The President of Chechnya – Ramzan Kadyrov – says the close associate of warlord Doku Umarov, Islam Uspakhadzhiyev, was killed during a special operation on Friday.
Doku Umarov is also thought to be among the dead, as he always stayed close with Uspakhadzhiyev, says the Russian Republic's President.
Helicopters carried out a rocket strike on Friday in an area of the North Caucasus where the combatants had been spotted. At least twenty of them were killed
Kadyrov says there were no casualties among the troops involved in the action.
It has been described as one of the largest security operations in recent months.