Suspect of involvement in Basaev's gang detained in Dagestan

In the Kaitag District of Dagestan, law enforcers have detained a man, who is believed to have taken part in the attack of Basaev’s and Khattab's militants on Dagestan in 1999.

In the Kaitag District, employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) and the Federal Security Service (FSB) under the “Rosgvardiya” (Russian National Guard) have detained "a man who was a member of the armed groupings led by Shamil Basaev and Khattab," the “Rosgvardiya” Branch for Dagestan has reported.

"Investigators have established that in August 1999, he took part in an armed rebellion in the Botlikh District of Dagestan with the aim of violating the territorial integrity of the Russian Federation. A criminal case has been opened," says the report posted in the evening on May 22 in the website of the above Branch.

No other details were provided in the report. As of 11:35 a.m. Moscow time, the FSB Branch, the Dagestani MIA, and the Dagestani Branch of the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF), had not reported the arrest of this person in their websites.

Decades later, law enforcers continue reporting arrests of alleged members of Shamil Basaev’s gang. Thus, on November 2, 2022, Eduard Taushev and Temirali Zarakaev, residents of the Stavropol Territory, were detained. In May 2025, the court found them participants in the attack committed by Basaev’s and Khattab's militants on Dagestan in 1999.

This was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on May 23, 2025 at 11:45 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.