Yamadayev was a former Chechen rebel and warlord who switched over to the Russian side and went on to lead the “Vostok” (East) special military battalion.  He was widely believed to be a leading opponent of Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov, who has consolidated power in the beleaguered North Caucasus republic in recent years.

According to Dubai police, Yamadayev was shot from behind in the underground parking area of a luxury residential building where he was staying, dying instantly.

Major General Dahi Khalfan Tamim told Reuters that, “the case is clear and there is no confusion over what happened. An organized criminal group was behind the assassination.”

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia has fought two wars against separatists in Chechnya, a primarily Muslim region.  Many former rebel leaders, including Kadyrov and Yamadayev, eventually joined the Russian army, going on to become top leaders and decorated officers.  Although authorities have severely cracked down on militants, a low-level insurgency continues in the area, particularly in the neighboring Republics of Ingushetia and Dagestan.

Yamadayev was one of a group of powerful brothers who made up the Yamadayev clan.  As Kadyrov pushed out opponents in Chechnya, the clan clashed with the president in a power struggle waged in the courts and the streets.  In April 2008, some of Yamadayev’s forces were involved in a shootout with Kadyrov’s men after a road collision, which by some estimates left 18 people dead.  After the incident, Kadyrov publicly accused Sulim Yamadayev in a series of crimes, calling for his arrest and prosecution.

In May 2008, Yamadayev was relieved as commander of the Vostok battalion.  Three criminal cases were also launched against the former warlord.

On September 24th 2008, one of Sulim’s brothers, former State Duma deputy Ruslan Yamadayev, was shot to death in Moscow.  At the time, the Kommersant newspaper reported that Sulim Yamadayev was trying to go underground, switching apartments repeatedly and surrounding himself with bodyguards.  No suspects have been apprehended in the shooting.

Yamadayev is the sixth Chechen who opposed Kadyrov to be murdered outside the republic in recent months.  Three more Chechen exiles have been shot to death in Istanbul, Turkey since September.  Another, Umar Israilov, had accused Kadyrov of torture before he was publicly assassinated in Austria in January.

Kadyrov has strongly denied involvement in any of the murders, describing them as an attempt to destabilize Chechnya and discredit him.  He called Sulim Yamadayev’s death “tragic.”

The Yamadayevs have been at odds with Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov, and preliminary conclusions do not preclude Kadyrov’s involvement in the murder.

Yamadayev, 47, was behind the wheel of a Mercedes S600. As he stopped at a red light, an unidentified attacker approached the vehicle and fired shots through the window, according to RIA Novosti reports. Yamadayev died on the spot, and his passenger, General-Colonel Sergei Kizyun, was heavily wounded. Investigators are searching for an Audi 80, which may have been used by the attacker to flee the scene.

According to Issa Yamadayev, Ruslan’s brother, he was returning from meeting in the presidential administration. The former lawmaker may have discussed problems being faced by the Vostok (“East”) battalion, a special forces unit he helped found within Chechnya.

A criminal investigation has been launched by the Interior Ministry.

Both Kadyrov and the Yamadayevs are former Chechen rebels, who fought against Russian troops for independence during the first Chechen war. They later switched sides, and joined together to bring Chechnya back into Russia’s fold. Ruslan and his younger brother Sulim Yamadayev, the former head of the Vostok battalion, were awarded Hero of Russia medals for their efforts against Chechen insurgents.

The Yamadayevs are widely believed to be the only force within Chechnya that operates outside of Ramzan Kadyrov’s oversight. Ruslan Yamadayev’s death may mark a final step to Kadyrov’s complete control of the embattled Caucasus republic.

In April of this year, soldiers in the Vostok battalion came head to head in an armed confrontation with Ramzan Kadyrov’s personal guard when they blocked passage for Kadyrov’s motorcade.

Since then, Kadyrov has intensified a legal and media assault on the battalion and the brothers, who have kept a low profile. Chechen law enforcement announced that Sulim and Badruddi, the youngest brother, were being sought for war crimes. Kadyrov announced on state television that the Yamadayevs were criminals, and called for their arrest. Sulim Yamadayev was subsequently rid of his position in the armed forces, after which Kadyrov called off the investigation against him.

According to a source quoted in Kommersant, Sulim Yamadayev had recently tried to go underground, switching apartments several times, and never leaving his home without stepped-up security. Ruslan, who never hired bodyguards, was always in the company of highly-ranked military personnel, and apparently believed this was a certain guarantee of safety.

Kommersant’s source noted that a special operation against Kadyrov’s enemies was started on September 17th, when Bislan Elimkhanov, the commander of the Zapad (“West”) battalion, was attacked in Grozny(Rus).

Russian lawmakers, meanwhile, tried to pin the blame on Georgia. Alexander Torshin, the First Vice Speaker of Russia’s upper house, the Federation Council, said the attackers wanted to kill Sulim Yamadayev. Sulim had led the Vostok battalion as it swept into the South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali in late August.

Kadyrov, Torshin said, would be the last person interested in such a murder.

Far before the incident, starting early this year, a media war was launched against the Vostok battalion and its leaders, the Yamadayev brothers. The Chechen Government’s website ran allegations that Vostok soldiers were responsible for a swath of serious crimes, including kidnappings, murder and torture. Magomed Khanbiev, a deputy in Chechnya’s Kremlin-friendly Parliament, was quoted as saying: “Of course, there might be normal soldiers in this battalion, but most of them do drugs, commit murders and kidnap people, thus scorning our traditions.” On state-run television, President Kadyrov called the Yamadayev brothers criminals, and called for their prosecution.

The stories made no mention that Kadyrov’s own troops have been consistently accused of the same crimes by local human rights organizations.

Sulim Yamadayev, the commander of the Vostok battalion, is one of the only local military leaders that was not appointed by Kadyrov. His clan, including brothers Ruslan and Badruddi, provides one of the last remaining counterweights to Kadyrov’s complete consolidation of the local police and military troops.

Both the Yamadayevs and Kadyrov formerly fought as rebels against Russian troops during the two tragic military campaigns over Chechen independence. While the Yamadayevs have close ties with Russia’s military establishment, Kadyrov is backed directly by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

As Putin prepares to leave office, Kadyrov seems intent on retaining complete control of the former breakaway republic, with or without Kremlin sponsorship. Since the road incident, the struggle has intensified.

On April 20th, an assault on a representative of Chechnya’s human rights ombudsman left two young girls dead and three men injured. Immediately, before any investigation unfolded, Ombudsman Nurdi Nulkhazhiev accused the Vostok battalion of responsibility. “We cannot confirm that the Vostok battalion were involved in the incident, but we have solidly-founded suspicions that they were, and consider it imperative that investigators look into this version,” he told Interfax.

Hundreds of Vostok soldiers were also reportedly deserting their ranks and trying to enter other military units, according to the Kommersant newspaper. The soldiers claimed that they were forced to break the law, and go against the interests of the the Government and the people during their service.

Ruslan Yamadayev was furious: “These people were forced to make such claims – some with threats, others with payments,” he told Kommersant. According to Yamadayev, both his relatives and the battalion’s soldiers are under “powerful pressure” from authorities. “Every day, local television speaks about the horrors that the battalion’s soldiers and commanders supposedly performed. All this, of course, scares people, and compels them to write statements.”

Ramzan Kadyrov is often credited with bringing stability to the Chechen Republic, and he has led a strenuous reconstruction effort paid for by the Kremlin. The 29-year-old president has used his commando militia to consolidate power, has led an active amnesty campaign for former rebels, and has enacted some elements of Sharia law. Still, while the republic is no longer at war, murders and assaults are frequent, and commonly go unsolved. Some experts claim that much of the violence and criminal element in Chechnya has simply been pushed into neighboring regions.