Pugachev's Rebellion
Pugachev's Rebellion (Peasants' War 1773-75, Cossack Rebellion) of 1773-75 was the principal revolt in a series of popular rebellions that took place in the Russian Empire after Catherine II seized power in 1762. It began as an organized insurrection of Yaik Cossacks headed by Yemelyan Pugachev, a disaffected ex-lieutenant of the Imperial Russian Army, against a background of profound peasant unrest and war with the Ottoman Empire. After initial success, Pugachev assumed leadership of an alternative government in the name of the assassinated Tsar Peter III and proclaimed an end to serfdom. This organized leadership presented a challenge to the imperial administration of Catherine II.
Movladi Udugov
Russian authorities accused him of being one of the main organizers of the Chechen rebel-led attack on Dagestan in August 1999, and Udugov is wanted by the Russian federal government since March 20, 2000, accused of having violated Article 279 of Russia's Criminal Code, which outlaws "armed uprisings." At the start of the Second Chechen War in September 1999, Udugov left Chechnya abroad, resulting in a rapid decline of his influence on the Chechen separatist movement at the time. There is information about his stay in Afghanistan, Scandinavia, Turkey, Persian Gulf countries and possibly United States; although no evidence has been offered to support any of these claims. His current whereabouts are unknown. Since February 2006, following his victory in a dispute with exiled moderate Chechen leader Akhmed Zakayev, he once again became an official rebel spokesman, heading National Information Service (NIS) of the State Defense Council. In October 2007, Udugov was said to be the author of the proclamation of the Caucasus Emirate; during the following constitutional crisis, the ChRI government in exile led by Zakayev dismissed Udugov from the post of the head of NIS and abolished the service. Since 2007, Udugov runs the Informational-Analytical Service of the Caucasus Emirate.