Aslan Maskhadov

Aslan Aliyevich Maskhadov (Russian: Асла́н (Хали́д) Али́евич Масха́дов; Chechen: ӏалларойн Али-воӀ Аслан, romanized: Jallaroyn Ali-voj Aslan; 21 September 1951 – 8 March 2005) was a Soviet and Chechen politician and military commander who also served as the third president of the unrecognized Chechen Republic of Ichkeria.

He was credited by many with the Chechen victory in the First Chechen War, which allowed for the establishment of the de facto independent Chechen Republic of Ichkeria. Maskhadov was elected President of Chechnya in January 1997. Following the start of the Second Chechen War in August 1999, he returned to leading the guerrillaresistance against the Russian army. De facto Ichkeria ceased to exist at the beginning of 2000. Until his death, Maskhadov was President in exile. He was killed in Tolstoy-Yurt, a village in northern Chechnya, in March 2005.