Report on Human Rights Violations in the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic
January 2026
Hava Beshtoeva
Analysis of data from media, internet resources, and statements by private individuals for January 2026 indicates a continuing trend of violations of human rights and freedoms by the authorities and security structures of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic. These violations are primarily linked to politically motivated pressure on representatives of the business community and the national intellectual elite, repression and judicial falsifications—including those concerning minors—as well as encroachments on the right to a fair trial. The documented incidents underscore the urgency of continued efforts to protect human rights in the republic.
Financial Imposition on Businesspeople.
Amid the acute need for funds to continue military operation against Ukraine, Kabardino-Balkaria has been overwhelmed by a wave of extortion from businesspeople, who are being forced—in a voluntary-compulsory manner—to replenish republican resources “for the needs of the SVO” [Special Military Operation]. We managed to speak with one representative of the agricultural sector, Vladimir, an ethnic Kabardian who requested that his surname not be disclosed. He complained of pressure from employees of local administrative bodies, who are forcing him to make large monthly contributions to the “military-patriotic direction.” Under conditions of sanctions, lack of sales markets, and massive imports of agricultural products from the “new territories” (quote), according to him, this has become an unbearable burden for farmers who are already on the verge of bankruptcy. Vladimir cited an incident that happened to him: he transferred 500 million rubles to a European supplier company for refrigeration equipment for apples—the cultivation of which forms the basis of his business—and during the transaction the goods ended up on the sanctions list. Vladimir lost the entire amount, which dealt him a significant blow from which he is struggling to recover.
He reported that the financial pressure is being exerted by the district administration and suggested that it is likely acting on its own initiative out of a desire to curry favor with the head of the republic and the federal center, rather than following direct orders from above. Vladimir expressed confidence that the authorities could not a priori be interested in the collapse of the industry and would not take such reckless steps that could negatively affect the supply of the entire country—particularly with plant products and intensive horticulture, a significant share of which reaches the domestic market precisely from Kabardino-Balkaria. Moreover, according to the businessman, the funds are being collected by individuals in no way connected to security or military agencies—for example, the deputy head of the district administration overseeing the “department of industry, architecture, urban planning, housing and communal services, transport and communications,” whose details he was afraid to provide. He rightly noted that this clearly does not fall within her competence.
The businessman expressed the opinion that, despite the difficult situation in the country, the state is obliged to protect honest taxpayers from the arbitrariness of “local careerists” who pave their way to power at the expense of ordinary workers.
The case of Anzor Khalilov also began with demands to pay corresponding contributions and, due to his refusal, escalated to accusations of financing terrorism. This is a common method of pressure, because of which many businesspeople have been forced to leave the republic, finding it unacceptable to participate in supporting military expansion on the territory of a neighboring state. Many have moved to Turkey, America, and Syria, hoping that extradition will not reach them. However, Khalilov, having gone to the UAE, did not take into account that while there he could come within reach of the Russian punitive apparatus—which is exactly what happened. The “Khalilov precedent” is a template and demonstrative case, which necessitates a detailed account of the situation.
The accusation against the developer from Kabardino-Balkaria, Anzor Khalilov—arrested after deportation to Russia from the UAE—is based solely on the testimony of witness Kardanov, whom the accused himself calls fictitious. Another figure in the case of collecting money for militants also denies the accusations.
After deportation from the United Arab Emirates, Anzor Khalilov was placed in custody on charges of aiding terrorist activity and illegally attracting citizens’ funds in violation of the law on participation in shared construction. In Dubai, Khalilov was detained at the request of Russian special services, after which local security forces handed him over to Russian law enforcement agencies.
According to the indictment in Khalilov’s case, in 2018 he twice transferred money—totaling 25 thousand rubles—to the accounts of Papuzhan Sabanchieva. The investigation considers that this money was directed to finance the terrorist organization “Imarat Kavkaz,” and the collections were conducted by the account holder’s son, Artur Sabanchiev, who has lived abroad since 2010. The document also states that later, in the same 2018, Khalilov personally handed Sabanchiev 150 thousand rubles while in Saudi Arabia during the Hajj.
In reality, the collection by Papuzhan Sabanchieva was carried out throughout the republic for the treatment of her daughter-in-law’s oncological disease; hundreds of concerned fellow citizens transferred feasible amounts to her, in addition to Khalilov.
Data on Nalchik native Artur Sabanchiev with a note of involvement in terrorism were added to the Rosfinmonitoring registry of terrorists and extremists on June 27, 2024, according to a Telegram bot tracking updates to the list. Anzor Khalilov himself was added to this list a year later, on June 25, 2025.
The accusation against Anzor Khalilov is built on the testimony of a classified witness named Kardanov. In his testimony, he claims that Khalilov administered a WhatsApp group where he “presented arguments from foreign scholars that every Muslim must, to the extent of his abilities, wage struggle against the infidels.” According to the witness, he met Khalilov in a mosque in the Aleksandrovka district of Nalchik, and the latter allegedly told him that in 2018 in Saudi Arabia he became acquainted with natives of the North Caucasian regions, including Artur Sabanchiev, who was collecting money for the needs of “brothers conducting armed struggle against government forces in Syria.” According to the witness, the 150 thousand rubles that Khalilov handed to Sabanchiev in cash were intended to assist members of the organization “Imarat Kavkaz.”
Anzor Khalilov published a copy of Kardanov’s testimony on his social media page. In it, the witness claims to have known Khalilov since 2015, as he participated in construction work on one of his sites and regularly met him in the mosque during Friday prayers. According to Kardanov, he maintained friendly relations with Khalilov.
Khalilov himself, commenting on the accusation against him, stated that he does not know any Kardanov. He believes this is a fictitious character because, at his request, such a person was searched for and not found. Khalilov also stated that he never administered a WhatsApp group.
According to Khalilov, the money he transferred to Sabanchiev’s mother’s card in 2018 was intended for the treatment of his [Sabanchiev’s] wife, who had been diagnosed with cancer. He emphasized that at that time Sabanchiev was not wanted and was not in the registry of terrorists and extremists. Whether he handed over 150 thousand rubles while on Hajj in Saudi Arabia, the developer does not remember: according to him, he gave zakyat, the amount of which could be larger.
At the end of September, Anzor Khalilov published a video address to the head of Kabardino-Balkaria, Kazbek Kokov, on his page. He stated that the criminal case on financing terrorism against him was fabricated. “This will change not only my life—it will change the lives of my children, my parents, my relatives, friends, and even those people who purchased real estate from me. Under this article, they have the right to take away all property completely,” he says in the video.
Earlier in September, Khalilov stated that he had been threatened with prosecution in the republic and demanded 80 million rubles. “They named the amount: first 70 million, then added another 10 million, said 80 million. I didn’t have that kind of money to pay them. They said: ‘We will create problems for you,’” the developer says in a video published on September 17, after which the case on financing terrorism appeared.
Khalilov also drew attention to the fact that claims from law enforcement against both him and Sabanchiev arose only in 2024. “Based on what is happening to me and what they are trying to attribute to me, I have serious doubts that Sabanchiev did anything (illegal),” the businessman notes.
Notably, Khalilov’s wife was persecuted for “disrespecting the anthem.” In the summer of 2024, she was among the parents of Nalchik school graduates who did not stand up from their seats during the performance of the Russian national anthem at the graduation ceremony. At that time, security forces drew up administrative protocols against nine people, at least eight of whom were fined.
https://www.instagram.com/khalilov_group
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DO3v3zJiPXj/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==
https://sk-news.ru/news/pravo/89440
Artur Zhakamukhov, another businessman from Nalchik, was arrested in Moscow. Zhakamukhov had lived in the United States in recent years and criticized Putin on social media. The decision to arrest him was made by the Khamovnichesky District Court of Moscow on January 19.
Artur Zhakamukhov owned a restaurant in the Moscow suburb of Balashikha, and in 2022 he left for the United States and settled in Seattle. There he “attended rallies against Putin” and posted on the social network VKontakte about these actions, according to “Ostorozhno, novosti” [“Caution, News”].
On social media, the man also published posts from a Ukrainian project about prisoners, criticized the actions of Russian military on the territory of Ukraine, and in one of his last publications “congratulated” one of the Ukrainian units—recognized as an extremist organization in the Russian Federation—on Defender of the Fatherland Day.
Artur Zhakamukhov also participated in a memorial action held in the United States after the death of politician Alexei Navalny. He published on social media a photo with a placard reading “I do not vote for Putin” and a video address on the topic—in it he called Putin an “international criminal” and emphasized that he had never voted for him, according to the human rights project “OVD-Info.”
Data on the 44-year-old native of Nalchik were added to the Rosfinmonitoring registry of terrorists and extremists on October 31; next to the name Artur Zhakamukhov there is an asterisk indicating involvement in terrorism, according to a Telegram bot tracking updates to the list.
The reasons for Artur Zhakamukhov’s return to Russia from the United States are not named by any source. There is also no information on when exactly he returned and was detained. His company, registered since 2021 in Balashikha—LLC “Forest Foods”—Zhakamukhov liquidated in January 2023, according to data from the counterparty verification portal inJust.
https://www.youtube.com/post/UgkxVjSSpyOPWgw_-FquuNFI1m48o_qcPlxd https://www.youtube.com/shorts/x3mh0MFZ7Hg
Repression Against Minors.
In January, a 16-year-old resident of Kabardino-Balkaria was placed in custody, accused of attacking police officers in Nalchik on July 4, 2025, when a traffic police unit stopped a taxi that ran a red light. A young man jumped out of the car with a knife in his hand and attacked one of the officers. The 27-year-old police lieutenant received about 12 stab wounds. Sources reported that one attacker was shot dead, while the second, a teenager, fled. According to the accused’s relatives, the boy simply became confused and chose to hide out of fear, since the attack was not planned at all, and the person who actually attacked was under the influence of narcotic substances.
Another 16-year-old teenager, a resident of the village of Shalushka, was detained for preparing a terrorist act.
According to law enforcement, a resident of the republic born in 2008 was preparing an assassination attempt on Nalchik police officers on instructions received via an internet messenger from “curators” of a terrorist organization. The case is being investigated under Part 2 of Article 205.5 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (participation in the activities of a terrorist organization) and Part 3 of Article 30, Part 2 of Article 205 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (preparation of a terrorist act). The accusation has been brought against the 16-year-old local resident; he has been placed in custody, the republican Investigative Committee department reported on its website.
Part 2 of Article 205.5 of the Criminal Code provides for 10 to 20 years of imprisonment; Part 2 of Article 205 provides for 12 to 20 years.
https://kbrria.ru/proisshestviya/ZapodgotovkuteraktavKabardinoBalkariizaderzhan16letniypodrostok https://t.me/gazetayuga/10747
The internet publication “Kavkazsky Uzel” [Caucasian Knot] drew attention to the fact that criminal cases of this kind against minors are becoming a frightening trend.
Thus, on May 19, 2025, in Stavropol Krai, nine people—including eight teenagers—were placed in custody on suspicion of preparing attacks on police officers.
On October 19, 2025, it became known that an 11th-grade student from the Dagestani village of Khuchni was arrested on suspicion of participating in the activities of a terrorist organization. The schoolboy’s relatives considered him a victim of provocation.
The version of the investigation raises doubts, analysts agreed. “The increasing cases of persecution of teenagers under terrorism articles, including in Dagestan, in my opinion, are part of an anti-people, criminally commissioned policy by enemies of Russia who have infiltrated Russian state authorities,” said, in particular, Colonel of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Candidate of Legal Sciences Amir Kolov.
According to lawyer and expert in international law Roman Melnichenko, special legislation has been built in Russia for working with “unstable” minors. As an example, he cited Federal Law No. 120-FZ “On the Fundamentals of the System for Preventing Neglect and Juvenile Delinquency” of June 24, 1999.
“This law has created a mechanism of quasi-prison detention for Russian children. Teenagers are placed in ‘Temporary Detention Centers for Juvenile Offenders of the Internal Affairs Bodies.’ The list of grounds for placement in such a children’s penitentiary institution is presented in the law with such a huge list that it is not difficult for law enforcement agencies to isolate any child from society and from parents,” Roman Melnichenko explained to “Kavkazsky Uzel.”
He emphasized that the practice of placing minors in Temporary Detention Centers “is very popular and has essentially become a de facto lowering of the age of criminal responsibility.” “After all, these centers are prisons for children, only with milder conditions,” the lawyer stated.
https://www.kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/420010
Use of the Punishment Cell as a Tool of Pressure.
Resident of Kabardino-Balkaria Rustam Kurmanov was transferred from the punishment cell to a general cell in the Nalchik pre-trial detention center after his wife appealed to human rights defenders. The health of the prisoner, who spent more than six months in the punishment cell, has been seriously undermined.
The resident of the village of Novaya Balkariya was detained on July 10, 2025, after which he was taken into custody on charges of participating in the activities of an extremist organization in connection with involvement in the movement “At-Takfir wal-Hijra,” the existence of which some experts question. According to Kurmanov’s wife, he was almost immediately placed in a punishment cell, where he was subjected to psychological and physical torture.
According to his wife Asiyat Gaboeva, this is how they want to obtain a confession from him.
https://ovd.info/express-news/2025/12/25/obvinyaemogo-v-prichastnosti-k-takfir-val-khidzhra-s-iyulya-derzhat-v https://kompromat1.online/articles/363166-v_naljchike_obvinjaemogo_v_ekctremizme_derzhat_polgoda_v_kartsere
According to “Kavkazsky Uzel,” after Asiyat Gaboeva’s appeals to human rights organizations, her husband Rustam Kurmanov was released from the punishment cell. “Health problems remain, and the violations committed over almost six months have not received any assessment. The period of Rustam’s detention in the punishment cell—from July 10 to December 25, 2025. He was held in harsh conditions—in cold and dampness,” Asiyat Gaboeva told “Kavkazsky Uzel.”
No formal explanations or decisions on the reasons for such prolonged detention were provided by the pre-trial detention center administration either to Kurmanov or to his lawyer. “We raised this issue at the court hearing on extending detention, but the court did not respond,” Gaboeva pointed out.
Rustam Kurmanov’s physical and mental health has been seriously undermined by the conditions of the punishment cell.
Asiyat Gaboeva also reported that she was unable to secure a meeting with her husband. “We learn about his condition only through a hired lawyer or at court hearings. The last time I saw him in person was on December 4, 2025, in court during the extension of the measure of restraint,” she added.
https://www.kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/419871
Pressure on the National Intellectual Elite.
Professor Murat Khokonov has been suing Kabardino-Balkarian State University for several years: the head of the Department of Theoretical and Experimental Physics has already won two court cases but still cannot return to teaching.
In January, the Judicial Collegium of the Supreme Court of Kabardino-Balkaria overturned the decision of the Nalchik City Court to reinstate Professor Murat Khokonov as head of the department at KBSU. This decision contradicts three previously issued court verdicts.
The professor was dismissed on September 4, 2023, after his three-day trip to Turkey for the wedding of his friend’s daughter, a member of the KBSU Board of Trustees. Khokonov had notified the management in advance of the trip. He was dismissed on the grounds of “termination of access to state secrets.” Khokonov himself linked the dismissal to his speech at the academic council, where he raised the issue of the low salary level of KBSU teachers amid the high salaries of administrative staff. In May 2024, the Supreme Court of Kabardino-Balkaria granted Khokonov’s claim and ordered his reinstatement as head of the department. On June 3, 2024, Khokonov reported that he was handed two orders at the university at once—on reinstatement and on suspension from work due to being deprived of access to state secrets.
The Judicial Collegium of the Supreme Court of the KBR reviewed the appeal and overturned the decisions of the Nalchik City Court, under which the university was to reinstate Khokonov in his position and pay him his salary.
Murat Khokonov called the decision unlawful. “The decision of the collegium chaired by Bizhoeva M.M. contradicts both the decision of the Judicial Collegium for Administrative Cases of the Supreme Court of the KBR of August 22, 2025, which established the fact of non-execution of the city court decision of February 6, 2025, and the enforcement document and the actual non-admission of me to work. Thus, the decision of the collegium for civil cases of the Supreme Court of the KBR of December 18, 2025, contradicts three already existing judicial acts of the Supreme Court of the KBR: of July 16, 2024, August 22, 2025, and the decision on my reinstatement of May 22, 2024). The Supreme Court of the KBR decision on my reinstatement was not appealed by the university, which means it agreed with this decision,” he noted.
Khokonov believes that the rector of KBSU is obliged to reinstate him pursuant to the Supreme Court of the KBR decision of May 22, 2024, and asserts that he will seek enforcement of this decision.
https://memorialcenter.org/ru/news/verhovnyj-sud-kbr-otmenil-reshenie-po-delu-professora-hokonova https://memorialcenter.org/stories/delo-murata-hokonova
Ignoring of Citizens’ Appeals by Authorities.
Residents of buildings 2A, 4, and 6B on Kulieva Street in Nalchik are seeking a ban on the construction of a multi-story building on the courtyard territory right next to the houses. They appealed to the head of the republic, noting that for seven years they have been unable to get an appointment with him.
Owners of a garage cooperative have seized a land plot in a residential area of Nalchik and intend to build a multi-story building there. The residents cannot return the plot to their ownership despite repeated court decisions in their favor, Nalchik residents complained in a video address to the head of Kabardino-Balkaria Kazbek Kokov back in May 2024.
According to them, communications, normal passage between houses, lighting, privatized garages, and the boiler room are under threat. According to the residents, the dispute has been going on for seven years, but city officials do not support the people’s interests.
Another appeal by the residents of the houses on Kulieva Street to the head of Kabardino-Balkaria was published in January 2026 on the YouTube channel “Made in KBR.”
“We, the residents of Kulieva Street, 6B, Kulieva 4, and Kulieva 2A, have gathered with a request to ban the illegal construction. We are tired of monologues and dialogues with all officials. The courts have confirmed that this is illegal construction, but your city administration is doing everything to make this construction happen,” one of the participants in the address said.
The residents of the houses have been trying for seven years to get an appointment with the head of the republic. “For seven years we have been signing up to see you. For seven years you have not received us. How many petitions we have written, how many times we have appealed to you, to all officials—we are brushed off everywhere,” one participant in the address complained.
The residents stated that “the state does not care about ordinary people” and said they intend to appeal to the General Prosecutor’s Office. “Work is ongoing, even though there are still courts, but their work is proceeding,” they noted.
Court Against the Interests of Orphans. The court terminated, due to the expiration of the statute of limitations, the criminal case against an inspector of the Ministry of Construction of the KBR who issued positive acts for houses for orphaned children in which there was no gas supply.
Earlier, in January 2022, housing with mold, leaking ceilings, plywood walls, and without gas supply (without heat) was given to orphans in the KBR. In Baksan, it was precisely such an apartment that officials gave to 24-year-old Aida Sharibova, who has four small children. The Investigative Committee conducted an inspection.
In December 2024, the Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee for the KBR, based on materials from the prosecutor’s office, initiated a criminal case against two employees of the republic’s Ministry of Construction and Housing and Communal Services suspected of official forgery that entailed substantial violation of the rights and legitimate interests of citizens.
According to the investigation, in November of this year, inspectors of the department of regional state supervision of the Ministry of Construction, during an inspection of a recently constructed multi-apartment residential building in Nalchik, entered knowingly false information into official documents about the building’s compliance with design documentation and regulatory requirements.
On the basis of fictitious documents, the Nalchik administration issued a permit for the commissioning of the house “in the presence of numerous violations and deficiencies committed by the developer”: landscaping of the territory, roof waterproofing, and provision of access to entrances for people with limited mobility were not carried out.
In February 2025, another criminal case was initiated by the Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee for the KBR against former employees of the regional Ministry of Construction. They were also charged with official forgery. According to the investigation, in October 2019, the head of the department of inspection work and supervision of shared construction of the department of state construction supervision of the Ministry of Construction and the chief state inspector of this department inspected new buildings in Baksan. Despite numerous violations, including the absence of gasification, they entered knowingly false information into the acts about the houses’ compliance with technical regulations and design documentation. On the basis of these documents submitted to the Baksan administration, the developer received a permit for commissioning.
However, in January 2026 it became known that the court terminated, due to the expiration of the statute of limitations, the criminal case against an inspector of the Ministry of Construction of the KBR who issued positive acts for houses for orphaned children in which there was no gas supply.
Khasansh B. was supposed to exercise construction supervision over the construction of two 30-apartment buildings in Baksan—they were built by LLC “Nedvizhimost – Nalchik.” The apartments were intended for orphans and children left without parental care. B. and another employee of the Ministry of Construction, whose criminal case was separated into separate proceedings, knowing that there was no gas supply at the facilities, signed the necessary acts and conclusions for commissioning. Moreover, they did this—as the investigation and the court concluded—“in an effort to extract non-property benefit,” wishing to “embellish the actual state of affairs, show the completion of the capital construction facilities assigned to them.” Among other things, the court considered these actions to have “entailed substantial discreditation and undermining of the authority” of the Ministry of Construction of the KBR.
Since more than six years have passed since the commission of the crime (the circumstances occurred at the end of 2019), the court granted B. and his defense’s motion to terminate the case due to the expiration of the statute of limitations. No one objected. The victims did not appear in court.
https://t.me/The_Circassian_Times/14298
Criminal Punishment as a Tool for Eliminating Competitors in a Land Dispute.
In the Supreme Court of Kabardino-Balkaria, an appeal by Leonid Gordienko, a resident of the stanitsa of Ekaterinogradskaya in Prokhladnensky District, against the verdict of the Prokhladnensky District Court of June 5, 2025, is under consideration. In January 2026, the court postponed its consideration for the sixth time already—in this case until February 16. Meanwhile, Leonid Gordienko has been in places of deprivation of liberty since 2023; his health has seriously deteriorated. He underwent surgery and needs treatment.
Earlier, the Prokhladnensky District Court sentenced Leonid Gordienko and Stavropol entrepreneur Vladimir Sumarokov to imprisonment on charges of commercial bribery of kolkhoz members for voting in favor of Gordienko (Part 4 of Article 204 of the Criminal Code) at a kolkhoz meeting for the election of chairman. Gordienko was sentenced to four years and six months of imprisonment, Sumarokov to five years. This is the maximum penalty provided by this article.
The investigative bodies of Prokhladny considered the transfer by Vladimir Sumarokov of three tons of combined feed for animals to 80 needy families of the stanitsa in May 2023 as commercial bribery—in the form of humanitarian aid.
Many residents of the stanitsa believe that the criminal case against Gordienko and Sumarokov was fabricated in order to remove them from the farm and seize kolkhoz land—which ultimately happened.
It all began on June 30, 2022, when the Appellate Arbitration Court decided to return 13 thousand hectares of land to the kolkhoz, which had previously passed into the use of LLC “Novoe Vremya.” In order not to comply with the court decision and not return the land to the kolkhoz, this criminal case was initiated. Shortly after the kolkhoz meeting—which opponents of the kolkhoz members tried to disrupt by sending people in uniform to the meeting place.
Approximately a month later, in September 2023, the elected chairman Leonid Gordienko was arrested. Since then, Gordienko—a man of age who worked his whole life in the kolkhoz named after the Petrovs and never violated the law—has been held in places of deprivation of liberty as a criminal. The question arises—what did Leonid Gordienko do to be kept in detention for the third year? When providing humanitarian aid, no condition was set to vote “for” Gordienko. Nevertheless, law enforcement officers found the elements of a crime in this.
Meanwhile, those who wanted to take control of the kolkhoz land successfully did so. Law enforcement saw no violation of the law in their actions. Gordienko’s case, however, is still not being reviewed.
https://t.me/nafod_kontrol/519
In January 2026, six people were sentenced by the Nalchik Garrison Military Court to real terms for unauthorized absence from the unit during the period of mobilization.
In particular:
· Anzor Kulimov was sentenced to 6 years in a general regime colony. Serviceman Kulimov was found guilty under Part 5 of Article 337 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, reported the Nalchik Garrison Military Court on its VKontakte page. According to the court, Kulimov twice, on May 3 and July 23, 2025, without valid reasons, committed unauthorized absence from the place of service during the period of mobilization. In the first case, Kulimov was discovered by representatives of the military unit in Nalchik on June 10, and in the second—on October 20 by employees of the military commandant’s office in Nalchik. At the same time, from May 3 to June 10 and from July 23 to October 20, Kulimov spent time at his own discretion at home, the court established.
https://vk.ru/wall-215822488_2457
· Adam Evloev was sentenced to 1 year in a general regime colony. Serviceman Evloev was found guilty under Part 3.1 of Article 337 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, reported the Nalchik Garrison Military Court on its VKontakte page. According to the court, Evloev without valid reasons “on November 7, 2025, that is, during the period of mobilization,” failed to appear at the appointed time for service in the military unit. “On November 18, Evloev voluntarily arrived at the military investigative department in the stanitsa of Troitskaya, Sunzhensky District, Ingushetia, and from November 7 to 18, 2025, spent time at his own discretion at his place of residence,” the publication states.
https://vk.ru/wall-215822488_2460
· Mukhamed Bavokov was sentenced to 7 years of imprisonment for two departures from the unit. In November 2025, a military court in Nalchik sentenced Mukhamed Bavokov to six years in a colony, finding him guilty of two episodes of leaving the place of service—on October 30, 2023, and March 13, 2025. Serviceman from Kabardino-Balkaria Mukhamed Bavokov was again convicted for leaving the military unit during the period of mobilization. Previously sentenced to six years for two episodes of evasion of service, he was now assigned seven years in a colony, reports “Gazeta Yuga.”
Bavokov was charged under Part 3.1 of Article 337 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, reported the Nalchik Garrison Military Court on its VKontakte page. According to the court, “on August 28, 2025, that is, during the period of mobilization,” Bavokov without valid reasons unauthorizedly left the military unit in Mozdok. “On September 25, 2025, Bavokov voluntarily appeared at the military investigative department located in the city of Nalchik, and from August 28 to September 25, 2025, spent time at his own discretion,” the publication states.
“Taking into account the actual circumstances of the case and data on the personality of the defendant, Bavokov was assigned a final punishment for the aggregate of crimes in the form of real imprisonment for a term of 7 years in a general regime correctional colony, with credit for the period served under the previous sentence toward the final punishment,” the court reported.
https://vk.ru/wall-215822488_2458
· Asker Dzhalalov was sentenced to 1 year in a general regime colony. Serviceman Dzhalalov was found guilty under Part 3.1 of Article 337 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, reports the Nalchik Garrison Military Court on its VKontakte page. According to the court, Dzhalalov without valid reasons “on October 15, 2025, during the period of mobilization” failed to appear at the military unit. He spent time at his own discretion. “On November 10, 2025, Dzhalalov arrived at the place of service and began performing official duties, and from October 15 to November 10, 2025, spent time at his own discretion at his place of residence,” the message states.
https://vk.ru/wall-215822488_2461
· Zalim Bekov was sentenced to 5 years in a general regime colony. Serviceman Bekov was found guilty under Part 5 of Article 337 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, reported the Nalchik Garrison Military Court on its VKontakte page. According to the court, Bekov without valid reasons “on March 5, 2025, that is, during the period of mobilization,” committed unauthorized absence from the military unit. “On July 18, 2025, Bekov voluntarily appeared at the military unit, and from March 5 to July 18 spent time at his own discretion at his place of residence,” the publication states.
https://vk.ru/wall-215822488_2463
· Rinat Kurmanaev was sentenced to 5 years in a general regime colony. Serviceman Kurmanaev was found guilty under Part 5 of Article 337 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (provides for five to ten years of imprisonment), reported the Nalchik Garrison Military Court on its VKontakte page. According to the court, Kurmanaev without valid reasons “on September 2, 2024, that is, during the period of mobilization,” failed to appear at the appointed time for service in the military unit. “On April 13, 2025, Kurmanaev was discovered by police officers on the territory of Kabardino-Balkaria, and from September 2, 2024, to April 13, 2025, Kurmanaev spent time at his own discretion at his place of residence,” the court publication states.
https://vk.ru/wall-215822488_2465
In total, in January 2026 alone, 6 people in Kabardino-Balkaria were sentenced to real terms for unauthorized absence from the unit during the period of mobilization.
At the same time, on September 21, 2022, Vladimir Putin announced partial mobilization, and on October 28 of the same year, the Minister of Defense reported to the president on its completion, but no corresponding decree followed. Lawyers concluded that no presidential decree is needed to complete partial mobilization, explained Putin’s press secretary.
It is important that all the incidents described above occurred much later than October 28, 2022—that is, after the completion of partial mobilization.
On September 24, 2022, Parts 2.1, 3.1, and 5 of Article 337 on unauthorized absence from a unit or place of service during the period of mobilization were introduced into the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The amendments provide for imprisonment for up to 10 years. The tightening of laws after the announcement of mobilization led to harsher sentences for absence from the military unit.
At the same time, since the beginning of the military operation in Ukraine, according to reports from authorities and security forces, at least 363 fighters from Kabardino-Balkaria have been officially recognized as killed on the Ukrainian front. Thus, in January 2026 alone, it became known that 4 residents of the republic would not return from the SVO:
· Azamat Bichekuev from Elbrussky District; · Khasan Dzhesh, Safarbi Beslaneev, and Isuf Kumyshev from Baksan.
Court in Nalchik Convicted a Serviceman of Fraud Against Wounded Soldiers Who Were Ready to Pay to Stay Alive.
The Nalchik Garrison Military Court sentenced serviceman Alexander Pavlyukov to nine years in a strict regime colony for fraud against wounded military personnel, to whom he promised evacuation from the line of combat for money.
The court established that in March 2025, while in the area of combat operations—“that is, on territory where martial law has been introduced”—Pavlyukov knew about the wounding of two servicemen. He offered them, for monetary reward, assistance in their evacuation from the line of combat contact, the press service of the Nalchik Garrison Military Court reported today on VKontakte.
Believing him and agreeing to Pavlyukov’s conditions, the servicemen transferred money to his bank account. One serviceman transferred 500 thousand rubles to him, and the other—300 thousand rubles, which Pavlyukov disposed of at his own discretion in each case.
The convicted fully admitted guilt. When passing the sentence, the court took into account the recidivism of the man’s crimes, who, while serving a sentence for six episodes of fraud, signed a contract.
Pavlyukov was found guilty of committing two crimes under Part 3 of Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation each and sentenced to 9 years of imprisonment in a strict regime correctional colony, the court’s press service reported.
According to the case card on the court’s website, Alexander Pavlyukov’s case arrived at the court on January 19, and at the very first hearing on January 28, the verdict was pronounced.
https://vk.ru/wall-215822488_2462
In Lithuania, the Issue of Recognizing the Genocide of the Circassians by the Russian Federation Was Raised.
Against the backdrop of the situation in the republic, Circassian activists are making attempts to achieve historical justice and recognition of the genocide of the Circassians by Russia. In this regard, in December 2025, a conference was held in Lithuania attended by Circassians now forced to live abroad, including Circassian scholars whose participation forms an important academic foundation for such events and does not allow initiatives related to the Circassian issue to be reduced solely to political activism. Among the speakers: Doctor of Philosophical Sciences, Professor at Linnaeus University (Sweden) Madina Tlostanova; Doctor of Philosophy, Senior Professor of Practice at Tulane University (USA) Lidia Zhigunova; author of the book “Circassia: Born to Be Free,” researcher of Circassian history and the Circassian genocide Adel Bashkavi.
The speakers discussed issues of historical memory, the right to return, and international recognition of the Circassian people. Following the conference, a resolution was adopted addressing the Parliament of Lithuania with a call to recognize the genocide of the Circassian people.
In January 2026, Circassian internet resources shared what they considered the most important theses of the speakers.
In particular, Doctor of Philosophical Sciences, Professor at Linnaeus University (Sweden) Madina Tlostanova made the following statement at the conference:
“Manipulation of memory was carried out with the aim of hollowing out from Circassians the sense of self-awareness, human dignity, collective will, responsibility, and resistance to the imposed historical fate.
As a result, only pitiful crumbs of theatrical multiculturalism with decorative national dances, decades of national literature or showy figures of national scholars, as well as the absurd status of autonomous republics and territories—which was presented to the people as national independence and sovereignty, but in reality was a form of recolonization masquerading as decolonization—remained for us.
However, in post-Soviet Russia, even this deceptive tactic gave way to an open refusal by the empire to allow its colonies to develop economically, intellectually, and especially politically.”
Professor at Tulane University (USA) Lidia Zhigunova stated: “The North-Western Caucasus became the only region of the Caucasus where the indigenous population was almost completely exterminated and replaced by settlers. Such cities as Novorossiysk, Tuapse, Sochi, Anapa were built on the ruins of Circassian settlements. Monuments to the generals of the Russian Empire responsible for these atrocities still stand in these places.
Novorossiysk was founded on the site of Tsemez—that was the original Circassian name of the bay, which later turned into a major Russian port bringing wealth to the state through maritime trade and resource extraction. Meanwhile, the Circassian population remains expelled and alienated from its homeland.”
It is important that the issue of recognizing the Circassian genocide in Russia is criminalized, and involved activists are subjected to repression.
Conclusion. The events covered in the January 2026 report in Kabardino-Balkaria represent a visualization of a steady vector toward consistent prolonged violation of basic human rights. Indigenous peoples are the most vulnerable, subjected to selective persecution and discrimination—for the reporting period, the most pronounced pressure fell on representatives of the business environment and academic intelligentsia.
A disturbing aspect of the repressions has been the increasing cases of judicial persecution of minors, which also works as a blow to the national gene pool.
Particular attention is required by the number of cases on charges of leaving the unit during the period of mobilization—a direct testimony that residents of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic, despite the threat of imprisonment, in every way tried to avoid involvement in the war against Ukraine. Contract soldiers from the republic were among the first in the Russian Federation to massively refuse to go to the front; in the capital of the republic, popular gatherings against the announced military mobilization actively took place. Human rights defenders of the republic demanded an end to taking residents to war, as this leads in fact to the “extermination of the gene pool.” Those who failed to avoid participation in military actions are often ready to pay substantial sums to leave the escalation zone, which fraudsters from higher levels of the Ministry of Defense take advantage of. The war requires funds—and employees of local administrations of the republic, through threats, force merchants and farmers to contribute funds in favor of the SVO.
Kabardino-Balkaria is a republic where the systemic and growing tendency to ignore generally accepted standards of protection of citizens’ rights and freedoms requires close attention from the international community.