Abduction of Russian Diplomats in Iraq

On June 3, 2006, Iraqi insurgents ambushed a car belonging to the Russian Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq. Vitaly Titov, a security guard, was killed during the attack. The four other occupants of the vehicle were abducted: Fyodor Zaitsev, the embassy's Third Secretary; Rinat Agliuglin, a cook; Oleg Fedoseyev, a security guard; and Anatoly Smirnov, a driver.

On June 19, 2006, the Mujahedeen Shura Council, a group affiliated with al Qaeda, claimed responsibility for the ambush. The group issued an ultimatum demanding that Russia withdraw from Chechnya and release all Muslim prisoners within 48 hours.

On June 25, 2006, the group stated that it had beheaded three of the hostages and shot the fourth. The statement was accompanied by a video that showed portions of the killings, including seconds of one beheading, the body of a second hostage, and the shooting of a third. The death of the fourth hostage was not shown.

On June 28, 2006, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the country's security services to locate and kill those responsible for the kidnapping and killing of the diplomats. Nikolai Patrushev, head of the Federal Security Service (FSB), the successor organisation to the KGB, said the order would be carried out regardless of the time and effort required. A comparable order was believed to have been issued earlier against Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev, a former acting president of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, who was killed by a bomb in Doha, Qatar, in February 2004. Aleksandr Goltz, a Russian military expert, questioned whether Russian intelligence agencies could carry out such an order in a country affected by civil war.

Several individuals were later linked to the case. One of the kidnappers was captured in December 2006 and admitted his involvement; he is believed to have personally beheaded two of the diplomats. Another was killed in a firefight with the U.S. military in October 2008 and is believed to have shot one of the hostages. A further kidnapper was captured and sentenced to death by the Iraqi government in May 2010. The bodies of the four abducted diplomats were found in 2012.