The feared Chechen resistance leader, Abdul-Khalim Sadulayev was shot and killed last week after an informant within his network tipped off police and security forces to his whereabouts.
Police said the informant was paid the equivalent of $55 as he needed to buy a hit of heroin.
This is possibly a flaw in the resistance movement’s recruitment strategy!
The Chechen rebels have often been accused of trafficking in narcotics as a way of financing their movement which seeks to overthrow Russian rule in the province and the establishment of an independent Chechnya.
With rebels also sampling the product, obvious security risks start to be realised. The assassination of the movements leader was a worst case scenario in this case, but it happened.
The assassination is expected to severely curtail the operational readiness of the group who was planning an attack to coincide with the Group of Eight Summit planned in St Petersburg for mid-July.