Security forces in Malgobek, Ingushetia carried out a special operation to detain a local resident over a social media comment connected to the activities of the Committee of Ingush Independence. Footage released by law enforcement agencies shows that the operation, conducted on 2 June, involved armed officers from the Federal Security Service (FSB) and the Russian National Guard (Rosgvardiya), as well as an armoured vehicle.
The Committee of Ingush Independence was established in 2023 by members of the Ingush diaspora outside Russia and advocates the creation of an independent Ingush state. The committee has also established cooperation with representatives of Ukraine’s Parliament. In April 2023, the committee announced the creation of a military wing known as the Ingush Liberation Army.
According to an official statement from the Ingush Interior Ministry, the detention was carried out by officers from the Centre for Countering Extremism and the Centre for Canine Services, working together with colleagues from other agencies.
The detainee, an unnamed 28-year-old unemployed resident of Malgobek, had previously been convicted of illegal drug possession. He has been charged with publicly justifying terrorism on the internet.
According to the ministry’s press release, investigators established that on 9 January the suspect, using an account on a social media platform, had posted a comment which, according to a linguistic expert examination, contained a ‘positive assessment of the activities of the leader of a banned organisation who is on the federal wanted list for committing five terrorist and extremist offences’. Neither the name of the leader nor that of the organisation was disclosed.
The detainee was placed under house arrest. In footage released by the authorities, he stands with his back to the camera, states that he ‘wrote a comment about the [Committee of Ingush Independence]’, and admits guilt.
In January 2024, the Russian Ministry of Justice designated the Committee of Ingush Independence a ‘foreign agent’. The decision stated that the organisation ‘calls for violations of Russia’s territorial integrity’ and ‘creates a negative image’ of the country.
The following month, criminal proceedings were initiated against the organisation’s chair, Akhmet Gudiev, on three terrorism-related charges.
In May of the same year, the Prosecutor General’s Office designated the committee an ‘undesirable organisation’, and in August 2024, the committee was added to the Federal Financial Monitoring Service (Rosfinmonitoring) ‘list of terrorists and extremists’.
In 2025, three members of the committee were added to Russia’s register of terrorists and extremists: the organisation’s co-founder and leader Ansar Garkho (Anzor Kartoev), its press secretary Ruslan Evloev, and journalist Magomed Torijev.
Elizaveta Chukharova
That same year, the organisation claimed responsibility for an explosion at the North Caucasus Police College in Nazran. There were no deaths or injuries.
Under Russian law, participation in the activities of an organisation designated as undesirable can result in administrative or criminal liability.
