"During a joint operation in Grozny, police detained a militant, who participated in the massacre of Russian servicemen in September 1999 in the Daghestan village of Tukhchar," Ruslan Alkhanov said.
According to police, Arbi Dandayev, 34, served in a special paramilitary police unit in the so called Republic of Ichkeria at the time.
"Dandayev confessed that during the raid on the village he took part in the execution of Russian soldiers," the minister said.
The six Russian servicemen from the interior troops were taken prisoner by Chechen militants and executed on the outskirts of the village of Tukhchar. The executions were recorded on video.
Several participants in the massacre were identified by the authorities in the recording. Two of them were apprehended and are currently serving long prison terms in Russia.
The Chechen atrocities and their incursion into Daghestan in August 1999 led to the so called Second Chechen war.
