Salaudin Timirbulatov is a well-known Chechen field commander and terrorist. Known by the nickname Tractor Driver. This criminal became notorious in 1996, when during the First Chechen War he executed four Russian soldiers who were captured. The execution scene was filmed on video, and then was put on public display as a deterrence.
early years
Salaudin Timirbulatov was born in 1960. He was born in a small village called Borzoi. It is located on the territory of the Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. After school he went to serve in the army, returned to the "citizen" in 1979.
Arriving in his native village, he got a job as a tractor driver on the collective farm named after Sergei Mironovich Kirov. While Salaudin Timirbulatov worked, he had exceptionally positive characteristics, literally dozens of letters of thanks and letters of appreciation, he was even rewarded with a car for hard work.
He married, raised six children. In 1980, he became a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, after which he was repeatedly elected as a deputy of the village and district councils, he even ran for the Supreme Council of the Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Republic, but failed.
The rise to power of Dudaev
In 1991, the head of Chechnya was the ex-general of the Soviet army Dzhokhar Dudaev. He began to pursue a tough nationalist course, which ultimately was aimed at separating the republic from the Soviet Union - that is what he sought, called for in his speeches.
His appeals and speeches then inspired many Chechens, among whom was Salaudin Khasmagamadovich Timirbulatov. Soon, he decided for himself to join the ranks of illegal armed groups in the Dudaev army, which began to oppose the federal authorities sent to the region to maintain the constitutional order.
At first, Salaudin Timirbulatov served under the command of Beloev in the so-called Shatoi regiment, which got its name from a village in the south of the republic, in the region of the Argun gorge. For his collective farm past, he soon received the nickname Tractor Driver, under which he became known to other members of armed gangs.
Up the career ladder
Dudaev’s service was very successful. Soon, Salaudin Timirbulatov, nicknamed the Tractor Driver, was appointed as the commander of an armed formation, which included several dozen militants. Since then, the gang under his leadership began to regularly attack the units of the federal troops with varying success.
The Chechen terrorist Salaudin Timirbulatov became known throughout the world after the events of April 11, 1996. On this day, the militant, along with several members of his armed gang, volunteered to carry out a demonstrative execution of prisoners of war of Russian soldiers who were captured by the gang of Akhmed Zakayev. Then Chechen terrorists attacked a unit of federal troops, which was based on the Atagi-Goi highway.
Exponential execution
Four Russian servicemen were captured by Chechens. These were senior sergeant Eduard Fedotkov, junior sergeant Pavel Sharonov, as well as privates Alexei Shcherbatykh and Sergey Mitryaev.
The prisoners were taken to the height of Surat, which is located approximately five kilometers from the village of Komsomolskoye, now it is the village of Goy-Chu in the Urus-Martan district of the Chechen Republic.
The first was brutally executed Sharon. The militant Bakharchiev cut his throat. Then the militant Dukuah cut the Shcherbaty’s throat. It was decided to shoot Senior Sergeant Fedotkov, who was taller than the others in rank among the prisoners. This decision was enforced by the militant, whose name was Khamzat, his surname remained unknown. Private Mitryaev Timirbulatov personally shot.
This crime gained public resonance, since the militants filmed the whole process on camera. In the future, when most of them were detained, it was this video that became the decisive evidence in court. The execution of a soldier by Salaudin Timirbulatov became his worst, but not the only crime.
Tractor driver gang crimes
The gang led by Timirbulatov was spotted and later charged with numerous crimes. Its members committed multiple kidnappings in order to then demand a ransom for them.
For example, at the very beginning of 1997, a Turkish businessman named Nazim Sabanjiglow was captured by members of a gang. For it they managed to gain about 250 thousand dollars.
In mid-1999, the militant Timirbulatov headed the so-called Shatoi District Sharia Security Directorate under the new Chechen government, which did not last long.
Captivity of officer Alexander Zhukov
In the biography of Salaudin Timirbulatov, there is another well-known episode related to the capture of Russian troops. He was one of the participants in the capture of the lieutenant colonel of the Russian army Alexander Zhukov.
This happened in January 2000, during a federal operation to rescue scouts of the 752nd regiment of the third motorized rifle division. Zhukov led the search and rescue operation, which was carried out in the area of the village of Kharsenoy in the Argun gorge. The scouts were ambushed, were forced to evade the persecution, having three seriously wounded comrades in their arms.
Zhukov arrived at the place on Mi-24 helicopters, despite the fact that the scouts fought with the militants surrounding them, went down to the ground on a winch. With its help, seriously injured soldiers began to be lifted aboard the helicopter. At this time, the militants fired at the helicopter in order to prevent the death of the aircraft, the lieutenant colonel decided to interrupt the rescue operation, and he himself joined the scouts.
Helicopters in its coordinates hit the militants, which allowed the group to make a breakthrough. They managed to come off, but the next day the Chechens tracked them down by the roar of the helicopters that arrived for evacuation, again attacked. By this time, almost all the scouts were saved. When the helicopters began to fire, Zhukov ordered them to leave, and he stayed with Sergeant Dmitry Beglenko and captain Anatoly Mogutnov. The three of them again tried to break out of the encirclement, but all three were seriously wounded and captured.
In Chechen captivity, Zhukov was tortured and beaten. His group was captured just by a gang under the command of Timirbulatov. The tractor driver demanded that Russian politics in Chechnya be condemned by the Western world, Zhukov was forced to convert to Islam and issue codes for calling combat helicopters. They did not begin to kill the lieutenant colonel, hoping to nevertheless receive this information or exchange it for one of the relatives of the field commander. After some time, he was transferred to the detachment of the more influential commander Arbi Baraev.
In March, he was brought to the village of Komsomolskoye, where militants were found by federal troops. When trying to escape from the village through mine traps and extensions, they placed the prisoner in front of him as a human shield. Caught in crossfire, Zhukov received 4 injuries. He was taken to hospitals in serious condition. He was awarded the title Hero of Russia for the courage shown in Chechen captivity.
Arrest
At the same time, Timirbulatov himself was detained. This was done by the domestic special services during the operation on March 19, 2000. During the investigation, the field commander denied any involvement in kidnapping and keeping them captive.
In this regard, the testimonies were precisely the testimony of Lieutenant Colonel Zhukov, who, despite serious injuries, after eight months he fully recovered and returned to the ranks of the Russian army. Zhukov spoke at the trial, testifying against the terrorist. Officially, only the most obvious crime was officially recognized as a terrorist - the execution of four Russian servicemen, which was recorded on a video that fell into the hands of investigators.
Sentencing
In January 2001, the trial began in the Supreme Court of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic. Already in mid-February, a Chechen terrorist was found guilty of committing crimes under the eleven articles of the criminal code.
Among them were court-held, proven by the prosecution, holding hostages, assault on life, embezzlement of firearms, robbery, acquisition and carrying of firearms, distribution of drugs, execution of military personnel, murders.
Based on the totality of the crimes committed, the Chechen field commander Timirbulatov was sentenced to life imprisonment in a special regime penal colony. The verdict was appealed to the Supreme Court, but this instance left him unchanged.
Serving a sentence
Currently, the gunman remains in custody at the Black Dolphin colony. Salaudin Timirbulatov has been sitting for 17 years. Now he is 58.
According to some reports, the prisoner is sick with severe tuberculosis. The colony "Black Dolphin" is located in the Orenburg region, in the city of Sol-Iletsk. Now it contains 863 people who are under constant video surveillance.