07:44, 19 October 2025

Telegram users debate the motives for Abakarov's murder.

Abakar Abakarov, who was wanted in connection with the anti-Israel riots in Makhachkala, was killed in Turkey for his calls for protests in Dagestan, some Telegram users claimed. Other commenters suggested that Israeli intelligence was behind the murder.

As reported by the "Caucasian Knot," on October 17, it was reported that Abakar Abakarov, a native of Dagestan whom Russian investigators believe to be the organizer of the riots at the Makhachkala airport, had been killed in Turkey. On October 18, it was reported that Abakarov's body had been returned to his family. He was buried in Istanbul that same day.

Abakar Abakarov was placed on the wanted list in Russia in November 2023. Investigators named him as one of three organizers of the mass riots at Makhachkala airport, along with politician Ilya Ponomarev (included in the foreign agent registry) and preacher Israil Akhmednabiyev (also known as Abu Umar Sasitlinsky). According to investigators, they published "false information" about the arrival of a flight from Tel Aviv carrying Israeli citizens and thereby organized the riots. In July, the cases of all three were submitted to the Supreme Court of Dagestan for trial in absentia. Information about Abakar Abakarov's death, published on October 18 on the "ChP Kavkaz" Telegram channel (247,000 subscribers), had garnered 911 comments by 7:40 a.m. Moscow time on October 19.

The publication is illustrated with a portrait of Abakarov during his lifetime and a posthumous photo. Some commenters debated whether it was appropriate to publish a photograph of Abakarov's body. Many users stated that this was unacceptable.

Photographs posted by Telegram channels show a large cut above the eye on the deceased's face. According to sources, there are no other visible injuries on the body.

Many other commenters linked Abakarov's death to attempts to organize mass protests. "At the end of this month, he wanted to organize a protest in support of the Airport group, and that's definitely why he was removed," a.m.m believes. "To create a second batch of Airport group members serving time and receiving longer sentences?" - Umar asked.

Then a.m.m. asked why the participants in the mass riots at Makhachkala Airport were given such sentences, to which Umar replied: "For stupidity, for ignorance, for recklessness! For acting like weaklings whose lot it is to protest, walk with banners, and organize worthless and empty protests."

On October 29, 2023, mass riots broke out at Makhachkala Airport following the announcement of the arrival of a plane carrying passengers from Israel. More than 20 people were injured in the riots, including nine police officers. 1,200 people were brought to administrative responsibility, and by July 18, 2025, courts had handed down 28 verdicts to 135 defendants in criminal cases related to the unrest.

Some users believe that Abakarov was "punished" by Israeli intelligence agencies, and also called him a "provocateur" and "an agent of Western intelligence." "They most likely ordered it," wrote Med. User R, responding to his comment, suggested: "Someone's relative could have done it, but the Turks are probably investigating."

"He caused unrest, and now he's paying the price," opined Zakat. "They killed him, so they were afraid," 35714 suggested. "One less provocateur," commented Tarlan 88888888.

"Western intelligence agencies are using provocateurs to destabilize the country from within. One such paid provocateur was Abakar Abakarov," wrote Zukhra. "Abakarov has already been buried, leave the man alone," responded Khan 05.

In a video from October 3 on the YouTube channel "Utro Dagestan" (36,000 subscribers), Abakarov called for a protest on the second anniversary of the anti-Israeli rally in Dagestan. On August 8, in another video, Abakarov called for blocking highways "all over Makhachkala" in protest against power outages. Makhachkala authorities responded by threatening criminal prosecution against those who participated in the protest. In July, a call for an unauthorized protest in Makhachkala was posted on social media. Some social media users then speculated that the post was initiated by Abakarov. Some readers of the "Dagestan Blog / News" Telegram channel (240,000 subscribers), which also published a photograph of Abakarov's body, questioned the rationale for distributing such photographs. In total, the post about his death had garnered 125 comments by 7:40 a.m. Moscow time.

Some users speculated that Abakarov was the reason many Dagestani residents were criminally prosecuted. "Is he the one who put so many of our simple-minded guys in jail? If so, I don't understand why you sympathize with him so much?" Ahmed asked.

"Really, he was the reason we had all this fuss in the Caspian region," Turpal Abdulkerimov wrote. "Many people went there at his instigation. He himself was in Turkey, but he called on others to hold rallies, etc. He wanted to go against the government," wrote A B.

"During the airport commotion, he was encouraging people to attend a rally... Well, that's superficial; there's something else going on... We don't know," suggested 999.

As a reminder, many defendants in the "airport case" claimed they were at the airport but did not participate in the unrest. Moreover, some convictions were handed down despite witness testimony. In January, police officers failed to identify two defendants in court – Magomedgadzhi Chirgilaev and Yasin Gadzhiev.

Chirgilaev and Gadzhiev themselves claimed they went to the airport out of curiosity to see what was going on. They told their lawyer that they were beaten to force them to incriminate themselves. Despite this, the court sentenced them to lengthy prison terms, but the appellate court upheld the sentence.

What happened at Uytash Airport and how the investigation is proceeding is described in the "Caucasian Knot" report "The Case of the Pogrom at Makhachkala Airport".

Translated automatically via Google translate from https://www.kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/416459