"Heart failure". The killer of Colonel Budanov died in prison. Colonel Budanov: biography Colonel Budanov is a hero or not

Yuri Budanov is a former Russian army colonel and commander of the 160th Tank Regiment, who participated in two Chechen wars. During the Second Chechen War, he kidnapped and killed 18-year-old Chechen Elsa Kungaeva. In July 2003, the court sentenced Budanov to 10 years in prison and stripped him of the rank of colonel and the Order of Courage. Having been released on parole in January 2009, Budanov was soon killed by a native of Chechnya Yusup Temerkhanov.

Biography

Yuri Budanov was born on November 24, 1963 in the city of Khartsyzsk, Donetsk region (Ukrainian SSR). After graduating from the Kharkov Tank School, he served in Hungary (until 1990), and then in Belarus and Buryatia.

In January 1995, in Chechnya, due to a landmine explosion, he received a brain concussion with a short-term loss of consciousness.

In 1998, he was appointed commander of the 160th Guards Tank Regiment.

In October and November 1999, when a shell exploded and when firing at a tank from a grenade launcher, he twice suffered brain contusions.

In 1999, he graduated in absentia from the Academy of Armored Forces named after. Marshal Malinovsky.

He received the rank of “colonel” ahead of schedule, in January 2000, during the counter-terrorist operation in Chechnya.

Criminal case

On March 27, 2000, near the village of Tangi-Chu, Yuri Budanov was taken into custody on charges of kidnapping, rape and murder of Elsa Kungaeva.

In February 2001, hearings began on Budanov's case.

Investigation

On July 3, 2002, instead of passing a verdict, the court decided to order the next examination.

A total of four examinations were carried out. The first was carried out by military experts in Novocherkassk, on an outpatient basis, and found the colonel sane on all counts. The second one took place in the same place, only in the hospital. The third examination was carried out by doctors from the Serbsky State Center for Forensic Psychiatry. Yuri Budanov, judging by their conclusion, was insane at the time of the crime, and the court could have released the colonel from custody on this basis.

On November 18, 2002, the materials of the repeated comprehensive psychological and psychiatric examination of Colonel Budanov were again sent to the military court of the North Caucasus District in Rostov-on-Don.

On December 31, 2002, he was declared insane at the time of the murder of Chechen Elza Kungaeva and was sent for compulsory treatment to a psychiatric hospital (exempt from criminal liability).

Sentence

On July 25, 2003, the North Caucasus Military District court sentenced Budanov to 10 years in prison in a maximum security colony. He was found guilty of all three charges against him - kidnapping, murder and abuse of power. The court found Budanov sane and deprived the defendant of the military rank of colonel and the state award “Order of Courage.” He is also prohibited from holding leadership positions for a period of 3 years.

Imprisonment

In May 2004, Yuri Budanov, who was serving a sentence in a prison in the Ulyanovsk region, filed a petition for pardon.

On September 15, 2004, the Pardon Commission of the Ulyanovsk Region granted the petition for pardon of Yuri Budanov, deciding to release him not only from serving the main sentence, but also from additional ones. Thus, it was decided to return his military rank and military awards. Despite the protests of the regional prosecutor's office, the governor of the Ulyanovsk region, Vladimir Shamanov (former commander of the Russian Federation General Forces in Chechnya), signed a petition to pardon Budanov.

The commission's decision to pardon Budanov caused a mixed reaction from the Russian public. A number of politicians have spoken out both for and against the pardon. At the same time, the possibility of pardoning Budanov caused negative responses from human rights organizations, as well as residents of Chechnya. On September 21, 2004, a protest rally of many thousands took place in Grozny against the pardon of Budanov, and the first deputy prime minister of the Chechen government, Ramzan Kadyrov, made open threats against Budanov. “If this pardon of Budanov occurs, we will find an opportunity to give him what he deserves,” he said.

On September 21, 2004, Yuri Budanov withdrew his request for pardon. The Pardon Commission of the Ulyanovsk Region satisfied Budanov's application to withdraw his petition for pardon.

During the period from 2004 to 2008, Budanov applied for parole three times, and once again the administration of colony No. 3 in Dimitrovgrad, Ulyanovsk region, where Budanov was serving his sentence, applied for his parole. However, the Dimitrovgrad court found no grounds for his early release.

Release to freedom

On December 24, 2008, the city court of Dimitrovgrad (Ulyanovsk region) granted Yuri Budanov’s next request for parole. Court representative Liliya Nizamova told reporters that “the court decided to reduce the term of detention in the colony for Yuri Budanov by one year, three months and two days.”

Two cassation appeals by the Kungaev family's lawyer, Stanislav Markelov, dated January 12 and 15, 2009, protesting the decision to release Budanov on parole, were rejected by the court.

On January 15, 2008, the decision of the Dimitrovgrad City Court on the parole of Yuri Budanov from the colony came into force.

Murder of Stanislav Markelov

Three days later, on January 19, 2009, the Kungaev family lawyer Stanislav Markelov was shot in the back of the head, shortly after taking part in a press conference at the Independent Press Center on Prechistenka (Moscow) dedicated to the early release of former Colonel Yuri Budanov . Anastasia Baburova, a student of the Faculty of Journalism at Moscow State University and a journalist for Novaya Gazeta who accompanied Markelov, received a gunshot wound to the head and died in the hospital on the same day.

Protests in Chechnya

On January 13, 2009, commenting on the court decision to release Yuri Budanov on parole, the President of the Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadyrov said that he did not believe in his repentance. “Even if he repented, someone convicted of such a daring and cynical murder of an innocent minor schoolgirl should not be subject to parole. Moreover, he deserves a more severe punishment,”- said Ramzan Kadyrov. According to the Chechen president, Budanov's release on parole means that "in his person all war criminals will be acquitted."

"Budanov is a schizophrenic and a murderer, a recognized enemy of the Chechen people, - said the President of Chechnya in an interview with the Regnum agency. - He insulted our people. Every man, woman and child believes that as long as Budanov exists, the shame has not been removed from us. He insulted the honor of Russian officers. How can you protect it? What judge could release him? Behind him are dozens of human lives. I think the federal center will make the right decision - he will be put in prison for life. And this is not enough for him. But a life sentence will at least ease our suffering a little. We do not tolerate insults. If a decision is not made, the consequences will be bad.".

Details of the circumstances of the murder of Yuri Budanov, the investigation and the course of the trial can be found in the material of the "Caucasian Knot" Murder of Yuri Budanov.

Murder in Moscow

On June 10, 2010, Yuri Budanov was killed with four shots to the head in Moscow, on Komsomolsky Prospekt, near house No. 38/16.

In the following days, representatives of Russian nationalist organizations, the LDPR, former colleagues of Budanov and football fans laid flowers at the site of Budanov’s death and at his grave. Nationalist rallies were held in his memory in different cities of Russia.

On August 26, 2011, a native of the Chechen Republic, Yusup Temerkhanov (who lived in Moscow under the name Magomed Suleymanov), was arrested on charges of murdering Budanov. Temerkhanov was charged with Articles 105 (murder) and 222 (illegal possession of weapons) of the Russian Criminal Code.

On December 3, 2012, the trial for the murder of Yuri Budanov began in the Moscow City Court. On the same day, Temerkhanov's lawyer, Murad Musaev, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that his client does not admit guilt. “Yusup Temerkhanov does not admit his guilt, he was kidnapped and tortured. Even then he did not testify admitting guilt.”- said Musaev.

Family status

Yuri Budanov was married and had a son and daughter.

Two years ago, Yuri Budanov was killed. Hero of two Chechen wars, holder of the Order of Courage. A hero who courageously accepted and endured martyrdom for the sake of “pacifying Chechnya.” Killed brazenly, cynically, like a gangster - in front of his wife, in the very center of Moscow, in the middle of the day.

Three months before his death, he warned law enforcement agencies about surveillance. And what? They couldn’t (or didn’t want to?) protect him from a bandit’s treacherous bullet in the back. The enemy was unable to destroy the soldier in open battle; for a long time he tried to break the spirit of the Russian soldier with a string of trials, prison, and persecution. And, as a sign of his powerlessness, he killed.

Yuri Dmitrievich Budanov was born on November 24, 1963 in a small town in the Donetsk region. He graduated from the Kharkov Higher Command Tank School in 1987 and served in Hungary and Belarus. After the division of the Soviet Union, he refused to serve in the forces of independent Belarus - probably in vain. The Russian army sent him to the very wilderness, to Transbaikalia. Budanov did not object, and from company commander of the 160th Guards Tank Regiment he rose to regiment commander, simultaneously graduating from the Combined Arms Academy of the Armed Forces. Participated in two anti-terrorist campaigns in Chechnya. He proved himself to be an excellent commander.

His regiment suffered virtually no losses, and peaceful Chechens were never subjected to any violence by his subordinates. He himself received three severe concussions, but always remained in service. Hundreds of officers like him passed through Chechnya during almost ten years of military operations in this region of Russia. Why did the black lot fall on Budanov?
Back in the first crazy war in the North Caucasus, Budanov saved a group of special forces soldiers who found themselves in a hopeless situation. Someone betrayed the scouts, they were trapped, ammunition was running out, the weather was unflyable, and the helicopters could not help. Fortunately, Budanov’s unit was not very far away, and his tankers pulled the special forces with their armor out of the utter hell. Then it turned out that the regiment commander acted almost contrary to some orders from above. Maybe , There were forces that did not like this tanker’s initiative.

The scouts were saved, and none of the civilians in the villages through which Budanov’s tanks walked were killed. There was nothing to judge him for. However, it is quite possible that some kind of mark was placed on it then.

The second Chechen campaign began with Shamil Basayev’s attack on the peaceful villages of Dagestan at the end of the summer of 1999. The attack was repulsed, the Russian army entered Chechnya. At the beginning of August of the same year, Chief of the General Staff Anatoly Kvashnin decided to make an inspection voyage to Dagestan, to the Botlikh region, taking with him many generals and colonels. The visit of the National General Staff was prepared and took place in compliance with all secrecy measures. Alas, the highest military officials of the Russian army were already expected. Four kilometers from the landing site of Kvashnin’s group of helicopters, a firing point of an anti-tank guided missile system - ATGM - was equipped. As soon as the helicopters landed, the militants opened fire. But Kvashnin and the generals accompanying him managed to leave their Mi-8s. Two helicopters were destroyed, killing: Hero of Russia Mi-8 pilot Yuri Naumov, helicopter navigator Alik Gayazov and special forces reconnaissance soldier Sergei Yagodin. As experts later found out, the shooter was a real master. From the actual maximum flight range of a guided missile, only a sniper, who can be counted on one hand in the world, could hit the helicopters.

A few months later, the location of Budanov's regiment was subjected to a similar attack. A Niva appeared on a hill, four kilometers from the tank group on duty. A group of people in camouflage came out and began to install the ATGM launcher in a businesslike and completely calm manner. The militants were calm: in Budanov’s regiment there were old T-62 tanks, the ammunition of which did not contain guided shells, and four kilometers was almost the maximum shot for a tank gun; hitting a point target - the Niva - from such a distance was considered simply impossible. The very first shot from a guided anti-tank missile set one of the T-62s on fire. Fortunately, there were no crew in it. And then this happened. Yuri Budanov rushed to the duty vehicle, pushed the commander out of it, clung to the sight himself, and aimed the gun at the distant Niva. And with the very first shot of a high-explosive fragmentation shell, the SUV, the missile launcher and everyone who was fussing around it were blown to smithereens. Colonel Budanov personally destroyed the one who killed Hero of Russia pilot Yuri Naumov, navigator Alik Gayazov and intelligence officer Sergei Yagodin. He eliminated the potential killer of the Chief of the General Staff - only a coincidence of circumstances saved Anatoly Kvashnin.

They could not forgive Budanov for the destruction of one of the best snipers in the world, who worked on an ATGM. Interesting:who hasn't forgiven?

We don’t know, but the process of destroying the colonel’s guard has been launched. On January 6, 2000, an NTV film crew appeared at the location of Budanov’s regiment. The TV people are very polite, they are their own guys, they provoke the colonel to take a beautiful shot. Guns are hitting militant bases in the mountains, and the “dirty and cheerful Colonel Budanov,” as one newspaper recalled the day after the officer’s death, shouted “on the air: Merry Christmas to you.” True, for some reason the newspaper journalist decided that Budanov’s regiment was firing at the peaceful village of Tangi-Chu. He shot at the mountains, at the mountains! Worth bringing quotefrom a journalist's article,which sheds light on the idea:“Everyone saw this report, including the Moscow generals, and no one lifted a finger, no one was distracted from Christmas barbecues, bathhouses and whores in order to pull the crazy colonel out of this war, because he (Budanov) went crazy.”

Thus, Budanov was given a “social diagnosis”. He is a crazy Russian officer from whom you can expect all sorts of abominations . Indeed, simply killing Budanov in revenge for the missile master he destroyed is too trivial. It was necessary to smear the guardsman through the mud and, in his person, the entire officers of the Russian army.

Colonel Budanov was one of the best commanders of the regiment; he was in the thick of it, but suffered the least losses during the Second Chechen Campaign. And at the moment when his regiment was withdrawn from the combat zone, they suddenly found themselves under fire from a sniper. The sniper acted like a fanatic - he first shot in the groin, and then in the heart or head. As a result, they were looking for a female sniper, and suspicion fell directly on the deceased Elsa Kungaeva. Budanov’s only mistake is that, having captured the suspected sniper, he did not wait for the arrival of the prosecutor’s office investigator from Grozny, but began the interrogation himself. One can understand him: the commander, who valued the lives of each of his soldiers, suddenly faced maximum losses outside the combat zone. Let me remind you that at that time conscripts were still called up to Chechnya - 18-year-old boys...

“ As people who know the circumstances of the case told me, during the interrogation Budanov received a phone call, and at that moment Kungaeva rushed at him, trying to take possession of his service weapon. While defending himself, Budanov dealt her a blow incompatible with life - he broke her cervical vertebra. Later it was invented that he allegedly raped her, although all examinations showed that this did not happen. And all these human rights activists, especially Sergei Adamovich Kovalev and the liberal media, simply relished what scoundrels Russian officers are, eagerly competing to see who would pour out the most lies and dirt on Colonel Budanov.”- General Shamanov.

Neither the General Staff nor the Ministry of Defense stood up for one of their best officers; on the contrary, they made statements that predetermined his conviction. - Fear of responsibility. Fear of Western opinion. High-ranking officials considered it profitable to find the last one on whom they could hang all the dogs... Imagine, neither a curfew nor a state of emergency was even introduced in the area of ​​hostilities, although it is obvious that this had to be done and this would have put the legal status in order actions of Russian military personnel. Who is to blame for this? Who didn't? Political leadership of the country. There was no ban on the movement of residents of Chechnya throughout Russia - of course, they are citizens of Russia! They were not seized from the so-called. “civilian population” trucks, dump trucks and other heavy vehicles, although it is obvious that they were used to transport weapons and ammunition for the militants.

Even while in prison, even being defamed, Budanov retains the honor of a Russian officer and loyalty to the oath. They told him: Colonel, keep in mind that your early release from prison will cause a bad resonance in the leadership of the Chechen Republic, and if we deny you a pardon or amnesty, this will cause a bad resonance among the Russian officers and the public, so you better not make any requests at all serve. And Budanov withdraws his request for pardon, covering up the country’s political leadership to his detriment.

In 2006-2007 An arbitrary court decision repeatedly denied the parole of Colonel Yu.D. Budanov, who was wrongfully convicted for actions he took in conditions of danger to life and in a combat situation. The court determined that the pretext for refusing release was the fact that “ The statement of the convicted person admitting guilt in the crimes committed and repenting of his deeds is of a formal nature and is not confirmed by anything. Despite the fact that the court did not make a decision to compensate the victims for the harm caused, the absence on the part of the convicted person of attempts in any form to compensate for the harm caused to the victims, to smooth out the consequences of the suffering suffered by the victims, indicates that the restoration of social justice in the case has not been achieved, and the fact that the correction of the convicted person has not been achieved“. This decision was made by the judge of the Dimitrovgrad City Court of the Ulyanovsk Region Gerasimov N.V.

In court decisions against Russian officers, a hidden political motive is visible, connected with the relationship between the federal government and the authorities of the Chechen Republic, with attempts to pacify ethnobandits.

At the beginning of 2009, Colonel Yu.D. Budanov was released on parole. As a provocation to the media, false information was spread that the colonel would have to go back to jail in the case of the kidnapping of three people. Information was disseminated by representatives of the investigative departmentSKP RF on Chechnya. The case was initiated back in 2000, and Budanov’s involvement in it arose just at the time of his release. The previously closed case was reopened for provocative purposes at the end of 2008 - after an appeal from the Chechen OmbudsmanNurdi Nukhazhieva, as well as statements from relatives of the victims. Nukhazhiev and relatives of the victims of the kidnappers suddenly began to claim that Yuri Budanov was involved in the crime. Witnesses confirmed the investigators' guesses during the identification procedure, carried out using a photograph of Budanov, who was immediately “remembered.”

The media used the release of Colonel Budanov to once again repeat their dirty lies about the officer who fought for the Motherland and was sent to prison for it. Fabrications were again raised that Budanov was drunk when Kungaeva was detained, that he raped her and then killed her. Budanov never denied the fact of the murder, he always regretted it, and the investigation has already responded negatively to the slanderers’ fabrications. None of the colonel's subordinates, despite the pressure and threats, testified against their commander.

As one of the leaders of gangs operating in Chechnya, Kadyrov could not calmly bear the fact of the release from prison of Colonel Yuri Budanov, who, on trumped-up grounds, spent 8.5 years behind barbed wire. Kadyrov slandered a Russian officer: "Budanov is a schizophrenic and a murderer." “Budanov is a recognized enemy of the Chechen people. He insulted our people. Every man, woman and child believes that as long as Budanov exists, the shame has not been removed from us. He insulted the honor of Russian officers. How can you protect it? What judge could release him? Behind him are dozens of human lives. I think the federal center will make the right decision - he will be put in prison for life. And this is not enough for him. But a life sentence will at least ease our suffering a little. We do not tolerate insults. If a decision is not made, the consequences will be bad. I will strive, write, knock on doors so that he gets what he deserves. And our army, our strong army of a strong state, must also throw off this shame.”

Such statements are a direct insult to all Russian people. The fact that the federal government does not make personnel decisions and does not remove the bandit from power indicates the collusion of the highest leadership levels of this government with terrorist groups. In the “Budanov case” we have the fact of systematic Russophobia on the part of the authorities, the investigation, the agents of Chechen gangs in the government system, the courts, journalism, and the “human rights” environment. The systematic nature is explained by the personal position of Budanov, who in an interview with Komsomolskaya Pravda stated that before committing the crime he considered himself an officer of the Russian army. Not Russian, just Russian.

Today we understand that the authorities betrayed everyone! But we have “Heroes of Russia”! About a year later, after the trial of Colonel Budanov, the Chairman of the Government of the Chechen Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov, was awarded the title “Hero of Russia” in 2004! Having gone over to the side of the federal government together with his father, a prominent supporter of Chechen independence, R. Kadyrov fought with Russian troops from 1996 to the end of 1999! And Colonel Budanov fought, as befits a military officer, on the orders of the military command of the Russian Federation, which in turn carried out the will of the politicians!

In an address to his loved ones on the eve of the new year 2000, Colonel Yu.D. Budanov said:« Please take my word for it, we live normally. We ourselves already have this war, but we need to fight it, that’s our job» Simple words from a combat officer about his work that needs to be done and he did this war until the very last breath, until the very last minute. He fought, even after returning from the war, it did not leave him and the executioner’s bullet stopped the heart of the Russian hero, but did not stop our hearts, ignited by the shed blood of Russian soldiers and officers, abandoned to destruction by the traitors and enslavers of the Russian people and our Motherland - Russia.

Colonel Yu.D. Budanov will forever remain in the hearts of the Russian people and his feat of resisting the forces of evil, his confession of the Orthodox faith before a pack of corrupt politicians, lawyers, military leaders, and judges will find its place in the glorious history of the Russian people and Russia.

And today Colonel Budanov reminds (he said on the day of his release from prison): “Yes, it’s a shame, but I swore an oath to serve the people. I did and am doing this work. And if you understand that the people of Russia are in danger, that we are all surrounded - don't wait for an order, perhaps no one will give it. You know what to do..."

Good news! The vile Chechen bandit and murderer Yusup Temirkhanov, convicted of murdering the Russian hero Colonel Budanov, died in prison.

Yusup Temirkhanov, convicted of the murder of former Colonel Yuri Budanov, died in the Omsk colony, a lawyer named Roza Magomedova told RIA Novosti.

"He died in the medical unit of the colony from cardiac arrest. He always had health problems, The defense tried to get him released due to illness, but was unsuccessful,” she said.

Temirkhanov received 15 years in prison for the murder of Budanov in June 2011. An incredibly short sentence for premeditated murder, the Chechen killer was sure that he would not serve that either and would be released early on orders from above. But, there is God’s judgment and the murderer died where he belonged in prison!

Stop guessing: he was killed by Basayev's friend and "hero of Putin's Russia" Kadyrov, with the tacit consent of the Kremlin...Russian people's hero Yuri Budanov was killed because he loved our Motherland - Russia!

Chechen bandit and murderer Yusup Temirkhanov

Let's remember how it was!

On June 10, 2011, Yuri Budanov was killed with a vile shot in the back...a Russian soldier, a tank colonel, betrayed and sold by those who sent him to defend his Motherland. He was deprived of titles and awards, but they could not deprive us of the memory of him, just as they could not deprive him of the honor of a Russian officer. Yuri Dmitrievich Budanov was killed openly, in broad daylight, in a crowded place, on the eve of the day that modern Russian authorities is presented as “Russian Independence Day”.

The Internet and the media with relish posted a photo of a military officer lying on the ground and reminded everyone that this was a former colonel of the Russian army, accused of murder and rape of a Chechen girl, demoted and deprived of military awards, keeping silent about the fact that the investigation into the rape article fell apart in court , and the girl is a sniper, responsible for the lives of many Russian soldiers. The words spoken in Norway by the father of the Chechen sniper strangled by Budanov immediately appeared in the press and were widely replicated: “A dog is a dog’s death”...
Correspondents tried to photograph the soldier's face in order to place him on the pages of their liberal publications, to the delight of his enemies. The soldier did not give them such an opportunity, he was lying face down... The speaking and writing brethren immediately began to put forward versions of the murder... Revenge of the Chechens or the machinations of provocateurs...

Stop guessing: he was killed because he loved Russia!

This is how the life of one of the best Russian officers ended! He endured everything: the envy of his superiors, the betrayal of his subordinates, the deception of management, slander, trial, prison and threats. With the greatest humility he endured rejection, deprivation of merit, awards and general indifference, and feared only for the lives of his family and friends.
He received bullets from an unknown killer as retribution for the fear he instilled in the Chechen bandits. He was killed when, as they say, it is customary to take revenge: in the Russian Federation they have already forgotten about his case, which became a show trial of the “crimes” of federal forces in the second Chechen military campaign. Only in Chechnya did many shudder with hatred at the mention of his name, and the leader of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, publicly stated that he would find an opportunity to “repay what he deserves” after learning about his parole.

For the Chechens, Budanov is a symbol of a strong Russia, a symbol of a Russian soldier who inspires fear in his enemies.

A man who saved hundreds of lives of his soldiers and officers in Chechnya and was ready to gnaw out the enemy’s throat for each of them was boldly and openly killed. A commander who experienced the death of his subordinates as a deep personal tragedy was killed. Are there such officers in our army now? After the murder of Budanov, all officials remained silent, without making a single statement.

Putin was silent, Medvedev was silent, the United Russia party was silent, the newborn Popular Front took water in its mouth... They have nothing to say... Budanov’s crippled fate is the work of those people who invented the term “counter-terrorist operation” and ordered it to be carried out by military parts of the Russian army. They have nothing to say, because only thanks to people like Budanov, the Russian army was able to crush a gangster den in Chechnya in 2000 and provide the Russian authorities with a relatively peaceful decade of rule.
Budanov’s martyrdom is only confirmation of his sacrificial life. He became the sacrifice that the cowardly Russian authorities agreed to make to their liberal god with the goal of the mythical pacification of Chechnya. No words are heard on the central channels in defense of the soldier who fell from bandit bullets, who defended Russia no matter what. In an era of general betrayal, the pursuit of profit, contempt for sacred things, he showed the image of a real officer, contrary to the orders of the incompetent leadership, coming to the rescue of the dying special forces, honoring his military duty, faithful to the oath.

He's gone. What a pity that he is no more! He did not participate in any political actions, did not strive for power and did not lie to the people, as many false patriots do. He simply loved Russia and the Russian people and always liked to say that he was serving not in the Russian army, but in the Russian army. He was simply doing what he loved, which he had dreamed of since childhood: to be a soldier. And he did it very well. His 160th Tank Regiment was the best in General Shamanov’s strike force when Russia needed a victory over the rebellious Chechnya. And the Chechens called him “animal”: the tankers spoiled too much blood for the militants... The fact that he was one of the best officers is confirmed by the facts: in his regiment the losses were an order of magnitude lower than in other regiments, and Khattab promised 100 thousand for Budanov’s head dollars.

Those who sent Colonel Budanov to Chechnya with arms in hand to defend the peace of Russian cities, brought him to trial and tried him not according to wartime laws, but according to peacetime laws to please PACE and the Chechen bandits...

Yuri Budanov... How much dirt was poured on him in the lengthy opuses of our pseudo-human rights activists, who faithfully worked out their foreign currency, how much betrayal and slander in court! The fate of a man that became a bargaining chip: a Russian officer was presented by the Russian authorities as a public whipping boy... He had his own truth, and this truth is much closer to ordinary Russian people. It is close to the soldiers of his regiment: 1,500 soldiers and officers, who, under pressure, refused to testify against their commander, and who were ready for an uprising, did not want to hand him over to the tribunal... Budanov’s truth turned out to be clearer to the judges of the North Caucasus District Military Court, who released him from criminal liability.

But his enemies had a different truth... Three Moscow lawyers repeated at the trial the accusations against Budanov that were heard in PACE and the OSCE regarding Russia, and stated that they would not allow the trial of the Russian officer to be transferred from political to criminal. Members of the European Parliament, who were not killed at Stalingrad, were constantly interested in the progress of the trial, and foreign media with pleasure “sucked up” the details of the “crime”.

The Russian supreme power silently observed the progress of the show trial... Silently? Did you observe? His regiment, which came to the defense of its commander, was disbanded in four days... The acquittal was overturned, the composition of the court was changed... He was sentenced to 10 years. They were stripped of two Orders of Courage and demoted to the rank and file...

Anyone would have broken down... But it was Budanov. An unbending man... He calmly accepted his lot and accomplished a new, spiritual feat, enduring all the suffering, not blaming anyone for anything... Only sometimes, when he was about to be accused of new “crimes,” did he declare that he would bring a counterclaim for hundreds of killed, tortured, Russian soldiers and officers executed, strangled, buried, burned in Chechnya...

Russian colonel Yuri Dmitrievich Budanov with his whole life confirmed the truth of the old Russian proverb: “And there is only one warrior in the field - if he is cut in Russian”! Having gone through the difficult life path of a Russian officer through the crucible of reforms and the collapse of the army, Budanov became a person personifying the best cadres of the Russian army during the sad Yeltsin-Putin reforms. Having survived the retreat from Eastern Europe and the collapse of the USSR, he refused to swear allegiance to Belarus, where he ended up, and to go live in Ukraine with his parents. He wanted to serve Russia. And he served her at the risk of his life, living at the same time in a wretched barracks “Khrushchev” in Transbaikalia with his wife and two children...

Having served almost the entire sentence assigned to him, he was released from prison on parole. But his war was not over. He was threatened and he understood that sooner or later they would get him... He turned to Russian law enforcement agencies for protection, but he was denied protection... He was killed on Friday, the last working day on the eve of the long weekend, on the eve of the day of Yeltsin's Russia, which he served and who openly betrayed him...

It’s hard on my soul... Because people like Budanov suffer and die tragically in Russia... But people like Abramovich, Chubais, Kadyrov and a whole legion of similar enemies of Russia live well... It’s hard because there’s no end in sight this timelessness...

He was deprived of titles and awards, but they could not deprive us of the memory of him, just as they could not deprive him of the honor of a Russian officer.

Sleep well, great Russian soldier!

After graduating from college, he served for three years as part of the units of the Southern Group of Forces on the territory of Hungary, and then in the Byelorussian SSR; After the collapse of the USSR, he continued to serve in the Russian Federation.

In October 1998, he was appointed commander of the 160th Guards Armored Regiment, stationed on the territory of the Trans-Baikal Military District (since December 1998 - the united Siberian Military District).

Since September 1999, together with the regiment, he took part in hostilities on the territory of the Chechen Republic.

In January 2000, he was awarded the Order of Courage and received (early) the rank of colonel.

On March 30, 2000, Yuri Budanov was arrested by officers of the military prosecutor's office on charges of kidnapping, rape and murder of 18-year-old Chechen Elza Kungaeva.

During the investigation, Budanov testified that, considering a resident of the village of Tangshi-Chu Kungaeva to be a sniper of one of the gangs, he ordered his subordinates to deliver the girl to the regiment, after which - during interrogation - he strangled her, since Kungaeva allegedly resisted and tried to take possession of the weapon. Subsequently, Budanov, without denying the fact of the murder, insisted that he acted in a state of passion.

On February 28, 2001, in the North Caucasus District Military Court (Rostov-on-Don), the trial began in the case of Budanov, who was charged with crimes under Articles 126 (kidnapping), 105 (murder) and 286 (abuse of official powers) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation .

In July 2001, the North Caucasus District Military Court announced a break in court hearings in connection with a psychiatric examination of Budanov at the State Scientific Center for Social and Forensic Psychiatry named after. V.P. Serbsky (Moscow). In October of the same year - after passing the examination - Budanov was transported back to Rostov-on-Don.

On December 16, 2002, an expert opinion was announced in the North Caucasus District Military Court, according to which Budanov was declared insane due to the consequences of shell shock.

On December 31, 2002, the North Caucasus District Military Court adopted a decision to release Budanov from criminal liability and send him for compulsory treatment, but on February 28, 2003, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation recognized such a decision as unfounded and made in violation of substantive and procedural law and sent the case is being reviewed again (however, the preventive measure against Budanov remains the same - detention in a pre-trial detention center in Rostov-on-Don).

On July 25, 2003, the North Caucasus District Military Court found Budanov guilty of abuse of office, as well as the kidnapping and murder of Kungaeva. According to the court ruling, Budanov was stripped of his military rank and the Order of Courage and sentenced to ten years in prison to be served in a maximum security colony (when sentencing, the court took into account Budanov’s participation in the counter-terrorism operation and the presence of minor children), after which he was transferred to a colony YuI 78/3 (city of Dimitrovgrad, Ulyanovsk region).

On May 17, 2004, Budanov submitted a petition for pardon to the President of Russia, but on May 19 he withdrew it. The reason for the recall was the uncertainty with Budanov’s citizenship, since he was drafted into the USSR Armed Forces back in 1982 from the Ukrainian SSR (On May 21, 2004, Budanov was given a passport as a citizen of the Russian Federation).

On September 15, 2004, the Ulyanovsk regional pardon commission granted Budanov’s new request for clemency, but this decision led to protests from the Chechen public, as well as a statement by the head of the government of the Chechen Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov, that if Budanov was released, “we will find an opportunity to reward him.” according to his deserts,” and on September 21, the convict was forced to withdraw his petition.

Subsequently, the courts several more times - on January 23, August 21, 2007, April 1 and October 23, 2008 - denied Budanov parole, until on December 24, 2008, the Dimitrovgrad court of the Ulyanovsk region made a decision on his conditional release. -early release.

In Chechnya, this court decision caused numerous protests.

On June 9, 2009, it became known that Yuri Budanov was interrogated as a suspect in a criminal case regarding the murder of residents of Chechnya. According to information from the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, in 2000, 18 residents of the Chechen Republic were illegally deprived of their liberty at a checkpoint located near the settlement of Duba-Yurt, Shalinsky district of the Chechen Republic. Three of them were subsequently found killed. A number of local residents claimed that Yuri Budanov was involved in committing this crime.

On June 10, 2009, the Investigative Committee of the Prosecutor's Office announced that Budanov had been cleared of suspicion of murdering residents of Chechnya. According to the materials of the Investigative Committee, Budanov testified that he could not physically be at the checkpoint located near the settlement of Duba-Yurt, Shalinsky district of the Chechen Republic during the periods of time when 18 residents of Chechnya disappeared there without a trace. Budanov's testimony was confirmed by the materials of the criminal case.

On June 10, 2011, Yuri Budanov was shot dead on Komsomolsky Prospekt in Moscow.

The material was prepared based on information from RIA Novosti and open sources

Former officer found guilty of abuse of power, kidnapping and murder

A former officer of the Russian army, a defendant in one of the most high-profile trials about the crimes of the Russian military in Chechnya. In July 2003, by a decision of a military court, he was found guilty of abuse of power, the abduction and murder of the Chechen girl Elza Kungaeva, and was sentenced to ten years in a maximum security colony with deprivation of military rank, state awards and the opportunity to occupy leadership positions for three years after release. Budanov's request for parole was granted in December 2008, and in January 2009 he was released from the colony. Killed in Moscow on June 10, 2011.

In 1987, Budanov graduated from the Kharkov Higher Command Tank School. For three years he served in units of the Southern Group of Forces (was stationed on the territory of Hungary). Then he served in Belarus, but after the collapse of the USSR he refused to swear allegiance to it and moved to Russia.

As an officer in the Russian army, Budanov served for ten years in the Trans-Baikal Military District (ZabVO). It was noted that during the years of service Budanov had no penalties and, moreover, received the rank of lieutenant colonel ahead of schedule.

Budanov was called by the press as a participant in two Chechen campaigns. During the first of them, in January 1995, the officer, according to some reports, suffered a concussion. However, information was later published about the existence of documents casting doubt on Budanov’s participation in hostilities on the territory of Chechnya in January-February 1995 and his shell shock. It was also noted that Budanov’s original medical book has not been preserved - he allegedly destroyed it to hide some diagnosis when entering the Combined Arms Academy of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in 1996.

In October 1998, Budanov was appointed commander of the 160th Guards Armored Regiment (military unit No. 13206 of the ZabVO, since December 1998 - the united Siberian Military District). In 1999, the officer graduated from the Combined Arms Academy in absentia. Since September 1999, his regiment fought in Chechnya, carrying out orders, including those related to the neutralization of large groups of militants in the Argun Gorge and, later, in Khankala.

On December 31, 1999, Budanov, according to some media reports, committed a heroic act. Despite a direct ban from his superiors, he sent several tanks to help two companies of the 84th separate reconnaissance battalion, which were ambushed by militants near the village of Duba-Yurt. The scouts were saved. Budanov, according to him, was declared an official inconsistency for this.

In January 2000, Budanov was awarded the Order of Courage, and at the same time the officer was prematurely awarded the rank of colonel. It was reported that Budanov was nominated for the second Order of Courage, but did not manage to receive it.

In March 2000, in the village of Tangi-Chu, Budanov was arrested by the military prosecutor's office on charges of the abduction, rape and murder of 18-year-old Chechen Elza Kungaeva committed the day before. According to the investigation, on March 26, Budanov, while intoxicated (celebrated his daughter’s birthday), together with his deputy, Lieutenant Colonel Ivan Fedorov (subsequently sentenced to three years in prison for abuse of office, but amnestied in honor of the anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War ) beat up Lieutenant Roman Bagreev, who did not obey his order to shell a peaceful village. After this, the colonel ordered the crew of his infantry fighting vehicle to take the eldest of the Kungaev daughters, Elsa, and take her to the regiment’s location. After many hours of “interrogation,” Kungaeva died, and Budanov ordered her body to be buried in the forest. According to Budanov, he suspected Kungaeva of being a sniper of one of the Chechen gangs, and explained his actions by saying that she confessed, after which she “began to insult the colonel, threatened his daughter, then tried to reach for the pistol,” after that during the struggle he “accidentally strangled” her. Subsequently, Budanov, without denying the fact of the murder, insisted that he was in a state of passion and practically did not remember anything. After Kungaeva’s body was found and the first testimony from Budanov’s colleagues appeared, the colonel was arrested. He was charged under three articles of the Criminal Code: “murder coupled with kidnapping,” “kidnapping resulting in grave consequences,” and “abuse of official authority with the use of violence and causing grave consequences.” In July of the same year, the first psychiatric examination was carried out, confirming the sanity of Budanov, who at the time of the crime was “in a state of mental agitation in the form of physiological affect.”

In January 2001, Budanov's case was brought to court. At the same time, the results of the examination were announced, according to which Colonel Budanov did not rape Kungaeva: it was reported that soldier Egorov violated the corpse, against whom a criminal case was also opened (later dropped due to the amnesty announced by the State Duma). Despite the fact that this contradicted the data of another forensic examination of the girl, presented to the court by the father of the deceased, according to which the girl was raped an hour before her death, charges of violence against Budanov were dropped.

Hearings on Budanov's case in the North Caucasus District Military Court began in February 2001. In July 2001, a medical and psychiatric examination revealed the results of a concussion - damage to one of the hemispheres of the colonel’s brain, which, according to doctors, could be the reason that he “can sometimes lose control of himself.” Considering this circumstance, in December 2002, a commission of experts declared Budanov insane. The state prosecutor asked the court to find Budanov guilty and sentence him to 12 years in prison with deprivation of his military rank and awards, but the court made a different decision and decided to send the officer for compulsory treatment, , , .

In February 2003, the Supreme Court of Russia declared this decision illegal and sent the case for a new trial. As a result, on July 25, 2003, the military court of the North Caucasus Military District found Budanov guilty of abuse of power, kidnapping and murder and sentenced him to ten years in a maximum security colony, depriving him of state awards and the opportunity to occupy leadership positions for three years after his release. At the same time, the media noted, according to sociological surveys, “the overwhelming majority of Russians... were confident that Colonel Yuri Budanov... should be acquitted.” From the beginning of the process, patriotic military personnel supported Budanov and noted his heroism and professional qualities: it is noteworthy that back in 2001, Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov called Budanov “a victim of both circumstances and shortcomings of the law.” Lieutenant Bagreev also forgave Budanov during the trial. It was also reported that, according to the court's decision, the cost of Kungaeva's clothes and the blanket in which she was wrapped during the abduction and in which she was buried will be reimbursed to her parents, , , , , .

Budanov served his sentence in colony YUI 78/3 in the city of Dimitrovgrad, Ulyanovsk region. In 2004, the former officer twice submitted requests for clemency (the first, submitted to Russian President Vladimir Putin, was soon withdrawn). Talking about the second petition submitted by Budanov to the regional pardon commission, the media reported that it was signed by Governor Vladimir Shamanov, the former commander of a group of troops of the Russian Ministry of Defense in Chechnya. The request was granted, after which the commission returned Budanov’s military rank and military awards. However, after Shamanov’s participation in this case became widely publicized, a scandal broke out, as a result of which the petition for clemency was withdrawn.

In January 2007, Budanov went to court with a request for parole. However, he was refused because the court found that the prisoner “did not repent of his crime.” Subsequently, the court repeatedly denied prisoner Budanov parole. Only in December 2008, a decision was made to release Budanov on parole: the court of the city of Dimitrovgrad considered that the convict repented of his deeds and fully atoned for his guilt , , , , , . Budanov was released on January 15, 2009.

In February of the same year, the investigative department of the Investigative Committee under the Russian Prosecutor's Office for Chechnya announced Budanov's involvement in the abduction and murder of three civilians in 2000 in the Shalinsky district. It was reported that witnesses identified Budanov after recently seeing stories about him on television and newspaper articles. Information about why the applicants recognized Budanov only nine years after the crime (despite the fact that he appeared in the media several times in 2000-2003) was not released to the press. Subsequently, the number of missing people in this criminal case was increased to 18. In June 2009, the Investigative Committee of the Russian Prosecutor's Office announced that Budanov's involvement in the disappearances of people was not confirmed.

On June 10, 2011, Budanov was killed on Komsomolsky Prospekt in Moscow. An unknown person shot him several times and fled the crime scene. The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation opened a criminal case on the facts of murder (Part 2 of Article 105 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) and illegal trafficking in weapons (Article 222 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). Three days later, Budanov was buried at the Novoluzhinsky cemetery in Khimki with military honors.

In July 2012, information appeared in the media that the investigation into the murder of Budanov had been completed and the suspect had been charged. According to investigators, the murder was committed by a native of Chechnya, Yusup Timerkhanov (he also appeared in the investigation materials under the name Magomed Suleymanov) out of revenge: his father was killed by the Russian military.

Budanov was married and had two children - a son and a daughter.

Used materials

The investigation into the murder of Budanov has been completed. - Vesti.Ru, 12.07.2012

The investigation into the murder of ex-Colonel Budanov has been completed. - Russian newspaper, 12.07.2012

Oleg Kashin, Musa Muradov. Yuri Budanov was buried under gunfire. - Kommersant, 06/14/2011. - No. 105/B (4646)

Farewell to Budanov. - Interfax, 13.06.2011

In Moscow, an investigative team is working at the scene of the shooting of a man on Komsomolsky Prospekt. - Official website of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, 10.06.2011