Murder Case Puts Moscow's Chechnya Policy on Trial

By Yuri Zarakhovich Wednesday, Apr. 04, 2001
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A wave of terrorist bombings in the Russian northern Caucasus late last month killed 23 people, including a 15-year-old girl, and wounded 144. In Rostov-on-Don, 1,100 km south of Moscow, the trial of Russian Colonel Yuri Budanov on charges of murdering an 18-year-old Chechen girl resumes next week. Both events highlight the madness of Russia's tragic Chechen quagmire.

Budanov, 38, was a rising star in the Russian army when he came back to Chechnya as commander of the 160th tank regiment in September 1999. He was a hardened veteran of both Chechen wars, having earned two medals for valor and two early promotions that put him on the fast track to a general's stars. But that brilliant military career went off the rails when Budanov became the first high-ranking Russian officer to be charged with what amounts to a war crime: the abduction and premeditated murder of Kheda Kungayeva. Full Story...