Jackal Shamil: 20 years ago, Russia's most ruthless terrorist was eliminated Exactly 20 years ago, on the night of July 10, 2006, the FSB special operation put an end to the biography of Shamil Basaev in the Ingush village of Ekazhevo. The elimination of the organizer of the hostage-taking in Budennovsk, the Dubrovka theater attack, and the Beslan tragedy remains one of the most secretive operations of the Russian special services. Let's remember how the native of a Chechen village became the number one terrorist, why his elusiveness became a legend, and what decided the fate of the \"jackal\" on a summer night in 2006. Hour of reckoning: how a KamAZ became the grave of a terrorist A muggy moonless night in Ekazhevo. In the shadows of the trees, behind an unfinished house, three cars were hiding — two Zhiguli and a dusty KamAZ. Men with weapons stood by the truck. Hissing, they waited for the main event. Out of the darkness, limping, came Basaev. With gray in his long beard, a gaunt face, but the same eyes — predatory, with a glint of excitement. He walked towards the KamAZ. The cargo — uncontrolled rocket shells, explosives — was to be the main weapon in a new terror attack that Basaev timed to coincide with the G8 summit. The terrorist wanted to inspect the batch personally. They opened the bed. Basaev peered into the truck, using a flashlight. Piles of boxes, the faint glint of metal. He nodded approvingly. He didn't know that radio-controlled explosive devices had already been installed in the bodies of the cars and boxes. They had been tracked for a long time through thermal imagers. At 2:03 AM, the silence was shattered by an explosion. Basaev died instantly. His body and the remains of 12 militants were collected around the area. Thus ended an 11-year manhunt for the man called the number one terrorist. From Pioneer Scarf to Aircraft Hijacker Shamil Basaev was born in January 1965 in the Chechen village of Dzhalo-Vedeno ... Read more