A lot of versions of Ruslan Yamadaev’s murder is being voiced now. According to one of them, he might have been killed to make his brother Sulim come to Chechnya. Until recently, Sulim Yamadaev was the commander of the Chechen battalion “Vostok”. He is considered to be a witness in a number of murder and kidnapping cases in Chechnya, and in case he returned to Chechnya, he could be arrested or killed.       

This version has a number of faults. First, it would not be so easy to terminate Yamadaev in Chechnya. Besides, just a month ago the lieutenant colonel Sulim Yamadaev took part in war operations in Georgia, at the head of his battalion. His people did not even ask for journalist certificates those numerous reporters who came to them. Generally, it appears to be much easier to have made an attempt on him under the war conditions, if someone wanted that.    

Another hypothesis is that the brothers have been confused. Really, first hours after the murder there was a mess, and some news agencies reported Sulim Yamadaev to have been slain. However, the law enforcement officers note that the killer acted in a highly professional way and he could not have confused the brothers. 

The blood feud version also looks unconvincing, as usually in such cases killers are not hired. If someone wished to revenge, it’s rather Sulim that would have been the subject. He was suspected of murders and kidnappings of Chechen people. I remember well one of episodes that is characteristic of this person. When being an officer at 205th motorized infantry brigade, in November 2005 I and my comrades had to deal with the fortune of 4 Russian soldiers kidnapped by the squad of Sulim Yamadaev, who fought then on the Islamic fighters’ side. We managed then to save two of four soldiers. Afterwards, one of them had to be ablated his spleen, because he had been beaten hardly in the Yamadaev’s gang.      

Another version that might have some grounds is murder of Ruslan Yamadaev by order form the Chechen leadership.  

To my mind, this version does not hold water either. Yes, one may say that Ruslan was the brain of the Yamadaev’s clan, and losing him it loses its connections in the highest Moscow circles. 

But would Kadyrov really need that kind of problem? According to some analysts, Ruslan Yamadaev claimed at the post of the future leader of Chechnya and was Ramzan Kadyrov’s rival. However, Yamadaev’s brothers have been compromised too much, and the Kremlin would not want to replace Kadyrov with Ruslan Yamadaev. That means, the killed man was not likely to become real competitor in the political struggle for power.   

The political version by Mr. Torshin, the deputy chair of the Federation Council, looks even more unlikely. He refers to the above mentioned version that the brothers were just confused and he alleges to the possible Georgian trace in this story, as the battalion “Vostok” has annoyed greatly the official Tbilisi, during the combat operations in the South Ossetia.  

The version saying it’s the fighters from Chechnya who might be standing behind this murder looks much more sensible. First, they had much to square with him for. The former participant of the illegal Chechen Islamic groups got his title of the Hero of Russia, because he really had done something. Second, today’s leader of “Ichkeria”, Doku Umarov is rather clever and sly, and also has a good experience of using the Russian enforcers in his own interests. In 2000, after he was wounded in his head, he was treated in clinic in Nalchik, which was arranged by Russian MVD leadership, who counted to get the better of the Ichkerian leaders. Well, it turned into just the opposite. Incidentally, the mediators met with Umarov (by order from the killed Akhmat-Khadji Kadyrov) not somewhere in the Pankisskoe Gorge, but in a restaurant in the center of Tbilisi.       

The version that Ruslan Yamadaev could have been killed by the former Chechen fighters is also real because many of them are living and working in Moscow now.  

Many suppose that Ruslan Yamadaev was slain because of his business. However, a person, close to Yamadaevs, assures that Ruslan could not have been killed because of that, as allegedly the family had nothing except the firm “Yamad”. 

The firms belonging to people from Caucasus are rather numerous in Moscow. Some of them have problems that were possible to be solved by the State Duma deputy and the man from Chechnya, Ruslan Yamadaev.   

This year Yamadaev was not a deputy anymore. Things got arranged in a way where the retired lieutenant colonel found himself unneeded either by Kadyrov in Chechnya or by Russian army and special services leadership. It turned out that the Yamadaevs brothers were irreplaceable only under conditions of fierce war against Islamic fighters… The situation has changed since then. Kadyrov has grown up in Chechnya, while leadership has changed in the Russian enforcement structures. That’s how the protection was stopped, and the brothers were left to deal with their numerous enemies alone.  

There was no need for any initiative from above to kill Ruslan Yamadaev. It was enough just to show one’s back on them.