Six figurants in case of attacking Pskov paratroopers in Chechnya arrested

A court in Tatarstan has placed six local residents accused within the case of the attack of militants under command of Shamil Basaev and Khattab on Pskov paratroopers in Chechnya into custody.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on April 20, the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF) reported on the detention of six figurants in the case of the 2000 attack on Pskov paratroopers committed by the militant gang under field commanders Shamil Basaev and Khattab.

All the six detainees are residents of Tatarstan: Khaidar Razzakov, Airat Kamaletdinov, Eduard Valiakhmetov, Ilgam Gumerov, Ilgiz Mukhametgaliev and Mukhamedvali Shaikhutdinov.

"The court arrested all the six detainees until June 29," the TASS has quoted the message of the press service of the court.

The cases on the attack on Pskov paratroopers are being investigated, in particular, under the article of encroachment on militaries' lives; the article provides for up to life imprisonment. On March 23, 2021, another person, German Arbinin, was detained on suspicion of involvement in the attack on paratroopers; and on June 16, 2021, Magomed Alkhanov, a native of Chechnya, was detained.

On October 26, 2021, Alkhanov escaped from a mental hospital in Astrakhan, where he was taken for a medical examination. His wife claimed that his escape was an attempt to prove his innocence. Prisoners sometimes resort to escape aiming to draw attention to their cases and out of despair, Svetlana Gannushkina, a human rights defender, has confirmed.