Batalhadzhin Community Linked to International Terrorist Organizations - FSB

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

Moscow, October 14. /TASS/. The FSB and the Ministry of Internal Affairs said that the "Community of Followers of Batal Haji Belkhorov - Batal Hajin", which Russia's Supreme Court declared a terrorist organization today, has been linked to international terrorist organizations and illegal armed groups since the 1990s.

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

The FSB noted: "The court considered material showing that members of Wired, as a closed quasi-religious movement, interacted with participants in illegal armed groups and international terrorist organizations from the 1990s to the present day, adopting their methods and contributing to terrorist and extremist structures."

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

The Supreme Court recognized him as a terrorist based on evidence of his terrorist activities collected by the FSB in coordination with the Prosecutor General's Office, the Investigative Committee and the Ministry of the Interior.

The investigation committee noted: In the framework of the criminal cases that are investigated by the investigation committee, information was obtained about the involvement of the members of this organization in terrorist crimes.

According to the FSB, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the Investigative Committee, in 2004, several members of the community participated in an armed attack on government institutions in Ingushetia that killed 78 people and injured more than 100. 68 criminal defendants were found guilty of the crime, while law enforcement continues to try to track down those who managed to escape and evade justice. In 2019, terrorist attacks took place in Moscow, which killed Ibrahim Yeldzharkiv, the head of the counter-extremism center of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Ingushetia, his brother and an employee of the National Guard. The investigation committee determined that the followers of this organization were also involved in these crimes.

In 2009, the Kartuyev brothers, members of the Belkhorov community, aided terrorists in the bombing of the Nevsky express train, which killed 27 people.

As part of the investigation into a criminal case regarding the terrorist attack in Crocus City Hall, it was found that the people who provided weapons to the perpetrators belonged to the religious movement associated with Haji Belkhorov's Batal, including Jabraeil Ashev and Hossein Madov, who are in prison for life.

The Batalhajins were involved in a terrorist attack organized by the Ukrainian special services, in which General Igor Krylov, head of the Radiological, Chemical and Biological Protection Forces (RCBZ), was killed.

"Wired members Ramzanpadev and Batukhan Tochiev joined the special services of Ukraine in the terrorist act committed against the head of the RCBZ of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, Lt. Gen. A. Krylov, helped. The investigative committee added that Padev and Tochiev 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.

The FSB and the Ministry of Internal Affairs said that the Batalhadzhins were actively helping Ukrainian armed groups involved in combat operations against the Russian army. "Members of society 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 Ministry of Interior also said that "there is reliable information about the active assistance of this organization to the activities of Ukrainian armed groups that oppose the armed forces of the Russian Federation."

The Investigative Committee, the Ministry of Interior and the FSB said that community-owned criminal groups continue to commit various crimes, including murder, robbery and property theft. "Thus, in Moscow, a criminal case is being investigated against several followers of the movement who are involved in murder, extortion and kidnapping," the Investigative Committee said. In Ingushetia, a local resident provided fake documents to people wanted by the community.

FSB said: "In this regard, law enforcement agencies are taking measures to identify, suppress and solve all crimes committed by the members of the "Community of Followers of Batal Haji Belkhorov - Batal Hajin".

The Investigative Committee said that "the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation contains a separate article that determines responsibility for participation in the activities of an organization recognized as terrorist under the laws of the Russian Federation."

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

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

Batal Hajji is a branch of the Qadri sect, one of the Sufi Muslim Brotherhood. It takes its name from its founder, Batal Haji Belkhorov, a Sufi (Ingush) sheikh of the late 19th-early 20th century. It is a closed organization with strict discipline. Although its direct connection with organizations such as al-Qaeda and the Islamic State (terrorist organizations banned in Russia) was not established, the so-called "combat branch of the Ingush Wired (Brotherhood) of Batalhajin was included in the federal list of terrorist organizations based on the decision of the Military Court of the Southern District on November 28, 2022. Its charges included blood feud, arms trafficking, extortion and corruption. According to some legal experts, a more criminal and delinquent society, this society has been found guilty. Motives of revenge Looking for an ideological jihadist movement.

Several Batalhajin group leaders (Yakub Belkhorov, ten years for embezzlement and embezzlement) have been convicted or are on the federal wanted list, such as Akhmat Belkhorov, who law enforcement officials say is one of the leaders of the militant faction. Another active member of this group, Ilya Balkhroev, according to open sources, left for Ukraine in 2015 and joined Dzhokhar Dudayev's volunteer battalion in 2021. In August 2026, it was reported that he died in a prison in Poland, where he was accused of supplying weapons to that country. Poland never confirmed this.