Glossary

People:

Alkhanov, Alu: elected President of Chechnya in a much-disputed election in August 2004. He was dismissed by Putin in February 2007.

Basayev, Shamil: a leading commander of the Chechen guerrillas when Russia invaded Chechnya in 1994. Russian bombing killed 11 members of his family, after which he became a pitiless warrior. Accused of masterminding the hostage-takings at Nord-Ost and the First School in Beslan, both of which the Russian Government ended bloodily. Killed in an explosion in 2006.

Berezovsky, Boris: became an oligarch in the Yeltsin era and built a media empire that aided Yeltsin’s re-election, only to fall out with Putin over his opposition to the Chechen War and support for liberal and democratic causes in Russia. Now living in London. Accused Putin of responsibility for the murder of Alexander Litvinenko, a close associate, in 2006.

Dudayev Djohar: local politician who rose by referendum to become President of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria in 1991 and then unilaterally declared independence from the Soviet Union. He coordinated Chechnya’s forces during the First Chechen War and encouraged the guerilla operations which followed that. Akhmat-hadji Kadyrov, whom he appointed Mufti of Ichkeria, declared jihad on Russia. Dudayev was killed in April 1996 by Russian missiles after his mobile phone was intercepted.

Fridinsky, Sergey: Deputy Public Prosecutor for the Southern Federal Region, in charge of the failed attempt to extradite Akhmed Zakayev from the UK to Russia.

Gorbachev, Mikhail: last General Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party (1984–90) and first executive President of the USSR (1990–1). His attempts to democratise the Communist regime led to its collapse.

Gryzlov, Boris: close ally of Putin and Interior Minister 2001–03, since when he has been Speaker of the State Duma.

Kadyrov, Akhmat: pro-Moscow Chechen Mufti, later ‘President’ of Chechnya, assassinated the day after attending Putin’s second-term inauguration in the Kremlin.

Kadyrov, Ramzan: fought against Russia in the First Chechen War of 1994–6. Changed to support Russia in the Second War (1999 to the present). Appointed Prime Minister after the assassination of his father, Akhmat Kadyrov. Heads a paramilitary force.

Khodorkovsky, Mikhail: formerly Russia’s wealthiest oligarch and founder of Menatep Bank and Yukos oil company. Supported democratic opposition parties and proposed the introduction of transparent Western business practices. Fell foul of the Putin regime, was arrested in 2003 for alleged tax irregularities and sentenced to nine years’ imprisonment.

Maskhadov, Aslan: foremost Chechen military leader in the First Chechen War; elected President in 1997 and signed a peace treaty with Yeltsin in the Kremlin, but was unable to prevent a split between secular nationalists and Islamic fundamentalists. Killed by the FSB in 2005, apparently while attempting to negotiate a peaceful settlement of the conflict. His body was not returned to his family for burial.

Mironov, Sergey: since 2001 Speaker of the Soviet of the Federation, the upper house of the Russian Parliament. Since 2003 Chairman of the Russian Party of Life, which merged in 2006 with the Rodina and Russian Pensioners’ Parties to form the Russian Justice Party, which he leads. Pro-Putin.

Pamfilova, Ella: Duma Deputy in the 1990s and presidential candidate in 2000. Chairwoman of the Presidential Commission for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights.

Putin, Vladimir: resigned from the KGB in 1991 with the rank of lieutenant-colonel. Director of the FSB (1998–9) and succeeded Boris Yeltsin as President of the Russian Federation in 2000. Re-elected in 2004. His term as President expired in 2008 and he now serves as Prime Minister.

Saakashvili, Mikheil: leader of the 2003 bloodless Rose Revolution in Georgia, which obliged Eduard Shevardnadze to step down after elections considered to have been rigged. Became President of Georgia in 2004. Successfully defused separatist confrontations in Adjara and Abkhazia, but still has serious problems with South Ossetia.

Surkov, Vladislav: foremost Kremlin ideologist and spin doctor, who held senior positions in Menatep and Alfa Banks during the 1990s. Public-relations director of ORT television company (1998–9). Deputy Head of Putin’s Presidential Administration. Himself half-Chechen, Surkov is believed to be the main supporter within the Kremlin of Ramzan Kadyrov and the policy of Chechenisation of the war in Chechnya.

Yavlinsky, Grigoriy: author in 1990 of an unsuccessful programme to transform Russia from a communist to a free-market economy in two years. Co-founded the Yabloko political party in 1995, which later attempted to impeach President Yeltsin. Refused to run for the presidency in 2004 on the grounds that Putin had rigged the 2003 parliamentary elections to ensure no Yabloko representation in the Duma.

Yeltsin, Boris: first President of the Russian Federation (1991–9). Succeeded in banning the Communist Party within the Russian Republic and dismantling the USSR in favour of a Commonwealth of Independent States. Believed to have started the First Chechen War in order to retain his personal power with Army backing, and to have handed over power to Vladimir Putin in 1999 to outflank his rivals’ bid for the presidency in 2000.

Zakayev, Akhmed: Prime Minister of the separatist Government of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, hero of the resistance in the First Chechen War, representative of Chechnya in 1996 at peace talks which led to a Russian withdrawal, then Deputy Prime Minister, later Foreign Minister and Prime Minister. Wounded early in the Second Chechen War (1999 to the present), Zakayev left Chechnya in 2000 and became the most prominent representative of the Maskhadov government in Western Europe. Granted political asylum by the UK in 2003 and lives in London.

Zhirinovsky, Vladimir: outspoken populist and ultra-nationalist politician, and leader of the Russian Liberal Democratic Party. Commented on the poisoning of former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko in London in 2006 that ‘a traitor must be eliminated using any methods’.

Zyazikov, Murat: President of Ingushetia, a republic that borders and has close ethnic links with Chechnya. A member of the KGB in the 1980s, he was elected President (with heavy FSB involvement) in 2004.

Organisations:

Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS): established in 1991 and loosely binding all the former republics of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics except for Georgia and the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

Duma: the Russian Parliament, which, under the Yeltsin Constitution, replaced the Supreme Soviet in 1993. Consists of 450 elected Deputies.

FSB (Federal Security Bureau): the present domestic state-security organisation; successor to the Federal Counter-Espionage Service.

KGB (Committee of State Security): the Soviet secret police, replaced in 1991 by the Federal Counter-Espionage Service after its involvement in the attempted anti-Gorbachev coup.

Liberal Democrats: the first opposition party to be registered, in 1989, after the breaking of the Communist Party’s monopoly. A confusingly named, vociferous nationalist party led by Vladimir Zhirinovsky, believed to have been subsidised by Yeltsin to draw support from the Communist Party.

OMON (Special Operations Unit of the Militia): first established in 1979 to protect the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow from terrorist attack. Subsequently used as riot police, a unit is to be found in every territory of the Russian Federation.

Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE): the world’s largest security-oriented intergovernmental organisation which called in 1999 for a political settlement in Chechnya and was henceforth regarded with increasing suspicion by Russia.

Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE): the oldest international parliamentary assembly, composed of democratically elected members and established on the basis of an intergovernmental treaty, its recommendations on human rights issues in particular carry weight in Europe.

Russian Federation: successor state, from 1991, to the USSR, but does not include the USSR’s autonomous republics.

Union of Right Forces: liberal party formed in 1999 from a number of small parties dedicated to introducing free-market reforms and sharply critical of Putin’s curtailment of democratic freedoms. Officially polled 4 per cent in the 2003 parliamentary elections, depriving it of Duma representation, which requires 5 per cent support, prompting widespread suspicion of electoral fraud by the Kremlin.

United Russia: party created in 2001 by the Kremlin to support Vladimir Putin; holds a constitutional majority in the Duma.

Yabloko: liberal party set up in 1995 in reaction to infighting within the democratic camp; speaks out against infringements of freedom of the press and of democratic political practices, supports Russia’s ultimate integration into the European Union, opposes the war in Chechnya and has called for the removal of Putin’s regime by ‘constitutional means’.

Others:

Chechnya: situated in the eastern part of the North Caucasus and predominantly Sunni Muslim. Most of its economic potential has been destroyed in the two Chechen wars, together with huge loss of combatant and civilian life. According to the Russian Government, more than US $2 billion have been spent on reconstruction since 2000, though the Russian economic monitoring agency considers that no more than US $350 million were spent as intended.

Dagestan: located in the southernmost part of Russia, in the North Caucasus mountains. Ethnically very diverse.

Georgia: the first republic to declare its independence from Russia, shortly before the collapse of the USSR. Separatist problems with Abkhazia and South Ossetia in particular are fomented by Russia. Rich in natural resources, attractive to tourists and famed for its wine-making, Georgia is combating corruption, which holds back the economy.

Ingushetia: comprises mainly Sunni Muslims of various Sufi orders. It has many refugees from the war in Chechnya. Population of half a million made up of 77 per cent Ingushes, 20 per cent Chechens and 1.2 per cent Russians.

Rose Revolution: a series of protests in Georgia in late 2003 to early 2004 in response to massive rigging of the parliamentary elections of November 2003. President Eduard Shevardnadze’s inability to cope with separatist problems and pervasive corruption caused him to lose the election to Mikheil Saakashvili. Shevardnadze claimed victory, but was forced to concede defeat after the Parliament building was seized by Saakashvili’s supporters, bearing roses as a symbol of non-violence; elite military units sided with the protesters. The election was re-run in January 2004 and Saakashvili’s party won by a landslide.

Ukraine: declared independence from Moscow in 1991, but was slow to implement free-market reforms; heavily dependent on Russia for energy supplies, which Russia has attempted to exploit for political advantage. Its population of 46 million is 78 per cent Ukrainian and 17 per cent Russian.

Wahhabism: the dominant form of Islam in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and western Iraq, which advocates a puritanical and legalistic stance in matters of faith and religious practice. Russian-speaking Wahhabi Arabs flooded Chechnya at the end of the First Chechen War, allowing the Russian Government subsequently to present Chechnya as a bridgehead of Islamic fundamentalism