A murder investigation has been opened in Chechnya more than a year after the disappearance of 19-year-old Yasin Khalidov.
The Memorial Human Rights Center drew attention to a statement by the Investigative Committee describing the circumstances of the young man's disappearance as if he had simply left his home in Shali and never returned. Human rights defenders consider this version absurd.
News of the investigation has only just emerged; details were found on the website of the Investigative Committee’s Bryansk Region branch. It is unclear why the information appeared there: Khalidov was detained in May 2023 at a vehicle checkpoint in the Isilkulsky District of the Omsk Region while attempting to leave Russia, after which he was handed over to Chechen security forces.
Khalidov had previously served in the Interior Ministry for the Shalinsky District and later in the National Guard (Rosgvardia). In 2022, he was deployed to the war in Ukraine. Upon his return, he attempted to resign but was refused, according to *Novaya Gazeta*. He was subsequently detained on suspicion of disloyalty.
In January 2023, Khalidov fled Chechnya and reached out to activists from the opposition movement 1ADAT. However, they refused to assist him, stating that—according to their information—he might have been involved in crimes committed in Chechnya and Ukraine. Several months later, he was detained while trying to leave Russia and was handed back to the republic. Nothing has been known of his fate since.
As Memorial discovered, the murder investigation regarding Khalidov was actually opened in August 2024—more than a year after he disappeared. Notably, the official version presented by investigators makes no mention of his detention at the border or his handover to Chechen security forces. A lawyer for Memorial believes that law enforcement agencies must have been aware of these circumstances.
"At the time information was released regarding the initiation of a criminal case and the search for Khalidov, law enforcement agencies in the Chechen Republic possessed comprehensive information about the specific circumstances of his disappearance. This information was contained in numerous statements and appeals filed by his lawyer, as well as in media reports. It directly indicated that he might have been abducted and subsequently killed by security forces," he asserts.
Khalidov’s story first came to public attention in 2023. At that time, *Novaya Gazeta* reported that the young man had served in the Chechen police since the age of 17, later joining the National Guard (Rosgvardia) and participating in counter-extremism operations. According to the publication, after returning from the war, he fell under suspicion of disloyalty to the republic's authorities.
In July 2023—after Khalidov had already disappeared—*Novaya Gazeta* journalist Elena Milashina and lawyer Alexander Nemov were attacked in Chechnya. Milashina later stated that the same security officers to whom Khalidov had previously been handed over might have been involved in the attack.
