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Russian security agencies arrest Budyonnovsk terrorist in Moscow

The attack occured back in 1995
Hazvakha Cherkhigov (center) Russian Federal Security Service/TASS
Hazvakha Cherkhigov (center)
© Russian Federal Security Service/TASS

MOSCOW, November 20. /TASS/. A kidnapper connected to a former armed criminal gang, run by ex-Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev, who took part in raiding and holding the Russian town of Budyonnovsk captive, has been arrested in Moscow, the Center for Public Relations of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) told TASS.

"The Russian Federal Security Service jointly with the Ministry of Internal Affairs has detained a Russian citizen, Hazvakha Shamshidenovich Cherkhigov, in Moscow on November 19, 2018. Cherkhigov, born in 1978, participated in the attack on the town of Budyonnovsk, in the Stavropol Region, as a member of Basayev’s gang," according to the statement.

In June 1995, a group of 200 militants led by Basayev took more than 1,500 residents of Budyonnovsk hostage, herding them all into a local hospital. A total of 129 people were killed with 415 wounded.

For those crimes, committed between 1995 and 2013, the Stavropol Region court convicted and sentenced 31 attackers to various terms behind bars. In addition, the investigation team has verified information on the death or killing of 18 members of the Basayev gang during special ops.

"As a result of active search measures, Cherkhigov has been identified as one of the militants. Witnesses testified against him, revealing evidence of his criminal activity," the FSB Center for Public Relations reported.

The perpetrator has been sent to the Russian Investigative Committee’s Main North Caucasus Department, and has been placed in pre-trial detention.