A 62-year-old Chechen man was reportedly killed in a car collision with Chechen security forces who were chasing after a drone.
The opposition movement NIYSO has reported that the man, Takhir Vazakhanov, died on 9 May. No other sources have confirmed the reports.
According to NIYSO, the security forces’ vehicle was travelling at high speed when it collided with Vazarkhanov’s car.
The activists did not provide further details about the location of the collision or which specific units were involved in pursuing the drone. Chechen authorities have not commented on reports of the man’s death or on the alleged involvement of security forces personnel in the crash.
In the same publication, NIYSO also claimed that during the night before 9 May, security forces in Chechnya’s Nadterechny district allegedly opened fire on an aircraft after mistaking it for a drone. The activists said they did not have precise information about the type of aircraft involved or the consequences of the incident. These claims have also not been confirmed by other sources.
‘Whether it was a passenger or cargo aircraft remains unclear. The so-called air defence specialists spotted red lights and mistook them for a drone. As a result, the entire mobile group received a reprimand and a barrage of insults for such “professionalism’’. Fortunately, the aircraft was not damaged’, NIYSO said, without indicating their source.
The reports emerged amid a large-scale drone attack on Chechnya on the night of 9 May. According to the pro-government outlet Chechnya Segodnya, five drones were shot down over the republic. The authorities also reported six injured people.
Nate Ostiller
According to publications by Chechen state media, one of the drones fell onto the Abrek supermarket in the Shoipa-Mulla settlement in Grozny. Buildings belonging to the Federal Security Service (FSB) and the Interior Ministry, as well as the base of the Benoevsky battalion, are located near the site of the crash. Another drone struck the upper floors of a residential apartment block in the Ippodromny district of the Chechen capital. Damage to a private house in the village of Proletarskoe was also reported.
The NIYSO Telegram channel published photographs and video footage allegedly showing the aftermath of the strikes. According to the activists, explosions were heard in Grozny at around 05:40 local time. The footage showed damaged upper floors of a residential building, shattered windows and traces of destruction near the supermarket.
Despite the drone attack, Victory Day events went ahead across Chechnya.
The NIYSO movement regularly publishes reports about the actions of Chechen security forces, abductions, and raids in the republic. Some of the information has later been confirmed by independent media outlets, although many of the activists’ claims cannot be independently verified promptly because of restrictions on journalists’ access to information in Chechnya.
Earlier, the Supreme Court of Chechnya designated NIYSO as an ‘extremist organisation’.
Elizaveta Chukharova
