In his words, only dispersed groups of 15-20 bandits remain in Chechnya. Movladi Udugov, the ideologist of the Chechen rebels is now wanted for terrorism by Russia's Prosecutor General. Udugov was behind the information war during both Chechen campaigns. If these numbers hold out, Putin may take the election in the first round by a landslide, enabling him to claim a popular mandate. The Moscow Transportation Prosecutor's Office has concluded that explosives were not involved in the destruction last Thursday of a Yakovlev-40 plane, killing nine persons, including journalist and entrepreneur Artyom Borovik and leading Chechen oil businessman Zia Bazhaev.
Investigators believe the plane caught fire after a fuel leak.
The Yak-40 had been in use for 24 years and was set to be decommissioned in 2001. Later this month, Matvienko intends to take a leave of absence to fully dedicate herself to the elections. At present, her electoral headquarters are busy collecting signatures. After her candidacy is officially registered, she will move to St. Petersburg. Yesterday, she made a point of noting that, even on the day of Acting President Vladimir Putin's recent visit to St. Petersburg, yet another contract killing was perpetrated in that city.