Former Armenian President Robert Kocharyan warned against the current government's flippant attitude toward possible harsh responses from Moscow. He believes the authorities fail to grasp the scale of the potential impact Russia could have, including tariff revisions and export blockages.
On March 8, 2005, President of the Chechen Republic Ichkeria Aslan Maskhadov died in the village of Tolstoy-yurt. During the special operation, he was killed by officers of the Russian Federal Security Service.
It was reported that Maskhadov resisted the attack, and the special forces detonated an explosive device that destroyed the house.
The Russian special services have located the President of the Chechen Republic using special equipment based on mobile phone coordinates.
On 27 January 1997, Aslan Maskhadov was elected President of the Chechen Republic, receiving 59.3% of the vote. The results of the presidential elections were recognized by Russia, OSCE, the Council of Europe, PACE, the European Parliament, whose representatives were observers.