Budaev Chechnya. Former Colonel Yuri Budanov
Yuri Budanov is a Russian soldier, former colonel, ex-holder of the Order of Courage, participant in the First and Second Chechen Wars. In 2003 found guilty of the kidnapping and murder of 18-year-old Chechen girl Elza Kungaeva, was sentenced to 10 years in prison in a maximum security colony.
Was born in Donetsk region Ukrainian SSR November 24, 1963 After graduating from the Kharkov Guards Higher Tank Command School, he continued to serve in military units of Hungary and then Belarus. Then he took part in the First Chechen War, where in January 1995. When a landmine exploded, he received his first brain concussion.
In 1998-2000 commanded the 160th Guards Tank Regiment. In October and November 1999 was shell-shocked twice when a shell exploded and when a tank was fired at from a grenade launcher. In January 2000 received the rank of colonel, and in March was arrested on charges of kidnapping, rape and murder of E. Kungaeva.
In February 2001 Hearings began on a scandalous case that had a wide public response. Yu. Budanov himself claimed that the killed E. Kungaeva was a sniper who killed dozens of his soldiers during the fighting in the Argun Gorge.
In July 2002 Instead of rendering a verdict, the court ordered a medical examination; in total, four mental examinations of the serviceman were carried out. The first examination, carried out in Novocherkassk, found Yu. Budanov sane, the second examination confirmed the results of the first examination. The third examination, conducted by doctors at the Serbsky State Center for Forensic Psychiatry, established that the colonel was insane at the time of the crime. In this regard, in 2002 the court decided to send the serviceman for compulsory treatment to a psychiatric hospital, but in February 2003. The Supreme Court overturned the decision and sent Budanov's case for retrial, which ended with a guilty verdict.
The North Caucasus District Military Court found the colonel sane at the time of the crime and sentenced the serviceman to 9 years in prison under Art. “Murder”, to 6 years in prison under the article “Kidnapping” and to 5 years in prison under the article “Exceeding official powers” of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and, in total, sentenced the colonel to 10 years in prison. In addition, the court decided to deprive the defendant military rank and the Order of Courage.
In May 2004 The pardon commission granted V. Budanov's request for early release, but the decision was met with a barrage of criticism from human rights activists, and the head of the Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadyrov even stated that if the request is granted, then “we will find an opportunity to give him what he deserves.” In 2004 Yu. Budanov withdrew his petition for pardon, but in 2008. The former serviceman's new appeal was granted, and in January 2009. he was released.
Yu. Budanov was killed on June 10, 2011. on Komsomolsky Prospekt in Moscow. Experts claim that the murder was ordered.
The colonel's lawyer, Anatoly Mukhin, who represented his interests during the criminal proceedings, spoke positively about the serviceman. “The concepts of ‘honor’, ‘army’, ‘readiness to close the embrasure if the Motherland needs it’ are not an empty phrase for him even now,” the lawyer argued. Commanding Airborne troops Russian Lieutenant General Vladimir Shamanov characterized Yu. Budanov as follows: “He never hid behind the backs of soldiers. It happened that in order to eliminate sniper beds (they were located in the cemetery of the village of Duba-Yurt, occupied by militants) Budanov was on a tank with a crew, without additional escort broke through. He was everyone’s favorite because he never paid for a single successful operation with the lives of soldiers. This was his commandment.”
Meanwhile, many military personnel call the former colonel “a disgrace to the Russian army,” who discredited its image and significance. Human rights activists also speak negatively about the murdered man.
“He died in the medical unit of the colony from cardiac arrest. He has always had health problems, the defense tried to get him released due to illness, but was unsuccessful,” Magomedova said.
In May 2013, by a verdict of the Moscow City Court, Yusup Temerkhanov was convicted of... Part 1 Art. 105 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and Part 1 of Art. 222 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation to 15 years in prison for the murder of Yuri Budanov, as well as for storing and carrying firearms.
In September 2014 lawyer Murad Musaev reported that Yusup Temerkhanov was taken to the colony hospital in serious condition. “Doctors first assumed a stroke or a brain tumor, then a malignant tumor in one of the abdominal organs, then tuberculosis. We consistently excluded all these diseases using various CT and MRI scans,” the lawyer argued. The defense lawyer insisted on transferring the convict from the prison to a regular hospital.
Budanov case
Commander of the 160th Guards tank regiment Yuri Budanov was arrested on March 27, 2000 on charges of kidnapping, rape and murder of an eighteen-year-old Elsa Kungaeva.
Colonel Budanov, who went through the First Chechen Campaign and had several wounds, was awarded the Order of Courage in January 2000.
According to the preliminary investigation materials, at about 1 am on March 27, Budanov arrived in the village of Tangi in an infantry fighting vehicle. Together with the military personnel Grigoriev And Lee Young Show he entered the Kungaevs’ house, where Elsa Kungaeva was with four minor brothers and sisters. By order of Budanov, Grigoriev and Lee Yong Shou wrapped Kungaeva in a blanket and placed her in an infantry fighting vehicle. Then Kungaeva was taken to the territory of military unit 13206 to the premises where Budanov lived.
The colonel himself explained that in the area where the regiment was located, female snipers operated from the militants. Budanov interrogated Kungaeva, although, according to his testimony, the suspects included not her, but her relative. During the interrogation, the officer strangled Kungaeva and then ordered her body to be buried. A few hours later Budanov came to acting commander of the "West" group, Major General Valery Gerasimov and wrote a confession.
The friend of Elsa Kungaeva, for whose kidnapping and murder Yuri Budanov was convicted, holds a photograph of the murdered woman. Photo: RIA Novosti / Said Gutsiev
“If he had not been convicted, there could have been big troubles”
Throughout the investigation and trial of Budanov, the question of his mental state remained open. On December 31, 2002, the North Caucasus District Military Court declared Budanov insane and freed him from criminal liability. On February 28, 2003, the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation overturned the decision, sending the case for a new trial.
Forensic psychiatrist of the highest qualification category, Doctor of Medical Sciences Fedor Kondratyev, who previously participated in the examination Andrei Chikatilo and others serial killers, in an interview with the magazine Boring Garden" stated: "I had many hours of conversations with him and am still absolutely convinced that at the time of the crime he was in a state of temporary mental disorder. This state was provoked by a Chechen woman who told him that she would wrap his daughter’s intestines around a machine gun and grabbed the weapon. And it was his daughter’s birthday. But the court ordered a second examination when she repeated my conclusion - a third. And the third examination made the same conclusion. Then they ordered an examination in Chechnya. There, psychiatrists decided that he could be held accountable for his actions, and he was convicted. Of course, if he had not been convicted, there could have been big troubles, new terrorist attacks, attacks on psychiatrists, but I repeat: I am sure that we made the right conclusion.”
Pardon and threats
On July 25, 2003, Budanov was found guilty under three articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation: Art. 286, part 3 (“Excess of official powers”), art. 126, part 3 (“Kidnapping”) and Art. 105, part 2 (“Intentional murder with aggravating circumstances”). By partial addition of sentences, the court sentenced Budanov to 10 years in prison. In accordance with Article 48 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, Yuri Budanov was deprived of a state award - the Order of Courage - and the military rank of “Colonel”.
Yuri Budanov, accused of murdering Chechen Elza Kungaeva, at his trial in the North Caucasus District Military Court in the city of Rostov-on-Don. Photo: RIA Novosti / Sergey Venyavsky
Even after Budanov ended up in prison, passions continued to simmer. For example, petitions for pardon submitted by convicts caused violent protests among human rights activists and the Chechen public.
Ramzan Kadyrov, who held the post of Deputy Prime Minister of the Chechen government in 2004, stated at a meeting of commanders of security forces: “Even in war, murder and violence against civilians is a crime. We do not allow the possibility of releasing the criminal. If Budanov’s pardon occurs, we will find an opportunity to give him what he deserves.”
And yet, at the end of 2008, Budanov’s next petition for pardon was granted. In January 2009, he was released.
Execution in the center of Moscow
Despite the fact that the figure of Budanov was popular in nationalist circles, political activity he didn't study. With the help of army friends, he got a job as the head of the passenger car fleet of the State Unitary Enterprise "EVAZhD" (for the operation of high-rise buildings).
Yuri Budanov was killed demonstratively, in broad daylight, not far from the center of Moscow. On June 10, 2011, he arrived at the notary’s office located in house No. 38/16 on Komsomolsky Prospekt to formalize consent for his minor daughter to travel abroad.
The killer fired six bullets at Budanov, four of which hit the head. He had no chance to survive. The killer and his accomplice fled the scene in a car.
For the authorities, Budanov’s murder became no less a problem than his own murder of Elza Kungaeva. If in Chechnya many considered the reprisal against Budanov a triumph of justice, then in other regions there were many who wanted to take revenge again, this time for the murdered colonel. This could only be prevented by promptly solving a new crime.
He laughed while listening to the verdict
On August 30, 2011, a certain Magomed Suleymanov was detained, who in fact turned out to be a native of Chechnya, Yusup Temerkhanov. The suspect refused to cooperate with the investigation. According to law enforcement, Temerkhanov, whose father died during the counter-terrorist operation, decided to take revenge on Budanov for this. Temerkhanov did not know the specific killers of his father, and decided to deal with the one whom “all of Chechnya hated.”
On July 6, 2012, the Main Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee for Moscow brought final charges against Temerkhanov under clause “l”, part 2 of article 105 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. According to this document, the accused killed a former colonel Russian army“for reasons of political, ideological, racial, national or religious hatred or enmity, or for reasons of hatred or enmity towards any social group" In addition, he was charged with illegal arms trafficking (Article 222 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). On April 29, 2013, a jury of the Moscow City Court found Temerkhanov guilty of the murder of Budanov. As already mentioned, on May 7, 2013, Yusup Temerkhanov was sentenced to 15 years in prison. The condemned man greeted the verdict with laughter.
Temerkhanov's death puts an end to this whole story. At least I would like to hope so.
After graduating from college, he served for three years as part of the units of the Southern Group of Forces on the territory of Hungary, and then in the Byelorussian SSR; After the collapse of the USSR, he continued to serve in the Russian Federation.
In October 1998, he was appointed commander of the 160th Guards Armored Regiment, stationed on the territory of the Trans-Baikal Military District (since December 1998 - the united Siberian Military District).
Since September 1999, together with the regiment, he took part in hostilities on the territory of the Chechen Republic.
In January 2000, he was awarded the Order of Courage and received (early) the rank of colonel.
On March 30, 2000, Yuri Budanov was arrested by officers of the military prosecutor's office on charges of kidnapping, rape and murder of 18-year-old Chechen Elza Kungaeva.
During the investigation, Budanov testified that, considering a resident of the village of Tangshi-Chu Kungaeva to be a sniper of one of the gangs, he ordered his subordinates to deliver the girl to the regiment, after which - during interrogation - he strangled her, since Kungaeva allegedly resisted and tried to take possession of the weapon. Subsequently, Budanov, without denying the fact of the murder, insisted that he acted in a state of passion.
On February 28, 2001, in the North Caucasus District Military Court (Rostov-on-Don), the trial began in the case of Budanov, who was charged with crimes under Articles 126 (kidnapping), 105 (murder) and 286 (abuse of official powers) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation .
In July 2001, the North Caucasus District Military Court announced a break in court hearings in connection with a psychiatric examination of Budanov at the State Scientific Center for Social and Forensic Psychiatry named after. V.P. Serbsky (Moscow). In October of the same year - after passing the examination - Budanov was transported back to Rostov-on-Don.
On December 16, 2002, an expert opinion was announced in the North Caucasus District Military Court, according to which Budanov was declared insane due to the consequences of shell shock.
On December 31, 2002, the North Caucasus District Military Court adopted a decision to release Budanov from criminal liability and send him for compulsory treatment, but on February 28, 2003, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation recognized such a decision as unfounded and made in violation of substantive and procedural law and sent the case is being reviewed again (however, the preventive measure against Budanov remains the same - detention in a pre-trial detention center in Rostov-on-Don).
On July 25, 2003, the North Caucasus District Military Court found Budanov guilty of abuse of office, as well as the kidnapping and murder of Kungaeva. According to the court ruling, Budanov was stripped of his military rank and the Order of Courage and sentenced to ten years in prison to be served in a maximum security colony (when sentencing, the court took into account Budanov’s participation in the counter-terrorism operation and the presence of minor children), after which he was transferred to a colony YuI 78/3 (city of Dimitrovgrad, Ulyanovsk region).
On May 17, 2004, Budanov submitted a petition for pardon to the President of Russia, but on May 19 he withdrew it. The reason for the recall was the uncertainty with Budanov’s citizenship, since he was drafted into the USSR Armed Forces back in 1982 from the Ukrainian SSR (On May 21, 2004, Budanov was given a passport as a citizen of the Russian Federation).
On September 15, 2004, the Ulyanovsk regional pardon commission granted Budanov’s new request for clemency, but this decision led to protests from the Chechen public, as well as a statement by the head of the government of the Chechen Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov, that if Budanov was released, “we will find an opportunity to reward him.” according to his deserts,” and on September 21, the convict was forced to withdraw his petition.
Subsequently, the courts several more times - on January 23, August 21, 2007, April 1 and October 23, 2008 - denied Budanov parole, until on December 24, 2008, the Dimitrovgrad court of the Ulyanovsk region made a decision on his conditional release. -early release.
In Chechnya, this court decision caused numerous protests.
On June 9, 2009, it became known that Yuri Budanov was interrogated as a suspect in a criminal case regarding the murder of residents of Chechnya. According to the Russian Federation Investigative Committee, in 2000, 18 residents of the Chechen Republic were illegally deprived of their liberty at a checkpoint located near settlement Duba-Yurt, Shalinsky district of the Chechen Republic. Three of them were subsequently found killed. A number of local residents claimed that Yuri Budanov was involved in committing this crime.
On June 10, 2009, the Investigative Committee of the Prosecutor's Office announced that Budanov had been cleared of suspicion of murdering residents of Chechnya. According to the materials of the Investigative Committee, Budanov testified that he could not physically be at the checkpoint located near the settlement of Duba-Yurt, Shalinsky district of the Chechen Republic during the periods of time when 18 residents of Chechnya disappeared there without a trace. Budanov's testimony was confirmed by the materials of the criminal case.
On June 10, 2011, Yuri Budanov was shot dead on Komsomolsky Prospekt in Moscow.
The material was prepared based on information from RIA Novosti and open sources
Recently, the killer of Colonel Yuri Budanov, Magomed Suleymanov, died in one of the Russian zones. He died in a significant way and somehow at the wrong time - exactly on the eve of the date of the murder he committed and own wedding(while in prison, he was planning to get married, and in Chechnya a bride had already been found for him, whose parents agreed to give their daughter in marriage to the prisoner). The killer even recovered sharply from the mere thought of his future marriage. But for some reason something went wrong. Some providence intervened. The groom suddenly felt unwell and died. The wedding did not take place. A lavish funeral had to be held instead. Suleymanov was buried as a national hero of Chechnya. The last death in a long series of deaths put an end to the tragic confrontation between officer Budanov, once betrayed by the authorities, and his many ill-wishers. Who was really the great enemy for the colonel - Chechen fighters or the power of that era that betrayed him? This question remains open to this day...
The mysterious sniper from Tangi-Chu
Briefly about the background of the conflict. During the second Chechen campaign, the colonel commanded the 160th Guards Tank Regiment. The regiment did not get out of combat. And at the moment when he was finally taken out of the zone active actions, near the village of Tangi-Chu he suddenly found himself in the sector of sniper fire. The sniper acted savagely - first he shot in the groin, and then in the heart or head. Budanov was heavy-handed and quick to kill. “One execution will save hundreds of Russians from death and thousands of Muslims from treason.” He repeated these words of Ermolov to his subordinates hundreds of times. And the task of any commander in war is quite simple and comes down to two short and clear points: to carry out combat mission and retain personnel. By any means.
Budanov promptly took up the implementation of the second of them. He saved his personnel, the soldiers entrusted to him. As a result of operational search activities, we found Kungaeva. The village authorities unanimously pointed out to her, to whom Budanov made an offer that they could not refuse. True, they later unanimously renounced their testimony. Kungaeva was immediately captured and brought to the regiment “for clarification.” Budanov burned with a thirst for revenge and quick reprisal. The colonel's tragic mistake was his decision not to wait for representatives of the military prosecutor's office (they had already been notified of what had happened). He began the interrogation himself. And then events began to rapidly develop and escalate. Eyewitnesses to the incident say that someone called Budanov. He got distracted. At that moment, Kungaeva rushed at him, trying to take possession of the service card. At that time it was not the best decision. Pushing her away, the enraged Budanov (the officer had a large build) slapped Kungaeva with a powerful slap in the face. It turned out to be incompatible with life - the blow broke the attacker cervical vertebra. Then a version of rape arose, which, however, was subsequently not confirmed by any of the examinations carried out.
The Chechen media and human rights activists who joined them during both Chechen campaigns (Sergei Kovalev and others) boiled with indignation. According to the paratrooper general, Hero of Russia Vladimir Shamanov, who knew the tanker well, “they excitedly competed to see who would pour the most lies and dirt on the colonel.”
Neither the General Staff nor the Ministry of Defense stood up for one of their best officers. Moreover. Many of the officials and officers involved in the conflict publicly disowned their former colleague and made statements that predetermined his conviction. The commander of the united group of federal troops in Chechnya, Anatoly Kvashnin, generally stated that the colonel is a bandit, and there is no place for such people in the Russian army. This was the same Kvashnin, whose potential killer Budanov had previously personally shot in battle.
“I’ll wrap your guts around a machine…”
The investigation was gruelingly long and tedious. According to one version, Budanov suffered a serious mental disorder after two brain concussions received during the war. To establish it mental state Several forensic psychiatric examinations were carried out. The examinations gave different conclusions: “insane”, “limitedly sane”, “sane”. According to forensic psychiatrist Kondratyev, who conducted many hours of conversations with Budanov, “there is no doubt that at the time of the crime the officer was in a state of temporary mental disorder. This state was provoked by Kungaeva, who told him that she would wrap his intestines around a machine gun, after which she grabbed the weapon. But the court ordered a second examination, and when she repeated my conclusion, a third. The third examination confirmed the findings of the previous two. Then they ordered an examination in Chechnya. Chechen psychiatrists decided that he could be responsible for his actions, after which he was convicted. I'm still confident that we made the right decision."
Order of Courage for “service inconsistency”
In Chechnya, Budanov was well known on both sides of the barricades. He was not afraid of the devil, or the bullet, or the militants, or the wrath of his superiors. In the first Chechen war, putting his career on the line, a tanker saved special forces who were ambushed. Once again someone betrayed the scouts, and they flew into a trap. The battle went on for several hours. The specialists were already running out of ammunition, but the militants were still arriving. The weather was unflyable, and the helicopters could not help. Fortunately, Budanov’s unit was not very far from the site of the clash. He requested permission to rush into battle. Smart staff officers categorically forbade the colonel to get into the “bag of fire”: it’s none of your business. They will get out on their own. But the tanker decided differently. Having verbally sent staff officers to an address widely known among the people, he personally led a column of tanks that rushed to the rescue of the specialists. In that battle, the fuel oil was saved by the special forces.
Revenge for Kvashnin
The second Chechen campaign began with Shamil Basayev’s attack on peaceful villages in Botlikh. In August 1999, Chief of the General Staff Anatoly Kvashnin decided to make an inspection voyage to the Botlikh region. He took with him several generals and colonels. This air voyage took place in compliance with all secrecy measures. But, as often happened in that war, something leaked somewhere, and the generals were already waiting on the ground for the “bad guys.” An ATGM firing point was pre-equipped four kilometers from the landing site of the group of helicopters. As soon as the helicopters began to land, the militants opened fire. As experts later found out, the shooter was a professional. From the maximum flight range, only a professional sniper could hit a helicopter with a guided missile. You can count them on one hand all over the world. Captured Chechen fighters later said that he was a Kabardian mercenary from Jordan.
Helicopters carrying generals crashed to the ground. Kvashnin and his entourage jumped from the side to the ground from a height of several meters while the pilots tried to keep the car from stalling. But the crew died. Saving the generals, Hero of Russia pilot Yuri Naumov, navigator Alik Gayazov and special forces reconnaissance officer Sergei Yagodin passed away into another world.
A few months later, Budanov's regiment was subjected to the same attack. Four kilometers (standard distance) from the group of tanks on duty, a Niva appeared, from which a group of people in camouflage emerged. They busily and calmly began to install launcher ATGM. The militants were not worried. They knew very well that the Budanov regiment was armed only with old T-62 tanks, the ammunition of which did not contain guided missiles. And four kilometers is the maximum shot for a tank gun. It is unrealistic to hit a point target - a Niva - from such a distance. The very first shot from a guided missile set fire to one of the T-62s. Fortunately, there were no crew there. And then the unthinkable happened. Budanov rushed to the duty vehicle, “carried” the commander out of it, and clung to the gun sight. The very first shot of a high-explosive fragmentation shell smashed the SUV, the rocket launcher, and everyone who was fussing next to it to pieces. It was the same Circassian and his retinue. Colonel Budanov personally destroyed the one who killed the Hero of Russia pilot Yuri Naumov and his friends. With his shot, he signed the death warrant for the boss's potential killer General Staff. That did not stop Kvashnin from calling his savior a bandit in a difficult hour for Budanov.
Well, the technology is old: push the falling one. Career comes first. You can do it on the bones of your colleagues...
"People's Avenger" or tool of intimidation?
Budanov's case was dealt with by the North Caucasus District Military Court. The colonel was sentenced to 10 years in prison. The investigation and trial of the colonel had a huge public resonance in Russia and Chechnya at that time. The colonel’s case became a kind of social test for determining “friend or foe.” “Are you for us or for them?”
Budanov was released on parole in January 2009. And on June 10, 2011, he was shot in Moscow by a native of Chechnya, Yusup-Khadzhi Temerkhanov (previously involved in the case as Magomed Suleymanov). The colonel was shot by the unwavering hand of a cold-blooded killer - all six bullets hit the target. Yusup-Magomed subsequently never admitted his guilt. Yusup-Magomed never had a direct relationship with Elsa Kungaeva. Neither brother nor uncle. According to one version, the killer, by shooting Budanov, was taking revenge on the feds for the fact that at one time, 11 years ago, Russian soldiers killed his father in Chechnya. Allegedly, he associated Budanov (who had nothing to do with the murder of his father) with all the evil that the federals inflicted on his fellow countrymen during the Chechen wars.
The story with the killer’s father is also murky. The investigation had information that he was an active member of gangs. But the court did not dig that deep.
It is quite obvious that Yusup in this story was an ordinary performer. The version of revenge for the father is a legend for those uninitiated in Chechen realities. Chechens never take revenge on representatives of any “social group”. In their opinion, this is idiocy. Highlanders always take targeted revenge. And in this case, Budanov was chosen as the addressee. But he's not the only one. This was a message to everyone who fought with militants in both Chechen periods. We supposedly remember everything. And we'll get everyone. And Budanov will not be the last on our personal officer hit list. It is not for nothing that the Union of Officers of Russia reacted so sharply to the murder of the tanker. Its representatives made it clear that they would not tolerate this state of affairs and would take retaliatory measures. They did not specify which ones.
In addition, Chechens pathologically do not know how to lose. And their loss in the second Chechen war was more than obvious. Tens of thousands of bearded fighters for pure Islam were sent to the next world as a result of the second campaign. The federals beat them in every gorges, in every village, around every turn and bend of the river. The Russian military machine, like a concrete mixer or a moloch of war, methodically ground them in its millstones.
Seeing the prospects this holds for the entire population of mountain Chechens, Ramzan Kadyrov performed a miracle. He found words in the Russian language and arguments in his head to convince the commander-in-chief to stop this merciless massacre.
He succeeded. “We survived! – Ramzan shouted into the microphone, not hiding his emotions. “You see, we survived!”
After “survival” came the second action of Chechen self-identification - it was necessary to take victory away from the federals. Or gloss over their triumph as much as possible (which in fact did not happen - that victory cost Russia too much). And for this it was necessary to get yesterday’s heroes from Russia Chechen war, kill the brightest winners. Well, or send them to jail - as an edification to others. The Chechens considered the Russian authorities of that time and Russian justice as their faithful allies in this matter.
Nothing worked out with special forces captain Eduard Ulman. He and his comrades disappeared on the day of sentencing. But Budanov, through joint efforts, was able to be put behind bars. Following him, they managed to send two officers of the Dzerzhinsky division to jail - Sergei Arakcheev and Evgeniy Khudyakov. After this, the activity of the “people's avengers” from Chechnya came to naught. It looks like they were made an offer they couldn't refuse. And the power in Russia was already different. Throwing officers into the crucible of war and then handing them over to be torn apart by their former enemy has become completely unpromising. Therefore, the search for the “culprits” and their surrender to yesterday’s enemy stopped.
Freedom and death
“It’s bad that he was released, he shouldn’t have been released,” said Moskovsky Komsomolets columnist and experienced journalist Vadim Rechkalov, who has visited Chechnya many times, in his interview on Ekho Moskvy. “We should have given him 25 years, released him in 10 years - with different documents, a different person, saved him, taken him away, hidden him. The authorities knew perfectly well that the Chechens would get him, but nevertheless released him. And thus condemned to death. He may have committed a crime, but he did not start this war. First, our soldiers and officers are left to the mercy of fate in Chechnya and are forbidden to shoot first, and then, when the most ingenuous ones are blown away and they become socially dangerous, they say: why did you do that? What is this if not betrayal? The Chechens found the moment, found the time, found the weapon, found the Mitsubishi to take revenge, to regain their dignity. But ours - no, we are not interested in Budanov - you are waste material, no one needs you. Chechens put their own people above any laws. And we sit and argue whether he is such a criminal or an even worse criminal. This is the law of war: friend - foe. And when this is mixed with politics and criminal law, the result is complete nonsense..."
Two truths
In war, each participant has their own truth. The interexistence of two truths, which do not intersect with each other in any way, and do not want to hear and understand each other, is the reason for the war. The truth of the Kungaev family: Budanov kidnapped and killed an innocent girl. The truth of commander Budanov: the girl was an enemy, an enemy sniper and killed his soldiers.
Yuri Budanov has been dead for a long time. May he rest in peace. The symbol and curse of the second Chechen war, a Russian officer of the Russian army, a tough and honest man, brave and short-sighted, a brilliant commander, who in an instant deliberately and irrevocably ruined his own and others’ lives, fell at the hands of a hired killer. The drama of an abandoned warrior, who was first sent into the heat of war, was actually made a criminal, and after that he was also convicted, officially called a criminal, ended in a bloody tragedy - six aimed shots from a bloodline.
Although no, it was not a bloodline. Krovniks don’t shoot from around the corner. Enemy snipers and female snipers are shooting from around the corner. This murder was committed on the eve of Russia Day. Significant. And death overtook the killer on the eve of his own wedding. Also iconic. And symbolic.
