On May 20, 19-year-old resident of Chechnya Yasin Khalidov was detained at the Isilkul automobile border checkpoint in the Omsk region while trying to cross the border with Kazakhstan. Novaya Gazeta writes that this is a former Chechen police officer who is being persecuted for quitting his service. The article also claims that the Yangulbaev brothers, a Chechen human rights activist, promised to help Khalidov escape, but deceived him and doomed him to certain death. The brothers themselves told The Insider that Khalidov is a “war criminal,” while Yelena Milashina, the author of the article, is campaigning to smear them.
What did Novaya Gazeta say?
- Yasin Khalidov, whose late father was in the FSB, was hired by the police at the age of 17, before he even had a high school diploma. Then he was transferred to serve in the National Guard, and in September 2022 he was sent to Ukraine, where he spent four months. While in Ukraine, Khalidov tried to resign from his service, but was not released, and was also threatened with a criminal case for terrorism if he continued to try to leave;
- Returning to Chechnya in January, Khalidov fled and sought help from Ibragim and Baisangur Yangulbaev, who are known as human rights activists and administrators of the Chechen Telegram channel 1Adat. They promised to help with the escape, although they had no experience of such operations, and demanded that Khalidov give them information about the Chechen police and his participation in the war. The fugitive policeman was forced to agree, but asked that none of the information he had given be published until he was safe outside of Russia;
- The Yangulbaevs deceived Khalidov and in early April published an investigation under the heading "Federal Terrorism". They blocked Khalidov in messengers and did not help him;
- Khalidov "at the last moment" turned to other human rights activists, and when they contacted the Yangulbaevs, they replied: "If the Kadyrovites kill a Kadyrovite, then so be it";
- Khalidov will most likely be handed over to the Chechen security forces. Relatives of the fugitive policeman have already "been detained and subjected to physical and psychological pressure."
After being detained at the border checkpoint, Khalidov was handed over to employees of the Center for Combating Extremism (CPE) of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for Omsk. The duty unit of Novaya Gazeta reported that the young man had been detained because he was on the federal wanted list at the request of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the city of Shali of the Chechen Republic. “After Khalidov is transferred to Chechnya, most likely by plane this evening or tomorrow morning, he will be officially placed in the detention center in the city of Shali,” the duty unit said.
Ibragim and Baysangur Yangulbaev told The Insider that Yasin Khalidov, despite his young age, is involved in many crimes and could be dangerous for Chechen dissidents abroad if he managed to infiltrate their environment.
What the Yangulbaevs say
- While in Ukraine, Khalidov committed certain "war crimes";
- Khalidov worked for the authorities from the age of 14, engaged in provocations, recruiting Chechen youth to participate in attacks on "Kadyrovites", after which the victims of these provocations were imprisoned or killed;
- Khalidov got into trouble with his superiors because of drugs and the fact that, while participating in patrolling the occupied Energodar (Zaporozhye region), he “engaged in crime” against the local population without permission;
- After learning the details of Khalidov's biography, the Yangulbaevs decided that he wanted to flee not out of remorse, but out of fear of punishment;
- Ibragim Yangulbaev wrote to Elena Milashina with a request to help Khalidov when he only turned to them, but she did not answer;
- The Yangulbaevs planned to make public the details of Khalidov's biography if he managed to get out of Russia, as they feared that he would continue to work for the Chechen authorities and would "knock" on oppositionists abroad;
- The investigation "Federal Terrorism" does not mention the name of Khalidov, and he himself was on the federal wanted list even before publication;
- Khalidov turned to the Chechen human rights organization Vayfond for help, but the Yangulbaevs are convinced that their staff could not help Khalidov escape.