Movsar Barayev
{{Short description|Chechen Islamist militia leader (1979–2002)}}
{{family name hatnote|Buharovich|Barayev|lang=Eastern Slavic}}
{{Infobox person
|name = Movsar Barayev
|native_name = Мовсар Бухарович Бараев
|native_name_lang = ru
|image =
|image_size =
|caption =
|birth_date = {{Birth date|1979|10|26|df=yes}}
|birth_place = Argun, Checheno–Ingush ASSR, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
|death_date = {{death date and age|2002|10|26|1979|10|26|df=yes}}
|other_names = Movsar Suleimanov
|known_for = Moscow hostage crisis
|occupation =
|nationality = Chechen
}}
Movsar Buharovich Barayev (Suleimanov) ({{langx|ru|Мовсар Бухарович Бараев}}; 26 October 1979 – 26 October 2002), earlier known as Suleimanov, was a Chechen Islamist militia leader during the Second Chechen War, who led the seizure of a Moscow theater that led to the deaths of over 170 people by Russian special forces.
Life
Movsar Barayev, born 1979, was the nephew of the Chechen warlord Arbi Barayev who allegedly worked under FSB guidance.[http://www.psan.occrg/document551.html The Security Organs of the Russian Federation. A Brief History 1991-2004]{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} by Jonathan Littell, Psan Publishing House 2006. After his uncle's death in June 2001 until his own, Movsar was the leader of a Chechen terrorist militia known as the Special Purpose Islamic Regiment (SPIR).[http://www.tol.cz/look/TOL/article.tpl?IdLanguage=1&IdPublication=10&NrIssue=498&NrSection=1&NrArticle=7567&ALStart=272 Reputed Warlord Barayev Killed] Transitions online, 15 October 2002 Mosvar Barayev was said to be a sworn enemy of the Chechen leader and elected president, Aslan Maskhadov.[https://www.theguardian.com/chechnya/Story/0,2763,819079,00.html "Young, ruthless leader heads new generation of guerrillas"] The Guardian, October 25, 2002 He used the nom-de-guerre of "Yassir".
He was incorrectly reported by the command of the Russian forces in Chechnya to have been killed on 21 August 2001, and again on 12 October 2002, eleven days prior to the Moscow theater crisis (this report of Barayev's death came from Colonel Boris Podoprigora, deputy commander of Russia's Joint Group Forces).[http://www.gazeta.ru/2002/10/24/WhoisMovsarB.shtml Who is Movsar Barayev?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071107050434/http://www.gazeta.ru/2002/10/24/WhoisMovsarB.shtml |date=2007-11-07 }} Gazeta, 24 October 2002 It was also claimed that two months before the hostage-taking, the Russian GRU military intelligence had arrested Barayev and contained him "until his release had provided leads to the hostage taking at the Dubrovka theatre".[http://www.crimesofwar.org/chechnya-mag/chech-nivat.html Crimes of War > Chechnya Magazine: Brutality and Indifference] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070617092623/http://www.crimesofwar.org/chechnya-mag/chech-nivat.html |date=2007-06-17 }}
Death
On 23 October 2002, Barayev and a mysterious man known as "Abu Bakar" led a group of forty SPIR militants and their family members (who had dubbed themselves "the suicide squad from the 29th Division") to seize the theater in the Russian capital Moscow, demanding negotiations with Russian authorities for an end to the second war in Chechnya, withdrawal of Russian forces and Chechen independence,[http://www.ccc.nps.navy.mil/si/may03/russia.asp The Moscow Hostage Crisis: An Analysis of Chechen Terrorist Goals] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060809173640/http://www.ccc.nps.navy.mil/si/may03/russia.asp |date=2006-08-09 }} threatening to execute his hostages.
Movsar Barayev was killed on the third day of the siege, when the Russian FSB special forces stormed the theater. He died on his 23rd birthday. Barayev's bloodied corpse was shown by the Russian TV lying on the ground of the theater amid broken glass with an intact bottle of cognac near his hand. Later, the Russian authorities said his body was secretly buried in an undisclosed location.
References
{{Reflist|2}}
External links
{{Portal|Russia|Biography}}
- [http://www.gazeta.ru/2002/10/24/WhoisMovsarB.shtml Who is Movsar Barayev?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071107050434/http://www.gazeta.ru/2002/10/24/WhoisMovsarB.shtml |date=2007-11-07 }}, Gazeta.ru, 24 October 2002
- [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2002/10/25/MN59158.DTL&type=printable Chechen rebel an unlikely leader], San Francisco Chronicle, October 25, 2002
- [http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2002/10/26/302.html Barayev Known More for Gun Exploits Than Religious Devotion], The Moscow Times, October 26, 2002
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20071107031431/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,384762,00.html?iid=chix-sphere The Man Who Would Be Martyred], TIME, Oct. 27, 2002
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20060806051614/http://www.cdi.org/russia/johnson/6524-16.cfm A Son of Perestroika], Moscow News, October 30, 2002
{{Chechen wars}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barayev, Movsar}}
Category:Chechen field commanders
Category:Islamic terrorism in Russia
Category:Leaders of jihadist groups
Category:Moscow theater hostage crisis
Category:People from Argun, Chechen Republic
Category:People of the Chechen wars
Category:Russian mass murderers