07:02, 25 January 2026

The widow confirmed the death of a man convicted in the "airport case" in the SVO.

Unrest in Makhachkala. October 2023. Photo: https://xakac.info/

Murtazali Murtazaliev, killed in a military operation, signed a contract with the Ministry of Defense after the verdict in the "airport case." The court deemed him a participant in the riots, although Murtazaliev himself claimed he was simply looking for his brother at the Makhachkala airport, according to his widow.

According to "Caucasian Knot," Shamil Khadulaev, a member of the Dagestan Public Monitoring Commission, reported that on January 13, Mukhammad-Said Murtuzaliev, who was charged in the airport riots and died in a military operation in the summer of 2025, was buried in the Makhachkala village of Shamkhal. According to Khadulaev, at least seven defendants in this case signed contracts and were sent to the SVO zone.

More than 130 people have already been convicted of participating in mass riots and sentenced to prison terms ranging from 6.5 to 15 years. Among the latest convicts are Anvarbek Atayev and Rabadan Radzhabov, sentenced on January 16 to 8.5 years and 10 years in prison, respectively.

The deceased's name was Murtazali, and his last name was not Murtuzaliev, but Murtazaliev, the deceased's widow, Emilia, told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

She explained that her husband was charged in the "airport case" with participating in mass riots and violating security at a transport infrastructure facility and signed the contract after the verdict. "At least they took him on August 19 [2025]. He was already convicted by the Kochubeevsky District Court of Stavropol Krai on January 22, 2025, and sentenced to eight years in prison," she said.

The Stavropol Krai Prosecutor's Office announced the sentencing of Murtazali Murtazaliev and three other defendants in the "airport case" on January 22, 2025.

He stated that he went to the airport looking for his brother.

Murtazaliev was accused of participating in the closure of the runway, Emilia said. "He himself stated that he went to the airport looking for his brother, who also went there to get him away," she noted.

Many defendants in the "airport case" claimed to have been at the airport but did not participate in the riots. Moreover, some guilty verdicts were handed down despite witness testimony. For example, police officers were unable to identify two defendants in court – Magomedgadzhi Chirgilaev and Yasin Gadzhiev. Chirgilaev and Gadzhiev themselves claimed they went to the airport out of curiosity, to see what was going on. They told their lawyer that they were beaten to force them to incriminate themselves. Despite this, the court sentenced them to lengthy prison terms, but the appellate court upheld the sentence.

It wasn't until December 31st that we were informed of the body's evacuation.

According to Emilia, before his arrest, her husband had a construction crew consisting of his relatives and friends that provided finishing services. "He was 30 years old at the time of his death—he was born on September 19, 1995, and he died on September 30th. But we weren't given any answer about what happened to him until late December, when they said a drone sent to reconnaissance "didn't detect any signs of life" in the area where my husband was sent. "We were only informed about the evacuation of the body on December 31st, so the funeral took place in early January," the widow of the deceased said.

Military operation in Ukraine. Illustration created by AI using the Copilot program

The number of fighters from southern Russia killed in Ukraine has exceeded 8,500

By January 24, 2026, at least 1,783 fighters from Dagestan have been officially recognized as killed in the military operation. The Caucasian Knot is maintaining a list of names of natives of the North Caucasus and Southern Federal Districts killed in the military operation. The list is based on data officially released by government officials and security agencies, according to the Caucasian Knot report "North Caucasus Military District Statistics: Casualties Risen in Southern Russia." Murtazaliev was a native of the Tlyaratinsky District, Shamil Khadulaev, Chairman of the Dagestan Public Monitoring Commission, told a Caucasian Knot correspondent. "But because the roads there are currently impassable due to snow, the funeral was held in Shamkhal," he said.

According to Khadulaev, all he was able to find out about the remaining convicts who signed the contract was that two of them were complete orphans.

With the exception of those accused in cases of treason, terrorism, extremism, and fake news about the army, those arrested have the opportunity to sign a contract with the Ministry of Defense and end up in a military operation zone, and their criminal prosecution is immediately terminated. This has already led to the creation of a "conveyor belt of impunity," human rights activists noted. "You can commit a crime, sign a contract with the Ministry of Defense, serve some time in the SVO zone, and then return – and do it all over again," Maxim Vedaprav said, in particular.

The reference to the convicted Muhammad-Said Murtuzaliev is likely erroneously associated with Magomedsaid Murtazaliev, who was actually convicted in the "airport case" by the Petrovsky District Court of Stavropol on March 21, 2025. His lawyer, Olga Nesterenko, contacted her client's relatives and informed a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that Magomedsaid Murtazaliev continues to serve his sentence in a penal colony. She didn't rule out the possibility that at some point during the transfer of information, the two people with the same last name were simply confused.

A "Caucasian Knot" correspondent also spoke with two lawyers representing the defendants in the "airport" case – Bashir Abdurakhmanov and Biysoltan Kaparov, as well as with a source close to the defense of one of the seven convicted in July 2025.

All three said that after the rejections in the appellate courts, the defense (and in total, we are talking about lawyers representing 11 defendants) is preparing cassation appeals or is already awaiting a cassation court hearing. Furthermore, they noted that none of the 11 defendants expressed any intention of signing a contract with the Ministry of Defense.

As a reminder, mass riots involving Palestinian supporters occurred at Makhachkala Airport on October 29, 2023. The riots were triggered by the arrival of a flight carrying passengers from Tel Aviv. A crowd of people carrying Palestinian flags broke into the airport grounds and onto the runway where the plane landed. More than 20 people, including nine police officers, were injured in the riots, according to a report by the "Caucasian Knot" titled "The Case of the Pogrom at Makhachkala Airport".

In the first hours, when rioters began arriving at the airport, there were just over a hundred security forces there, some of them without shields, helmets, or batons. They failed to contain the pressure of the crowd that arrived at the airport in search of the Israelis, according to court testimony.

The "Caucasian Knot" also prepared reports "Anti-Semitic Actions in the North Caucasus: How It Happened" and "A Wave of Anti-Semitic Actions in the North Caucasus".

Translated automatically via Google translate from https://www.kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/420220