A 72-year-old pensioner has been detained in the village of Psedakh in the Malgobek district of Ingushetia, and a case has been opened against him for participation in an armed group. He reportedly provided free accommodation to a group linked to attacks on law enforcement officers led by Amirkhan Gurazhev.
According to investigators, in addition to providing premises, the pensioner, identified only by his last name Kottoev, supplied the attackers with food and medicine and drove them in his car. Thus, he ‘voluntarily joined the illegal armed group in 2023’, investigators claim.
The regional branch of Russia’s Investigative Committee also stated that Kottoev was involved in setting up four caches to store firearms and ammunition.
Besides providing his last name, the press release also stated that Kottoev was a resident of Psedakh and was born in 1953.
Kottoev allegedly provided the group with premises at a farm in the village of Voznesenskoe, the Interfax agency clarified, citing law enforcement data. Most likely, this Kottoev is Lecha Kottoev, the uncle of Movsar Kottoev, a member of the same armed group led by Gurazhev. He was killed in 2023.
On the night of 28 March 2023, an armed group led by Gurazhev fired at a police post on the border of Ingushetia and North Ossetia, injuring two police officers. In the following days, attacks continued in the villages of Gvardeyskoe and Zyazikov-Yurt — three police officers were killed and nine more were injured.
Six people were initially put on the wanted list. The day after the first attack, one of them, Ramazan Eldiev, was found dead in Karabulak. The body of Movsar Kottoev was found on 5 April in an abandoned house in the village of Aki-Yurt in the Malgobek district — a grenade had allegedly exploded in his vest.
Previous reports about Lecha Kottoev being detained on similar charges appeared back in 2023, the day before his nephew’s body was found. However, neither his arrest nor the alleged charges against Kottoev have been officially confirmed to this day.
On 7 April, another person on the wanted list, 22-year-old Amir Bokov, was detained. The next day, state media reported that security forces had detained a fourth attacker — 24-year-old Mikail Moshkhoev.
Gurazhev, 33, and several other alleged militants were killed a year later during the storming of a residential building in Karabulak.
Following Gurazhev’s death, Telegram channels linked to the Islamic State circulated his pledge of allegiance to the organisation. The group was also linked to the Islamic State by Russian security forces.
Elizaveta Chukharova
