A relative of Movsar Kottoev was convicted of aiding militants.

A military court in Rostov-on-Don sentenced Magomed Kottoyev, a native of Malgobek, to a lengthy prison term, finding him an accomplice to those involved in the attack on a traffic police post on the border between Ingushetia and North Ossetia in March 2023.

As reported by the "Caucasian Knot," security forces believe Movsar Kottoyev was involved in the attack on a traffic police post on the border between Ingushetia and North Ossetia in March 2023. Movsar Kottoyev himself wasfound dead a week after the attack on the post. His relative, Magomed Kottoyev, was arrested in April 2023 and sentenced to six years for possessing a grenade, but later successfully overturned the sentence.

The Southern District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don sentenced 58-year-old Magomed Kottoev, a native of Ingushetia, to accomplice status in a terrorist organization and militants of an illegal armed group.

Kottoev's case directly concerns attacks on security forces in the spring of 2023. According to the prosecution, the attacks on law enforcement officers in Ingushetia and North Ossetia on March 27 and April 3, 2023, were committed by members of the banned international terrorist organization "Islamic State," who had managed to evade prosecution. When a counterterrorism operation was declared in the Malgobek District of Ingushetia, the militants required assistance from individuals who were not under the surveillance of law enforcement.

The court established that on April 3, 2023, a member of an ISIS cell* approached Magomed Kottoyev, asking him to escort him and three other militants to a safe location from a specific locality in the republic. Magomed Kottoyev, according to the prosecution, agreed to help them, drove his car "to a relative's residence," and evacuated the three militants, the official Telegram channel of the Southern District Military Court reported today.

The court sentenced Magomed Kottoyev to 14 years in a maximum-security penal colony. The court's press service did not specify whether the defendant had pleaded guilty. Kottoyev's case has been heard since June 2025, with the most recent hearing taking place today, according to the case file on the court's website. The verdict is not yet reflected in the file.

Magomed Kottoyev was born in August 1967 in Malgobek. His information was added to the Rosfinmonitoring register of terrorists and extremists in late December 2024, according to data from a Telegram bot tracking updates to the list. Caucasian Knot has not yet received any comments from Kottoyev or his lawyer regarding plans to appeal the verdict.

* is a terrorist organization banned in Russia.

** Meta (owner of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp) is banned in Russia.