18:37, 23 September 2026

Two residents of Kabardino-Balkaria were convicted for participating in "Imarat Kavkaz"*

The Southern District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don found two residents of Kabardino-Balkaria, Anzor Apajikhov and Albert Tabukhov, guilty of participating in the terrorist organization "Imarat Kavkaz"*, and sentenced them to 20 years in prison.

As reported by "Caucasian Knot", in the morning of September 5, 2013, a special operation began in the Urvansky district of the KBR, and a counter-terrorism regime was introduced. During the special operation, a group of militants involved in attacks and murders of law enforcement officers and civilians was eliminated by special forces, among the dead was the leader of the local militants Ruslan Makoev.

During the special operation in the Urvansky district, three suspected militants were blocked between the villages of Kahun and Nizhny Cherek. Two of them were killed, and the third managed to escape. Among the dead was identified the leader of the so-called "Urvansk" group, Ruslan Makoev, born in 1985. Makoev and his accomplices were involved in a number of murders and assassination attempts in the region, including the murder of the rector of the Kabardino-Balkarian Agricultural University, Boris Zherukov, and the assassination attempt on the head of the Urvansky district, Antemirkan Kanokov, as a result of which a police officer was killed.

The court established that in 2007, an illegal armed formation was created in the territory of Kabardino-Balkaria, which was a structure of the banned international organization "Imarat Kavkaz"*, reports today "Interfax" citing the press service of the Southern District Military Court.

In 2013, local residents Anzor Apajikhov and Albert Tabukhov voluntarily agreed to assist the members of the formation, providing money, purchasing food, secretly transporting them by car, finding housing, and persuading acquaintances to assist. In 2015, they went to Syria and joined the ranks of "Imarat Kavkaz"* as part of the international terrorist organization "ISIS"* as militants.

Apajikhov and Tabukhov were found guilty of aiding participation in an illegal armed formation, organizing an illegal armed formation, participating in a terrorist organization, and participating in an illegal armed formation.

The court sentenced Apajikhov and Tabukhov to 20 years in a strict regime correctional colony. The sentence was issued in absentia.

"Caucasian Knot" also reported that the court found four residents of Ingushetia guilty of participating in a terrorist organization, an illegal armed formation, possession of weapons and explosives, sentencing them to terms ranging from 17 to 20 years. The convicted refused to admit guilt.

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* the organization is recognized as terrorist and banned in Russia.

** the activities of the company Meta (which owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp) are banned in Russia.

Translated automatically via OpenAI from https://www.kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/426879