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The Russian security forces operating in this hardscrabble corner of the breakaway republic never bothered to find out the truth. On Sept. 11, Mr. Machiyev, 23, and his friend — only his last name, Chergizov, is known — were ambushed in broad daylight at an intersection as they drove south from Sernovodsk, in western Chechnya, to their hometown, Assinovskaya.

Witnesses saw masked men in camouflage emerge from a pair of vehicles with tinted windows and spray Mr. Machiyev's battered Zhiguli with gunfire.

They finished the job by walking up to the car and shooting each occupant in the head point-blank. A third passenger, 24-year-old Alikhan Vitayev, was also executed, though no one in the area claims to have heard of anything tying him to the separatist rebels.

A few days later, it was announced on state radio that three "terrorists" affiliated with Mr. Basayev had been "liquidated" in an operation near Sernovodsk.

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