Chechnya abducts Armenian businessperson from Moscow for ‘insulting Chechens’

Chechen security forces have abducted an Armenian-born businessperson, Areg Shchepikhin, from Moscow, citing his xenophobic remarks against Chechens and Muslims as justification for the detention.

Shchepikhin was reportedly abducted on Tuesday evening, after being forcibly dragged into the boot of a black Mercedes with a government license plate near Moscow’s Yaroslavsky railway station.

In footage captured by bystanders, Shchepikhin can be heard shouting ‘This is not the police!’.

According to Telegram channels close to law enforcement officers, the abductors were men from Chechnya, allegedly linked to Saidakhmed Eldarbiev — believed to be a close to relative of Chechen Head Ramzan Kadyrov. The car was later stopped on the Kyiv Highway, but Shchepikhin was no longer inside. Despite police being called to the scene, the group was allowed to leave without consequence.

The same Mercedes was spotted again the following morning near Yaroslavsky station. Six men suspected of involvement in the abduction were taken to a police station, but were soon released. While being questioned by journalists, they shouted ‘Akhmat power!’ and refused to comment. Accompanied by police, they left the station area.

The Russian Ministry of Defence TV channel Zvezda reported that the abductors identified themselves as members of the Russian National Guard (Rosgvardiya), calling the operation an ‘official intervention’. However, the National Guard itself has not confirmed this claim.

A few hours later, Chechen authorities stated that Shchepikhin had not been kidnapped, but ‘detained’ by security officers from Chechnya.

Chechnya’s Minister for National Policy and Information, Akhmed Dudaev, accused Shchepikhin of extremism, inciting hatred, rehabilitating Nazism, and of intending to rape children. He cited social media videos in which Shchepikhin made xenophobic remarks against Chechens and Muslims as justification for the detention.

‘Criminal Areg Shchepikhin, who openly and repeatedly called for ethnic cleansing and Nazism, insulted religion and God, expressed extremist views and spoke of his intent to rape underage children, was not kidnapped — he was detained by law enforcement officers working in coordination with Moscow’s relevant agencies,’ Dudaev wrote on Telegram.

Later, Telegram channel BAZA, known for its ties to law enforcement officers, released footage showing Shchepikhin at liberty again. In the video, Shchepikhin confirmed he had been ‘kidnapped by Chechens’ and taken outside the city. He said he was not tortured but was beaten: ‘They broke my ears with a pistol grip,’ he said.

He was interrogated in a café near Filatov Lug metro station, filmed throughout, and forced to apologise for earlier offensive videos. His interrogators questioned him about ties to Ukraine and the Russian opposition. Under duress, he recorded a video apologising and admitting to drug use.

Another Telegram channel, VChK-OGPU, which is linked to the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), claimed that Shchepikhin was released around midnight after a ‘green light from the Kremlin’, allegedly involving First Deputy FSB Director Sergei Korolyov, due to the public outcry and the visible overreach of the Chechen security personnel.

Russia’s Interior Ministry confirmed that an inquiry had been launched and six people were detained in relation to the case. The ministry also stated it was reviewing Shchepikhin’s own statements for possible extremist content.

The incident drew sharp criticism from human rights advocates.

Eva Merkacheva, a member of the Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights, noted that even if this had been a lawful detention, Chechen authorities were required to notify local agencies and follow standard procedure.

‘When these bearded men did all this, no one said “Rosgvardiya at work” to calm the crowd? That means they could easily be given credentials retroactively to make it seem they were with the Rosgvardiya or the Interior Ministry. This all needs to be investigated,’ Merkacheva told Telegram channel Ostorozhno Media.

Another member of the Human Rights Council, Marina Akhmedova, wrote on Telegram that ‘it does not matter what the blogger detained by the Chechens said or who he insulted’.

‘The only thing that matters is that his “detention” looked like a kidnapping — and that’s what it actually was. If there’s a criminal case against him, he should be detained according to the law. Not grabbed by a crowd of men in plain clothes and shoved into a boot. This damages the reputation of federal authorities — not because of the blogger’s statements, but because of the Chechen representatives who abducted him and are now trying to pass it off as legal,’ Akhmedova wrote.

Shchepikhin is an entrepreneur who describes himself as a ‘visionary’. On social media, he posts videos with xenophobic content targeting Chechens, Daghestanis, and Jewish people, as well as photographs with Russian officials and politicians.

His mother told journalists that his anti-Muslim stance, and particularly his animosity towards Islam, intensified following the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War in 2020.

Father of teen who attacked police post in Chechnya abducted in Moscow and taken to Chechnya

According to unverified reports, the father had his arms, legs, and ribs broken.

OC MediaElizaveta Chukharova