Russia to Investigate Assassination of Ruslan Yamadayev

Russia has launched a full-scale investigation into last night's "audacious" assassination of Ruslan Yamadayev, a former MP and bitter rival of Chechnya's pro-Kremlin president Ramzan Kadyrov.

Yamadayev, 46, was shot dead early yesterday evening outside the British Embassy in central Moscow. He had stopped his black Mercedes at a red traffic light when his assailant, sitting in an Audi, opened fire.

Yamadayev died instantly. His passenger, a former military commander in Chechnya, Sergei Kizyun, was seriously wounded. The killer then escaped, driving off along Moscow's river embankment and past its White House.

Yamadayev's extended family has been involved in a bitter clan feud with Kadyrov, and represented one of the few sources of genuine opposition towards the president inside the violence-plagued and unstable Caucasus republic.

His brother Sulim Yamadayev, a former Chechen rebel, was involved in a standoff with Kadyrov in April, when his convoy refused to yield when the president tried to drive past. Several people were reportedly killed in an ensuing gun battle.

Kadyrov angrily dismissed Yamadayev as commander of the Vostok battalion, a group of ex-Chechen militants who defected to Moscow in 2003. He also issued a warrant for Yamadayev's arrest, accusing him and his family of murder, torture and other crimes.

Today, a brother of Ruslan and Sulim alleged Kadyrov was behind last night's well-planned execution. Isa Yamadayev told Kommersant newspaper: "Our family has information that he [Kadyrov] was preparing a reprisal."

Today, however, Kadyrov denied involvement. Lema Gudayev, a spokeswoman for Kadyrov, told Interfax: "He was shocked to learn about this. It is well known that Kadyrov's principled position was that a court should find out what crimes the brothers Yamadayev have in fact committed, and make a decision on their responsibility."

Kadyrov, who became Chechen president in February 2007, has previously been accused of the murder of the campaigning journalist Anna Politkovskaya. Politkovskaya, an outspoken Kadyrov critic, was shot dead outside her Moscow apartment in October 2006.

This morning's Russian newspaper ran gruesome front-page photos of Ruslan Yamadayev slumped on the driver's seat of his luxury Mercedes S600, his white shirt and chest covered with blood. "President Kadyrov has lost his biggest enemy," Kommersant noted.

According to Russian media reports, investigators are now examining several theories. These include that Ruslan was the victim of a mistaken identity, and that the real target was his brother Sulim. They are also examining whether his killing may have been linked to Yamadayev's lucrative casino business in Moscow.

Officials have rushed to rule out Kadyrov's involvement, suggesting the Yamadayev family's support inside Chechnya, based in their stronghold in the Chechen city of Gudermes, is now negligible.

Yamadayev fought against the Russian army during Chechnya's separatist war in the 1990s, but then defected to the Kremlin side during the second Chechen war, which began in 1999.

In 2004, President Vladimir Putin rewarded his loyalty with a hero of Russia award. Yamadayev was also made a deputy in Russia's state Duma, and served until 2007 as a member of Putin's United Russia party.