Isa Munayev

Isa Akhyadovich Munayev (Chechen: Мунаев Iиса, Russian: Иса Ахьядович Мунаев; 20 May 1965 – 1 February 2015) was a Chechen military commander, who had fought for the independence of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria from Russia, until being forced into exile to Europe around 2004. He was killed in action, while leading a Chechen volunteer unit on the Ukrainian side in the War in Donbass in 2015.

Biography

Munayev had been a police officer in the Chechen capital of Grozny before the outbreak of hostilities with Russia. At the beginning of the Second Chechen War in 1999, the Chechen leader, Aslan Maskhadov, appointed him as a military commandant of Grozny. During the Battle of Grozny (1999–2000), Munayev organized ambushes, car bombs and mine explosions against the Russian forces. In October 2000, the Russian authorities erroneously reported, that he had been killed, when a group of rebels was trying to blow up a military truck. After the Chechen forces withdrew from the capital to the mountains, Munayev was made a brigadier general and commander of the Southwestern front early in 2001. Having sustained a serious injury during fighting, he was forced to leave Chechnya in 2004 or 2005. He was granted political asylum in Denmark, where he became the organizer of the public political movement "Free Caucasus", which was founded in 2009. In July 2014, during the war in Eastern Ukraine, the organization announced the formation of an "international peacekeeping battalion" of volunteers to support Ukraine in fighting against the pro-Russian insurgency. The battalion was named the Dudayev battalion after the first President of Chechnya, Dzhokhar Dudayev, and Munayev was appointed as its commander. During the armed conflict the Dudayev battalion operated between Donetsk and Luhansk with approximately 500 volunteers. The battalion was not subject to any political leader in Kiev, or subordinate to any political structure there.

Munayev was killed in the Battle of Debaltseve on 1 February 2015. Munayev was hit by shrapnel from a tank shell in the village of Chernukhino, also known as Chornukhyne, near Debaltseve. He had a large gaping wound and died instantly. He was 49 years old.

After his death, Adam Osmayev was chosen as the new leader of the Dudayev battalion, who had the aim to protect Debaltseve. Short after, Debaltseve was occupied by separatist forces and ceasefire came in effect. It is unclear, if the battalion is still active in the conflict.