The fight against terrorism in the North Caucasus has been marked by numerous complaints about violations of the rights of detainees.

In the regions of the North Caucasus Federal District (NCFD), 33 terrorist-related crimes have been prevented this year and 260 people have been detained, reported the National Anti-Terrorism Committee. Relatives of the accused local residents regularly complain about falsifications and violations of the rights of the detainees, while analysts have repeatedly questioned the validity of some reports from law enforcement about the prevented terrorist attacks.

As reported by "Caucasian Knot", law enforcement regularly reports on the prevention of terrorist attacks in the North Caucasus. On October 2, it became known about the detention of a 19-year-old resident of Primorsky Krai, who, according to the FSB, planned to carry out an attack on a police station in North Ossetia on behalf of Ukrainian special services. Earlier, analysts assessed the regular reports on prevented terrorist attacks differently: some linked them to the activity of terrorist organizations and the preventive work of law enforcement, while others pointed to cases of persecution of activists and critics of the authorities.

The NAC reported on the prevention of terrorist attacks in the North Caucasus

Since the beginning of this year, 260 people have been detained in the North Caucasus Federal District (NCFD) for preparing terrorist acts, financing them, propagating and justifying terrorism, reported the National Anti-Terrorism Committee (NAC) following a meeting chaired by FSB Director Alexander Bortnikov.

"This year, 33 terrorist-related crimes have been prevented in the district," TASS quoted the committee's message today.

Meeting participants discussed the prevention of terrorism among youth. According to the committee, terrorist organizations and Ukrainian special services continue attempts to involve teenagers and young people in illegal activities.

The NAC also reported that attempts to involve minors in preparing terrorist crimes were thwarted in several schools. Since the beginning of the year, more than four thousand internet resources that disseminated terrorist-related materials and provoked interethnic conflicts have been blocked. Some of these sites, according to the NAC, were administered by Ukrainian special services and offered rewards for carrying out terrorist attacks.

Bortnikov pointed to a decrease in the number of terrorist-related crimes in the NCFD and an increase in the protection of the information space.

Relatives of the accused rejected the law enforcement versions

Law enforcement regularly reports that teenagers from the NCFD regions are involved in terrorist activities, but the relatives of these teenagers claim their innocence. For instance, in October 2025, a 16-year-old student from the Dagestani village of Khuchni was arrested. According to the investigation, the teenager was messaging on TikTok with a member of the banned terrorist organization "Islamic State"* and was preparing an attack on law enforcement at their request.

The relatives of the schoolboy rejected the version of his involvement in preparing a terrorist act. In February, it became known that the young man celebrated his 17th birthday in a detention center in Makhachkala. His father stated that his son became a victim of provocation.

"He did nothing. He was set up," the teenager's father told a correspondent from "Caucasian Knot".

The older sister of the schoolboy Leila (name changed) reported that her brother continued his studies in the detention center and was preparing for final exams. According to her, the teenager was beaten during his detention, and the fingerprints obtained in this way could be used to substantiate the accusation of involvement with weapons. She also stated that the detention was carried out without a legal representative.

In December 2025, it became known about another case involving a minor: a court in Astrakhan ordered to place a 13-year-old boy in a temporary detention center after reports of his preparation of a terrorist act in Dagestan. According to the court, the child was messaging with a suspected member of ISIS* and was assembling an improvised explosive device.

Human rights activist Sergey Babinets pointed to the difficulties in verifying such cases due to their closed nature and the anonymization of participants. This, in his opinion, hinders the analysis of the practice of holding minors accountable.

Doubts also arose in connection with reports of prevented terrorist attacks that did not directly involve minors. For example, after statements from the FSB about the prevention of attacks in Khasavyurt and Derbent in April-May 2025, the chairman of the independent trade union of internal affairs and prosecutor's office workers Magomed Shamilov questioned the sufficiency of the evidence presented.

"Press releases do not inspire confidence," Shamilov stated to a correspondent from "Caucasian Knot".

Retired police colonel Amir Kolov also pointed to the possibility of fabricating criminal cases for the sake of performance indicators. He emphasized the need to verify the circumstances of the alleged crime, information about the accused, and the evidence on which the investigation's version is based.

Dagestani journalist Milrad Fatullaev noted, however, that to assess the validity of the accusations, it is necessary to study the materials of specific cases. The mere lack of public information does not prove the fabrication of accusations.

Analysts also raised questions about operations during which suspects were killed. On the night of March 5, 2025, law enforcement conducted a counter-terrorism operation in the Makhachkala village of Semender, during which four people were killed. The NAC declared them supporters of ISIS*.

Shamilov and Kolov doubted the sufficiency of the grounds for such a conclusion. They pointed to the lack of convincing public information about the alleged terrorist activities of the killed individuals and raised the question of the possibility of their detention.

A different assessment was given at that time by military expert Vasily Dandikin. He viewed the absence of casualties among law enforcement as a sign of professionalism among the operation participants and pointed to the ongoing threat of youth involvement in terrorist organizations.

* ISIS ("Islamic State", formerly ISIS) - the organization is recognized as terrorist and banned in Russia by court.

** The activities of the Meta company (which owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp) are banned in Russia.