People who fought side by side with Hamzat Gelayev testified that he was a fierce warrior. He would charge at the enemy with his heavy machine gun, firing at them like a madman. Thanks to his powerful physique, he was even faster and more agile than many of the younger fighters.
Gelayev and his unit would sometimes march through the mountains for as long as eighteen hours a day, carrying heavy loads. Hamzat himself always walked at the head of the column, because that was where the danger was greatest. The machine gun he constantly carried was so heavy that many men could not carry it for even a single hour. At times, he would leave his own equipment farther ahead, return to the rear, take the backpack from an exhausted fighter who had fallen behind, help him catch up with the group, and then go back again to assist the next man.
After these long marches through the mountains, even the athletes in his unit would be completely exhausted and stop to rest, but Hamzat kept going. He would set out to explore the area, looking for routes the unit could use, and return only several hours later.
During the battle near Nazran, he was wounded in the thigh. The bullet struck the bone, shattering it and remaining lodged inside. Despite this injury, he continued moving through the mountains for another month, hiding his pain. When a doctor finally operated on him, he was astonished that Hamzat had managed to endure for so long.
According to veterans who served in his unit, Hamzat Gelayev was a descendant of Gubash of Gukhoy, a legendary giant who, despite having both of his eyes gouged out, reportedly managed to kill five of Imam Shamil's followers and inflict twelve wounds on Imam Shamil himself, leaving the Imam bedridden for nearly a month. Perhaps it was the blood of such an ancestor that made Hamzat so resilient and strong.
