Russian Defense Minister Sergey Ivanov has attacked the Prosecutor General's Office, saying that he "does not understand how after four years of the trial, a lawyer can be saying that the 'not guilty' decision of the second jury has absolutely nothing to do with justice".

Ivanov was responding to the Prosecutor's case against Captain Eduard Ulman and several fellow Spetsnaz soldiers, who were part of an elite Russian army unit deployed to Chechnya in January 2002. At that time, Russian forces received intelligence that the "field fighter" Arab terrorist Hassan Hattab and twenty other foreign jihadists were hiding in the village of Dai.

When an SUV exiting the village failed to stop at a checkpoint, Russian soldiers opened fire on the vehicle, killing one Chechen and wounding five more. After questioning the wounded Chechens, Captain Ulman contacted his superior, Major Alexei Perevelevsky. The Major then ordered Ulman to kill the Chechens.

Although the slayings were proven in court, Ulman and his men were acquitted of war crimes charges by two tribunals. Ulman and his men have since been promoted and continue to serve in the Army of the Russian Federation.

Chechnya is a former Soviet republic that remains Russian territory. Chechnya's status can be compared to the same as a state in the U.S.A. Chechnya is a Muslim region that started fighting to secede from the Russian Federation after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.