Vakha Arsanov (1950-15 May 2005) was the Vice-President of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria under President Aslan Maskhadov from January 1997 to May 2005.
Biography[]
Vakha Arsanov was born in 1950 in Dagestan ASSR, Soviet Union, and he was a traffic police captain under the USSR. However, he became a divisional general during the First Chechen War, fighting against Russia. In January 1997, Arsanov was made the Vice-President for Aslan Maskhadov after 300,000 Chechen voters elected Maskadov, and a month later he survived a remote-controlled bomb set by the FSB near his motorcade. Arsanov vowed to fight against Russia in response to its attempted assassination of him and its war against Chechnya, but he befriended the pro-Moscow Chief Mufti and warlord Akhmad Kadyrov, who led Russian-backed militia against Maskhadov and had suggested that Arsanov be pardoned; Arsanov called for Chechen militants to stop attacking the Kadyrovtsy. Later, the Chechen OMON special police arrested him, and he was released after failed torture sessions, while his son was killed by the Russians. On 15 May 2005, he was killed in the Ivanovo suburb of Grozny alongside four other militants by Russian police.