A protester in Elista was arrested on terrorism charges

A Moscow court has arrested Eduard Baltykov, a 58-year-old businessman from Kalmykia who participated in protests in Elista. He is accused of participating in a terrorist organization. 

As reported by the " Caucasian Knot ," Eduard Baltykov held a solo picket outside the presidential administration building in Moscow in October 2019,  demanding the "removal of Khasikov and Trapeznikov." That summer, he participated in a rally in support of Namsyr Mandzhiev, the Communist Party candidate for head of Kalmykia.

The Basmanny District Court in Moscow has remanded Eduard Baltykov, a businessman and activist from Kalmykia, into custody. Baltykov was arrested on December 9 on suspicion of involvement in a terrorist organization. The following day, the court remanded him to pretrial detention, according to Mediazona*. 

Investigators have not yet released details of the criminal case against Eduard Baltykov. 

Baltykov has posts on social media about the history and genealogy of the Kalmyk people. Friends of Eduard Baltykov have spread information about his arrest on December 12th. Journalist Vladimir Sevrinovsky, for example, calls Baltykov a "good friend" and considers the terrorism charges absurd. "He is a successful businessman, a former outstanding athlete, and a great patriot of his native Kalmykia and its people," Sevrinovsky wrote on his Facebook page on December 12th. 

He notes that Baltykov did not hide his civic position and openly spoke out against the actions of Russian military personnel on Ukrainian territory. 

"When we discussed Telo Tulku Rinpoche XII—the leader of Kalmyk Buddhists, the first religious figure to be declared a foreign agent—Eduard was unhappy that he had emigrated. He believed that one must be prepared to go to prison for one's beliefs, and that this was the only way to reach out to people," Sevrinovsky added.

"Eduard is a patriot of Kalmykia, and unfortunately, for this position alone, as well as for his affiliation, he will most likely be punished to the fullest extent," wrote Julia Khazagaeva, an activist from Irkutsk and an acquaintance of Baltykov. 

Baltykov's friend, Dmitry Front, called the terrorism charges "nonsense," noting that he's known Baltykov for over 30 years. According to his friend, Eduard Baltykov's son was drafted into the army in the fall of 2021 and "disappeared for two months" in February 2022. "With difficulty, they found him in the combat zone. The frostbitten young man was taken to a hospital in St. Petersburg. From there, he returned to his unit near Moscow and later home," he wrote. 

A friend also noted Baltykov's passion for the republic's history. "Eduard is a true patriot of his homeland, Kalmykia. He writes incredibly engagingly about it, his parents, and Kalmyk heroes. He holds several higher education degrees and has worked at various major Russian banks," he wrote. 

Eduard Baltykov, a candidate for the post of head of Kalmykia and a former five-time Kalmykia champion in Greco-Roman wrestling, was cited by the public group "Kalmykia Info" in a post published on December 11.

The Telegram channel "Ostorozhno, Novosti" (Beware, News) claimed in a December 12 post that Baltykov "declared his intention to become the head of Kalmykia" and "create a state of Bumbin Orn on the basis of the republic." "He has recently been researching Kalmyk genealogy and was an active participant in opposition chats," the outlet asserts. 

* listed as a foreign agent.

** Meta (which owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp) is banned in Russia.