Mansur Movlaev's parents have been released after being kidnapped.

The parents of Chechen native Mansur Movlaev, previously abducted by unknown assailants, have been released and returned home.

As reported by the "Caucasian Knot," on June 3, Mansur Movlaev reported that his brother Zelimkhan had been abducted in Chechnya and subjected to violence, and on June 6, he reported that his parents had been forcibly taken away to an unknown location in Chechnya. Human rights activist Maxim Rudnev contacted the Investigative Committee and the prosecutor's office regarding their abduction.

The parents of Mansur Movlaev, who were previously abducted by unknown assailants, have been released and returned home, human rights activist Maxim Rudnev reported. "The parents have finally been released and returned home after their abduction! It's possible that the publicity and attention they generated helped," he wrote on his Telegram channel.

The human rights activist explained that Movlaev's lawyers informed him of his parents' release.

"Caucasian Knot" also reported that the abduction of Movlaev's relatives fits in with a trend in the crackdown on critics of the Chechen authorities. By kidnapping Mansur Movlaev's family, Chechen security forces are attempting to silence him. Fear for the life and health of loved ones often becomes the main constraint on political activity, but such pressure does not always produce the desired result for the Chechen authorities, an activist and human rights defender interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" noted.

As a reminder, Mansur Movlaev was detained by security forces in Chechnya in 2022 and held in an illegal prison. After escaping, he managed to reach Kyrgyzstan in January 2023. In August 2023, security forces in Kyrgyzstan detained Movlaev, who had been placed on the wanted list in Russia for financing extremist activity. On November 20, 2023, Movlaev was released and then voluntarily left Kyrgyzstan to avoid being sent home.

In May 2025, Movlaev was detained in Kazakhstan and placed under extradition arrest. On January 30, it was announced that the Prosecutor General's Office of Kazakhstan had ordered his extradition to Russian security forces. His defense appealed the decision. In February, the Supreme Court of Kazakhstan suspended the enforcement of Movlaev's extradition order. On May 8, a court in Almaty extended the extradition arrest by two months, until July.

Caucasian Knot is posting materials about human rights violations in Chechnya, Kadyrov's attacks on the opposition, and his fight against dissent in the republic on a special thematic page "Dissent in Chechnya".

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