A resident of Karachay-Cherkessia received 15 days in jail for comments about Putin.

The Khabez District Court of Karachay-Cherkessia sentenced Mukharabi Shebzukhov to 15 days of administrative arrest for comments he made in several VKontakte communities.

According to the court, Mukharabi Shebzukhov posted comments on the pages of the public communities "Cherkessk/KCR," "Adyghe (Circassians) Dunaim Shypseury," and "Meeting Place" on the VKontakte social network. An unknown number of users had access to the public pages, and Shebzukhov's comments contained negative assessments of the Russian president and Russians.

"This user also negatively assesses the actions of the current president, under whose leadership the military operation is being conducted in Ukraine, arguing that the Russian people, by participating in military actions, are condemning themselves to certain death ("he's destroying the young," "Putin is sending you like pigs to the slaughter," "just a young nation of Gubads"). The negative assessment in the texts under investigation is expressed through the use of stylistically neutral vocabulary and phraseological expressions ("like a crab ride to Shanghai," "like feeding puppies," "like pigs to the slaughter")," the court ruling states.

The online comments were discovered by Center E officers. In court, Shebzukhov confirmed the police reports but denied guilt and expressed no remorse. However, the ruling noted that he had already done so during questioning by law enforcement.

The court found Shebzukhov guilty of inciting hatred or enmity 1 and sentenced him to 15 days of administrative arrest.

According to the case file on the Khabez District Court website, the case was received for consideration on February 26, and Judge Nariman Abdokov issued a ruling at the first hearing. The court will also hear Shebzukhov's case on charges of public actions aimed at discrediting the Armed Forces. The court hearing is scheduled for March 23.

"Caucasian Knot" also reported that at the end of 2025, a court in Cherkessk sentenced lawyer and activist Ramazan Mkhtse in absentia to eight years in prison, finding him guilty of spreading false information about the Russian military motivated by political hatred.