Three Chechen residents were sentenced to long prison terms for participating in a gang.

The Southern District Military Court sentenced three Chechen residents to prison terms ranging from 8 to 15 years for creating an armed gang in the region to fight against government officials and recruiting local residents.

According to the investigation and the court, in May 2024, Khamid Musayev joined forces with his brother, Khalid Musayev, and fellow villager Arsamirzayev, who agreed to participate in the group, to create an illegal armed group. At that time, Khamid Musayev and Arsamirzayev persuaded and persuaded their fellow villagers to participate.

The court emphasized that the defendants created the gang out of a belief in the need to wage armed struggle against federal and regional authorities in Chechnya. The money transferred from the gang members was used to purchase weapons, which they kept in a hiding place until their arrest by security forces, TASS reported today, citing the press service of the Southern District Military Court.

"The defendants received sentences depending on the degree of their involvement in the crime. The verdict has not yet entered into legal force," the agency quotes the court press service as saying.

The court's statement did not specify the charges under which the Chechen residents were convicted or the sentences they received, noting only that they were sentenced to imprisonment for terms ranging from 8 to 15 years.

"Caucasian Knot" also reported that Chechen resident Ramzan Ismailov was accused of recruiting for participation in a terrorist organization or providing assistance to militants, including financing terrorism. Opponents of the Chechen authorities previously reported Ismailov's abduction.