The Russian President, Vladimir Putin, has said the death of the country's most wanted man, Shamil Basayev, was deserved retribution for his campaign of killing.
The Chechen rebel leader had claimed responsibility for the 2004 Beslan school attack in which more than 330 died, half of them children, and a string of other attacks.
The Russian security service says Mr Basayev and other Chechen fighters were killed by Russian special forces overnight in Ingushetia, near Chechnya.
Russia's state security chief, Nikolai Patrushev, said that Basayev was planning a terrorist attack in southern Russia to coincide with Russia hosting the Group of Eight summit of world leaders this weekend.
