Military orchestra at the funeral of Maj. Georgy Trofimov, who died disarming the bomb of 23-year-old "black widow" Zarima Muzhakhoeva, who tried to blow up a restuarant in downtown Moscow
Photo: Valery Melnikov
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No Heroes in Basaev's Death
// The president gives awards for his liquidation
Russian President Vladimir Putin handed out award to FSB officers yesterday, including those involved in the operation to kill terrorist Shamil Basaev. No one was awarded the Hero of Russia star, and the highest award, the order For Service before the Homeland, first degree, was given to FSB director Nikolay Patrushev. That does not mean that he played a decisive role in the operation against Basaev. More likely, the award represented the totality of his achievements and his recent 55th birthday.
The president ordered Patrushev to compile a list of participants in the operation to liquidate Basaev on July 10. That list usually takes much longer for approval at all necessary levels (a Gold Star was awarded for the death of Abu al-Valid more than a year after the event), but an exception was made this time, as Chechen leaders declare the complete rout of the terrorist underground. Information on the awards has been withheld from the press, however. The presidential press service stated simply that “Vladimir Vladimirovich [Putin] has awarded the participants in the operation to liquidate Shamil Basaev military orders.” The FSB public relations office refused to say anything at all about it.
According to a Kommersant source, there were about 50 FSB employees at the ceremony. About 20 of them were from the FSB Chechen and Ingushetian departments and the remainder from the central office. Most of them were senior officers, but a few junior officers were present as well. There were two women among them. Ten participants in the Basaev operation, including one of the women, received the Order of Bravery. The other women received the Suvorov medal “for personal bravery and valor in defending the homeland and state interests of Russia.”
“You know yourselves,” the president told those assembled, “that people have long expected this result [the liquidation of Basaev] from you, and they had a right to demand that work.” That phrase may contain the explanation of why no one was named a Hero of Russia for it. It is possible that the awarding of a Gold Star would be kept secret even from that audience and awarded so that no one ever knows about it.
FSB sources hinted at that possibility when they gave more details of the operations. They said that FSB operatives were able to capture two trucks full of weapons and explosives coming from Georgia. The transporters of the arsenal were convinced to cooperate (probably with the incentive of the $10-million reward for information about Basaev), and radio-controlled bombs were placed on the bottom side of their frames. One of the bombs exploded, killing Basaev and three of his rebels.
Basaev's body has yet to be positively identified, however, which means that Basaev is legally still alive. Without positive identification, it will be hard to convince rebels that Basaev is really dead, and is not just lying low temporarily. That may slow down the process of disarming the rebels.
Andrey Salnikov
All the Article in Russian as of July 21, 2006
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