Personalities

Fyodor Shchukin is a Russian politician and the former Chairman of the Supreme Court of Dagestan. On April 30, 2026, the President of Russia endorsed his candidacy for the post of Head of Dagestan. On May 4, 2026, he was appointed Acting Head of Dagestan.

A military and political figure, Colonel General, and former Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in the North Caucasus Federal District. On October 5, 2020, he was appointed Acting Head of Dagestan. He was elected Head of Dagestan on October 14, 2021. On April 30, 2026, the President of the Russian Federation announced that Melikov would be stepping down as Head of Dagestan; a decree to this effect was signed on May 4, 2026.

Apti Alaudinov is a lieutenant general, deputy head of the Main Military-Political Directorate of the Russian Armed Forces, and commander of the Chechen volunteer formation "Akhmat".

An Armenian journalist and political figure, he served as a member of the Armenian parliament since 2012. In April 2018, he led the protest movement in Armenia and succeeded in forcing Serzh Sargsyan's resignation as prime minister. He is currently the Prime Minister of Armenia.

Ramzan Kadyrov is a Chechen politician, the son of Akhmat Kadyrov, the first president of the Chechen Republic. He has been the head of Chechnya since 2011. He has held the rank of major general of the police since 2009, and major general of the Russian National Guard since 2020. In 2021, he won the second direct election for the head of Chechnya with 99.7% of the vote.

A Chechen refugee in Austria and a harsh Kadyrov's critic; a former investigator of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), who collaborated with special services; was assassinated in Vienna on July 4, 2020.

A participant of the second Chechen military campaign, one of the field commanders close to Shamil Basaev and Aslan Maskhadov. Shot dead in Berlin in 2019.

Tumso Abdurakhmanov is a blogger from Chechnya. After a conflict with Ramzan Kadyrov's relative, he left the republic and went first to Georgia, and then to Poland, where he is trying to get political asylum.

Magomed "Lord" Daudov is a former Chechen militant who was awarded the title of "Hero of Russia", the chairman of the Chechen parliament under Ramzan Kadyrov.

He is a native of Chechnya, who is trying to get refugee status in Germany. In September 2017, he became the first native of the republic to confess to his homosexuality.

Zhalaudi Geriev is a Chechen journalist and a correspondent of the "Caucasian Knot". On September 5, 2016, he was sentenced to 3 years of imprisonment on the charge of drug possession. The Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" recognized Zhalaudi Geriev as a political prisoner.

Azerbaijani journalist and rights defender

A Russian MMA fighter, a native of Dagestan. After a battle with Al Iaquinta in April 2018, Khabib Nurmagomedov became the first Russian citizen in UFC with a champion title. On October 6, 2018, he defeated Conor McGregor at UFC 229 tournament in Las Vegas.

On July 9, 2013, Akhmednabi Akhmednabiev, our colleague, a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent, was killed in the suburb of Makhachkala.

He defends human rights, investigated a mass execution in Chechnya, and made efforts to make socially important problems public.

He made public facts of violations during the pre-election campaign in Armenia.

He has made public an important public issue by publishing his investigation into kidnappings of journalists in Azerbaijan.

Svetlana Anokhina, a journalist from Dagestan, has published a book "There Was Such A City. Makhachkala". In 2015, she continued her publicist project in other books of the series. Ms Anokhina is widely known as the author of the Daptar.ru portal, which posts resonant stories of Caucasian women.

Gerbert Gevorgyan is a member of Yerevan art group “Counterstrike”, which responds to resonant events in the society, both in Armenia and abroad. In 2015, he actively participated in graffiti actions in support of employees of the “Nairit” Factory, Shant Arutyunyan, the organizer of the “Million Mask March”, and other political activists.

Gyunay Ismayilova is one of the most active members of the Azerbaijani NGO "Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety" (IRFS). In 2015, despite the pressure and persecutions, she organized, on the volunteer basis, monitoring of court trials against human rights defenders and journalists, and published information about human rights violation in Azerbaijan.