Abdul-Khalim Sadulayev, who succeeded Aslan Maskhadov early last year as president of the Chechen Republic Ichkeria (ChRI) and leader of the Chechen resistance, was killed early on June 17 in a two-hour exchange of fire in his home town of Argun, east of Grozny, Russian and Chechen media reported. The resistance website chechenpress.org quoted an unnamed eyewitness as saying that some 300 Russian and 50 pro-Moscow Chechen troops backed by armor took part in the attack on Sadulayev, in which numerous Russians were also killed. Regnum.ru on June 17 said the operation was carried out by the Akhmed Kadyrov Chechen regiment. London-based ChRI Foreign Minister Akhmed Zakayev told RFE/RL\'s North Caucasus Service the same day that 3,000 troops took part in the assault on Argun, and that two of Sadulayev\'s comrades in arms were also killed. Russian agencies reported that the two escaped and are being searched for. Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) Director Nikolai Patrushev was quoted by Interfax on June 17 as saying that one FSB official and one police officer were killed in the operation. Pro-Moscow Chechen Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov claimed on June 17 that Sadulayev planned to stage one or more major terrorist attacks in Argun in the run-up to the G-8 summit in St. Petersburg in July. In his last interview, Sadulayev rejected terrorism as a tactic, saying that the resistance should not target innocent civilians. (RFE/RL)