Three people have been arrested in connection with the attack on Pskov paratroopers in Chechnya.

Rustam Murzagishiev, a resident of Karachay-Cherkessia, Ilkhom Shukurov, a resident of Tatarstan, and Chingiz Savchenko, a citizen of Ukraine, have been arrested on charges of armed rebellion, participation in a gang, and attempting to kill military personnel. Investigators believe they participated in the 2000 attack on Pskov paratroopers in Chechnya.

On the night of March 1, 2000, soldiers of the 6th Company of the 104th Regiment of the 76th Guards Airborne Division engaged a large detachment of Shamil Basayev and Khattab in Chechnya. The company held off the onslaught of approximately 2,000 militants for about 24 hours, as they attempted to break out of the encirclement. Then 84 of the 90 servicemen died, 370 militants were killed. Analysts cite corruption and incompetence among the command and officers as among the causes of the tragedy, according to the "Caucasian Knot" report "Battle for Hill 776: How the Pskov Paratroopers Died".

The FSB and the Investigative Committee reported the detention in regions of the Russian Federation of three more members of Shamil Basayev's group, who participated in the attack on the Pskov paratroopers in Chechnya in 2000.

"An irrefutable evidence base has been formed of the participation in this crime of Russian citizens Murzagishiev Rustam, born in 1976, Shukurov Ilkhom, born in 1976, and Ukrainian citizen Savchenko Chingiz, born in 1979, a serviceman "A member of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, detained for obstructing a special military operation," the FSB Public Relations Center (PRC) reported.

According to the FSB, last Tuesday, with the participation of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Russian National Guard, Murzagishiev was detained in the Karachay-Cherkess Republic, Shukurov in Tatarstan, and Savchenko in the Smolensk Region.

The detainees have been charged with armed rebellion, participation in a gang, and attempted murder of military personnel. The court has ordered pretrial detention for Murzagishiev, Shukurov, and Savchenko, the Russian Investigative Committee reported today on its Telegram channel.

The agency added that 52 individuals were identified as involved in the attack on the Pskov paratroopers, 35 of whom were convicted of gang membership and attempted murder and sentenced to lengthy prison terms, including life imprisonment. Seven individuals are wanted. Criminal proceedings against two others have been dropped due to their deaths in a shootout with security forces.

As a reminder, 63-year-old Grozny resident Alavdi Batykayev was also accused of attacking the Pskov paratroopers in 2000. He denies his guilt. Batykaev's lawyer stated there was no evidence of his guilt, and the Grozny resident's relatives appealed to human rights activists. The testimony of secret witnesses in Batykaev's case is contradictory and unreliable, and there is no objective evidence of his guilt in the case, stated the Memorial Human Rights Center*.

Testimony from victims in the case of the death of the Pskov paratroopers are used in every criminal case on this matter and are not related to a specific defendant, human rights activists pointed out, commenting on the testimony read out in court in the Batykaev case.

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