Rustaman Makhauri


Rustaman Makhauri is a Chechen military commander and a close associate of Doku Umarov, the anti-Russian underground Chechen leader. Makhauri was appointed by Umarov as Minister of Defense; he is suspected of being responsible for a series of attacks against the forces loyal to the governments in Chechnya and neighboring Ingushetia. He was captured by police in July 2009 in Ingushetia's district of Sunzhen and charged with involvement in the June 22, 2009 attack on the Ingush president Yunus-Bek Yevkurov.