Lecha Khultygov

Lecha Abdulkhalakovich Khultygov was a Chechen brigadier general and director of the national security service of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria. First Chechen War Lecha Khultygov was given the nickname "Mountain Falcon" by Dzhokhar Dudayev. Khultygov took part in 14 major combat operations and battles. Battles of "local significance" and local skirmishes with the enemy does not count. He is credited with having destroyed dozens of Russian armored vehicles and having downed 2 helicopters. A common tactic of Khultygov's was exhausting the enemy's forces by hitting them in the rear and delivering sudden attacks on the gathering of military vehicles and equipment. This method of warfare caused the enemy to panic and suppressed their will to resist. He emerged victorious from any seemingly hopeless situation. There was once counted 72 holes from shrapnel and bullets on his clothes. After getting seriously wounded during a battle, he walked on foot from Novogrozny to Ilshana-Yurt bleeding, and without assistance. Interwar period On 30 December 1997 Khultygov became acting director, and from 6 January 1998, director of the National Security Service, replacing Apti Batalov in this position . During the Chechen interwar period, Khultygov repeatedly and publicly called on his colleagues to stop political intrigues and recognize Aslan Maskhadov's authority. He also positioned himself as an initiator and determined fighter against crime. He declared former armed resistance fighters involved in criminal crimes as enemies of the Chechen state and people, and was the first to admit that a number of influential field commanders and participants in the war were involved in gangs. In this struggle, Khultygov considered it possible to apply the most stringent measures. He was one of the first to put forward the idea of public shootings. The first such shooting, which took place in the center of Grozny in August 1997, caused a wide response in the Republic and abroad. The prestige of Khultygov in Ichkeria grew greatly after this event, which was primarily due to the complex criminal situation in Ichkeria at that time.