Maskhadov must be arrested or destroyed before inauguration of Putin

The operation to search for rebels that started several days ago continues in mountainous districts of Chechnya. The large-scale operation being conducted by officers of Akhmat Kadyrov's security service, Chechen OMON (special operations police unit) officers, a PPS (patrol and sentry service) regiment, the Russian defense ministry's Vostok and Zapad battalions, and the so called "oil regiment" of the Chechen interior ministry, covers the Gudermes, Nozhay-Yurt, and Kurchaloy districts of Chechnya. There is information that the main aim of the action is to capture or destroy Aslan Maskhadov, President of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria.

"The villages of Yalkhoy-Mokhk, Ishkhoy-Yurt, Alleroy, Galaity, Koshkeldy, and Engel-Yurt, where rebels from the band of field commander Akhmed Avdorkhanov, Maskhadov's subordinate, are supposed to be hiding, are cordoned off by our units. There is information that Maskhadov himself may hide there too. According to our data, Shamil Basayev has issued the order to destroy Maskhadov in case he decides to give himself up to the authorities or turns out to be at bay," a source at the Chechen interior ministry said. The aim of the operation is to capture or destroy Maskhadov, he emphasized. "They don't say it aloud, but there is an order to destroy or capture Maskhadov before May 7, that is to say, before the inauguration of President of Russia Vladimir Putin," the officer said.