GROZNY, Chechnya -- The home of Sulim Yamadayev, a former Chechen insurgent turned Russian commander, was set alight by unknown people in the Chechen city of Gudermes, RFE/RL's North Caucasus Service reports.
The arsonists shot out the streetlights near Yamadayev's home before setting it on fire. No one was in the house.
Yamadayev, a former rebel warlord, switched allegiances at the beginning of the second Chechen war to pro-Russian forces. Sulim and his older brother, Ruslan -- who was assassinated last year in Moscow -- were awarded the title Hero of Russia for their efforts against Chechen insurgents.
The Russian Army's Vostok battalion, which Sulim Yamadayev led until August and which operated under the command of Russia's Defense Ministry, was the only Chechen militia outside of Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov's control.