On March 8, 2005, the President of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, Aslan Maskhadov, died in the village of Tolstoy-Yurt. During a special operation, he was killed by Russian security forces.

As reported, Maskhadov resisted during the assault, and the special forces detonated an explosive device, the shock wave of which left the house dilapidated. Russian intelligence services calculated the location of the President of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria using special equipment using the coordinates of a mobile phone.

On January 27, 1997, Aslan Maskhadov was proclaimed president of the Chechen Republic of Ichryssia; he received 59.3% of the votes. The results of the presidential elections were recognized by Russia, the OSCE, the Council of Europe, PACE, and the European Parliament, whose representatives were observers.