Patterns of Global Terrorism 1998 - Russia

The assassination on 20 November of noted reformist and Russian State Duma deputy Galina Starovoytova by unidentified assailants – possibly a politically motivated contract killing – highlights both the terrorist tactics used by domestic antagonists to influence Russian politics and Moscow's inability to curb this violence. Chechen militants assassinated Shadid Bargishev, head of the Chechen antikidnapping squad, on 25 October in reaction to widely publicized antikidnapping operations in Chechnya's capital, Groznyy. No one claimed responsibility for an explosive device that detonated under Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov's car in June. Maskhadov escaped without injury, but four others were killed in the attack.

At least three US citizens were kidnapped in Russia for financial gain in 1998. On 18 March unknown assailants abducted two US missionaries in Saratov, Russia, took their money and bank cards, and released them on 22 March. No ransom appears to have been paid. On 11 November in Makhachkala, Dagestan, unidentified assailants kidnapped US citizen Herbert Gregg, a member of a nondenominational Protestant organization based in Illinois. Russian authorities continue to investigate the incident.

Numerous abductions occurred in Russia's North Caucasus region during 1998. Most involved ransom demands, although political motives cannot be excluded. Some Chechen groups in 1998 used kidnapping to raise money, and hostages could be sold and resold among various Chechen kidnapping groups, according to Russian officials. Several foreigners and hundreds of Russian civilians and soldiers kidnapped in the region still are missing. On 20 January, Vincent Cochetel, a French citizen who led the United Nations Human Rights Commission's North Caucasus office, was abducted. He finally was released on 12 December. Four British employees of Granger Telecom were kidnapped in early October and on 8 December were found murdered. On 1 May, Valentin Vlasov, President Boris Yeltsin's representative to Chechnya, was kidnapped by unknown assailants. He was released on 13 November.

Mujahidin with extensive links to Middle Eastern and Southwest Asian terrorists aided Chechen insurgents with equipment and training. The insurgents were led by Habib Abdul Rahman, alias Ibn al-Khattab, an Arab mujahidin commander with links to Usama Bin Ladin. Khattab's forces launched attacks against Russian military targets, but their activities in Russia were localized in the North Caucasus region.