Ruslan Tagirovich Khuchbarov[a] (12 November 1972 – 3 September 2004), was an Ingush militant nicknamed "Polkovnik" (the Russian for Colonel) notorious for his leading role in the 2004 Beslan school hostage crisis.

Khuchbarov then went into hiding and moved to Chechnya, where he underwent extensive combat training in a camp of the field commander Ibragimov and took the nickname Colonel, collaborating with Arbi Barayev.

Khuchbarov and one other rebel, Amriev, were responsible for the Galashki ambush in Ingushetia on 11 May 2000, killing 18 soldiers and officers and wounding three.

The bombing of the Ingushetian Department of the FSB on 15 September 2003, when three people died and 32 were seriously injured, has also been ascribed to Khuchbarov.

[1] Russian sources initially reported "Polkovnik" to be Ali Taziyev, a former Ingush policeman-turned-rebel who was declared legally dead in 2000.