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The employees of the shelter from which Maria Smelaya was abducted decided not to apply to the police, but moved their clients to a safe place. Human rights defenders have emphasized the need of legal mechanisms and tools to protect shelter clients.

In Karachay-Cherkessia, a court found three persons guilty of preparing a terror act and participating in the activities of the “Islamic State” (IS)*. The defendants were sentenced to 18.5 years of imprisonment in a high-security penal colony.

The Supreme Court (SC) of Ingushetia has upheld an appeal filed by the prosecutor’s office against mitigation of a pre-trial restriction measure for Leila Gatagazheva, accused of involvement in groupings of Syrian militants. The young woman has been returned to a SIZO (pre-trial prison) for the second time.

The "Rosfinmonitoring" (Russian Federal Financial Monitoring Service) has included Nadezhda Kevorkova, a journalist who was arrested on charges of justifying terrorism, into the list of terrorists and extremists.

After holding a picket in support of his convicted colleague Abdulmumin Gadjiev, Magomed Magomedov, a deputy editor-in-chief of the Dagestani weekly newspaper “Chernovik” (Rough Draft), said that in Makhachkala, passers-by expressed their interest in an Abdulmumin Gadjiev’s case and the date of consideration of the appeal.

A 66-year-old Jehovah’s Witness* from Abinsk has been taken into custody, being accused of participating in an extremist organization, investigators report.

The defence of Aliya Khalit, a contract serviceman, has challenged the verdict announced by the Maykop Military Court, pointing out that the reason for the serviceman's absence from service was in his health condition. However, the Southern District Military Court has upheld six year in jail for Aliya Khalit.

Alexander Bastrykin, the head of the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF), has ordered to bring under control the beating case in Kuban (the Krasnodar Territory) of a participant in the special military operation (SMO); the fighter had his both legs fractured.

In her video appeal, Maria Smelaya, a Krasnodar resident, who had complained about violence in her family with a native of Chechnya, has refuted the information that her husband had beaten her up. Thus, at least it is known that at the time of recording the video, Maria was alive and not injured, human rights defenders have noted.

During the festive events on the Victory Day, a Volgograd resident was marching with his hand raised in a Nazi salute and didn't react to people's remarks. He later apologized, treating his actions as "apery."

The text message posted on behalf of Maria Smelaya, a Krasnodar resident, that she had left for Moscow and was not abducted from a shelter by a native of Chechnya looks like a fake, Telegram users have pointed out.

The President of Guinea-Bissau has visited the Russian Special Forces University and was impressed by the shooting skills of Adam Kadyrov, Ramzan's son and the university curator.

During the 1941-1945 war, Sochi, which was not affected by hostilities, was known as a "hospital city," but modern officials suggest that citizens celebrate May 9 by donning submachine guns, helmets and the roles of machine gunners, local residents have complained.

For the Chechen units fighting in the special military operation (SMO) zone, 30 armoured foreign made vehicles have been bought for the money from the Akhmat Kadyrov Fund, the head of Chechnya has reported.

A resident of Krasnodar, who complained about violence in the family of a native of Chechnya, stopped communicating with her friends and acquaintances after her husband with his accomplices kidnapped her from a shelter, human rights defenders reported.

Marina Melikhova, convicted in a case on discrediting the Russian Armed Forces, thanked activists for their support and publicity of the violation of her rights, since thanks to the people’s support and public outcry, the administration of the SIZO (pre-trial prison) in Armavir improved the conditions of detention.

Yulduz Kurashova, a woman from Khasavyurt, the victim in the torture case, intends to seek to bring Maya Akhmedova, an operative agent, to justice; she was acquitted by the court during the retrial of the case.

When commenting on the criminal prosecution of journalist Nadezhda Kevorkova, advocate Timofei Shirokov has pointed out that psychological and linguistic examination has become a punitive tool and that, without clear criteria determined, investigators can easily use such examination to confirm the conclusions they need.

Two of the prosecution witnesses in the case of Kishta Tutinova, Tsagan Khalgaeva and Ekaterina Menkova have failed to appear in court, but the prosecutor did not insist on their appearance. Tutinova is under threat of up to ten years in jail; Khalgaeva and Menkova – up to six years.

Nadezhda Kevorkova's publications about the events in Nalchik in 2005 dealt with the torture of detainees; they irritated law enforcers. However, "she didn't support terrorism in any form," Maxim Shevchenko, a journalist, has stated in his comment on Kevorkova's arrest for allegedly justifying terrorism.