27 Facts About Akhmed Zakayev

Akhmed Halidovich Zakayev is a Chechen statesman, political and military figure of the unrecognised Chechen Republic of Ichkeria.

Akhmed Zakayev was the Foreign Minister of the Ichkerian government, appointed by Aslan Maskhadov shortly after his 1997 election, and again in 2006 by Abdul Halim Sadulayev.

An active participant in the Russian-Chechen wars, Zakayev took part in the battles for Grozny and the defense of Goyskoye, along with other military operations, as well as in high-level negotiations with the Russian side.

Since the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Akhmed Zakayev has announced formation of the Separate Special Purpose Battalion of the Chechen Armed Forces, functioning as a Chechen volunteer battalion fighting with the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Akhmed Zakayev was born in the settlement of Kirovskiy, Kirovskiy Raion, in the Kazakh SSR, Soviet Union, which is in Almaty Region, in Kazakhstan; his family was deported by Stalin's regime along with the rest of the Chechens in 1944.

Akhmed Zakayev graduated from acting and choreography schools in Voronezh and Moscow and worked as an actor at a theatre in the Chechen capital Grozny, specializing in Shakespearean roles.

In 1994, Akhmed Zakayev became a Minister of Culture in the Chechen separatist government of Dzhokhar Dudayev.

Akhmed Zakayev was eventually promoted to the rank of brigadier general and appointed commander of the Urus-Martan Front.

In February 1996, Akhmed Zakayev became commander of the entire Western Group of Defense of Ichkeria.

Akhmed Zakayev became the acting president Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev's advisor for the security matters and the secretary of the Chechen Security Council and represented Chechnya at the peace talks in Khasav-Yurt, which brought a peaceful end to the first armed conflict between Moscow and Grozny.

On 18 July 2002, Akhmed Zakayev met with the former secretary of Security Council of Russia Ivan Rybkin in Zurich, Switzerland.

In October 2002, Akhmed Zakayev organized the World Chechen Congress in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Akhmed Zakayev was detained there on 30 October 2002, under an Interpol warrant filed by Russia, which named him a suspect in the theater siege.

Akhmed Zakayev was held in Denmark for five weeks and then released due to lack of evidence, as Russia's formal extradition request did not include any evidence linking him to the siege.

On 7 December 2002, Akhmed Zakayev returned to the UK but the British authorities arrested him briefly at London Heathrow Airport; he was released on 50,000 GBP bail, which was paid by British actress Vanessa Redgrave, his friend who had travelled with him from Denmark.

Akhmed Zakayev was accused by Russian authorities of 13 criminal acts.

Akhmed Zakayev welcomed the British deportation hearings as an opportunity to put his case before an international public.

Therefore, on 13 November 2003, Judge Timothy Workman rejected the Russian request, deciding that it was politically motivated and that Akhmed Zakayev would be at risk of torture in the case of "unjust and oppressive" extradition.

The judge said the crimes which involved Akhmed Zakayev allegedly using armed force against combatants were not extraditable because they took place in the situation of internal armed conflict.

On 29 November 2003, it was announced that Akhmed Zakayev had been granted political asylum in the UK.

On 31 October 2007, Akhmed Zakayev officially distanced himself from the newly resigned Chechen separatist leader Doku Umarov and the Chechen Islamist ideologist Movladi Udugov, who together had declared the creation of Caucasus Emirate in the place of abolished ChRI.

Akhmed Zakayev subsequently assumed the position of prime minister of the exile government.

In London, Akhmed Zakayev became friends with the Russian dissident and former FSB officer Alexander Litvinenko, later murdered by radioactive poisoning in November 2006; Akhmed Zakayev accused the Russian President Putin of ordering the death of Litvinenko.

In January 2008, Akhmed Zakayev's name showed up on the purported hit list of Ramzan Kadyrov's enemies abroad to be killed, which was published on the Internet following the murder of the Chechen dissident Umar Israilov.

Akhmed Zakayev was arrested by the Polish police during his visit to Poland on 17 September 2010.

In September 2021, Akhmed Zakayev released a statement on behalf of the Chechen government-in-exile regarding the Fall of Kabul and the conquest of Afghanistan by the Taliban.

In May 2022, Akhmed Zakayev travelled to Kyiv and met with Ukrainian officials for "confidential" talks.