1998 Abduction of Foreign Engineers in Chechnya

1998 Abduction Of Foreign Engineers In Chechnya

The 1998 abduction of foreign engineers took place when four United Kingdom-based specialists were seized by unidentified Chechen gunmen in Grozny, the capital of Russia's breakaway republic of Chechnya. After more than two months in captivity, all four men were found brutally murdered, reportedly following a failed rescue bid by the Chechen separatist security forces. As of 2009, no one has been tried in this case.

The victims were three Britons: Peter Kennedy (46) of Hereford, Darren Hickey (27) from Surrey, Rudi Petschi (42) of Devon, and New Zealand-born Stan Shaw (58). The four men had been working for Granger Telecom, a British telecommunication company which had won a £183m contract for the separatist government-run company Chechentelekom to install telephone lines, satellite links and a mobile phone system throughout the war-ravaged republic; the work was suspended after the four men were kidnapped.

The slayings were a major blow to the efforts of the breakaway Chechen Republic of Ichkeria (ChRI) to gain international recognition of its independence. Kidnappings had become common in Chechnya since the end of the First Chechen War in 1996, as the ruined region's fledging separatist government failed to maintain law and order, but the hostages at the time were rarely killed, and no other kidnapped foreigners were murdered.