The sentence of a Karachay-Cherkessia resident for the murder of a tourist has been upheld.
The Third Appellate Court in Sochi upheld the verdict of the Supreme Court of Karachay-Cherkessia against Abdullakh Bostanov, who was sentenced to 12 years for the murder of a tourist in 2022.
As reported by Caucasian Knot, in early February 2026, the Supreme Court of Karachay-Cherkessia sentenced Bostanov to 12 years in a maximum-security penal colony for the murder of a tourist from Moscow in 2022.
According to investigators, the Moscow residents were driving to Arkhyz and stopped near the village of Kardonikskaya on February 16, 2022. A car carrying two local residents pulled up to them, and they had a conflict with them that escalated into a fight. During the fight, the suspect wounded the tourist in the stomach; the wounded man died on the way to the hospital. According to unofficial reports, the tourist was urinating on the side of the road, which upset the locals, which led to the conflict. On February 17, 2022, investigators placed Abdullakh Bostanov, a 34-year-old native of the village of Storozhevaya, on the federal wanted list. On February 18, Bostanov called the police department and confessed to the murder. He stated that he was ready to accept punishment and compensate the relatives of the deceased. In mid-2023, the suspect was found in Belarus.
The court found that on February 16, 2022, a group of Moscow residents stopped near the village of Kardonikskaya on their way to the village of Arkhyz. At that moment, a car carrying two local residents approached them, and they had a verbal argument that escalated into a fight. During an argument, the convicted man stabbed the victim in the stomach. He died in the intensive care unit of the Zelenchuk Central District Hospital, the press service of the Karachay-Cherkessia Prosecutor's Office reported today.
Earlier, the Supreme Court of Karachay-Cherkessia sentenced Bostanov. He was found guilty of murder committed for hooligan motives. The court sentenced the defendant to 12 years in a maximum-security penal colony with one year of restricted freedom.
"The appellate court upheld the sentence on May 14, 2026," the supervisory agency said in a statement.
"Caucasian Knot" also reported that Karachay-Cherkessia has an unspoken code of conduct that both local residents and tourists must follow, but tour guides stated that deviation from it cannot result in murder. The murder of a tourist near Arkhyz is an exceptional case, linked to the rise in crime in society, and has nothing to do with tradition, commentators on social media pointed out.