Geliskhanov, Sultan

Since 1975, he worked in the Gudermes Autotechnical Economy. Soon he became the head of the convoy.

In 1981 he became a traffic inspector. A graduate of the Saratov school of the traffic police and the Rostov higher police school at the Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR . In 1991, at the time of the advent of power, Dzhokhar Dudaev , in the rank of major, he headed the traffic police Gudermes.

In 1992, Gelishkhanov headed the GUVD of Gudermes. The following year he was removed from office due to suspicions of involvement in the robberies of trains. In April 1993, Gelishkhanov became the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ichkeria. In September of that year, he headed the Department of State Security. He formed a regiment of the national guard, which was used by the authorities to fight the opposition.

From the very beginning of the first Chechen war, Gelishkhanov participated in the hostilities. At the end of January of the following year, he was forced to retreat to Gudermes, which he turned into a fortified area. In March 1995, Gelishkhanov headed the special department at the Ministry of Defense of Ichkeria, whose function was to destroy the employees of the Russian special services and Chechens cooperating with them.

At the end of 1995 he was removed from all posts. There is a version that the reason was Geliskhanov’s separate negotiations with the federals, carried out contrary to Dudaev’s desire.

In 1995, together with Salman Raduyev, captured and held for ten days the city of Gudermes .

After the death of Dudaev, Gelishkhanov became an independent figure in Ichkeria. This was probably due to his financial independence, which he gained through control of the artisanal oil business in the Gudermes region. He also had connections with Chechen criminal groups in Russia. He traded weapons and drugs, probably involved in kidnappings.

At the beginning of the second Chechen war, Gelishkhanov controlled 150 militants. His formations did not take an active part in the hostilities and were disbanded “to special orders”.

In 2006, Gelishkhanov surrendered to Russian troops, after which he was questioned and released home in Gudermes. The only charge that could be brought against him was an attack on police officers from Tver in the summer of 2005 in the Shali district , which led to the deaths of seven people. But to prove Gelishkhanov’s involvement in this attack failed. A case was instituted against him on the fact of participation in illegal armed groups.

• Andrey Kuznetsov. From the underground with a clear conscience (neopr.) . Lenta.ru (March 29, 2006). Date accessed July 23, 2019.