Lawyer Kaituev reported pressure from security forces after the beating.

Zaur Kaituev, a lawyer with the Makhachkala Bar Association, who was beaten in June 2025 near the building of a law enforcement agency, complained to the head of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, Alexander Bastrykin, about the delays in the investigation and serious pressure on him and his relatives.

As reported by the "Caucasian Knot," on June 18, 2025, Makhachkala lawyer Zaur Kaituev reported that he was beaten near the building of a Dagestani law enforcement agency, where he had arrived to represent his clients. He was then detained and beaten in the building of another law enforcement agency. Makhachkala lawyer Zaur Kaituev's condition later worsened after the beating by security forces, requiring hospitalization. Security forces threatened a lawyer into unlocking his phone and gained access to confidential information about his cases, the Dagestan Bar Association stated. Investigators have opened a criminal case against "unidentified law enforcement officers" for assault. Kaituev's colleagues expressed hope that his case will be investigated more effectively than the attack on Alexander Nemov in Chechnya.

Lawyer Zaur Kaituev reported that the law enforcement officers involved in the violence against him are not being identified in the criminal case. At the same time, he and his family are under significant pressure, are unable to undergo a second spinal surgery, and are unable to fully practice their profession, the Advokatskaya Gazeta newspaper reported on February 4.

Since the criminal case has not progressed since the ruling to initiate it, the lawyer sent an appeal to Alexander Bastrykin, Chairman of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation. He noted that it is impossible to conduct a face-to-face confrontation with the suspects. For example, one of the suspects, whom the lawyer can identify by a number of characteristics, has failed to appear at the investigator's lawful request at the Investigative Department for the Sovietsky District of Makhachkala. As the lawyer noted, those involved in his beating, abduction, and illegal detention are family members and close associates of high-ranking law enforcement officials.

In his appeal, the lawyer emphasized that he and his close relatives have been under enormous pressure for the eighth month in a row, and he fears for his life and health. He stated that he has numerous videos in his possession that clearly show the unlawful actions of law enforcement officers. In these videos, some officers' faces are uncovered. He added that some of the unlawful actions against him were committed in full view of and with the connivance of current officers of the Dagestan Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Zaur Kaituev noted that he has repeatedly appealed to Alexander Makarov, Head of the Main Directorate of Internal Security of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, regarding this matter, requesting that an investigation be conducted into the law enforcement officers and that the individuals who committed the unlawful acts against the lawyer be identified. These requests were forwarded to the Internal Security Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for Dagestan, which found no unlawful actions on the part of its employees.

In this regard, the lawyer asked Alexander Bastrykin to stop the illegal actions against him, as a lawyer and citizen of the Russian Federation, and to conduct an investigation into this case.

In a commentary to the Advokatskaya Gazeta newspaper, Zaur Kaituev emphasized that what happened to him clearly demonstrates the vulnerability of the legal profession as an institution called upon to protect citizens' rights. "If a lawyer is unable to obtain the truth and hold accountable those who committed a crime against him, then what protection of citizens' rights can we even talk about?" the lawyer stated.

In his opinion, the current situation demonstrates the need to adopt a law establishing liability for obstructing legal practice. Furthermore, the issue of lawyers' immunity when defending citizens should be brought to the State Duma. Otherwise, he believes, lawyers remain defenseless against legal abuse by police and other security forces.

"We have information about a criminal case being opened on this matter. However, as always happens in such cases, there are no results to date, although the individuals who used violence against the lawyer are known, and identifying them all is not difficult. This situation once again indicates that the issue of criminal or other liability for obstructing a lawyer's professional activities must be resolved as soon as possible," the publication quotes Akif Beibutov, president of the Dagestan Bar Association, as commenting.

In July 2023, Novaya Gazeta journalist Elena Milashina and lawyer Alexander Nemov were brutally beaten in Chechnya while traveling to the trial of Zarema Musayeva. Investigators in Chechnya have opened a criminal case under articles on intentional infliction of moderate bodily harm (Part 2 of Article 112 of the Russian Criminal Code) and minor bodily harm (Part 2 of Article 115 of the Russian Criminal Code). Investigators combined the two assault cases and significantly expanded the list of articles, including an article on obstructing the professional activities of a journalist and lawyer. In February, it became known that investigators in Chechnya were unable to identify the perpetrators of the attack on journalist Elena Milashina and lawyer Alexander Nemov; the criminal investigation has been suspended.