Special Representative of the Russian Federation Lavrentiev: Russian planes destroyed militant Margoshvili in Syria
Archival photo. Photo: Gokhan Sahin / Getty Images
Russian planes destroyed in Syria Murad Margoshvili, known as Muslim Abu Walid al-Shishani, the commander of Chechen fighters. This was reported by RIA Novosti with reference to the special presidential envoy for the Syrian settlement, Alexander Lavrentyev.
“Recently, the Russian Aerospace Forces managed to destroy one of the leaders of the Junud al-Sham (banned in Russia) group, ash-Shishani Margoshvili,” he said.
According to the Rybar Telegram channel, the Russian Aerospace Forces launched an air strike in the vicinity of Jisr al-Shugur on the house of al-Shishani on December 11. It is noted that at that time there were several SUVs near the house, presumably belonging to the militants.
In October, it was reported that the conflict between Margoshvili and the militants of the Hayat Tahrir Ash-Sham group (HTS, banned in Russia) had entered an acute phase. Supporters of the Chechen militant leader were allegedly defeated.
In the late 1990s, Margoshvili joined the detachment of the international terrorist Khattab, who fought in Chechnya and Dagestan against federal forces. According to some reports, he took part in a battle near the Ingush village of Galashki, as a result of which 12 Russian officers and soldiers were killed. From 2008 until entering the Syrian conflict, Margoshvili was engaged in terrorist activities in Dagestan. Until 2008, he spent several years in Georgia, where he arrived after two years of imprisonment in Russia.
