Kalmyk activist Boris Todaev has been placed under house arrest.
The court in Elista placed politician and activist Boris Todaev under house arrest on charges of rehabilitating Nazism due to an article in his published newspaper "Narn" (Sun). Law enforcement officials seized equipment and information carriers from his apartment.
As reported by "Caucasian Knot", in 2023 Boris Todaev participated in the elections to the Kalmykia parliament, running from the "Fair Russia" party in district No. 13 in the north of the republic. On the evening of September 10, shortly before the vote counting began, his car's tires were punctured. In December of the same year, Todaev commented to "Caucasian Knot" on the destruction of a memorial plaque installed at the Abganerovo station in the Volgograd region on the eve of the 80th anniversary of the deportation of the Kalmyks, stating that he was personally offended by the act of vandalism. In February 2024, he also commented for "Caucasian Knot" on the sentence of the editor-in-chief of "Modern Kalmykia" Valery Badmaev.
The criminal case against Boris Todaev was initiated by the investigative committee on September 1. The next day, on September 2, a search was conducted in the activist's apartment: a laptop, smartphone, and other information carriers were seized. After the search, Boris was placed in a temporary detention facility (IVS). A day later, the Elista City Court determined his preventive measure - house arrest, a representative of the League of Mongolian Peoples, who wished to remain unnamed, told a correspondent of "Caucasian Knot".
"The investigative authorities accuse him of rehabilitating Nazism and publicly insulting the memory of the defenders of the Fatherland, committed by a group of individuals (parts 3 and 4 of Article 345.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). The reason for the investigation was an article by Todaev titled "Short Queues", published on December 26, 2025, in his newspaper "Narn". It discussed the opening of a memorial sign in the village of Malye Derbety on the day of remembrance for the victims of repression (October 30). In his article, Boris expressed a categorical opinion regarding the Soviet soldiers who participated in the deportation of the Kalmyks. For these words, he now faces punishment - from a fine of two million rubles to five years in prison," said the representative of the League of Mongolian Peoples.
According to a source, 66-year-old Boris Todaev suffers from cancer, and the criminal process is life-threatening for him. His publicist newspaper "Narn" is dedicated to "the life of Kalmykia and the Kalmyk people", its principles are "dialogue, critical thinking, and respect for facts". The newspaper is available both in "paper" (999 copies) and electronic form.
The source noted that Boris Todaev is a well-known politician in the republic. In 1989, he was one of the founders of the People's Front of Kalmykia, actively participating in the emerging democratic movement in the republic. For a long time, Boris opposed the former head of the republic Kirsan Ilyumzhinov. "The People's Front of Kalmykia no longer exists; only three of its activists are still alive. In the current political conditions, they do not show much political activity," he added.
The Kalmyk politician called the soldiers of the Red Army who participated in the deportation of the Kalmyks Nazis, which, according to the investigation, insults the memory of the defenders of the Fatherland, noted Alexander Verkhovsky, director of the Information and Analytical Center "Sova" (included in the Russian register of foreign agents), commenting on the arrest of Boris Todaev.
"But he called them that not for the defense of the Fatherland at all. The deportation of peoples under Stalin was recognized as criminal even during the perestroika years, that is, these soldiers were carrying out a criminal order. How they can or cannot be called is a matter of taste, but in this case, Todaev was not cursing them as defenders of the Fatherland, but as executors of a criminal order. There is no doubt that the same person does both good and bad things at different periods of life - if he has done as many good things as possible, that cannot exempt him from criticism for bad ones. Unless one should be more restrained in this criticism, but that is already not a subject for a criminal case. And Todaev's case is a good example of how poorly formulated Article 354.1 (of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) is in many of its elements," said Alexander Verkhovsky to a correspondent of "Caucasian Knot".
Kalmyk public figure Valery Badmaev quoted on his Facebook* page on September 5 the words that gave rise to the criminal case against Todaev.
"The article contains a small text about the memories of an elderly woman (over 90 years old) who was deported as a child. The text provided by Boris ends with the words "... her father was fighting the Nazis at the front at that time, while other Nazis, in the person of Soviet soldiers, were deporting his children, his family to cold Siberia. Forever," the activist's publication states.
Todaev's lawyer and his relatives declined to comment to journalists.