Russia's Most Wanted

AP Photo

OUT FRONT: Shamil Basayev speaks on a transmitter Aug. 11, 1999 in the mountains in Dagestan's Botlikh region

Shamil Basayev's home village of Dyshne-Vedeno stretches for a kilometer or two along a dusty road in the mountainous Vedeno district of Chechnya, 55 km southeast of the capital, Grozny. Cattle and sheep graze around the village, and the local cream is fresh and delicious. If the villagers are right, Russia's most-wanted man is hiding only a few kilometers away. Perhaps in the hamlet of Dargo, about 10 km to the east; or in Ersanoi, just up the road; or even right here in Dyshne-Vedeno itself, within sight of the ruins of his once sumptuous red-brick house, blown up by the...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!