Ruslan Aushev

For other uses, see Aushev (disambiguation).

Ruslan Sultanovich Aushev Руслан Султанович Аушев
1st President of Ingushetia
In office February 18, 1993 – April 28, 2002
Preceded by	Position created
Succeeded by	Murat Zyazikov
Personal details
Born	29 October 1954 (1954-10-29) Volodarskoye village, Kokchetav Oblast, Kazakh SSR, RSFSR, USSR
Nationality	Ingush
Political party	Non-Partisan
Spouse(s)	Aza Bamatgirovna Ausheva
Children	4
Profession	Soldier and Politician
Religion	Sunni Islam

Ruslan Sultanovich Aushev (Russian: Русла́н Султа́нович А́ушев) (born October 29, 1954 in Volodarskoye, Kazakhstan) was the president of Ingushetia from March 1993 to December 2001. He was reportedly the youngest officer in the Soviet army to reach the rank of Lieutenant General. He received the Gold Star of the Hero of the Soviet Union on May 7, 1982. Aushev has emerged as Ingushetias most popular politician, having kept peace and stability during the Chechen war.

Early Life

Aushev was born on 29 October, 1954 to an Ingush family living in Kazakhstan, who were deported from the Soviet Union in 1944. Very little is known about Aushev's early life.

Career

After three years at the Frunze Military Academy, Aushev returned to Afghanistan in charge of a combat regiment where he was wounded on October 16, 1986. Later he ascended to the Soviet parliament where he remained for two years while serving on the Military Affairs Committee. In November 1992 Aushev was appointed to lead the provisional administration in Ingushetia, a position he resigned two months later to run in the Ingushetian presidential elections. Being the sole candidate, he won the presidency on February 28, 1993 with 99.99% of the vote, and he was re-elected two years later.

During the First Chechen War as many as 200,000 refugees from Chechnya and neighboring North Ossetia strained Ingushetia's already weak economy and on several occasions, Aushev protested incursions by Russian soldiers, and even threatened to sue the Russian Ministry of Defence for damages inflicted. President Aushev said that his people could not forget how the same Russian armored columns "and the same Defense Minister" (Pavel Grachev) assisted in the destruction of Ingush settlements and the expulsion of Ingush population during the 1992 ethnic conflict in North Ossetia.

He resigned in December 2001 and on May 23, 2002, Murat Zyazikov was elected president of Ingushetia under controversial circumstances. Since then the republic has become more violent.

Then Aushev was elected to the Federation Council of Russia in December 1993, a position he resigned in April 2003. Aushev served as a negotiator on the second day of the Beslan school hostage crisis, convincing the hostage-takers to release 26 nursing women and their infants.

On September 30, 2008, Aushev commented, in his interview to Echo of Moscow radio, on the increasingly tense situation in Ingushetia, accusing the current authorities of excessive use of force in the republic, leading to the radicalization of the society and threatening to plunge Ingushetia into civil war. The opposition news website Ingushetia.org reported that the Kremlin-allied Ingush president Murat Zyazikov ordered the republic’s television and radio broadcasting center to block Echo of Moscow’s signal for the duration of Aushev’s appearance.

Personal Life

Aushev is married to Aza Ausheva, and has two sons and two daughters. His sons are Ali and Umar, and his daughters are Leila and Lema.

See also

• War Veterans Committee
• Warriors-Internationalists Affairs Committee

External links

• (Russian) The first president of Ingushetia Ruslan Aushev's website.
• (Russian) Biography
• Ruslan Aushev: Russia's Champion At Getting Out The Vote by Laura Belin, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
• Computer translation of the Aushev's bio at grankin.ru.
• Three Days in September (2006). Directed by Joe Halderman, narrated by Julia Roberts. Full Credits