death after the clash with border guards was completely invented. A supposed death of Gelayev in the firefight "that left nine Russian soldiers dead in December" was actually officially reported at the time, but later refuted and assumed to be incorrect after the new version was announced on March 2, 2004. The corpse was positively identified by the FSB, but was not released to his relatives because Gelayev was classified as a terrorist by Russian authorities. His family has since been campaigning for the release of his remains or disclosure of what happened to the body, including attempts to buy it back. Family Gelayev's eldest son, Rustam, was born in 1988 in Omsk, Russia, where his father lived during the 1980s when he was married to a local ethnic Russian woman Larisa Gubkina. After living most of his life outside of Chechnya, in Russia, Rustam moved to Belgium and then to Egypt to study Islam, before allegedly joining the Syrian civil war to fight alongside Syrian rebels (according to the sources sympathetic to the uprising, like Kavkaz Center). Around August 12, 2012, the 24-year-old Rustam Gelayev was reportedly killed by an artillery attack during the Battle of Aleppo. His body was taken to Chechnya, where he was buried on August 17. Kommersant, however, cited a relative of Gelayev as saying Rustam had been only studying in Syria and was killed on his way to Turkey while fleeing from the war. References External links The Tale of Ruslan Gelayev: Understanding the international dimensions of the Chechen wars, CACI Analyst, 05/28/2008 Rustam Gelayev: Mysterious Life, Death of Chechen Fighter, PIK TV, 09/05/2012 (about the son of Ruslan Gelayev) 1964 births 2004 deaths Chechen field commanders Chechen nationalists Chechen warlords Deaths by firearm in Russia Defence ministers Deputy prime ministers of Chechnya People of the Chechen wars Chechen guerrillas killed in action Russian people of Chechen descent Soviet military personnel North Caucasian independence activists