Rights defenders give number of kidnapped people in Chechnya

At least 80 residents of Chechnya have been kidnapped after a car with a DUSTUM license plate was set on fire; volunteers have identified the names of a number of them. In the village of Starye Atagi, Urus-Martan District, about 50 members of the Saif-Islam Elmurzaev family, suspected of setting the above car on fire, have been kidnapped; and about 30 people have been kidnapped in the Shali District, the "Memorial" Centre for Human Rights Defence (CHRD)* has reported.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in Grozny, an unknown person set fire to a car with a DUSTUM license plate. A Grozny resident was detained on suspicion of committing the arson; he surrendered himself after his family was kidnapped. Analysts believe that the car has to do with Adam Kadyrov, a son of the head of Chechnya.

Sources confirmed that on May 6-14, in Chechnya, law enforcers kidnapped some 80-90 people, the "Memorial" CHRD* has reported.

At least six people were kidnapped in the village of Goiskoye, Urus-Martan District. One of them is Arbi Borchashvili, who earlier was forcibly sent to the special military operation (SMO) zone in Ukraine, where he was wounded and returned home in 2023.

On May 9, from the village of Starye Atagi, Urus-Martan District, law enforcers kidnapped about 50 members of the Elmurzaev family, including elderly men and women, including the pregnant sister of Saif-Islam Elmurzaev, who, according to sources, is treated as the main suspect of committing the arson.

According to the "Memorial" CHRD*, in the city of Shali, law enforcers kidnapped more than 30 people.

*As reported on the website of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), the reason for including on March 1, 2024, the unregistered "Memorial" Centre for Human Rights Defence (CHRD) into the roster of foreign agents was the spread of "inaccurate information aimed at creating a negative image of the Russian Federation, as well as the Russian Armed Forces."