Doku Umarov: Russia’s most wanted man

Wearing simple military dress, he speaks quietly and calmly, sitting almost completely still apart from the occasional raised finger to emphasise his point. Anyone who didn't know Russian would be hard pressed to guess that Doku Umarov is admitting to ordering the recent terrorist attack on Moscow's airport that killed 36 and injured 180.

The self-proclaimed emir of the unrecognised 'Caucasus Emirate' was last year officially listed as a terrorist by the US when he claimed responsibility for the Moscow Metro bombings which killed 40 and injured over 60 others.

Although there were whispers that this year's January 24 attack was perpetrated by Chechens militants, nothing was certain until now.

A veteran fighter for the separatist cause, Umarov was heavily involved in both Chechen wars. Chechnya gained independence from Russia in the first Chechen War (1994-96) but was occupied and annexed again during the second Chechen War (1999-2000). Today he walks with a limp and his face is marked with scars, visible reminders of two decades of fighting.

At first, the fight for what used to be known as the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria was a secular nationalist struggle, one of many precipitated by the break up of the Soviet Union. Even Umarov has openly declared that initially he was barely religious.

These days, however, the Chechen warlord is openly and militantly Islamic. In the video released to the website Kavkaz Tsentr in which he claims responsibility for the Domodedovo airport attack, he spoke of "waging jihad in the Caucasus today to establish the word of Allah".

Russian authorities have long sought Umarov, who is one of the last few Chechen rebels still to be active. Over the last decade he has had every single member of his family taken hostage, including his wife and then one-year-old child, in an attempt to draw him out.

The fate of his elderly father, who has been missing for several years, remains unknown. Umarov himself has been reported dead, sick or captured over a dozen times, only to reappear again protesting his robust health and commitment to the cause.

Grigori Shvedov, editor of website CaucasianKnot.info, says that the commander's strength is finding and training up new recruits. "He delegates to these people who organise and carry out the terror acts." This is clearly true of the North Caucasian 20-year-old who Russian officials are now saying is the suicide bomber responsible for the airport bombing.

Umarov stated unflinchingly that he had "hundreds of brothers ready to sacrifice themselves... We can carry out these operations wherever and whenever we want." In light of recent events, his chilling message to the Russian government and people will hang heavy in the air. ·