Sulim Bekmirzayevich Yamadayev (21 June 1973-30 March 2009) was a Lieutenant-Colonel in the Russian Army who led the Special Battalion Vostok from 1999 to 2009, but later defected to the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria.
Biography[]
Yamadayev was born in Benoy in the Chechen-Ingush ASSR of the Soviet Union in 1973, and joined the Russian Army in 1999. He became the commander of the Special Battalion Vostok and fought in the Second Chechen War, commanding the biggest pro-Russian military formation in the war. He was a rival of Ramzan Kadyrov for control of the military of the Chechen Republic when Kadyrov became the new president of Chechnya under Russian rule.
Death[]
However, Yamadayev eventually defected to the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria. The Russian State Duma sent Adam Delimkhanov to assassinate him in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. He was shot in the back of the neck in an underground garage, killing him.