Death and Legacy
Dudaev was killed on April 21, 1996, by two laser-guided missiles when he was using a satellite phone, after his location was detected by a Russian reconnaissance aircraft, which intercepted his phone call. The telephone homing equipment was supplied to Moscow by the USA National Security Agency. At the time Dudaev was reportedly talking to a liberal deputy of the Duma in Moscow, reportedly Konstantin Borovoy. Additional aircraft were dispatched (a Su-24MR and a Su-25) to locate Dudaev and fire a guided missile. Exact details of this operation were never released by the Russian government. Russian reconnaissance planes in the area had been monitoring satellite communications for quite some time trying to match Dudaev's voice signature to the existing samples of his speech. It was claimed Dudaev was killed by a combination of a rocket attack and a booby trap. He was 52 years old.
The death of Dudaev was announced on the interrupted television broadcast by Shamil Basayev, the Chechen guerrilla commander. Dudaev was succeeded by his Vice-President Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev (as acting President) and then, after the 1997 popular elections, by his wartime Chief of Staff, Aslan Maskhadov.
Dzhokhar Dudaev was survived by his wife, Alla, and their sons, Tegi and Avlur.
Read more about this topic: Dzhokhar Dudayev
Famous quotes containing the words death and/or legacy:
“Abba, dark death is the breaking of a glass.
The dazzled flakes and splinters disappear.
The seal is as relaxed as dirt, perdu.”
—Wallace Stevens (1879–1955)
“What is popularly called fame is nothing but an empty name and a legacy from paganism.”
—Desiderius Erasmus (c. 1466–1536)