 In 1991, following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the subsequent declaration of independence Chechnya from the Russian Federation, he became a personal bodyguard to his uncle, Vakha Arsanov, the future vice president.Barayev also protected Vice President Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev, with whom he formed a close personal relationship, and Sultan Geliskhanov, director of Chechnya's State Security Department.In 1994 the First Chechen War began, where Barayev fought on the Chechen separatist side, and it was during this time he committed his first act of kidnapping when he and his men abducted for ransom a group of 29 Russian engineers from a power plant near the Chechen capital, Grozny.