Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia | |
Two members of Basayev's gang were sentenced to 21 and 24 years in prison | |
2025-06-26 | |
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. [Regnum] The Southern District Military Court sentenced two members of Shamil Basayev's gang,
The investigation established that the convicted men joined the gang of Basayev and Amir Khattab in 1999. In October, as part of a detachment of about 400 militants, they ambushed Russian fighters in the village of Chervlennaya in the Shelkovsky district. In the shootout, 15 Russian soldiers were killed and another 28 were wounded. Begeldiev and Khamzatkhanov were found guilty under Article 317 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation "Encroachment on the life of a law enforcement officer or military serviceman." Cases were also brought against them under Article 209 ("Banditry") and Article 279 ("Armed rebellion"), but they were dropped due to the expiration of the statute of limitations. As reported by the Regnum news agency, in May the FSB published a video of the arrest of four members of the Basayev and Khattab gang, involved in attacks on Russian servicemen in 1999-2000. The operations took place in Stavropol Krai, Ingushetia, Dagestan and Astrakhan Oblast. The detainees were also in an ambush in the village of Chervlennaya. In addition, they participated in a battle with Pskov paratroopers near the village of Ulus-Kert in February 2000. In October 2024, security forces detained three members of the Basayev and Khattab gang in Dagestan, Karachay-Cherkessia and the Volgograd region. They participated in the militants' attack on the Pskov paratroopers. Related: Shamil Basayev 05/28/2025 FSB shows footage of the arrest of four members of Basayev and Khattab's gang Shamil Basayev 04/24/2025 Astrakhan resident convicted for justifying Beslan school seizure Shamil Basayev 04/16/2025 Former Basayev hostage involved in Moscow metro niqab conflict | |
Link |
Terror Networks | ||
Tom Homan ‘convinced' US will see major terror attack because of Biden's lax border policies: ‘It's coming' | ||
2025-06-03 | ||
![]()
The roughly 2 million so-called "gotaway" migrants that border patrol agents never apprehended during the previous administration concerns Homan more than the drug smuggling or sex trafficking that took place on the US-Mexico boundary during Biden’s only term in office, he told Fox News host Sean Hannity. Homan, who President Trump has tasked to oversee efforts to carry out his mass deportation plan, noted that it was alarming to him that millions of migrants went to great, and expensive, lengths to avoid detection when the Biden administration was quickly releasing illegal border-crossers into the US. "Why did 2 million illegal aliens pay more to get away?" Homan told Hannity. "They could have paid half of what they paid to cross the border, turn themselves into border patrol agents, get released that same day, get a free airline ticket to the city of their choice, get a free hotel room, get three meals a day, plus free medical care and work authorization." "Two million people paid more to get away," he argued. "They didn’t want to be vetted. They didn’t want to be fingerprinted. Why?" "This scares the hell out of me and I’ve been doing this for 40 years. It should have scared the hell out of every American what the Biden administration did."
Related: Tom Homan 05/18/2025 Illegal alien accused of attempted murder Tom Homan 05/17/2025 Supreme Court begins review of Trump’s Executive Order on Birthright citizenship Tom Homan 05/15/2025 Democrats Drag America Into the Mouth of Their Madness Related: Gotaway 12/04/2024 Suspected terrorist from Jordan arrested at US northern border: ICE Gotaway 11/28/2024 Abbott: OLS troops provided unprecedented response to unprecedented border crisis Gotaway 10/28/2024 More than 3 million border crossers from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, Venezuela | ||
Link |
Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia |
Astrakhan resident detained in terrorism financing case |
2025-06-03 |
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. [KavkazUzel] An unemployed resident of Astrakhan has been detained on suspicion of transferring cryptocurrency to a member of a terrorist organization operating in Syria. ![]() "Kavkazsky Uzel" wrote that in April the Southern District Military Court fined an Astrakhan resident for calls for terrorist activity and extremism. According to the investigation and the court, the man published posts on social networks justifying the terrorist act in Beslan. The man, detained on suspicion of financing militants, was born in Astrakhan in 2001 and is unemployed. The investigation established that the suspect transferred funds in cryptocurrency to a citizen of one of the Asian republics, who is allegedly involved in the activities of international terrorist organizations in Syria. A criminal case has been opened against the Astrakhan resident for aiding terrorist activity, he has been detained. The suspect has confessed, the Astrakhan online publication "A24" reported with reference to the regional FSB department. "Kavkazsky Uzel" also previously wrote about raids by security forces in Muslim gathering places in Astrakhan. Thus, in June 2024, after an attack by militants in Dagestan, security forces blocked the exits from the Red Mosque at the Bolshiye Isady market in Astrakhan and checked the documents of those gathered. A raid was conducted at the mosque to identify violators of immigration laws, the Ministry of Internal Affairs said. In addition, several dozen Muslims were taken to police stations without explanation on November 27, 2020, after prayer in an Astrakhan mosque. Muslims were offended that such checks were carried out in mosques during Friday prayer. Related: Astrakhan: 2025-05-28 FSB shows footage of the arrest of four members of Basayev and Khattab's gang Astrakhan: 2025-05-27 Astrakhan residents demanded that the monument to victims of political repression be repaired Astrakhan: 2025-04-24 Astrakhan resident convicted for justifying Beslan school seizure Related: Beslan: 2025-05-28 Five participants of the march in Nalchik were released after arrest Beslan: 2025-05-28 FSB shows footage of the arrest of four members of Basayev and Khattab's gang Beslan: 2025-05-21 Nalchik residents honored the memory of the victims of the Caucasian War by lighting candles |
Link |
Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia |
Five participants of the march in Nalchik were released after arrest |
2025-05-28 |
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. [KavkazUzel] Five Circassian activists detained during a march with Circassian flags in Nalchik have been released from a special detention center. Two more marchers remain under arrest. As the "Caucasian Knot" reported, during a march with Circassian flags, timed to coincide with the 161st anniversary of the end of the Caucasian War, at least eight people were detained in Nalchik. They were given three to ten days of administrative arrest under the article on participation in an unsanctioned action and obstructing traffic. The only woman of the eight detainees, Marina Kalmykova, was released after three days of arrest on May 25. The Caucasian War, which lasted from 1763 to 1864, brought the Adyghe people to the brink of extinction. After the war and the mass deportation of the Adyghe to the Ottoman Empire, only a little more than 50,000 people remained in their homeland. The Russian authorities have still not made a decision to recognize the genocide of the Circassians during the war, according to a report from the "Caucasian Knot". The end of the war was marked by a parade of Russian troops in Krasnaya Polyana on May 21, 1864. The release of five arrested activists was reported today by Circassian activist Martin Kochesoko. He published a video of the activists meeting their comrades at the gates of the special detention center. “They released some Circassian heroes who were arrested for participating in a march in memory of those who died for the freedom of Circassia,” he wrote on his Telegram channel. According to Kochesoko, Khusein Gugov, Zuber Ivazov, Timur Nakhushev, Kazbek Mamikov and Bashir Erokov have been released. Two activists, Idar Tsipinov and Beslan Gedgafov, remain in custody. Related: Circassian 05/21/2025 Nalchik residents honored the memory of the victims of the Caucasian War by lighting candles Circassian 04/03/2025 Through Terny to Victory. The Homeland of the Heroes of Two Patriotic Wars Liberated Circassian 03/23/2025 'People of the same tribe.' Why the Zaporozhian Cossacks decided to live in Russia Related: Nalchik: 2025-05-21 Nalchik residents honored the memory of the victims of the Caucasian War by lighting candles Nalchik: 2025-05-20 Six residents of Karachay-Cherkessia accused of involvement in 'At Takfir wal-Hijra' Nalchik: 2025-03-29 Sentence of journalist Kevorkova for justifying terrorism comes into force |
Link |
Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia | ||
FSB shows footage of the arrest of four members of Basayev and Khattab's gang | ||
2025-05-28 | ||
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. [Regnum] Footage of the detention of four more members of the gang of Shamil Basayev
![]() Security forces made arrests in four regions. Arsen Koldasov was detained in Stavropol, Radzhab Khasayev in Dagestan, Batyr Arsanov in Ingushetia, and Rasul Takhtamirov in Astrakhan Oblast. The video also shows the interrogation of one of the detainees. He confessed and signed the documents. “That’s how I ended up there,” the gang member said.
In October of the same year, bandits attacked Russian soldiers in Chechnya near the village of Chervlennaya in the Shelkovsky District. Also in Chechnya in February 2000, a gang attacked Pskov paratroopers near the village of Ulus-Kert in the Shatoi District. As a result of these attacks, more than 130 soldiers were killed, and more than 80 were injured to varying degrees of severity. Many members of Basayev and Khattab's gang have already been detained and are serving their sentences. In October last year, security forces detained three more gang members. Two more were detained and placed under arrest in December. Related: Shamil Basayev 04/24/2025 Astrakhan resident convicted for justifying Beslan school seizure Shamil Basayev 04/16/2025 Former Basayev hostage involved in Moscow metro niqab conflict Shamil Basayev 03/29/2025 Glorification of Basayev's image resulted in a criminal case for a citizen of the Russian Federation and Abkhazia | ||
Link |
Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia |
Nalchik residents honored the memory of the victims of the Caucasian War by lighting candles |
2025-05-21 |
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. [KavkazUzel] Residents of Nalchik came to the Tree of Life memorial to take part in a memorial evening dedicated to the 161st anniversary of the end of the Caucasian War. At the end of the evening, they lit 101 candles in memory of those killed. As reported by the "Caucasian Knot", on May 20, 2024, residents of Kabardino-Balkaria honored the memory of the victims of the Caucasian War on the occasion of the 160th anniversary of its end. They gathered in Nalchik at the "Tree of Life" monument. The participants of the action said that they try to come to the memorial every year to pay tribute to the memory of those who died for the independence of the Circassian people. The Caucasian War, which lasted from 1763 to 1864, brought the Adyghe people to the brink of extinction. After the war and the mass deportation of the Adyghe to the Ottoman Empire, only a little more than 50,000 people remained in their homeland. The Russian authorities have still not made a decision to recognize the genocide of the Circassians during the war, according to a report from the "Caucasian Knot". At least two hundred people gathered for the event at the memorial. Some of the men who participated in the event were dressed in national costumes (Circassian coats), a correspondent for the “Caucasian Knot” reported. A literary and musical composition was performed for those gathered: actors of the Kabardian theater read poetry, and musicians, folk singers Artur Dyshekov, Azamat Pekov, Asiyat Cherkesova, Oksana Khakulova, the ensemble "Chegem Waterfalls" and others performed gybze (lament songs) dedicated to the events of the Caucasian War. Folk melodies on the shikapshin were performed by musician Zuber Euaz. At the end of the evening, the participants of the event traditionally lit 101 candles on the pedestal of the monument. Nalchik resident Beslan Khagazheyev, who was present at the event, explained his participation in the action by the fact that the memory of his ancestors is sacred to him. “They gave their lives in an unequal struggle for their identity, customs, laws - everything that they valued and that was sacred to them. Every Adyghe is obliged to honor their ancestors. This gives us the right to exist,” he told a “Caucasian Knot” correspondent. Khagazheev noted that he knows about the events of the Caucasian War only from books, and his family has not preserved any family memories of that period. According to him, too much time has passed today for people to remember the personal stories of older relatives through generations, especially since the participants in those events either died or were deported. "There are many historical sources from which one can learn about these distant events. This must be done, the people must know their history," the Nalchik resident added. Baksan resident Islam Batyrov said that he comes to the monument every year on the anniversary of the end of the Caucasian War, "just to stand and be silent." "It is impossible to listen to these songs indifferently, they penetrate into the very heart," he said. Batyrov shares the opinion that history must be known, noting that "it should not be a burden and drag us back into the past." "Knowing our history, we must move forward: develop our culture, study our native language, so that one day we do not find ourselves in front of the fact that new generations cannot read and write in the Kabardian language," said a participant in the evening. In his opinion, in order to preserve their identity, the Adyghe need to pay more attention to studying their native language, customs and traditions. "Unfortunately, everything that our ancestors held dear, everything that they fought for, died for, is now being lost by us simply like that, voluntarily. We are ready to succumb to any influence - be it Arabic or European, but we do not even try to preserve our own," he stated. Khusein Tukov from Nalchik also attends the memorial events every year. "We come to remember our ancestors who disappeared in this war. This memory is important to us, it unites all the Adyghe people of the world," he said. A rally near the Tree of Life memorial is planned for May 21. |
Link |
Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia | |
Astrakhan resident convicted for justifying Beslan school seizure | |
2025-04-24 | |
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. [KavkazUzel] The Southern District Military Court imposed a fine on the Astrakhan resident, finding him guilty of calling for terrorist activity and extremism. The verdict for the "repeatedly convicted resident of Astrakhan" was reported on April 23 by sources connected to the security forces. According to them, the man shared the ideas of "terrorist and pro-Ukrainian nationalist groups." According to security forces, the man published posts on social networks justifying the terrorist attack in Beslan, called Shamil Basayev
On September 1, 2004, militants took 1,128 hostages in the gymnasium of School No. 1 in Beslan. The operation to free them ended on September 3, 2004. As a result of the terrorist attack, 334 people were killed, including 186 children, and another 810 people were injured. The "Caucasian Knot" has prepared a report " Terrorist attack in Beslan (September 1-3, 2004) " and a chronicle of the terrorist attack and the events that followed. The channel published a short video of the suspect's arrest. Judging by the recording, the man was detained on the street by four law enforcement officers in civilian clothes; the arrest probably took place in the fall. The sound was selectively removed from the video, so the phrases exchanged between the law enforcement officers and the detainee are impossible to make out. The Astrakhan resident's case was heard by the Southern District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don, reported the Telegram channel "From Astrakhan", which positions itself as the "Main Channel of the City and Region". The man was found guilty under two criminal articles - calls for terrorist activity (Part 2 of Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code of Russia) and calls for extremism (Part 2 of Article 280 of the Criminal Code of Russia). Although both of these articles provide for actual imprisonment, the court sentenced him to a fine of 500 thousand rubles and a ban on website administration for three years. In the card index of the Southern District Military Court, the description matches the case card of Denis Polyakov - it was received by the court in December 2024, the verdict was issued on February 4. A month later, on March 4, the court sent the writ of execution on the case to the Soviet District Department of Bailiffs of the city of Astrakhan. Related: Astrakhan: 2025-04-18 Current information on the situation on the front line on April 17 (updated) Astrakhan: 2025-03-24 Ukrainian Perspective: Invasion of Ukraine: March 23, 2025 Astrakhan: 2025-03-24 Current information on the situation on the front line on March 23 (updated) Related: Beslan: 2025-04-23 No More Terrorists: Why Russia Needs Afghanistan and the Taliban Beslan: 2025-04-23 Exorcism. Now Dostoevsky could not be afraid to report a terrorist attack Beslan: 2025-04-01 Russian Prosecutor General's Office has requested a suspension of the ban on Taliban activities Related: Shamil Basayev 04/16/2025 Former Basayev hostage involved in Moscow metro niqab conflict Shamil Basayev 03/29/2025 Glorification of Basayev's image resulted in a criminal case for a citizen of the Russian Federation and Abkhazia Shamil Basayev 03/02/2025 'Half an Hour's Respite - and Again the Attack.' How 90 'Greenhorns' Turned the Tide of the 2nd Chechen War | |
Link |
Afghanistan | |
No More Terrorists: Why Russia Needs Afghanistan and the Taliban | |
2025-04-23 | |
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Leonid Savin [REGNUM] On April 7, at the request of the Prosecutor General's Office, the Supreme Court of Russia excluded the Afghan Taliban movement from the list of terrorist organizations. What will now change in Russia's relations with Afghanistan? ![]() Islamic Emirate spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said : "We consider this step very important. In the future, Afghanistan and Russia will certainly establish good relations in the economic and diplomatic spheres. The Russian President is pursuing the right policy towards Afghanistan."
Therefore, the formal recognition of the Taliban as a political force, just like the various ruling parties in other countries, acting within the framework of their sovereignty and deciding issues of their state and society, was only a matter of time. And if we look at it from the pragmatic position of Russian interests, this time was lost. Since practically immediately after the expulsion of the US occupation forces, other major players quickly began working in Afghanistan, considering it as a promising place for the implementation of all sorts of projects. For example, Chinese companies are already actively developing mineral deposits in Afghanistan. Oil and gas giant CAPEIC signed a 25-year oil production contract with the Taliban in early 2023, under which it will invest $150 million annually in the Afghan economy. Iran is also actively developing cooperation, since it has a long border with Afghanistan, and Iran’s seaports are needed by Afghanistan for import-export operations. TRANSPORT ROUTES It is significant that just before the decision to change the status of the Taliban, a high-level Russian government delegation visited Afghanistan and met with the Taliban, in particular with the Minister of Public Works Ashraf Khakshenas. It is known that, in addition to general issues of expanding economic and trade cooperation, the discussions included repairing the tunnel on the Salang Highway, building new tunnels in mountainous areas, and developing the Afghan railway network with the supply of relevant components and necessary equipment. Meanwhile, Kazakhstan has also shown interest in building railways, and the Afghan side has confirmed that it is interested in expanding ties with the Central Asian republics. And earlier, it was Kazakhstan that openly proposed removing the Taliban movement's status as a terrorist organization. As for the Taliban's own interests, the Islamic Emirate plans to expand its railway network from Hairatan to Herat, and from there to Kandahar and Spin Boldak. This will connect Central Asia with South Asia, as well as Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Iran and Pakistan. In general, the Taliban want to reduce Afghanistan's economic dependence on Iran and Pakistan. They currently use trade routes through these countries to organize imports and exports. Amajry part of Afghan commercial goods are transported from these countries to China. Some neighboring countries use Afghanistan's trade dependence as a political tool, blocking trade routes during harvest time, for example, causing Afghan farmers millions of dollars in losses. The Taliban's railway project is part of a broader plan to connect Afghanistan to China and Russia via Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. The new road would reduce Afghanistan's dependence on its neighbors while making the trade route faster and more cost-effective. Currently, Afghan goods transported via Iran and Pakistan take at least 40 days to reach China, while the new route will reduce this time to 12-15 days. In addition, transportation costs will be reduced by 15-20%. The Trans-Afghan Railway project, which will connect Pakistan and Uzbekistan, has been around for a long time. Back in February 2021, the three countries signed a roadmap in Tashkent for the construction of the Termez-Mazar-i-Sharif-Kabul-Peshawar railway. After the change of power in Afghanistan, the Taliban also supported this initiative. Using new logistics opportunities, Kazakhstan joined the work on the route through Afghanistan in 2024. But for now, cargo is transported by car through Afghanistan and Pakistan to the port in Karachi. After the railway line is put into operation, delivery will be significantly simplified. In November 2024, at the international forum "Transport of Russia", it was announced that "the multimodal North-South route to Iran will be expanded by the eastern branch through Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan to Afghanistan. Then the route will go to the ports of Pakistan or India." RUSSIAN INTEREST In addition to cooperation with Afghanistan in the field of infrastructure projects, the extraction of various minerals seems promising. It was Soviet geologists who conducted research in this country in the 50s-70s, that is, even before the introduction of Soviet troops. Last year, the research resumed and showed good results. It was noted that the samples of precious and rare earth metals showed an excess of the forecast. The Afghans have silver, gold, platinum, palladium, lithium, tantalum, niobium, cesium, rubidium, beryllium, cadmium in abundance... Therefore, participation in the local mining industry may be quite attractive and promising for Russia. Moreover, with the changing situation, energy cooperation also looks quite attractive. In addition to the long-standing unrealized TAPI (Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India) gas pipeline project, there was also a gas pipeline project from Iran to Pakistan. But Islamabad suspended construction of its section due to force majeure. Given the agreement between Russia and Iran on swap supplies, energy cooperation would also be useful for Moscow. Although in strategic planning, it is probably necessary to think about its own branches of gas and oil pipelines towards energy-vulnerable Pakistan via Afghanistan. To this can be added the CASA-1000 energy network project for Central Asia, as well as the possibility of building nuclear reactors in the future. In addition, cooperation between our countries in the field of security is of great importance. On April 21, 2025, at an international conference in Baku, Director of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service Sergei Naryshkin stated : “We are all aware of the important place of Afghanistan in the geopolitics of Greater Eurasia. This country has enormous potential as a link between the north and south, east and west of the continent. It is in the common interests of our states to promote restoration and prosperity on Afghan soil.” And he added: “The information coming into the SVR allows us to say with confidence that the main problem is the desire of Western countries to maintain instability in Afghanistan in order to solve their own selfish geopolitical tasks. It is to Western, most often British, intelligence services that the threads of the terrorist attacks of the so-called “Vilayat Khorasan” * are drawn. The terrorist organization in question is a local branch of ISIS*, which attracts those who are upset with the Taliban. The problem is that there is a kind of Pashtun nationalism within the Taliban, and for this reason, members of other ethnic groups who are prone to radicalization are readily recruited by ISIS*. And then there are both terrorist attacks inside Afghanistan and their planning beyond its borders. And given the revealed connections with Western intelligence services, this factor seems extremely important. Meanwhile, the “legal fork” still remains due to the fact that the UN continues to view the Taliban as an organization guilty of violating human rights, especially discrimination against women and religious minorities, in particular the country’s Shiite community. Thus, the press secretary of the UN Secretary-General Stephane Dujarric, after Russia removed the Taliban movement from the list of terrorist organizations, stated that “this is a sovereign decision of the Russian Federation, the status of the Taliban movement in the UN, established by member states, remains unchanged.” The Russian Foreign Ministry clarified that this step does not change Moscow’s commitment to UN Security Council sanctions against individuals and legal entities associated with the Islamic Emirate. But the aforementioned sanctions are unlikely to be an obstacle to economic cooperation, since both Moscow and Kabul have learned to circumvent them using various mechanisms. | |
Link |
Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia |
Exorcism. Now Dostoevsky could not be afraid to report a terrorist attack |
2025-04-23 |
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Mikhail Moshkin and Dmitry Gubin [REGNUM] In Russia, criminal punishment has been introduced for those who knew about an upcoming sabotage, but did not report it to law enforcement. Now such secrecy will result in up to a year of imprisonment - the corresponding decree was signed by Vladimir Putin on April 21. ![]() For anyone familiar with the history of Russian classics, this document evokes an association with an episode from the life of Fyodor Dostoevsky. The same package of laws that the president approved includes tougher penalties for discrediting the Russian army (up to 7 years behind bars if the lie was spread for self-interest or for hire). A fine of up to half a million rubles is now imposed for calls to introduce new sanctions against Russia or extend old ones - that is, for what the so-called “non-systemic opposition” (now, as a rule, recognized as foreign agents and/or extremists) has repeatedly distinguished itself with. Finally, the legislation on foreign agents has become stricter, including those who assist foreign NGOs. All these measures have something in common. All of them are aimed at protecting society from those for whom, almost a century and a half ago, Fyodor Mikhailovich came up with a politically incorrect but capacious definition: demons. Those whom the classic himself, alas, feared. CONVERSATION AGAINST THE BACKDROP OF A TERRORIST ATTACK "Imagine you or I standing outside Daziaro's shop and hearing a nihilist telling another that in ten minutes the Winter Palace would be blown up. Would we go and warn them? Hardly. I doubt it. And as for seizing these nihilists or pointing them out to the police, that would never even cross our minds," is how journalist and book publisher Alexei Suvorin conveyed Dostoevsky's words, spoken 145 years ago in the writer's apartment. Suvorin admitted to himself: he wouldn’t have reported it either. But the participants in that conversation were not young people who had not yet grown up to a reputation and a name in society. One was a pillar of the publishing business, the other a living classic. By that time, Crime and Punishment, The Gambler, The Idiot had already been written, and the final volume of The Brothers Karamazov was being published. From the pen of Dostoevsky came the main Russian anti-nihilistic novel, "Demons", back in the early 1870s. A former radical Petrashevsky, Dostoevsky wrote this book using the experience of the second generation of revolutionaries, the Nechayevites. And the topic of conversation between the writer and the publisher was by no means abstract. On that very day, February 20 (March 3, new style) 1880, a lone terrorist, Ippolit Mlodetsky, attempted to assassinate Count Mikhail Loris-Melikov, one of the authors of the liberal reforms of Alexander II. Responsibility for the attack was claimed by Narodnaya Volya. The organization did not hesitate to ascribe to itself the "achievements" of others in order to raise its own weight in the eyes of the public - Salman Raduyev would do the same at the end of the 20th century, and the leaders of Al-Qaeda* and ISIS* in the 21st century. An explosion in the Winter Palace was also not a theoretical possibility. Shortly before the conversation between Suvorin and Dostoevsky, in February 1880, the Narodnaya Volya militant Stepan Khalturin, having got a job as a carpenter in the imperial residence, planted dynamite in one of the rooms. It was according to this scheme that in 1999 the explosions of apartment buildings in Moscow, Buinaksk and Volgodonsk occurred. None of the "crowned satraps" were hurt. But the Narodnaya Volya member's victims were representatives of the people - the explosion tore ten ordinary soldiers of the Finnish Guard Regiment to pieces. Another 80 were seriously injured. From the point of view of liberals and progressives, both the convinced conservative Suvorin and Dostoevsky, who was close to the royal family, were unconditional “pillars of the regime.” And yet, “it would never have occurred to them.” No one was going to lose the bulk of readers. After all, if you were published in the wrong place or praised by the wrong person, the "progressive public" would have organized an obstruction, as happened with Nikolai Leskov. Suvorin knew for sure the power of public convictions and did not want to be known as a "scoundrel" (and as a result go broke). Dostoevsky could see for himself what the power of liberal public opinion was in 1878. Then the populist terrorist Vera Zasulich, who shot at the St. Petersburg mayor Fyodor Trepov, received an acquittal instead of the 15-20 years of imprisonment that she was supposed to receive. That was the decision of the jury. The outstanding Russian lawyer Anatoly Koni, who presided over the trial, was "rooting" for Zasulich. The prosecutor Vladimir Zhukovsky refused to support the state prosecution and resigned. The opinion of "society" was expressed by the moderately liberal journalist Grigory Gradovsky (incidentally, the son-in-law of the famous nationalist Vasily Shulgin ): "Zasulich's story touched all hearts. It is hard, like torture, shameful from the knowledge that such barbarities can be committed." The “barbarity”, that is, justice in relation to the terrorist, was not carried out to the great satisfaction of the liberal public. As memoirists testify, “ Dostoevsky witnessed the delight with which the acquittal was greeted by the public in the courtroom and the thousand-strong crowd awaiting the end of the trial outside the courthouse.” KILLERS BEHIND THE WALL Shooting, explosions of “infernal machines” and other manifestations of revolutionary terror became the backdrop that the repentant radical Dostoevsky felt like no one else. An astonishing fact is known: literally across the wall from the writer’s last place of residence in Kuznechny Lane, in the adjacent front door, there was a safe house of the Narodnaya Volya members – the cell of Alexander Barannikov (party pseudonym “Porfiry”), who was responsible for the murder of the chief of the gendarmes Nikolai Mezentsov and several attempts on the life of Alexander II. In January 1881, when Dostoevsky was dying, Barannikov was arrested. And on the day of the writer's death, February 9, 1881, another terrorist was detained through the wall, having run into a police ambush. A little over a month after Dostoevsky’s death, in March 1881, “by order of the ‘People’s Will’, Alexander II, the Tsar-Liberator, was killed. Publisher Alexei Suvorin will live another thirty years. He will have time to witness a new version of terror – the Socialist Revolutionary and anarchist – and to experience the first Russian revolution and its suppression. And until the end, Suvorin was haunted by the conversation with Dostoevsky. In 1903, during the time of Yevno Azef and the “Combat Organization”, the publisher again recalled the writer’s long-standing confession: "I went through all the reasons that would make me do it (report a possible explosion to the police - editor's note). Reasons that are solid, solid, and then I thought about the reasons that would not allow me to do it. These reasons are simply insignificant. Just the fear of being known as an informer." THE MOST "LIBERAL" COUNTRY This state of affairs persisted for decades. The Russian philosopher Vasily Rozanov, himself a model victim of the then cancel culture, wrote in 1907: "Russia is the most "liberal" country, where, to put it in vulgar language, any sixth-grade schoolboy can "outdo" Voltaire, Rousseau, Buchner, Renan and generally all Western "free thinkers", no matter how many of them there were and where they were. Of course, he can "outdo" them not with his intelligence and talent. No! He can neither write nor speak. That is not the point. But "God", "government", "laws", "sovereign", "Gospel", "Bible" - all this is criticized by him in such a way that no Renan could have dreamed of it." Rozanov was not exaggerating when he wrote that since the 1830s, the ideology of the educated class was formed by oppositionists – liberals and radicals, while patriotically thinking writers and publicists were “canceled”: “There was persecution; there was harassment; there was a 70-year-long slap and spitting… It is worth comparing the dull, cornered life of Strakhov, who sometimes did not have a pinch of tea to brew for a visiting friend, with the noisy, broad, powerful life of Chernyshevsky and Dobrolyubov, who almost “did not deign to talk” to Turgenev himself; it is worth comparing the wretched life of Dostoevsky in the shameful Kuznechny Lane, where only cabbies’ yards stand and prostitutes live in their rooms, with the life of Stasyulevich, in his own stone house on Galernaya Street, where the “opposition editorial office” of the “Bulletin of Europe” was located. It is not surprising that decades of such brainwashing did not go to waste. So much so that even the priest of the Shlisselburg Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, Ioann Florinsky, spoke of the terrorist Ivan Kalyaev (the murderer of Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich ) as follows: "I have never seen a man going to his death with such calm and humility of a true Christian." Educated society enthusiastically welcomed the 1905 revolution (at the height of the Russo-Japanese War), and then, at the decisive moment of the First World War, the February Revolution. “They are shooting from the windows on Nevsky… But there is no need to judge anyone. It is not a time for judgment – it is terrible. And whatever happens next – it is joyful,” Zinaida Gippius wrote in euphoria. But the joy did not last long. Instead of the victorious march of democracy under the rule of former lawyer Alexander Kerensky (who made his name defending various "expropriators" in court), a completely expected series of catastrophes occurred. Unlike the "tsarist regime", the Soviet government (even though it canonized Khalturin and Sofya Perovskaya, and Kalyaev and Yegor Sozonov, not to mention the Bolshevik expropriators) did not stand on ceremony with the old regime radicals and liberals. The Socialist Revolutionaries and anarchists were sent to prison and "disposed of". Their fate was shared by progressive lawyers who defended the bombers - for example, Mikhail Mandelstam, a lawyer at Kalyaev's trial - and journalists who admired the fighters for the people's happiness. "RESTORATION OF POLAND ALONG THE DNIEPER" In the late Soviet and post-Soviet eras, this liberal (or, as they used to say, democratic) public opinion reproduced itself. According to the same patterns and under the same slogans, like the Socialist Revolutionary "In the struggle you will find your right" or the slogan known since the Polish uprisings "For our freedom and yours." The people's tribunes and publicists of perestroika sympathized with the desire of the Baltics, Transcaucasia and Central Asia for independence (and did not notice the genocide of Russians that began on the outskirts of the disintegrating empire). Then the heroes of the progressive public were the Ichkerian "freedom fighters" who organized the terrorist attacks in Budyonnovsk and Beslan. New heroes came to replace them: the leaders of the color revolutions in the post-Soviet space, and in Russia itself - the "innocent victims" oligarchs. Finally, in February 2014, the opposition-liberal public made a choice in favor of post-Maidan Ukraine - "anti-Russia". And this choice turned out to be fatal for it after February 2022. Politicians, writers, bloggers, pop artists, stand-up comedians and other "rulers of thought" left "abroad" en masse. Modern Westerners found themselves in the position of a collective "Herzen in London", and it is becoming increasingly difficult for them to influence minds in Russia. The current “foreign agent” wave of emigration is considered to be almost unique in the degree of hatred towards the abandoned homeland. There is nothing new in Russophobia and the desire to “root for others” in the radical environment. More precisely, at first glance, there is nothing new. DEMONS 2.0 Indeed, back in 1834, the “first dissident” Vladimir Pecherin, having emigrated to Berlin, wrote “in a fit of Byronism”: How sweet it is to hate your homeland A reflection of the current “ decolonization ” agenda can be found on the pages of the novel “Demons” (and it seems that Dostoevsky copied this “agenda” from life): “They talked… about the usefulness of dividing Russia into nationalities with a free federal connection, about the destruction of the army and navy, about the restoration of Poland along the Dnieper… and so on, and so forth.” And in 1904, the St. Petersburg writer Sergei Mintzlov wrote in his diary: “ They say that among the students, both male and female, a circle of people was found who decided to express their sympathy to the Mikado and the Japanese by sending him a congratulatory telegram and collecting money for his benefit.” And the notorious double standards (when the “decent public” did not notice the tragedy of Donbass, but noticed the refugees from Ukraine) were also not invented yesterday. When, shortly after the assassination of Alexander II by the Narodnaya Volya, a terrorist shot American President James Garfield, the executive committee of the Narodnaya Volya issued a communiqué with a decisive protest "against violent actions." After all, terror in despotic Russia is one thing, but terror in the democratic North American States is quite another. “It’s all happened before.” But still, among the radical part of the non-systemic oppositionists – both those who left and those who stayed – there is something new. This is an active desire to help an external enemy not just with “welcome telegrams” and not even just by distributing military propaganda. But also in action: from donations for FPV drones to direct participation in military actions on the side of the Ukrainian Armed Forces (remember the neo-Nazi “oppositionists” from the so-called RDK *). Up to the role of a performer in terrorist attacks planned by the Ukrainian special services and their curators. Even Herzen and Ogarev simply rejoiced at the fall of Sevastopol, but did not sponsor its assault. Let us recall the environment that gave birth to the terrorist Darya Trepova, who killed war correspondent Vladlen Tatarsky (Maksim Fomin) in 2023. The path from participation in the FBK* actions, libertarianism, "green" and LGBT* activism to terrorism turned out to be quite short. When society is threatened by such "democratic activists," citizens no longer have the intelligentsia fear of being known as an "informer" that tormented Dostoevsky. Now, when it is obvious to everyone that terror has become one of the instruments of the war against Russia, toughening the penalties for "failure to report" is perceived as a completely justified measure. Just like the harsh punishments for discrediting the army and the appropriately harsh attitude towards the "sweet hatred" of Western grants. "Smerdyakovism" ( "it would be good if those same Frenchmen had conquered us then: a smart nation would have conquered a very stupid one and annexed it" ) has already poisoned Russian society once, and the intelligentsia's tolerance of the "demons", turning into support and complicity with them, may cost too much this time. |
Link |
Afghanistan | |
Russian Prosecutor General's Office has requested a suspension of the ban on Taliban activities | |
2025-04-01 | |
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. [Regnum] The Russian Prosecutor General's Office is asking to suspend the ban on the activities of the Taliban movement (under UN sanctions for terrorist activities). This was announced on March 31 by the press service of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation.
It is noted that the court scheduled the consideration of the Prosecutor General's Office's application for April 17. In Russia, the Taliban movement was recognized as a terrorist organization in 2003. As reported by the Regnum news agency, on December 28, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law introducing a mechanism for temporarily suspending the ban on the activities of a terrorist organization by a court decision. It was specified that this could happen if there was actual data on the cessation of activities aimed at promoting, justifying and supporting terrorism. In addition, after the court decision is made, a copy will be sent to the FSB within five days for further changes to the list of terrorist organizations. Earlier, on December 10, the State Duma also adopted in the first reading a bill to exclude this movement from the list of those banned in Russia. In November, the press secretary of the Russian president Dmitry Peskov noted that the removal of the terrorist organization status from the Taliban is necessary for the development of contacts with the Afghan authorities. The Kremlin representative emphasized that Moscow intends to establish relations with this country. | |
Link |
Syria-Lebanon-Iran | |||||
'They Kill Everyone': How Central Asian Militants Carried Out Massacre in Syria | |||||
2025-03-12 | |||||
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Sergey Adamov [REGNUM] The past few days in Syria have seen an unprecedented surge in violence against local religious minorities: Alawite Muslims and Christians. Social media has been rocked by hundreds of videos in which militants proudly documented their crimes, including mass murders of unarmed people and public torture. Throughout the conflict, Regnum correspondents were in contact with residents of the Syrian coast, thanks to which they were able to collect dozens of testimonies from civilians about crimes committed by militants. Eyewitnesses note that militants of foreign origin, natives of Central Asia and the Caucasus, who are noticeably different from Arabs in appearance and stand out against their background, showed particular cruelty in reprisals against the civilian population.
Now the new Syrian authorities are arresting civilians for communicating with the media (primarily with the Russian media), so all reports from sources are published anonymously. However, oral testimonies can only serve as confirmation of the crimes in which natives of the Caucasus and Central Asia took part, who do not hide their goals: to create a monolithic society in Syria, united by a radical ideology, in order to carry this ideology further. GUESTS FROM THE EAST Militants of foreign origin first appeared in Syria during the first stage of the civil war in 2011–2012. The leadership of the Al-Qaeda* movement called on Central Asians to participate in military operations in the Middle East. Terrorists from Uzbekistan (Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, IMU), Tajikistan and the Caucasus (Anjad-Kavkaz*)
Later, militants from among ethnic Uyghurs, representatives of the so-called “East Turkestan Islamic Movement” (ETIM)*, appeared on the territory of Syria. The formed "terrorist international" took part in battles against government troops and by 2015 was able to establish control over the province of Idlib. A number of groups received their "allotments", for example, the Uyghurs settled in the area of the city of Jisr al-Shughur, and the Caucasians - the outskirts of Idlib. The region has become a “promised land” for terrorists from all over the world, who have found in Idlib a safe haven and a springboard for planning attacks around the world. In the fall of 2024, it was these formations, as the most motivated, that took part in the offensive on Aleppo, which ended with the fall of the city, and subsequently the collapse of the government of Bashar al-Assad. IN A NEW ROLE The "revolutionary" government of Syria has praised the role of foreign formations, granting all foreign fighters Syrian citizenship and effectively legalizing their status. Now the former “exiles” have become full-fledged citizens, and, what’s more, 100% loyal to the new regime. The exact number of foreign fighters is unknown. According to Tajik authorities in 2024, there were about 400 Tajik citizens in the Syrian province of Idlib. The total number of "insurgents" in the ranks of the new Syrian army, according to various estimates, ranges from 5,000 to 10,000 people. Former mercenaries received high positions in the new government. For example, a native of Tajikistan, Saifiddin Tadjiboev, who was wanted in his home country on charges of terrorism and mercenarism, was appointed commander of the operational headquarters in the new government’s Ministry of Defense. ON THE EVE OF THE MASSACRE Since the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad's government, members of ethnic and religious minorities in Syria have lived in constant fear. The new authorities in Damascus have officially declared that they will not persecute representatives of any community. Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa (aka Mohammed Julani) has demonstratively met with heads of Christian churches, promising protection and patronage. However, already in the first days of the "new Syria" a wave of attacks on churches and representatives of religious minorities swept across the country. Even then, militants of foreign origin distinguished themselves separately, simply ignoring Damascus' calls for religious tolerance and disarmament. In the following months, it was these same formations that spread across the entire Syrian coast, viewing the region and its inhabitants as fair game. After the first open clashes broke out, a total mobilization of radicals and their supporters, a kind of "activists", was declared in the neighboring provinces of Hama and Idlib, who were joined by local residents who wanted to rob their Alawite neighbors. However, the backbone of the "cleansing" forces was made up of armed foreigners. Footage taken by a militant of Chechen origin, commenting on the events in Syria in Russian, is being published online. "There will be no mercy," the author of the videos says, showing footage of terrorist columns being transferred to Latakia. "We continue to clean up," reads the caption to the video of armored vehicles being deployed on the streets of coastal cities. Over the following days, Regnum correspondents maintained round-the-clock contact with residents of the Syrian coast, receiving information about what was happening first-hand. This is how residents of the city of Baniyas describe the first night of the pogroms: “Towards evening, the power went out in our neighborhood. Then groups of pogromists began to enter from different sides, they broke into cars, robbed stores, threw stones at windows. They were followed by armed people who went from house to house. They came to our neighbors’ house with a can of paint, they “marked” people, painted their faces black, insulted them, and then left threats and insults on the walls.” Among the attackers, local residents particularly noted militants with a characteristic Turkic appearance, often not speaking Arabic. According to eyewitnesses, it was they who showed particular cruelty. An audio recording with instructions calling on local residents "loyal" to the government was distributed, calling on them not to go out into the streets. The voice on the recording says that "Uzbek and Chechen mujahideen" do not differentiate between Sunnis and Shiites and kill everyone. BLOODY MARCH 8TH By the morning of the second day of the conflict, the regime had managed to concentrate enough forces on the coast to conduct all-out raids. The Islamists were particularly brutal in the Alawite areas outside the Syrian coast, in the provinces of Hama and Homs. Tellingly, foreign fighters did not hide their participation in the massacre. In the area of the city of Jabla, a group of Uzbek natives was “spotted”, broadcasting live from the scene and streaming in the Uzbek language. The fighters, belonging to the group “Tawhid wal Jihad”*, told their audience that they had come to Latakia “to punish the infidels” and shared their “political program”. In particular, they propose that the new Syrian authorities "cleanse" the region and populate it with "faithful Muslims." Syrian Christians are offered either to convert to Islam or to pay "jizya" for life - a tax on non-Muslims in Koranic law.
"When we heard about the beginning of the conflict, my relatives were able to leave. There were old people left in the village who asked to leave them. We know that they have been killed now. Somewhere in the houses there are bodies that no one has removed because people are afraid to return for a long time. All the men were killed, some women have disappeared, and no one knows where they are," the source told IA Regnum. DENOUEMENT By the morning of March 9, the militants had reached the epicenter of the conflict, the city of Jabla, after which another wave of violence swept through the surrounding villages. In one of the videos made in the vicinity of Jabla, the militants filmed a residential building they had set on fire. "Look, the house of the Alawites is burning!" one of the authors of the video says. Throughout the day, terrorist gangs continued to repeatedly "cleanse" populated areas, often shooting at everyone they encountered without distinction. At the same time, the heads of Syria's Christian churches issued a joint statement calling for an immediate end to the violence. The "world community" also joined the call, albeit belatedly. Local residents report that a “clean-up” has begun in the cities of Baniyas, Tartus and Latakia: militants are removing corpses from city streets and even washing blood off the asphalt in preparation for the arrival of foreign journalists. In a separate statement, Ahmed al-Sharaa said the government would set up a "commission" to investigate "incidents of violence" on the coast, but locals were under no illusions. "We are still afraid to leave our homes now, no one can assess the damage done. Those who survived were left without all their property, others without their families. We will never forget these two terrible days. Now there is a "roll call" in the chats, we are looking for our own. But we know that there will be no justice for the criminals," the Syrians believe. Events in Syria have vividly confirmed the worst fears about the prospects for a peaceful settlement in that country. But whatever their consequences, it is absolutely clear that terrorist groups operating in Syria pose a threat far beyond its borders, and that their militants may fall victim to far more than just Syrian ethno-confessional minorities. People from post-Soviet countries who “distinguished themselves” by committing mass murders probably dream of returning to their native lands and repeating the same thing in Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and, of course, in Russia.
Related: Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan: 2024-06-19 Already this summer, IS will carry out a terrorist attack in Central Asia Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan: 2024-03-26 Between ISIS and Ukraine. What does the handwriting of the terrorist attack at Crocus say? Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan: 2024-02-27 FSB detains 49 militant accomplices who were sending money to Syria Related: East Turkestan Islamic Movement: 2024-10-29 CHR - New Intel: Sources Report Terrorists in Afghanistan Taking A Page From October 7 Playbook East Turkestan Islamic Movement: 2023-09-10 Heaven of Foreign Militants: The Taliban Are Extensively Hosting Extremist Groups East Turkestan Islamic Movement: 2023-08-27 Resurgence and Realities: Afghanistan’s Shifting Terror Threats Related: Ajnad al-Kavkaz: 2024-12-29 Lessons of Syria: The Fall of Damascus as the Main Outcome of the Year in the Middle East Ajnad al-Kavkaz: 2024-12-14 [RT] Blinded by propaganda: What's really happening in Syria while the new government talks peace? (DISTURBING VIDEOS) Ajnad al-Kavkaz: 2024-03-20 Zelensky’s terrorist legions: what ISIS militants are doing in Ukraine Related: Tawhid wal Jihad: 2024-09-29 Philadelphia: More on the Teen Jihadi who Planned to Bomb Pride Parade Tawhid wal Jihad: 2024-02-27 FSB detains 49 militant accomplices who were sending money to Syria Tawhid wal Jihad: 2023-08-22 Far-Left Philly Lawyer Shocked to Discover His Son Is Accused Terrorist Related: Caucasus Emirate: 2024-12-12 War Without Victory Day: How Russia Almost Lost Chechnya Caucasus Emirate: 2024-09-25 Defendants in Chechnya Terrorist Attack Case Sentenced to 24 and 25 Years in Prison Caucasus Emirate: 2024-09-07 2004: Novaya Gazeta Releases Details of Tank Shooting at School in Beslan | |||||
Link |
Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia | |
Leaders of Ichkerian formation sentenced in absentia in Russia | |
2025-01-15 | |
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. [KavkazUzel] Murad Yusupov and Akhmed Zakayev were sentenced in absentia to 19 and 20 years of imprisonment in the case of the terrorist organization "Separate Special Purpose Battalion of the Armed Forces of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria".
The Southern District Military Court sentenced Murad Yusupov and Akhmed Zakayev to 19 and 20 years in prison. "The court sentenced Zakayev to 20 years of imprisonment for the totality of [crimes], with the first three years to be served in prison and the rest of the term in a strict regime penal colony; Yusupov to 19 years of imprisonment, with the first three years to be served in prison and the rest of the term in a strict regime penal colony," TASS quotes the court representative as saying. According to the investigation, in July 2022, Zakayev proclaimed himself the leader of the so-called independent Chechen Republic of Ichkeria on the territory of Ukraine, recruited Yusupov and other unidentified persons to the group to participate in military actions on the side of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Zakayev, as the investigation believes, also created the terrorist community "Separate Special Purpose Battalion of the Ministry of Defense of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria as part of the Foreign Legion of Ukraine", which he led until July 28, 2022, then handed over leadership to Yusupov. According to the prosecution, the members of the terrorist group were armed with machine guns and hand grenade launchers. They recruited new members and set up training camps. Cases were opened in absentia against Zakayev under Part 2 of Article 205.2 (public calls to commit terrorist activity), Part 1 of Article 205.4 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (leadership of a terrorist group), and against Yusupov - also in absentia under Part 2 of Article 208 (participation in an armed formation on the territory of a foreign state...), Part 1 of Article 205.4 (leadership of a terrorist group) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Zakayev and Yusupov have been included by Rosfinmonitoring in the list of individuals for whom there is information about their involvement in extremist activity or terrorism. Related: Chechen Republic of Ichkeria: 2024-09-25 Defendants in Chechnya Terrorist Attack Case Sentenced to 24 and 25 Years in Prison Chechen Republic of Ichkeria: 2024-09-07 2004: Novaya Gazeta Releases Details of Tank Shooting at School in Beslan Chechen Republic of Ichkeria: 2024-08-08 25 years have passed since the invasion of Basayev's militants into Dagestan | |
Link |