In his statement claiming responsibility for the 9 May bomb blast in Grozny that killed six people, including pro-Moscow Chechen leader Akhmed-hadji Kadyrov, radical field commander Shamil Basaev indirectly threatened to kill Russian Prime Minister Fradkov or Russian President Putin, chechenpress.com noted on 18 May. \"We are interested [to see] who will be appointed premier of Russia, Katya or Masha [the names of President Putin\'s two daughters], if, by the mercy of Allah, we carry out the special operation Moska-2 successfully,\" Basaev said. Kadyrov\'s youngest son, Ramzan, was named Chechen first deputy prime minister after his death. Also on 17 May, Russian and Chechen officials alike queried the veracity of Basaev\'s claim to have killed Kadyrov. ITAR-TASS and Interfax quoted Yurii Rozhin, who heads the Chechen Department at the Federal Security Service (FSB), as saying that possibility is only one of several being investigated. Chechen Security Council Secretary Rudnik Dudaev and former Grozny Mayor Bislan Gantemirov both dismissed Basaev\'s claim of responsibility for Kadyrov\'s death as unsubstantiated boasting. (RFE/RL)