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| Russia’s Most-Wanted Rebel Is Dead, Website Says | Russia’s Most-Wanted Rebel Is Dead, Website Says |
| (6 months later) | |
| MOSCOW — The death of Doku Umarov, Russia’s most wanted terrorist leader, was announced Tuesday on a website representing Islamist militant groups in southern Russia. | |
| The website, Kavkaz Center, offered no evidence or explanation for Mr. Umarov’s death, instead giving a description of his 20 years in the anti-Russian insurgency and saying that he “joined the group of sincere monotheists who fulfilled their contract with Allah till the very end.” | The website, Kavkaz Center, offered no evidence or explanation for Mr. Umarov’s death, instead giving a description of his 20 years in the anti-Russian insurgency and saying that he “joined the group of sincere monotheists who fulfilled their contract with Allah till the very end.” |
| Mr. Umarov, 49, a former Chechen separatist guerrilla, embraced radical Islam in 2007 and founded a network of fighters called the Caucasus Emirate. According to Kavkaz Center, he will be replaced by a younger man from Dagestan, Magomed Kebekov, who delivered a brief address in a videotape posted on the site. | Mr. Umarov, 49, a former Chechen separatist guerrilla, embraced radical Islam in 2007 and founded a network of fighters called the Caucasus Emirate. According to Kavkaz Center, he will be replaced by a younger man from Dagestan, Magomed Kebekov, who delivered a brief address in a videotape posted on the site. |
| The appointment of a new leader is a significant shift for the insurgency, which seemed diffuse and weakened in the period leading up to the Winter Olympics in Sochi. Mr. Umarov issued a chilling threat last year to attack the Games, but they came and went without incident, in a victory for Moscow. | The appointment of a new leader is a significant shift for the insurgency, which seemed diffuse and weakened in the period leading up to the Winter Olympics in Sochi. Mr. Umarov issued a chilling threat last year to attack the Games, but they came and went without incident, in a victory for Moscow. |
| Now it appears that Mr. Umarov may have died some time before the Games. In late January, an audiotape made by Chechen security services and posted on the Internet captured supposed militants debating the thorny question of who would succeed Mr. Umarov, said Ekaterina Sokirianskaia, the North Caucasus director for the International Crisis Group. | Now it appears that Mr. Umarov may have died some time before the Games. In late January, an audiotape made by Chechen security services and posted on the Internet captured supposed militants debating the thorny question of who would succeed Mr. Umarov, said Ekaterina Sokirianskaia, the North Caucasus director for the International Crisis Group. |
| The introduction of a leader from Dagestan, which in recent years has supplanted Chechnya as the center of terrorist activity, could change the nature of the network, she said. | The introduction of a leader from Dagestan, which in recent years has supplanted Chechnya as the center of terrorist activity, could change the nature of the network, she said. |
| “Dagestanis are much more Islamist, they are much better integrated into global jihad, and they are more supernational,” she said. The Russian government’s pre-Olympics security will be lifted, she said, since “it’s impossible to keep such pressure for a long time,” and the militants “will reorganize and restore the chain of command.” | “Dagestanis are much more Islamist, they are much better integrated into global jihad, and they are more supernational,” she said. The Russian government’s pre-Olympics security will be lifted, she said, since “it’s impossible to keep such pressure for a long time,” and the militants “will reorganize and restore the chain of command.” |
| She added, “Doku was ill for a long time, probably not very actively involved in recent months,” whereas Mr. Kebekov is “more fit.” | She added, “Doku was ill for a long time, probably not very actively involved in recent months,” whereas Mr. Kebekov is “more fit.” |
| The Russian authorities have not confirmed the report of Mr. Umarov’s death. | The Russian authorities have not confirmed the report of Mr. Umarov’s death. |
| Ramzan A. Kadyrov, leader of the republic of Chechnya, was the only Russian official to comment on the report on Tuesday, writing via Instagram that “the site of the Caucasian devils informs us that Umarov has been sent to the place from which there is no return!” | Ramzan A. Kadyrov, leader of the republic of Chechnya, was the only Russian official to comment on the report on Tuesday, writing via Instagram that “the site of the Caucasian devils informs us that Umarov has been sent to the place from which there is no return!” |
| “Now it has been confirmed by the rats themselves,” he wrote. | “Now it has been confirmed by the rats themselves,” he wrote. |
| Mr. Umarov was associated with some of the bloodiest attacks of the last decade. In 2010, Mr. Umarov took responsibility for two separate suicide bombings that killed 40 people on the Moscow subway, saying they were meant as revenge for the deaths of Chechen civilians. | Mr. Umarov was associated with some of the bloodiest attacks of the last decade. In 2010, Mr. Umarov took responsibility for two separate suicide bombings that killed 40 people on the Moscow subway, saying they were meant as revenge for the deaths of Chechen civilians. |
| In the hours after the bombings, he made a videotape taunting Russians, saying “I promise you the war will come to your streets, and you will feel it in your own lives and on your own skin.” | In the hours after the bombings, he made a videotape taunting Russians, saying “I promise you the war will come to your streets, and you will feel it in your own lives and on your own skin.” |
| In 2011, he claimed responsibility for an attack on Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport that killed 36 people. His organization also took responsibility for the bombing of a luxury train, the Nevsky Express, which killed 28 in November 2009. | In 2011, he claimed responsibility for an attack on Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport that killed 36 people. His organization also took responsibility for the bombing of a luxury train, the Nevsky Express, which killed 28 in November 2009. |
| Mr. Umarov’s biography tracked with an insurgency that changed course several times after the fall of the Soviet Union. Employed as a construction engineer in the early 1990s, he joined the Chechen separatists. | Mr. Umarov’s biography tracked with an insurgency that changed course several times after the fall of the Soviet Union. Employed as a construction engineer in the early 1990s, he joined the Chechen separatists. |
| After Russian troops were forced to withdraw from the Chechen capital, Grozny, Mr. Umarov became an official in the territory’s Security Council. But Russia eventually crushed the separatists. | After Russian troops were forced to withdraw from the Chechen capital, Grozny, Mr. Umarov became an official in the territory’s Security Council. But Russia eventually crushed the separatists. |
| Searching for a more grandiose idea, Mr. Umarov declared himself the leader of the Caucasus Emirate with the intent to establish a Shariah-based state independent of Russia. | Searching for a more grandiose idea, Mr. Umarov declared himself the leader of the Caucasus Emirate with the intent to establish a Shariah-based state independent of Russia. |