17:59, 22 September 2026

The sentence of the spouses from Makhachkala for raising funds for "Azov"* was upheld on appeal.

The appellate military court upheld the sentence of the spouses from Makhachkala, Nadezhda and Dmitry Valuyev, who were sentenced in absentia for raising funds for drones for the "Azov" battalion*.

As reported by "Caucasian Knot", the Southern District Military Court sentenced the spouses from Makhachkala, Nadezhda and Dmitry Valuyev, to 17 and 18 years of imprisonment for raising funds for the Ukrainian battalion "Azov"*.

The Valuyevs' lawyers filed a complaint against the sentence. The judicial panel of the appellate military court reviewed the defense's complaint but found no grounds for mitigating or overturning the decision, TASS reports citing the judicial authority.

Since the court recognized the sentence as lawful and upheld it, it has come into effect. The "Caucasian Knot" currently has no comments from the Valuyevs or their defense lawyers.

47-year-old Dmitry and 44-year-old Nadezhda Valuyev are natives of Makhachkala, and they were added to the register of terrorists and extremists by Rosfinmonitoring on May 27, 2025. Both spouses have alternative surnames listed in the register (Tarakanov and Kurkina).

The sentence indicates that the spouses currently live in the USA. According to the prosecution, the Valuyevs created foreign non-profit organizations and internet channels through which they organized fundraising for "Azov"*. They raised at least $12,500 for the purchase of drones.

"Caucasian Knot" also reported that since February 2025, the Southern District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don has been considering the case of four residents of Dagestan: Magomed Dzhavakhanov, Ruslan Akkaev, Khadzhimurad Abdulayev, and Rajab Nazarov. They were separately detained in December 2022 and charged with terrorism. The investigation claims that they planned to set fire to a military unit in Makhachkala in the interests of the Ukrainian "Azov"* regiment, while the young men call the case fabricated.

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* recognized as a terrorist organization, activities banned in Russia by the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation

** the activities of the company Meta (which owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp) are banned in Russia.

Translated automatically via OpenAI from https://www.kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/426847