Doku Zavgayev

Doku Gapurovich Zavgayev (; ; born 22 December 1940) is a Soviet and Russian diplomat and politician from Chechnya. He was the leader of the Checheno-Ingush ASSR.

Communist leadership In 1989, Zavgayev, a former collective farm manager and senior Communist Party official, was elected as the first Chechen First Secretary of the Checheno-Ingush ASSR since the Chechens' return in 1957.

In August 1991 Zavgayev, then communist leader of the Checheno-Ingush ASSR, supported the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt against Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev (according to other sources, he took a neutral position ).

On 6 September 1991, supporters of the All-National Congress of the Chechen People (NCChP) led by Dzhokhar Dudayev, stormed a session of the Chechen-Ingush ASSR Supreme Soviet, However, due to the war, he was rarely able to travel outside the heavily fortified Russian-run air base at Khankala, earning him the unflattering nickname "Doku Aeroportovich".

On 8 December 1995, Zavgayev and Viktor Chernomyrdin signed an agreement as a basis for a Russian-Chechen federation

Postwar career After the 1996 withdrawal of the Russian forces from Chechnya, Zavgayev was appointed Russia's ambassador to Tanzania.