Batalhadzhin community linked to international terrorist organizations — FSB

MOSCOW, October 14. /TASS/. The "Community of Followers of Batal Hajji Belkhoroev - Batalhadzhins," which Russia's Supreme Court tagged as a terrorist organization today, has been linked to international terrorist organizations and illegal armed groups since the 1990s, the FSB and the Interior Ministry said.

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court recognized the community as a terrorist organization and banned its activities in Russia.

"The court took into account the materials indicating that members of the wird, as a closed pseudo-religious movement, have been interacting with participants in illegal armed groups and international terrorist organizations since the 1990s and up to the present day, adopting their methods and providing assistance to terrorist and extremist structures," the FSB noted.

The Interior Ministry said the community members help other international terrorist organizations and illegal armed groups, and participate in terrorist and extremist activities.

Terrorist acts

The Supreme Court ruled to recognize this organization as terroristic based on evidence of its terrorist activities collected by the FSB in coordination with the Prosecutor General’s Office, the Investigative Committee, and the Interior Ministry.

"Within the framework of criminal cases investigated by the Investigative Committee, data was obtained on the involvement of members of this organization in terrorist crimes," the Investigative Committee noted.

According to the FSB, the Interior Ministry, and the Investigative Committee, in 2004, several members of the community participated in an armed attack on government bodies in Ingushetia killing 78 people and wounding more than 100. Sixty·eight defendants in the criminal case were convicted in the crime, while law enforcement continues to try to track down those who were able to flee and escape justice. In 2019, terrorist attacks were carried out in Moscow, resulting in the deaths of Ibragim Yeldzharkiyev, head of the Center for Countering Extremism of the Interior Ministry for the Republic of Ingushetia, his brother, and an employee of the National Guard. The Investigative Committee established that followers from the organization were also involved in these crimes.

In 2009, the Kartoyev brothers, members of the Belkhoroev community, assisted terrorists in the bombing of the Nevsky Express train, which killed 27 people.

As part of the investigation into a criminal case concerning the terrorist attack at the Crocus City Hall, it was established that the individuals who provided weapons to the perpetrators of the crime belong to the religious movement associated with Batal Hajji Belkhoroev, including Dzhabrail Aushev and Husen Medov, who are serving life in prison.

Russian general's death

The Batalhadzhins were involved in a terrorist attack organized by Ukraine’s special services, in which the head of the radiation, chemical and biological protection forces (RCBZ) Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov was killed.

"Wird members Ramazan Padiyev and Batukhan Tochiyev assisted the special services of Ukraine in the terrorist act committed against the head of the RCBZ of the armed forces of the Russian Federation, Lieutenant General I. Kirillov," the FSB said. The Investigative Committee added that Padiyev and Tochiyev helped the perpetrator of this terrorist act. "This crime was prepared for a long time on the territory of Ukraine. The accomplices are serving long prison terms," the Investigative Committee said.

Assistance to Ukrainian militants

The FSB and the Interior Ministry said that the Batalhadzhins actively assisted Ukrainian armed groups engaged in combat operations against the Russian army. "Members of the community participated in supporting terrorist and extremist groups engaged in combat operations against the armed forces of the Russian Federation on the territory of Ukraine," the FSB said. The Interior Ministry also said that "there is reliable information about the active assistance provided by the organization to the activities of Ukrainian armed groups that oppose the armed forces of the Russian Federation."

Ongoing investigation

The Investigative Committee, the Interior Ministry, and the FSB said that criminal groups belonging to the community continue to commit various crimes, including murders, robberies, and property theft. "Thus, in Moscow, a criminal case is being investigated against several followers of the movement who are involved in murders, extortion, and kidnapping," the Investigative Committee said. In Ingushetia, a local resident supplied forged documents to the wanted members of the community.

"In this regard, law enforcement agencies are carrying out measures to identify, suppress, and solve all crimes committed by members of the ‘Community of Followers of Batal Hajji Belkhoroev -- Batalhadzhins,’" the FSB said.

Warning

The Investigative Committee said that "the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation contains a separate article that establishes liability for participating in the activities of an organization recognized as terrorist under the legislation of the Russian Federation."

The Interior Ministry said this concerns Article 205.5 of the Criminal Code (organizing the activities of a terrorist organization and participating in the activities of such an organization).

Thus, as explained by the Investigative Committee, the Interior Ministry and the FSB actions related to financing, managing, or providing any other assistance to the leaders and participants of the community entail criminal liability and punishment, up to and including life imprisonment.

Batalhadzhins

Batal Hajji is an offshoot of the Qadiri order, one of the influential Sufi brotherhoods. It got its name after its founder, Batal-Hajji Belkhoroev, an (Ingush) Sufi sheikh of the late 19th - early 20th century. It is a closed organization with strict discipline. Although its direct ties to organizations such as Al·Qaeda and the Islamic State (terrorist organizations banned in Russia) were not established, the so·called "combat wing of the Ingush wird (brotherhood) of the Batalhadzhins was put on the federal list of terrorist organizations under a November 28, 2022 decision of the Southern District Military Court. The charges included blood feuds, arms smuggling, extortion, and corruption. According to some legal experts, the community is more reminiscent of a criminal·clan structure with a religious veneer and motives driven by revenge than an ideological jihadist movement.

Several leaders of the Batalhadzhin group were convicted (Yakub Belkhoroev, ten years for embezzlement and misappropriation) or are on the federal wanted list, such as Akhmed Belkhoroev, who, according to law enforcement officials, is one of the leaders of the combat wing. Another active member of the group, Ilyas Belkhoroev, according to open sources, left for Ukraine in 2015, and joined the Dzhokhar Dudayev Volunteer Battalion in 2021. In August 2026, it was reported that he died in prison in Poland, where he was accused of supplying weapons to that country. Poland never confirmed this.