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Category: Tatar-Bashkir

  • Russia Investigates Tatar Political Analyst In Exile

    PRISTINA — Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti says he will not suspend a move by the central bank to ban the circulation of the Serbian dinar in parts of the country with Serbian majorities but will accept the forming of an Association of Serb-Majority Municipalities once Belgrade agrees to sign a basic agreement on bilateral relations.

    The basic agreement for the normalization of relations with Serbia was reached in February 2023, and includes the formation of the association, which is expected to more adequately represent predominantly ethnic Serb areas in Kosovo.

    Kosovo is not a member of the European Union or its common currency area, the eurozone, but it unilaterally adopted the euro in 2002 to help bring monetary stability and to simplify and reduce transaction costs inside and outside the country.

    Serbia, which has never acknowledged its former province’s 2008 declaration of independence, still pays many ethnic Serbs at institutions in Serb-dominated parts of Kosovo in dinars. Many also hold their pensions and get child allowances in dinars.

    “Regarding the Serbian-dinar-versus-euro issue, it is Kosovo’s central bank that decides and they have already decided on December 27 last year,” Kurti told RFE/RL’s Balkan Service in an interview on March 19, arguing that the ban, which came into force on February 1, was meant to fight financial crime and terrorism.

    “We have, thanks to them, a new regulation that is going to enhance the integrity of the financial system to fight illicit activities financing terrorism,” Kurti said in Pristina on the same day top Serbian and Kosovar negotiators were holding bilateral meeting in Brussels with EU special envoy Miroslav Lajcak.

    The Serbian dinar ban was reported to be high on the agenda, although no joint trilateral meeting has been confirmed so far.

    The ban ratcheted up already high tensions between Serbia and Kosovo and threatened to scupper efforts by Washington and Brussels to get the dialogue between Pristina and Belgrade back on track.

    “The dinar is not banned in Kosovo, but the euro is the only means of payment,” Kurti told RFE/RL, echoing the central bank’s line that the ban doesn’t stop anyone from accepting money from any country, it just means the money is converted into euros.

    Still, the conversion adds a layer of cost and complication to the daily lives of ethnic Serbs still tied to the dinar.

    “We cannot allow bagfuls of dinars in cash to enter our country. (It can happen) only through official financial channels with full transparency, who sends money to whom and for what purpose,” Kurti said, adding that any disparities on the ground would have time to be smoothed out over the three-month transition period.

    “Serbia can send dinars, we will exchange them into euros and Serbs in Kosovo can benefit from that financial aid,” Kurti added.

    However, the U.S. envoy to the Western Balkans last week warned that the ban had caused problems for some citizens in the region and challenges for the U.S.-Kosovo relationship.

    Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Gabriel Escobar told RFE/RL on March 14 that Kosovo’s controversial decision on the dinar was “an issue that we need to address immediately.”

    Escobar said that the issue had presented challenges in the bilateral relationship, although Washington remains Kosovo’s most reliable ally.

    The U.S. envoy also said that his proposals for resolving the issue had been rejected by Kurti during their meeting.

    “It’s not me as prime minister to decide about this thing,” Kurti told RFE/RL when asked about why he refused Escobar’s solutions.

    “We’re a democracy where powers and duties are separated. Therefore, I can only help the central bank to affect a smooth transition,” Kurti said, declining to elaborate on Escobar’s proposals.

    “Let those who made the proposals speak,” he added, reiterating that he cannot cancel the decision of an independent institution.

    “No suspension will come out of talking to me, because the bank is an independent institution,” he said, adding that its governor reports only to parliament, not the government.

    Asked whether he would at least advise the bank to extend the transition period, Kurti replied: “I cannot also advise the central bank of Kosovo. The governor has his own advisers.”

    Referring to the basic agreement, Kurti said it was Belgrade that was hampering its implementation.

    “I want the normalization of relations and I think that the signing of the basic agreement and its implementation annex can certainly cancel previous violations on one hand and, on the other hand can bring legal certainty for the future.

    “The problem is that eight out of 11 articles of the basic agreement have been violated by Belgrade,” Kurti said, mentioning a letter sent by Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic to the European Union, in which, according to him, her government said they were withdrawing their pledge to the deal “because they will never recognize independence of Kosovo, never accept Kosovo’s membership in the United Nations, and likewise they are not going to respect the territorial integrity of our country.”

    Referring to the forming of the Association of Serb-Majority Municipalities, which is mentioned in Article 7 of the basic agreement, Kurti reiterated his government’s statement from October 27, which blamed Serbia for refusing to sign the document endorsed by the leaders of France, Italy, and Germany.

    “What more can I do? We are leaders who are supposed to turn the text that we have agreed upon into signed agreements. Obviously, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic initially said yes to the agreement without intending to sign it and then regretted saying yes, as Mrs. Brnabic’s letter explained,” Kurti said.

    “I believe that whoever mentions an association of Serbian-majority municipalities outside the basic agreement or before it serving Serbia’s quest to turn Kosovo into Bosnia,” he said, adding that such an association has to be established withing the framework of the Kosovar Constitution.

    “In Brussels I said one cannot serve coffee without a cup. If you ask for coffee without a cup, I will show you an empty cup. The cup is the Republic of Kosovo. What is the legal framework of the association? Is it the constitution of the Republic of Kosova or that of Serbia? If I’m there, it’s the constitution of the Republic of Kosovo. No coffee without a cup.

    “This is crucial to understand. Belgrade wants to put the cart before the horses. It’s not possible. There will be no movement as we have seen since February and March last year,” he said, adding that he was ready to go to Brussels again together with Vucic.

    Referring to the frustration voiced by the United States and the European Union because of the lack of progress toward the Serbian dinar and the municipalities association, Kurti said that while they are indispensable partners, sometimes differences may arise.

    “I consider United States an indispensable ally, friend, and partner. But this does not mean that we have an identical stance toward official Belgrade. As the prime minister of Kosovo, I cannot regard Belgrade through the eyes of the State Department…they do not see Belgrade as I see them. We do not have an identical stance. We have a different experience and history,” Kurti said.


    This content originally appeared on News – Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty and was authored by News – Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Man Detained Following Bashkortostan Protests Dies In Custody, Family Says

    KYIV — Ukrainian officials on January 27 said Russia had intensified attacks in the past 24 hours, with a commander saying the sides had battled through “50 combat clashes” in the past day near Ukraine’s Tavria region.

    Meanwhile, Kyiv and Moscow continued to dispute the circumstances surrounding the January 24 crash of a Russian military transport plane that the Kremlin claimed was carrying Ukrainian prisoners of war.

    Kyiv said it has no proof POWs were aboard and has not confirmed its forces shot down the plane.

    Live Briefing: Russia’s Invasion Of Ukraine

    RFE/RL’s Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia’s full-scale invasion, Kyiv’s counteroffensive, Western military aid, global reaction, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL’s coverage of the war in Ukraine, click here.

    General Oleksandr Tarnavskiy, the Ukrainian commander in the Tavria zone in the Zaporizhzhya region, said Russian forces had “significantly increased” the number of offensive and assault operations over the past two days.

    “For the second day in a row, the enemy has conducted 50 combat clashes daily,” he wrote on Telegram.

    “Also, the enemy has carried out 100 air strikes in the operational zone of the Tavria Joint Task Force within seven days,” he said, adding that 230 Russian-launched drones had been “neutralized or destroyed” over the past day in the area.

    Battlefield claims on either side cannot immediately be confirmed.

    Earlier, the Ukrainian military said 98 combat clashes took place between Ukrainian troops and the invading Russian army over the past 24 hours.

    “There are dead and wounded among the civilian populations,” the Ukrianian military’s General Staff said in its daily update, but did not provide further details about the casualties.

    According to the General Staff, Russian forces launched eight missile and four air strikes, and carried out 78 attacks from rocket-salvo systems on Ukrainian troop positions and populated areas. Iranian-made Shahed drones and Iskander ballistic missiles were used in the attacks, it said.

    A number of “high-rise residential buildings, schools, kindergartens, a shopping center, and other civilian infrastructure were destroyed or damaged” in the latest Russian strikes, the bulletin said.

    “More than 120 settlements came under artillery fire in the Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhya, Dnipropetrovsk, Kherson, and Mykolayiv regions,” according to the daily update.

    The General Staff also reported that Ukrainian defenders repelled dozens of Russian assaults in eight directions, including Avdiyivka, Bakhmut, Maryinka, and Kupyansk in the eastern Donetsk region.

    Meanwhile, Kyrylo Budanov, chief of Ukrainian military intelligence, said it remained unclear what happened in the crash of the Russian Il-76 that the Kremlin claimed was carrying 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war who were killed along with nine crew members.

    The Kremlin said the military transport plane was shot down by a Ukrainian missile despite the fact that Russian forces had alerted Kyiv to the flight’s path.

    Ukrainian military intelligence spokesman Andriy Yusov told RFE/RL that it had not received either a written or verbal request to secure the airspace where the plane went down.

    The situation with the crash of the aircraft “is not yet fully understood,” Budanov said.

    “It is necessary to determine what happened – unfortunately, neither side can fully answer that yet.”

    Russia “of course, has taken the position of blaming Ukraine for everything, despite the fact that there are a number of facts that are inconsistent with such a position,” he added.

    Russian President Vladimir Putin has insisted Ukraine shot down the plane and said an investigation was being carried out, with a report to be made in the upcoming days.

    In Kyiv, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy announced the creation of a second body to assist businesses in the war-torn country.

    Speaking in his nightly video address late on January 26, Zelenskiy said the All-Ukraine Economic Platform would help businesses overcome the challenges posed by Russia’s nearly two-year-old invasion.

    On January 23, Zelenskiy announced the formation of a Council for the Support of Entrepreneurship, which he said sought to strengthen the country’s economy and clarify issues related to law enforcement agencies. Decrees creating both bodies were published on January 26.

    Ukraine’s economy has collapsed in many sectors since Russia invaded the country in February 2022. Kyiv heavily relies on international aid from its Western partnes.

    The Voice of America reported that the United States vowed to promote at the international level a peace formula put forward by Zelenskiy.

    VOA quoted White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby as saying that Washington “is committed to the policy of supporting initiatives emanating from the leadership of Ukraine.”

    Zelenskiy last year presented his 10-point peace formula that includes the withdrawal of Russian forces and the restoration of Ukrainian territorial integrity, among other things.

    With reporting by Reuters and dpa


    This content originally appeared on News – Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty and was authored by News – Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • ‘A Huge Tragedy’: Many Dead In Russian School Attack

    Many people, including students and at least one teacher, have been killed in an attack on a school in Kazan, the capital of Russia’s Tatarstan republic. After a shooting spree and reports of multiple explosions, one attacker was reportedly detained.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Many Dead After Shooting Spree, Explosion At School In Russia’s Tatarstan

    At least eight people, including a teacher and seven students, have been killed in a shooting spree that followed an explosion at School No. 175 in Kazan, the capital of Russia’s Republic of Tatarstan.

    The Interior Ministry for the republic added that 21 people had been injured in the incident, including six children who were taken to intensive care units.

    The region’s interior minister said that the assault was carried out by a 19-year-old shooter, who was apprehended.

    The school has more than 1,000 students.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Many Dead After Shooting Spree, Explosion At School In Russia’s Tatarstan

    At least nine people, including a teacher and eight students, have been killed in a shooting spree that followed an explosion at a school in Kazan, the capital of Russia’s Republic of Tatarstan.

    Media reports say that more than one person opened fire at School No. 175 on Dzhaudat Faizi Street in the city, which has more than 1,000 students. According to reports, one of the attackers was shot dead by police while at least one remained inside the building, holding hostages. Some reports also say that one attacker, a teenager, was apprehended.

    The area has been cordoned by law enforcement and students and teachers are being evacuated via windows.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • At Least Nine Killed In School Shooting In Russia’s Tatarstan

    KAZAN, Russia — Reports from Kazan, the capital of Russia’s Tatarstan region, say a shooting spree and an explosion at a school has left at least nine people dead, including a teacher and eight students.

    Media reports say a blast rocked School No. 175 on May 11 before at least two people opened fire.

    One of the attackers was reportedly shot dead by police, while at least another one remains inside the school, holding a number of hostages.

    Some reports said that one attacker, described as a teenager, was apprehended.

    The area was cordoned off by law enforcement and students and teachers were being evacuated through the windows.

    The school has more than 1,000 students.

    With reporting by TASS and RIA Novosti

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Fire Destroys Historic Tatar Village In Siberia

    KARAKUL, Russia — A wildfire has ravaged a 16th century Tatar village in Siberia that authorities had planned to turn into a tourist attraction.

    The Omsk Tatars National and Cultural Autonomy group said the fire that started on the afternoon of May 6 lasted for about 15 hours and completely destroyed 25 buildings, including 14 private houses and a shop in the village of Karakul in the Omsk region that borders with Kazakhstan.

    Firefighters were brought to the site as the wildfire reached the village, but they couldn’t overcome heavy winds that fanned the flames across the village.

    Karakul is a unique, centuries-old settlement of Siberian Tatars with very old wooden houses, carrying traditional Tatar carvings on the buildings’ facades, windows, and doors.

    The village is also known across Russia for preserving ancient Siberian Tatar culture and traditions going back to the time of the Khanate of Sibir.

    The Omsk Tatars National and Cultural Autonomy group has launched a fundraising campaign to help restore the village.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Tatar Orthodox Christians Celebrate Easter

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Tatar Activist Trying To Preserve Culture Begins Community Service Sentence

    Farit Zakiyev, the head of an organization that promotes Tatar language and culture, was sentenced to community service for taking part in Tatarstan’s annual Commemoration Day. The crackdown on Zakiyev’s group appears to be part of a larger pressure campaign against ethnic minority activists in Russia.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Activist Investigating Gold Mining Attacked In Russia’s Bashkortostan

    BAIMAK, Russia — An outspoken environmental activist who has been looking into illegal gold mining in Russia’s Bashkortostan region says he was viciously beaten by unknown attackers in the town of Baimak.

    Ildar Yumagulov was hospitalized with two broken legs after three men attacked him 200 meters away from a police station on April 18.

    He told RFE/RL that two masked men in black clothing beat him with baseball bats and that when he managed to escape the attack, a third masked man appeared and knocked him down to allow the attack to continue.

    “They beat me with baseball bats, targeting my legs, breaking them. One leg was fully smashed, surgery is planned for tomorrow,” Yumagulov said, adding that the attackers did not say a word during the attack.

    Bashkortostan’s Interior Ministry has not commented on the attack.

    According to Yumagulov, the attack is most likely linked to his latest activities on gold mining in the Urals, where, according to him and his colleagues, mining companies are violating environmental safety norms.

    Yumagulov’s colleague, Ilsur Irnazarov, told RFE/RL that unknown individuals were suspected of following Yumagulov and his car for several weeks before the attack.

    “We’re certain the attack is linked to Ildar Yumagulov’s public activities and his civil stance…. It was an act of intimidation to scare Ildar and all enviromental activists of the Urals and our republic in general,” Irnazarov said.

    Yumagulov is known for his various activities against uncontrolled gold mining in Bashkortostan.

    In recent weeks he was working on finding details of possible plans by a gold-mining company to start a mine in the Baimak district of the republic.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • OSCE Rights Office Concerned Over Jailed Russian University Student’s Case

    A pan-European human rights watchdog has expressed concern after a Russian court handed a long prison sentence for hooliganism to a university mathematics student who says he was tortured while in custody.

    “The allegations we are hearing with regard to this case are certainly of concern, and we will continue to follow its development closely,” a spokeswoman at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s (OSCE) Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) told RFE/RL on January 20, two days after 25-year-old Azat Miftakhov was sentenced to six years in prison.

    “ODIHR is continually following the human rights situation in all 57 countries of the OSCE region, and frequently raises issues with individual states,” Katya Andrusz said.

    The press service of the Council of Europe, the continent’s leading human rights organization, on Janaruy 19 said the organization was following the case “closely.”

    A court in the Russian capital on January 18 found Miftakhov, a postgraduate student at Moscow State University, guilty of being involved in an arson attack on the ruling United Russia party’s office in Moscow in 2018.

    Miftakhov has denied the charges, which his lawyers say stem from his anarchist beliefs and support for political prisoners.

    A prominent Russian human rights organization, Memorial, has declared Miftakhov a political prisoner.

    The student was arrested in early 2019 and accused of helping make an improvised bomb found in the city of Balashikha near Moscow.

    He was released several days after the initial charge failed to hold, but was rearrested immediately and charged with being involved in the attack on the United Russia office in January 2018.

    The Public Monitoring Commission, a human rights group, has said that Miftakhov’s body bore the signs of torture, which the student claimed were the result of investigators unsuccessfully attempting to force him to confess to the bomb-making charge.

    Others who were detained along with Miftakhov but later released also claim to have been beaten by police.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Council Of Europe Urges Russia To Explain NGO Designation As ‘Undesirable’

    The head of the Council of Europe has expressed “great concern” after the Association of Schools of Political Studies of the Council of Europe was added to the list of “undesirable” organizations in Russia.

    In a letter dated January 14 and obtained by RFE/RL, Council of Europe Secretary-General Marija Pejcinovic Buric asked Moscow to clarify “the circumstances” that led to the decision, which she called “unacceptable.”

    “I cannot stress enough how problematic is the notion that an organization such as the Association of Schools of Political Studies of the Council of Europe, closely linked to our organization and uniting schools of political studies, aiming to organize civic education activities based on the Council of Europe values and principles, would represent a threat” to a Council of Europe member state, reads the letter, addressed to Russian Justice Minister Konstantin Chuychenko.

    Russia’s Prosecutor-General’s Office announced in December 2020 it had declared the Strasbourg-based Association of Schools of Political Studies as “undesirable,” requiring the Justice Ministry to blacklist the organization.

    A 2015 law allows prosecutors to shut down “undesirable” organizations if they are deemed to be a threat to Russia’s national interests.

    In a statement on January 6, the two co-rapporteurs of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe for the monitoring of Russia “deplored” the decision to place the Association of Schools of Political Studies on the Russian list of “undesirable” organizations.

    “Russia’s 2015 law on ‘undesirable organizations’ has been severely criticized by the international community, including the Council of Europe, for its violations of the freedoms of association, assembly, and expression, its arbitrariness, and the wide discretionary powers granted to the prosecutor-general,” Axel Schafer and Ria Oomen-Ruijten said in a statement.

    Human rights groups have accused Russia of using legislation governing NGOs to silence organizations that have a diverging view from the authorities and sanction their members, increasingly restricting space for civic activity.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Council Of Europe Urges Russia To Explain NGO Designation As ‘Undesirable’

    The head of the Council of Europe has expressed “great concern” after the Association of Schools of Political Studies of the Council of Europe was added to the list of “undesirable” organizations in Russia.

    In a letter dated January 14 and obtained by RFE/RL, Council of Europe Secretary-General Marija Pejcinovic Buric asked Moscow to clarify “the circumstances” that led to the decision, which she called “unacceptable.”

    “I cannot stress enough how problematic is the notion that an organization such as the Association of Schools of Political Studies of the Council of Europe, closely linked to our organization and uniting schools of political studies, aiming to organize civic education activities based on the Council of Europe values and principles, would represent a threat” to a Council of Europe member state, reads the letter, addressed to Russian Justice Minister Konstantin Chuychenko.

    Russia’s Prosecutor-General’s Office announced in December 2020 it had declared the Strasbourg-based Association of Schools of Political Studies as “undesirable,” requiring the Justice Ministry to blacklist the organization.

    A 2015 law allows prosecutors to shut down “undesirable” organizations if they are deemed to be a threat to Russia’s national interests.

    In a statement on January 6, the two co-rapporteurs of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe for the monitoring of Russia “deplored” the decision to place the Association of Schools of Political Studies on the Russian list of “undesirable” organizations.

    “Russia’s 2015 law on ‘undesirable organizations’ has been severely criticized by the international community, including the Council of Europe, for its violations of the freedoms of association, assembly, and expression, its arbitrariness, and the wide discretionary powers granted to the prosecutor-general,” Axel Schafer and Ria Oomen-Ruijten said in a statement.

    Human rights groups have accused Russia of using legislation governing NGOs to silence organizations that have a diverging view from the authorities and sanction their members, increasingly restricting space for civic activity.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Russian Trial Of Activist For YouTube Video Mocking Putin Continues Without Journalists

    SAMARA, Russia — The judges at the trial of a civil rights activist from Russia’s Republic of Tatarstan for mocking President Vladimir Putin and two of his close associates in a YouTube video have banned journalists from attending the proceedings, saying they were adhering to restrictions to combat the spread of the coronavirus.

    Judges of the Central Military District Court in the city of Samara on January 14 refused to allow RFE/RL correspondent Yekaterina Mayakovskaya to attend the ongoing trial of Karim Yamadayev, citing the virus restrictions.

    Yamadayev’s lawyer Vladimir Krasikov told RFE/RL that, as his trial resumed, his client protested that no journalists were present in the courtroom.

    When Judge Igor Belkin told the defendant that journalists could not be present due to coronavirus precautions, Yamadayev challenged the judge’s explanation, saying that journalists had been present at all of the trial’s previous sessions.

    Yamadayev, who says he is innocent, demanded that his trial be covered by the media. The judge rejected these demands and continued the trial.

    “It looked strange to me, because when prosecutors were given the floor at the trial, journalists were allowed inside to cover the proceedings But when the defense team’s turn came to present testimony, journalists were banned from attending the trial,” Yamadayev’s lawyer said, adding that the courtroom where the trial is being held was big enough to preserve social distancing.

    Yamadayev, a former police officer in Tatarstan, was arrested in January 2020 and charged with promoting terrorism and insulting authorities for a video he posted in late-2019 on his YouTube channel called Judge Gramm.

    The video in question features Yamadayev, dressed as a judge, reading death sentences to two men whose heads are covered with black sacks. A white sign hangs from their necks with the names “Dmitry Peskov” and “Igor Sechin” respectively.

    Peskov is Putin’s long-serving press spokesman, while Sechin is the powerful chief of Russian state-owned oil giant Rosneft.

    Another man in the show portrays a third defendant who also has his head covered with a black sack and a sign with the name “Vladimir Putin.”

    If found guilty, Yamadayev faces up to seven years in prison.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Russian Trial Of Activist For YouTube Video Mocking Putin Continues Without Journalists

    SAMARA, Russia — The judges at the trial of a civil rights activist from Russia’s Republic of Tatarstan for mocking President Vladimir Putin and two of his close associates in a YouTube video have banned journalists from attending the proceedings, saying they were adhering to restrictions to combat the spread of the coronavirus.

    Judges of the Central Military District Court in the city of Samara on January 14 refused to allow RFE/RL correspondent Yekaterina Mayakovskaya to attend the ongoing trial of Karim Yamadayev, citing the virus restrictions.

    Yamadayev’s lawyer Vladimir Krasikov told RFE/RL that, as his trial resumed, his client protested that no journalists were present in the courtroom.

    When Judge Igor Belkin told the defendant that journalists could not be present due to coronavirus precautions, Yamadayev challenged the judge’s explanation, saying that journalists had been present at all of the trial’s previous sessions.

    Yamadayev, who says he is innocent, demanded that his trial be covered by the media. The judge rejected these demands and continued the trial.

    “It looked strange to me, because when prosecutors were given the floor at the trial, journalists were allowed inside to cover the proceedings But when the defense team’s turn came to present testimony, journalists were banned from attending the trial,” Yamadayev’s lawyer said, adding that the courtroom where the trial is being held was big enough to preserve social distancing.

    Yamadayev, a former police officer in Tatarstan, was arrested in January 2020 and charged with promoting terrorism and insulting authorities for a video he posted in late-2019 on his YouTube channel called Judge Gramm.

    The video in question features Yamadayev, dressed as a judge, reading death sentences to two men whose heads are covered with black sacks. A white sign hangs from their necks with the names “Dmitry Peskov” and “Igor Sechin” respectively.

    Peskov is Putin’s long-serving press spokesman, while Sechin is the powerful chief of Russian state-owned oil giant Rosneft.

    Another man in the show portrays a third defendant who also has his head covered with a black sack and a sign with the name “Vladimir Putin.”

    If found guilty, Yamadayev faces up to seven years in prison.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Pronouncement Of Verdict Of Moscow Mathematician Miftakhov Postponed

    MOSCOW — A court in Moscow has postponed handing down its verdict and sentence for Azat Miftakhov, a young mathematician charged with hooliganism who says he was tortured while in custody.

    The verdict and sentence were expected to be pronounced on January 11, but the Moscow City Court, in a last-minute decision, said it had moved the hearing to January 18.

    Miftakhov, 25, a postgraduate mathematics student at the Moscow State University, has denied the charges, which his lawyers say stem from his anarchist beliefs and support for political prisoners.

    Miftakhov’s mother, Gulnur Khusainova, who traveled to Moscow from the Republic of Tatarstan to attend the court session, told RFE/RL that no reason was given for the decision to change the hearing date.

    “I want to see my son free,” she said, complaining that it is not easy for her to travel some 800 kilometers (480 miles) from Kazan, Tatarstan’s capital, to the Russian capital.

    Miftakhov, 25, a postgraduate mathematics student at the Moscow State University, was arrested on February 1, 2019, and accused of helping make an improvised bomb found in January in the city of Balashikha near Moscow.

    Miftakhov was released on February 7, 2019, after the initial charge failed to hold, but he was rearrested immediately and charged with involvement in an arson attack on the ruling United Russia office in Moscow in January 2018.

    The Public Monitoring Commission, a human rights group, has said that Miftakhov’s body bore the signs of torture, which the student claimed were the result of investigators unsuccessfully attempting to force him to confess to the bomb-making charge.

    A prominent Russian human rights organization, Memorial, has recognized Miftakhov as a political prisoner, while Russian mathematician, Professor Anatoly Vershik, told Novaya gazeta that 2,500 mathematicians from 15 countries had signed a letter urging the International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM) to assist in Miftakhov’s release, warning that many of them may not attend the ICM’s gathering in Russia’s second-largest city, St. Petersburg, scheduled for July 2022.

    Others who were detained along with Miftakhov, but later released, have also claimed to have been beaten by police.

    On December 23, 2020, the prosecutor in the high-profile trial asked the court to sentence Miftakhov to six years in prison.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Prosecutor Seeks Three-Year Sentence For Russian Opposition Politician

    MOSCOW — Prosecutors in Moscow asked a court on December 18 to sentence a local opposition politician to be sentenced to three years in prison over her involvement in anti-Kremlin rallies.

    The case against Yulia Galyamina, an opposition member of a Moscow district council and outspoken critic of President Vladimir Putin, was launched in late July.

    Investigators say Galyamina repeatedly violated rules about public gatherings when she organized and staged unsanctioned rallies and protests.

    Galyamina told RFE/RL earlier that the case against her had been launched to “pressure” her.

    Amnesty International has condemned the charges as “appalling and reprehensible,” saying they are aimed at “silencing a major dissenting voice and threatening to ban her political activities.”

    Galyamina was involved in a campaign against what she says are “illegal plans” by Putin to remain in power beyond term limits.

    Her team organized a peaceful rally in central Moscow in July against constitutional reforms introduced in 2020 that give Putin an option to remain in power for another 16 years after his current term expires in 2024.

    Dozens of people were detained by police during the protest.

    The Moscow Tver District Court said on December 18 that Galyamina’s verdict and sentence will be announced on December 23.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Lines Of Hearses At Hospital Challenge Official COVID-19 Death Toll In Tatarstan

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Fire In Retirement Home In Russia’s Bashkortostan Kills 11 People

    ISHBULDINO, Russia — A fire has killed 11 seniors in a private retirement home in Russia’s Republic of Bashkortostan.

    The Emergency Situations Ministry’s branch in Bashkortostan said on December 15 that the fire swept through the retirement house in the village of Ishbuldino overnight.

    According to the ministry, the house did not have a proper fire alarm system.

    Firefighters found the bodies of 11 elderly people who lived in the retirement house, the ministry said.

    Ildar Nafikov, governor of the Abzhalil district where Ishbuldino is located, said a state of emergency had been imposed in the district, adding that 16 elderly persons were residing in the retirement house permanently.

    Nafikov’s deputy, Ruslan Yusupov, said that although the nursing house was functioning legally, it was only supposed to be in use during the daytime.

    The Investigative Committee said there were 15 people inside the building when the fire broke out, of whom four managed to escape.

    The committee also said that it had launched a probe into the deadly fire.

    Deadly fires caused by violations of safety regulations or faulty wiring are common in Russia.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Alleged Serial Killer Apprehended In Russia’s Tatarstan In Deaths Of Elderly Women

    KAZAN, Russia — Police in Kazan have apprehended a man suspected in dozens of killings of elderly women that took place nearly 10 years ago in and around Russia’s Republic of Tatarstan.

    The Investigative Committee said on December 1 that the 38-year-old suspect identified as Radik Tagirov, who worked as a locksmith in Tatarstan’s capital, had confessed to killing 26 elderly women and stealing their belongings between 2011 and 2012.

    According to the statement, the suspect, who was convicted for theft in 2009, was identified by investigators through an analysis of DNA extracted from biological tracks left by the suspect at crime scenes.

    The statement also says that the elderly women were killed in Tatarstan and 11 neighboring Russian regions.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.