Murat Zyazikov

Murat Magometovich Zyazikov (Russian: Мура́т Магоме́тович Зя́зиков) (born September 10, 1957) is the president of the southern Russian republic of Ingushetia. He was born in what is now Kyrgyzstan.

In the 1980s, Zyazikov was a member of the KGB and later the FSB. In the 1990s he became part of Ingushetia's security council and on May 23, 2002 he was elected president of the republic. Zyazikov is considered a close ally with Russian president Vladimir Putin, especially because of his province's proximity to Chechnya.

On April 6, 2004, Zyazikov was lightly wounded when a car bomb was rammed into his motorcade on the main road near the city of Nazran. Chechen rebels were blamed for that attack and a June 2004 raid in Ingushetia that killed more than 90 people.

See also

• Ruslan Aushev, the former president of Ingushetia.