A Cherkessk resident has been accused of extremism and calls for terrorism.

Security forces detained a man in Cherkessk whose comments containing "anti-Russian statements" attracted the attention of operatives from the Center for Combating Extremism.

As reported by the "Caucasian Knot," courts in southern Russia have sentenced at least seven people to prison terms in prison over the past four months for social media posts. The actual number of such sentences is significantly higher, as not all cases of justifying terrorism are included in public court records.

The suspect is a 30-year-old resident of Cherkessk. The man's arrest was organized jointly by officers from the Ministry of Internal Affairs' "E" Center and the regional FSB department, with the "forceful support of members of the republic's National Guard." The detainee is charged with public calls for terrorism via the internet (Part 2 of Article 205.2 of the Russian Criminal Code carries a prison sentence of five to seven years) and inciting hatred (Part 2 of Article 282 of the Criminal Code, which carries a prison sentence of two to five years).

According to security officials, in 2024, the young man used his father's mobile phone to create an account "on a popular internet resource." There, he subsequently posted comments and voice messages "filled with anti-Russian statements," the press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for Karachay-Cherkessia reported today.

Linguistic experts found elements of extremism in his messages—incitement of hatred and hostility toward "a certain group of people," as well as "ideas aimed at undermining statehood." The man, in particular, advocated for "the creation of a new state on the territory of Eurasia based on ethnic, national, and religious characteristics," the department noted.

According to law enforcement, some of his comments justified the activities of a terrorist organization banned in Russia. During questioning, the man admitted to the charges against him "in full," according to the republic's Investigative Committee.

The court ordered him to recognizance not to leave the country and to behave appropriately. Caucasian Knot has not yet received any comments from the suspect or his lawyer regarding the security forces' version of events. Caucasian Knot also reported that a military court in Rostov-on-Don sentenced Stavropol resident Artur Shamanov to three years in prison, finding his comments on a messenger app to be justification and propaganda for terrorism. Shamanov "hoped that Western countries and Russia would start a nuclear war between themselves due to the geopolitical situation, which would help devout Muslims seize the Caucasus lands from Russia," security forces wrote in their administrative reports. ...