The Nalchik City Court has fined 30-year-old Kabarda–Balkaria resident Murat Kardanov ₽30,000 ($370) after finding him guilty of failing to report a crime that threatened the region’s railway infrastructure.
According to the Russian news agency Interfax, the case was considered under a special procedure, as Kardanov had admitted his guilt and requested a judgment without a full trial.
According to the case materials, in May 2025, Kardanov’s acquaintance — known only by the surname Kushtov — told him that he had met a man at a dormitory in a construction settlement. In March, this man had reportedly made contact with a representative of the Ukrainian intelligence services, who allegedly offered him a reward to carry out an arson attack on the railway.
Kushtov received the target coordinates and subsequently acquired all necessary materials to prepare an incendiary mixture. In a conversation with Kardanov, he admitted that he had agreed to carry out the sabotage, but Kardanov did not report this to law enforcement authorities.
According to the prosecution, Kardanov remained silent about Kushtov’s plans, despite ‘being aware of the dangerous nature of his inaction’. Kardanov was charged with failing to report a crime of a terrorist, extremist, sabotage, or other nature, while his acquaintance was accused of preparing the sabotage.
According to the Russian criminal code, failure to report a crime is punishable by a fine of up to ₽100,000 ($1,200), a fine of the amount of the convicted person’s salary or other income for a period of up to six months, by compulsory labour for a term of up to one year, or by imprisonment for the same term.
In 2022, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) reported preventing a sabotage-terrorist act on transport infrastructure facilities in Kabarda–Balkaria. The FSB stated that they had discovered two armed individuals installing an explosive device under the railway tracks near the railway bridge over the V.I. Lenin Canal in the Soldatskaya area of Prokhladnensky District. During an attempt to detain the two suspects, the individuals allegedly resisted with weapons and were killed by return fire.
Since the start of 2025, 280 people have been detained in the North Caucasus on suspicion of terrorism, including attempts to join foreign groups and ‘Ukrainian nationalist formations’, FSB Director Aleksandr Bortnikov has reported. In its statements on such detentions, the security service usually does not specify any concrete evidence or materials supporting the suspects’ guilt.
Xandie (Alexandra) Kuenning
