Chechen blogger Tumso Abdurakhmanov announces resumption of his activities

Tumso Abdurakhmanov, a Chechen blogger and critic of Ramzan Kadyrov, has posted a video in his YouTube channel announcing the resumption of his activities. He did not explain his absence for 3.5 months.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on December 1, 2022, information appeared on the Internet about the murder of Tumso Abdurakhmanov committed in Sweden. Neither Abdurakhmanov's relatives nor Swedish authorities confirmed this information, but his associates did not rule out that he could have been killed or was under police protection. On December 9, 2022, the press service of the government of the self-proclaimed Chechen Republic of Ichkeria (ChRI)* reported that Tumso Abdurakhmanov was alive. On February 20, 2023, Abdurakhmanov got in touch with human rights defenders.

Tumso has devoted most of his new video to Abdulkerim Edilov, a mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter, whose death was reported by sources on December 30, 2022. "When I stopped uploading my videos, Kadyrov's entourage decided that I had been killed. And Abdulkerim, to his delight, even posted a story in his WhatsApp** – my photo with the inscription 'disposed'. Can you imagine such an irony of fate! Now Abdulkerim himself has been disposed of," said Abdurakhmanov.

Further, he recalled that in two weeks it would be four years since Magomed Daudov, the Speaker of the Chechen Parliament, announced the blood feud on him. Abdurakhmanov has noted that during this time, attempts were made on him and his relatives. "[Despite their possession of] power, money and everything necessary to transform their threats into reality, a simple guy can stay alive for at least four years," the blogger has stated.

He has added this fact is a weighty argument for the sceptics who believe that opponents of Chechen authorities are in real danger.