Yunus-bek Yevkurov

On 22 June 2009, Yevkurov was seriously injured following a car-bomb attack on his motorcade in the city of Nazran at roughly 08:20 local time (04:20 GMT). In the incident, a Toyota Camry filled with explosives[12] rammed the Yevkurov's convoy in what is believed to be a suicide bomb attack.[13] One escorting policeman died on the spot; Yevkurov's driver and cousin Ramzan died a few days later in a hospital. Yevkurov's brother Uvais was among the injured.[13] Yevkurov suffered a ruptured liver, a severe concussion, and several cracked ribs, but was expected to survive following surgery.[14] Yevkurov was then airlifted to a hospital in Moscow and was sent to intensive care with damage to his skull and internal organs, according to the New York Times.

Though no group has yet claimed responsibility, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev accused Islamist militants of carrying out the attack, condemning the "terrorist attack".[15] Speaking on Russian television, Medvedev claimed that Yevkurov "did a lot to restore order ... and the bandits obviously didn't like that kind of activity".[14] Russian news agency RIAN, quoting an unnamed Kremlin source, reported that executive authority in Ingushetia has been temporarily transferred to the prime minister, Rashid Gaisanov, who became acting Head by Russian presidential decree.[16] The source claimed that "President Medvedev authorized Gaysanov to take operative management of the republic, and he has all the required authority for that".[17] Gaisanov remained the acting head of Ingushetia until Yevkurov returned to office.

The attack followed other attacks on republic officials in June 2009. On 10 June, the deputy chief justice of the Ingushetian Supreme Court, Aza Gazgireyeva, was gunned down in Nazran shortly after dropping her children off at school,[13] and on 13 June the former deputy prime minister, Bashir Aushev, was shot dead outside his home.[18]

After the attack, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov claimed the Kremlin had ordered him to fight insurgents in Ingushetia, and during his subsequent visit to Ingushetia on 24 June pledged to revenge ruthlessly.[19] On 4 July, a convoy of Chechen troops sent by Kadyrov into Ingushetia in response to the suicide bombing was ambushed by militants. The attack caused nine Chechen deaths, with 10 others severely wounded.[20]

On 9 July, Ingushetia's Interior Ministry announced the arrest of several suspects, including the Chechen rebel commander Rustaman Makhauri, allegedly involved in the attack on Yevkurov.[21]

Yevkurov regained consciousness from a coma two weeks after the attack.[16] Yevkurov was released from the hospital in Moscow on 12 August 2009, more than seven weeks after the attack, but continued to receive rehabilitation.[22] Speaking to reports upon leaving the hospital, Yevkurov warned that "those who refuse to lay down their arms and surrender will be killed."[22]

By September, 2009, Yevkurov had returned to his position of head of the republic.[23]

In July 2013, he announced his own resignation following the upcoming elections to the Ingush presidency, though he remained the acting head until the elections.[24]

He was re-elected in the 2013 Ingush Head election.[25] In the 2018 Russian gubernatorial elections, he was re-elected as the Head of the Republic by 26 out of 32 members of the People's Assembly of the Republic of Ingushetia.[26]

Yevkurov (far left), Putin, Kadyrov and Turkish President Erdoğan during the opening of Moscow's Cathedral Mosque on 23 September 2015

Yevkurov stepped down from his position permanently on 24 June 2019 after months of controversy over the land swap agreement with Chechnya signed in September 2018.[27][28]

Yevkurov had a decade-old spat with Ingushetian religious leadership from his appointment until he was excommunicated by the local Muftiate in 2018. Accordingly to The Muslim Spiritual Center of Ingushetia he is no longer being able to participate in their wedding or funeral ceremonies. Yevkurov decided to legalize the republic's non-violent Salafist community and include their mosques into the Muftiate. Ingushetian official religious leaders traditionally follow the Qadiria and Naqshbandia schools of Sufism. He also banned building a new mosque in Magas and ordered that all sermons in the republic's mosques be video recorded for later review.[29]

Yevkurov, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin inspect a facility where mobilized Russian recruits were trained on 1 October 2022

Lieutenant general Yevkurov as a Deputy Defence Minister

Yevkurov was appointed as a Deputy Defence Minister by a decree of President Vladimir Putin on 8 July 2019, also being promoted to lieutenant general.[7] On 8 December 2021, he was further promoted to the rank of colonel general.[30]

During the 2023 Wagner Group mutiny, Yevkurov was in Rostov-on-Don when Yevgeny Prigozhin's forces reached the city. Subsequently, Prigozhin published a Telegram video of him meeting with Yevkurov and Deputy Chief of Staff Vladimir Alexeyev and criticizing the actions of Russian military leadership.[31]

Afterwards, Belarus president Lukashenko praised him (together with Alexander Bortnikov) for mediating the end of the rebellion.[32]

In August 2023, a Russian delegation led by Yevkurov met with Burkina Faso leader Ibrahim Traoré, along with other Burkinabe military offiials, to discuss a Russian-Burkinabe military cooperation.[33] On the same trip he visited Mali capital Bamako and Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso.[34]

Yevkurov has been sanctioned and put under restrictive measures by various countries, including the US, the EU, the UK government, New Zealand, Canada, Ukraine, Australia, and Japan.[35][36][37][38][39][40][41]