Sources reported the death of the great-grandson of Batal-Khadji Belkhoroev.

The great-grandson of the founder of the Batalkhadzhintsy brotherhood, Ilyas Belkharoev, died in Poland, and his relatives are preparing to bury him in Ingushetia. In Russia, Belkharoev was charged with a number of terrorist offenses.

As reported by "Caucasian Knot", Ilyas Belkharoev was among the individuals that law enforcement declared wanted and arrested in absentia in connection with the murder on November 2, 2019, in Moscow, of the head of the Ingush CPB, Ibrahim Eldzharkiev, and his brother Ahmed Eldzharkiev. The murder of Eldzharkiev was recognized as a terrorist act.

39-year-old Ilyas Belkharoev died in a pre-trial detention center in Poland, and his relatives have already retrieved his body to bury him in his homeland, reported today by “Kommersant” citing several sources.

According to the publication, “mourning events are expected to take place on August 19 in the village of Surkhakhi.”

Ingush journalists also confirmed the information that the body of Ilyas Belkharoev has already been handed over to his relatives. According to some reports, Belkharoev ended up in a Polish prison due to suspicions of involvement in arms smuggling from Ukraine, while others suggest it was due to a domestic conflict. The exact cause of his death has not been disclosed.

“He developed severe chronic depression a long time ago. Ilyas was in a difficult mental state,” one of his sources told “Fortanga.”

Belkharoev, who was accused of arms smuggling by Russian law enforcement back in the early 2000s, had been living in Ukraine since 2014. According to law enforcement, he also organized arms supplies to the Russian Federation there: it is believed that it was with Belkharoev's involvement that a Glock pistol ended up in Russia, from which Ibrahim and Ahmed Eldzharkiev were shot in November 2019.

In connection with the murder of the Eldzharkievs, Ilyas Belkharoev was charged with terrorism (Article 205 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). Later, he was additionally charged with participation in a terrorist community and in an illegal armed formation (Articles 205.4 and 208 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) - as claimed by the FSB, he participated in hostilities against Russian military forces as part of a Ukrainian armed unit commanded by Adam Osmayev. At the same time, Interpol excluded Ilyas Belkharoev from its wanted database in 2022, recognizing his persecution as politically motivated.

Russian law enforcement attributes the nickname ingbanderovec to Belkharoev. One of Ilyas Belkharoev's brothers insists that he did not participate in hostilities.

* In February 2023, the FSB included the combat wing of the Batalkhadzhintsy in the list of terrorist organizations.

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