In the early 2000s, Movsar Barayev was the most famous Chechen fighter. He commanded the Islamic Special Purpose Regiment, fought on the territory of the self-proclaimed republic of Chechnya. The name of the terrorist spread all over the world after taking hostages in the capital's theater center on Dubrovka.
Carier start
Movsar was born in 1979 in the city of Angur, Checheno-Ingushetia. In the boy's family, from childhood, they were preparing for military service, because his uncle Arbi Barayev was the commander of the Islamic regiment. He was not attracted to education or work, so after graduating from school he went to war, believing that in this way he would be able to contribute to the struggle for the independence of Chechnya. When the young man came of age, he joined the separatist armed group. The detachment was engaged in kidnapping people in Chechnya and residents of neighboring territories for the purpose of ransom. In 1998, Barayev showed himself in the battles for Gudermes on the side of Mezhidov's Sharia Guard, and was wounded. After the Wahhabi mutiny, the Islamic regiment was disbanded by order of President Maskhadov, and Barayev remained in the bandit formation.
Second Chechen war
Since the beginning of the 2000s, Movsar fought against federal troops, organized attacks on columns, explosions in Grozny and Gudermes. After the death of his uncle near the village of Akhlan-Kala, Movsar took command of the Islamic regiment.
During this period, the FSB announced the death of the militant, this fact was confirmed. However, soon the Chechen commander began to comment on information on the militants' websites, so they began to consider him alive again. A year later, information came again that Barayev had died under fire from federal aviation in the Urus-Martan mountains. However, like the first time, the information turned out to be a mistake. Two weeks later, on the orders of Shamil Basayev, a terrorist led a sabotage raid on Moscow.
"Nord-Ost"
On October 23, 2002, a group of terrorists led by Barayev seized the building of the House of Culture on Dubrovka during an evening performance. His demands on the Russian authorities were as follows: an end to hostilities in Ichkeria and negotiations with Aslan Maskhadov. During the operation, the intelligence officers came to the conclusion that this "petty, unremarkable bandit" was most likely a figurehead. He did not have organizational and professional skills, apparently, the detachment was led by someone else, whose name was kept secret.
Later, in the course of the investigation, it was revealed that fifty militants took part in the terrorist operation, they all got to the capital by different routes. The weapons were transported in cars. The center on Dubrovka turned out to be the most convenient for carrying out the operation due to its distance from the center and a large number of auxiliary rooms. At the time of the capture, there were 916 people in the theater.
Movsar was killed on October 26 during the storming of the theatrical center by the fighters of "Alpha" and "Vympel". All other terrorists were shot along with him. So the biography of the famous terrorist ended ingloriously. After the tragedy, one of the Chechen generals said that Barayev was a representative of "a new generation that knows nothing but war and repression."
