Editing Second Chechen War (section)

===Unilateral ceasefire of 2005===
On 2 February 2005, Chechen separatist president Aslan Maskhadov issued a call for a [[ceasefire]] lasting until at least 22 February (the day preceding the anniversary of Stalin's deportation of the Chechen population). The call was issued through a separatist website and addressed to President Putin, described as a gesture of [[Social capital|goodwill]]. On 8 March 2005, Maskhadov was killed in an operation by Russian security forces in the Chechen community of [[Tolstoy-Yurt]], northeast of Grozny.

Shortly following Maskhadov's death, the Chechen separatist council announced that [[Abdul-Khalim Sadulayev]] had assumed the leadership, a move that was quickly endorsed by Shamil Basayev (Basayev himself died in July 2006). On 2 February 2006, Sadulayev made large-scale changes in his government, ordering all its members to move into Chechen territory. Among other things, he removed First Vice-Premier [[Akhmed Zakayev]] from his post (although later Zakayev was appointed a Foreign Minister<ref>[http://chechenpress.net/events/2006/05/27/06.shtml Указы Президента ЧРИ А-Х. Садулаева], Chechenpress, 27.05.06 {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080804182707/http://chechenpress.net/events/2006/05/27/06.shtml |date=4 August 2008 }}</ref>). Sadulayev was killed in June 2006, after which he was succeeded as the separatist leader by the veteran terrorist commander Doku Umarov.