In the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, security forces detained Murtazali Alimgireev and Alimkhan Kadrashov. They are suspected of attacking and killing 15 Russian soldiers in Chechnya in 1999.

The investigation believes that Alimgireev and Kadrashov carried out the orders of field commanders Shamil Basayev and Khattab. On October 4, 1999, the defendants attacked employees of the Russian Ministry of Defense in the village of Chervlennaya, Shelkovsky district of Chechnya, as a result of which 15 soldiers were killed and another 28 were wounded.

The accused were charged with participation in a gang, armed rebellion and encroachment on the lives of military personnel (Articles 279, 209 and 317 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).

“Investigative and other procedural actions are being carried out with the participation of the accused aimed at establishing their role and actions taken in the armed attack on military personnel, and their involvement in the commission of other crimes is being verified,” the Investigative Committee reported.

As human rights activists from Memorial noted earlier, the testimony of relatives of Russian military personnel as witnesses is presented in almost all identical criminal cases that were brought against natives of Chechnya. Witnesses repeat the official version using carbon copies.