On February 8, the Southern District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don began considering the case of the assassination attempt on the head of the Ingush Center for Combating Extremism, Ibragim Eldzharkiev.
There are 11 people in the dock, whom the prosecution considers to be members of a terrorist community operating on the territory of Ingushetia. None of them admitted guilt.
Ibragim Eldzharkiev was shot dead in Moscow on November 2, 2019. His brother, Moscow doctor Akhmed Eldzharkiev, died along with him. This was the second attempt on the life of the head of the Center for External Action - the first occurred in January 2019, when his car was fired upon. Three police officers in the car were wounded, but Eldzharkiev himself was not injured.
As stated in the indictment, the goals of the terrorist attacks were to “destabilize the activities of authorities” and put pressure on them in order to prevent the disclosure of crimes committed by members of the terrorist community. Sources in Ingushetia believe that Eldzharkiev was the victim of a blood feud - he was considered responsible for the 2018 murder of Ibragim Belkharoev, one of the leaders of the Batalkhadzhintsy, an Ingush Sufi community of followers of the 19th century religious figure Batal-Khadzhi Belkharoev. The investigation ruled out the motive of blood feud, accusing the Batalkhadzhin residents of terrorism. Among the arrested community members are influential businessmen and ex-officials.
The investigation considers Kureisha Kartoeva to be the direct perpetrator of the murder of the Eldzharkiyevs; he is on the international wanted list. Meanwhile, at home, his sister is accused of drug trafficking. Tanzila Kartoeva herself states that drugs were planted in her house during a search. In addition, she accused FSB officers of using physical force on her and forcing her to sign a confession to the crime. The woman demands to punish the security forces who fabricated a criminal case against her, but the investigative committee refused her, and then this decision was confirmed by the Nalchik Garrison Military Court, where Kartoeva’s defense challenged the investigator’s refusal.
In November 2022, one of the leaders of the Batalkhadzhinites, the head of the Ingush branch of the Social Insurance Fund, Yakub Belkhoroev, was convicted in Ingushetia. He was found guilty of embezzlement and embezzlement of budget money, illegal possession of weapons and ammunition and was sentenced to 9 years in prison. Along with him, his relatives, the driver and the gardener were convicted, to whose accounts Belkhoroev, according to the prosecution, transferred the stolen budget funds.