(RIA Novosti) - Two members of illegal armed formations have surrendered in the Republic of Chechnya in Russia's North Caucasus, the local law-enforcement bodies said Sunday. Following the killing of Chechnya's number one terrorist, Shamil Basayev, Russian authorities announced a partial amnesty July 15 for militants who were not involved in major atrocities. Two residents of the village of Samashki in the Achkhoi-Martan district in western Chechnya turned themselves in to police and surrendered two RPG-26 grenade launchers. According to available information, from May 1995 to August 2001 they served under warlord Ruslan Gelayev who was killed in 2004, the law-enforcement agencies said.
A law granting amnesty to militants and servicemen guilty of offenses during the North Caucasus antiterrorism campaign came into force in late September. More than 300 militants have accepted the surrender offer since its announcement, mainly in Chechnya, according to Nikolai Patrushev, head of Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) and the National Antiterrorism Committee.