Doku Zavgayev

In 1989, Zavgayev, a former collective farm manager and senior Communist Party official, was elected as the first Chechen First Secretary of the Checheno-Ingush ASSR since the Chechens' return in 1957. In August 1991 Zavgayev, then communist leader of the Checheno-Ingush ASSR, supported the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt against Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev (according to other sources, he took a neutral position). On 6 September 1991, supporters of the All-National Congress of the Chechen People (NCChP) led by Dzhokhar Dudayev, stormed a session of the Chechen-Ingush ASSR Supreme Soviet, killing Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Grozny City Council, Vitaly Kutsenko, severely injuring several other Soviet members, and establishing the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria. Zavgayev, the Chairman of the Soviet, was not present. Trying to avoid further bloodshed he was compelled to leave the republic, publicly announcing that he would return. == First Chechen War ==

By 1994, both the president of Russia, Boris Yeltsin and the heads of the "force ministries" were convinced by Zavgayev that Russia should actively intervene in Chechnya. Zavgayev was appointed a chairman of the pro-Moscow government on 24 October 1995. However, due to the war, he was rarely able to travel outside the heavily fortified Russian-run air base at Khankala, earning him the unflattering nickname "Doku Aeroportovich". On 8 December 1995, Zavgayev and Viktor Chernomyrdin signed an agreement as a basis for a Russian-Chechen federation ==Postwar career==

After the 1996 withdrawal of the Russian forces from Chechnya, Zavgayev was appointed Russia's ambassador to Tanzania. ==Notes==