
Soviet Army
uk, Радянська армія
, image = File:Communist star with golden border and red rims.svg
, alt =
, caption = Emblem of the Soviet Army
, start_date ...
from 1989 to 1991 in a reconnaissance battalion of the
Transcaucasian Military District
The Transcaucasian Military District, a military district of the Soviet Armed Forces, traces its history to May 1921 and the incorporation of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia into the Soviet Union. It was disbanded by being redesignated as a Grou ...
. He was assigned to
Nagorno-Karabakh
Nagorno-Karabakh ( ) is a landlocked country, landlocked region in the Transcaucasia, South Caucasus, within the mountainous range of Karabakh, lying between Lower Karabakh and Syunik Province, Syunik, and covering the southeastern range o ...
where he witnessed at first hand the devastating aftermath of the
Soviet Union collapse
The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...
. In the
First Nagorno-Karabakh War
The First Nagorno-Karabakh War, referred to in Armenia as the Artsakh Liberation War ( hy, Արցախյան ազատամարտ, Artsakhyan azatamart) was an ethnic and territorial conflict that took place from February 1988 to May 1994, in th ...
, he acquired the rank of
Major
Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...
.
He came home to a Chechnya in turmoil. Dzhokhar Dudayev
Dzhokhar Musayevich Dudayev (, ; russian: Джохар Мусаевич Дудаев; ; 15 February 1944 – 21 April 1996) was a Soviet Air Force general and Chechen separatist leader who was the first president of the Chechen Republic of Ichke ...
had started a rebellion against Soviet, later Russian rule, but the northern part of Chechnya where Kakiyev hailed from was not so enthusiastic about the secession. After allegedly witnessing atrocities, Kakiyev joined the opposition against Dudaev. In 1992, he organized a militia unit on the territory of the Nadterechny District, then headed by , leader of the anti-Dudayev coalition. In 1993 he was seriously hurt when his grenade launcher exploded during an assassination attempt on Dudayev. He lost his left hand, an eye, and his nose and had to have his face reconstructed beyond recognition at a hospital in Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
.[
In 1994, Said-Magomed returned to Chechnya to fight on the federal side in the increasingly heated ]conflict
Conflict may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
Films
* ''Conflict'' (1921 film), an American silent film directed by Stuart Paton
* ''Conflict'' (1936 film), an American boxing film starring John Wayne
* ''Conflict'' (1937 film) ...
. In November 1994, he participated in the failed assault on Grozny by the Chechen opposition to Dudayev. Kakiev's detachment managed to seize the building of the republican television center, but then they had to retreat, with the detachment losing 80 people while breaking through.
First Chechen War
At the beginning of the , in January 1995, Kakiyev took part in the storming of Grozny by the federal forces. The most formative event in his life was the Dagestanskaya Street massacre on 6 August 1996 during the separatists retaking of Grozny, when 30 pro-federal fighters and militia officers defending the city mayor's office were shot and killed despite promises of free passage through the city. Kakiyev alone managed to escape. Kakiyev has consistently blamed Doku Umarov
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 ...
and 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 ...
for the Dagestanskaya massacre.
Between the wars
At the end of 1996, 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 ...
declared Kakiyev an outlaw and put a price on his head: whoever killed him would receive the title of Hero of Ichkeria.[ Kakiyev had to take his relatives into hiding in his birth village Ken-Yurt, which has never been under separatist control, and live in Moscow for almost three years. During this time he studied at the Tax Police Academy in Moscow. (He also earlier briefly studied at ]Alma Ata
Almaty (; kk, Алматы; ), formerly known as Alma-Ata ( kk, Алма-Ата), is the largest city in Kazakhstan, with a population of about 2 million. It was the capital of Kazakhstan from 1929 to 1936 as an autonomous republic as part of t ...
University through distance learning.) Then he moved to Rostov
Rostov ( rus, Росто́в, p=rɐˈstof) is a town in Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, one of the oldest in the country and a tourist center of the Golden Ring. It is located on the shores of Lake Nero, northeast of Moscow. Population:
While t ...
and enlisted as a contractor in the 22nd brigade of the Russian Ministry of Defense. According to some sources during this time he performing GRU duties in 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 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 ...
.
Battle phase of the Second Chechen War
When in September 1999, the Russian army entered Chechnya after the Chechen incursion in Dagestan and the Russian apartment bombings
The Russian apartment bombings were a series of explosions that hit four apartment blocks in the Russian cities of Buynaksk, Moscow and Volgodonsk in September 1999, killing more than 300, injuring more than 1,000, and spreading a wave of fear ac ...
, Said was able to return to Northern Chechnya. He was appointed deputy head of the Nadterechny district administration. In December 1999 he joined the Russian army. With some of his fellow anti-Maskhadov rebels, he formed a special-purpose company of the 42nd motorized rifle division of the Russian army (the first Chechen unit on the Russian side in the Second Chechen War) and entered Grozny. Kakiyev claimed his unit was the first to hoist the Russian flag in Grozny. During the March 2000 Battle of Komsomolskoye
The Battle of Komsomolskoye took place in March 2000 between Russian federal forces and Chechen separatists in the Chechen village of Komsomolskoye (Saadi-Kotar), Chechnya. It was the largest Russian victory during the Second Chechen War. Seve ...
, forces commanded by Kakiyev managed to surround forces commanded by Ruslan Gelayev.[
]
Insurgency phase of the Second Chechen War
On 14 October 2002, by a presidential decree, Kakiev was awarded the title of Hero of Russia "for courage and heroism shown in the performance of military duty in the North Caucasus region."
On 9 September 2003, his APC was blown up by a bomb laid by Gelayev militants. A cousin of Said-Magomed was killed, 15 people were injured, including Kakiev himself (25 bomb fragments had hit him). Kakiyev was involved in hunting down Gelayev during the winter of 2003–2004, the operation which resulted in Gelayev's death.[
After the active phase of the war, Kakiyev was the leader of the ]GRU
The Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, rus, Гла́вное управле́ние Генера́льного шта́ба Вооружённых сил Росси́йской Федера́ци ...
Spetsnaz
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 ...
Special Battalion Zapad ("West"), reorganized from his special-purpose company, from November 2003 to 2007. Zapad, unlike other pro-Moscow factions, did not include former rebels.[
Disliking the Kadyrov clan, he supported Hussein Jabrailov, ]Akhmad Kadyrov
Akhmad-Khadzhi Abdulkhamidovich Kadyrov ce, Къадири Ӏабдулхьамидан кӀант Ахьмад-Хьажи, Q̇adiri Jabdulẋamidan khant Aẋmad-Ẋaƶi (23 August 1951 – 9 May 2004) was a Russian politician and revolutionar ...
opponent, during the 2003 President of Chechnya
The Head of the Chechen Republic or Head of Chechnya (russian: Глава Чеченской Республики, italic=yes, ce, Мехкада Нохчийн Республика; formerly President of the Chechen Republic or President of Che ...
election campaign.
Kakiyev, who became a devout Sufi
Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, ...
Muslim after his two escapes from death, was believed to be one of the more effective and disciplined of Grozny's commanders, and resented any suggestion of subordination to 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 ...
or Sulim Yamadayev
Suleiman Bekmirzayevich Yamadayev (; 21 June 1973 – 30 March 2009) was a Chechen rebel commander from the First Chechen War who had switched sides together with his brothers Dzhabrail, Badrudi, Isa and Ruslan in 1999 during the outbreak ...
, themselves both powerful commanders loyal to Grozny. In interviews, he went so far as to put the Kremlin policy of amnesty for all defecting rebels into question.[
After he left the command of Zapad, at the end of 2007 he was appointed deputy military commissar of Chechnya for military-patriotic education of youth.]
References
External links
Land of the warlords - Who's who in the new Chechnya
''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
''
Said-Magomed Kakiyev biography
''Caucasian Knot
Caucasian Knot (Russian: Кавказский узел, ''Kavkazkii Uzel'') is an online news site that covers the Caucasus region in English and Russian. It was established in 2001 and Grigory Shvedov is the editor-in-chief. '' (in Russian)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kakiev, Said-Magomed
1970 births
Living people
Russian Muslims
Heroes of the Russian Federation
People of the Chechen wars
Russian military personnel
Soviet Army officers
Chechen people