Defense calls case of Kabardino-Balkarian native with US citizenship fabricated

Timur Kishukov, who has been a US citizen since 2017, came to visit his relatives in November 2024 and ended up in a pre-trial detention center in Nalchik. Security officials forced him to confess to working for US intelligence, and then opened a criminal case on his participation in the fighting in Syria.

Timur Kishukov is 37 years old, he worked as a truck driver in the US, and shortly before his arrest in Kabardino-Balkaria, he founded his own logistics company. He has a wife and four children. His case is currently being heard in the Southern District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don, but the next hearing on August 28 did not take place, the trial was postponed indefinitely, his lawyer Alexei Noskov told a “Caucasian Knot” correspondent.

Kishukov is charged with undergoing terrorist training, terrorism, and participating in an illegal armed group. According to the prosecution, he participated in military operations in Syria. The charge is based on the testimony of three classified witnesses who claim to have met Kishukov in Syria and “identified” him several years later. Also in the case, according to Noskov, there are some unclassified witnesses.

Timur Kishukov was detained in November 2024 by security forces who demanded that he confess to working for American intelligence, and then offered to spy for the Russian Federation in the United States. “Timur refused, and he was presented with fabricated charges solely because of his position,” says a petition to Donald Trump published in April 2025 on the Change.org website.

Immediately after his arrest, Kishukov was held in the Nalchik pretrial detention center; he is currently in the Rostov pretrial detention center and continues to deny all charges. The accused refused to testify during the first interrogations, according to the appellate ruling of December 25, 2024, published on the website of the Supreme Court of Kabardino-Balkaria.

The investigation did not find any evidence against Kishukov even in his devices - a laptop, phone, and tablet, which were seized but then returned to his family. During the period when Kishukov, according to the prosecution, was in Syria, he traveled to Turkey with his family. In addition, one of the security officials directly told the man that his persecution was due to the goals of a future “exchange” of prisoners, a source familiar with the case points out. 

The lawyer added that Kishukov's case is being heard in an open session. The court did not explain why the trial was adjourned, promising to provide separate information on the date of the next hearing when it is scheduled. Kishukov's wife told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that she is refraining from commenting on the case for now. Zaur Shokuev, a representative of the Human Rights Center for Human Rights in Kabardino-Balkaria, told "Caucasian Knot" that Kishukov's relatives have not contacted the organization for help.

Human rights activist Sergey Davidis confirmed that having citizenship of any of the “unfriendly countries” increases the risk of criminal prosecution in Russia, citing Laurent Vinatier* as an example. He does not rule out that the goal of such prosecution is to create an “exchange fund”, although he does not yet see any prisoners in the West who would be of great value to the Kremlin.

“It is unlikely that they would specifically take a hostage for any of them, but we cannot rule out the general collection of an “exchange fund”, of course. But “hostage” is not only and not so much about exchanging for Kremlin agents abroad; hostages can also be exchanged for sanctions or some other concessions,” Davidis explained to a “Caucasian Knot” correspondent.

* are included in the register of foreign agents by the Russian Ministry of Justice.

** the activities of the Meta company (which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp) are prohibited in Russia.