A Chechen native has disappeared after being detained in Cairo and deported to Moscow.

Local media reported on Tuesday that Yusup Musayev had been detained at Cairo International Airport earlier this month at the request of Russian authorities. On 18 September, Musayev was deported to Russia.

No one has heard from him since his plane arrived at Sheremetyevo Airport in Moscow later that same day.

According to Chechen opposition movement 1adat, once in Russia, Musayev was kidnapped by Chechen security forces and taken to Chechnya.

‘Musayev's friends and relatives do not know where Yusup is and fear for his life’, 1adat wrote on their Telegram channel.

According to them, Musayev, along with some of his friends, had previously been kidnapped by Chechen security forces in April 2023.

‘They were kidnapped because the officers found their appearance suspicious, because they looked like religious people. During the torture, they repeatedly said, “Why aren’t you like everyone else?” ’, 1adat told OC Media. 

In addition to being kidnapped, Musayev was forced to record a video in which he confessed to planning an attack on police officers. Such public confessions are common in Chechnya.

Musayev was reportedly later released on the condition that he would be under surveillance, after which he decided to leave the country.

‘He went to Egypt to learn Arabic. He studied at a local school and didn’t bother anyone. Yusup decided to go to Saudi Arabia to perform a minor pilgrimage, but upon his arrival back to Egypt from Saudi Arabia, he was detained by Egyptian police’, 1adat said. 

They added that when they contacted Musayev, he said that he would be sent straight to Moscow at the request of Russia.

They believe that Russian authorities in Chechnya took an interest in Musayev now due to their dissatisfaction with their inability to ‘make him a snitch’.

‘Tantamount to a death sentence’

In recent years, there have been numerous reports of Chechens disappearing and even being killed by Chechen security forces after being deported to Russia.

On 23 September, Chechen human rights organisation Vayfond wrote on Telegram that another native of Chechnya, Dzhabrail Musikhanov, faced deportation to Russia after being detained by Austria on a Russian Interpol notice.

Vayfond said Musikhanov had been diagnosed with a severe form of blood cancer and is in critical condition.

‘Considering his state of health, extradition to Russia would be tantamount to a death sentence, since Russian prisons do not have the proper conditions for treating such diseases’, they wrote on Telegram.

Vayfond has called on Austrian authorities to refrain from extraditing Musikhanov, arguing that the ‘extradition of a person with a serious illness who does not receive proper medical care violates his right to life and humane treatment’.

Representatives from the local Chechen diaspora have begun looking for a lawyer to take Musikhanov’s case.

Musikhanov arrived in Austria via Turkey around one month ago. The reason why he was placed on the Interpol wanted list is unknown.