Russia said Tuesday it was certain it had killed Ruslan Gelayev, a top Chechen rebel commander and one of Moscow\'s most wanted men. Russia\'s NTV television showed a bearded corpse lying almost fully covered by a black plastic sheet on a metal table, as medical and military officers looked on. \"We can say today with certainty that this is Gelayev\'s corpse. There is a wound on the leg that we knew about,\" said Sergei Ignatchenko, the main spokesman for the FSB, a successor agency to the Soviet KGB security force. \"He also had with him his dagger, which we know he would never leave behind,\" he told Russian television channels. There was no confirmation or denial of the death from separatist news sources. Kommersant newspaper reported he was killed by border guards who recognized him as he was visiting his home village. The timing of its announcement will reinforce the certain re-election chances on March 14 of President Vladimir Putin who came to power four years after talking tough on Chechnya. Gelayev led the mainly Muslim Chechen forces to some of their most spectacular victories as they fought to drive Russian troops out of their tiny mountainous homeland -- a goal they achieved in 1996. Gelayev briefly served as deputy prime minister of the de facto independent state. Gelayev, also known by the name Khamzat, led a series of raids into areas bordering Chechnya, including an attack on Dagestan late last year that killed around a dozen border guards before the separatists melted away. Salambek Maigov, previously the separatist envoy to Moscow, said Gelayev would be mourned in Chechnya. \"He saw this war as a war against the Chechen people. Because of this he had great respect among Chechens,\" he told Ekho Moskvy radio. (Reuters)