Mansur Movlaev reported the kidnapping and torture of his brother.

Mansur Movlaev's brother, Zelimkhan Movlaev, was kidnapped in Chechnya and subjected to violence.

As reported by the "Caucasian Knot," on May 18, a court upheld Mansur Movlaev's arrest in Kazakhstan. This marked the end of legal appeals against the Chechen native's arrest. On May 21, Movlaev called on members of the European Parliament to record appeals to the Kazakh authorities calling for his extradition to Russia to be revoked. His lawyer pointed out that Movlaev's extradition would violate international law.

Mansur Movlaev's brother, Zelimkhan Movlaev, was kidnapped in Chechnya some time ago and subjected to violence. In May of this year, he was hospitalized with severe rectal injuries. He is unable to sit or sleep normally due to the injuries he sustained, Mansur Movlaev reported today on his Instagram page*.

"The only reason for this incident is an attempt to put pressure on Mansur through his family members," reads a message published on the Mansur Movlaev support group's Instagram page*.

As a reminder, Mansur Movlaev was detained by security forces in Chechnya in 2022 and held in an illegal prison. After escaping, he managed to reach Kyrgyzstan in January 2023. In August 2023, security forces in Kyrgyzstan detained Movlaev, who was wanted in Russia for financing extremist activity. A court in Bishkek sentenced Movlaev to six months in prison and subsequent deportation from the country. On November 20, 2023, Movlaev was released, but the deportation order remained in effect, and he voluntarily left Kyrgyzstan to avoid being sent home.

In May 2025, Mansur Movlaev, who had been placed on the wanted list by the Shali District Department of Chechnya, was detained in Kazakhstan and placed under extradition arrest. On January 30, it was announced that the Prosecutor General's Office of Kazakhstan had ordered his extradition to Russian security forces. His defense appealed this decision. In February, the Supreme Court of Kazakhstan suspended the enforcement of the extradition order pending the final review of his asylum application. Human rights defenders and activists considered a connection between this decision and Movlaev's appeal to the UN Human Rights Committee, which in February called on the Kazakh authorities to suspend Movlaev's extradition until this appeal was considered. On May 8, an Almaty court extended his extradition arrest by two months, until July.

The "Caucasian Knot" also reported that abductions of relatives of government critics periodically occur in Chechnya. Previously, Kadyrov critics Tumso Abdurakhmanov**, Minkail Malizayev, and Khasan Khalitov** reported the abduction of relatives in Chechnya. There were also reports of the abduction of relatives of human rights activist Aslan Artsuyev**.

On January 20, 2022, security forces took Zarema Musayeva, the mother of Kadyrov critic Abubakar Yangulbaev**, from her apartment in Nizhny Novgorod to Chechnya. On July 4, 2023, a court sentenced Musayeva to 5.5 years in prison, finding her guilty of assaulting a police officer. Details of Musayeva's case are provided in the "Caucasian Knot" report "The Case of Zarema Musayeva".

The "Caucasian Knot" has published a report "Murders of Kadyrov's Critics in the European Union".

The "Caucasian Knot" is posting materials about human rights violations in Chechnya, Kadyrov's attacks on the opposition, and his fight against dissent in the republic on a special thematic page "Dissent in Chechnya".

* Meta (owner of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp) is banned in Russia.

** are included in the register of foreign agents.