Chechen power bodies have indirect proves of Umarov's death, said a source

The respective power bodies of Chechnya possess records of telephone conversations, where militants talk about Dokku (Doku) Umarov's death, said a source from law enforcement bodies of the republic. However, according to Sergey Goncharov, the President of the Association of Veterans of "Alpha" Anti-Terror Unit, such a talk is not a proof of the fact of the death.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the audio record, posted on the YouTube on January 16, states that the North-Caucasian militants' leader Dokku Umarov was killed. The information resources that support the North-Caucasian armed underground, believe that the voice of the person telling about Umarov's death sounds like the voice of Abu Mukhammad, the Qadi (judge) of the "Imarat Kavkaz", which is considered by Russia to be a terrorist organization.

As explained by a source from Chechen power bodies, the death of Umarov was mentioned in an intercepted talk of Dagestani and Kabardino-Balkarian bandit leaders, where they expressed condolences over the death of the "Amir of the Caucasus", and the leader of the Dagestani underground was invited to become Amir instead of Umarov. However, according to the source, the absolute confidence of Umarov's death will only come once the body is found.

Should Umarov be really dead, special services were surely aware of the fact, said Sergey Goncharov. However, in his opinion, even if Umarov is alive, "he is not in the command of any bases of militants' formations and bears no threat to anything." In this regard, there is no danger for the Olympic Games in Sochi, he believes.

Militants had rather often spread false information about the death of some of them, in order to reduce the activity of searching, said Nikolai Kovalyov, the former head of the FSB and now a member of the State Duma Committee for Security and Anti-Corruption.