Five prisoners from Kabardino-Balkaria have been convicted in connection with an ISIS cell.

A military court in Rostov-on-Don sentenced five prisoners from a penal colony in Kabardino-Balkaria to lengthy prison terms, finding them members of a terrorist organization.

The Southern District Military Court has been hearing the case of the "prison jamaat" in Kabardino-Balkaria since August 2023. The verdict was announced today.

The convicted prisoners, Akhmed Alborov, Kazbek Khuranov, Eldar Tamazov, Sergei Barelnikov, and Teymur Medvedev, were charged with organizing and participating in a terrorist organization, publicly calling for terrorism, and assisting terrorist activity.

According to the prosecution, all five were serving sentences in a penal colony in Kabardino-Balkaria, where the terrorist group "Jamaat," founded between 2009 and 2011, operated. "The defendants voluntarily joined and subsequently participated in the terrorist group created by another person at various times," the press service of the Southern District Military Court reported.

According to the verdict, all five defendants became active members of the group and performed specific duties to support its operations. Alborov and Khuranov, according to the court, were among the leaders – they planned criminal activities, distributed responsibilities among members, held meetings, and developed plans for terrorist attacks.

"Alborov and Khuranov personally selected and appointed assistants in each unit of the correctional facility and ordered them to persuade and recruit convicts to participate in a terrorist organization," the court's Telegram channel reported. According to the court, Khuranov convinced other convicts to join a certain armed group.

Akhmed Alborov was sentenced to 26 years in a maximum security prison, Kazbek Khuranov was sentenced to 23 years and one day in a maximum security prison, and Eldar Tamazov was sentenced to 23 years in a maximum security prison. Sergei Barelnikov received 20 years in a maximum security prison and a fine of 5,882 rubles (the court's press service did not specify the reason for the fine). Teymur Medvedev was sentenced to 17 years and one day in a maximum security prison. All convicts must serve the first seven years of their sentences in prison.

The court noted that cases against other inmates of the colony who participated in the terrorist organization have been separated into separate proceedings. Caucasian Knot has not yet received comments from the inmates or their lawyers regarding the prosecution's case or plans to appeal the verdict.

"Caucasian Knot" also reported that in December 2019, the Investigative Committee reported 22 suspects in the case of the creation of a terrorist organization in Penal Colony No. 2 of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia for Kalmykia. Five of them were allegedly detained in Dagestan, Kuban, and the Volgograd Region. Three more were killed in Dagestan during armed resistance after their release in 2014-2015. The rest remained in custody as of 2019. In March 2020, it was reported that five more people had been detained in this case - residents of Dagestan, Kabardino-Balkaria and Stavropol Krai.

In December 2025, the Southern District Military Court sentenced long prison terms to Pavel Batayev, the former head of a penal colony in Kalmykia, and his deputy, Artur Tsamayev, on charges of organizing a terrorist organization on the facility's premises.

* The organization is designated as a terrorist organization and is banned in Russia.

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