The case of an alleged member of Basayev's group has reached court.

The case of Arsen Koldasov, whom investigators believe to be involved in the attack by Shamil Basayev's militants on Russian military personnel in Dagestan, has been submitted to court.

As reported by the "Caucasian Knot," in May 2025, security forces reported the arrest of four men suspected of involvement in the attack by Basayev and Khattab's militants on Russian military personnel. Arsen Koldasov was among the suspects detained in Dagestan, Ingushetia, the Astrakhan region, and Stavropol.

Dagestan: Chronicle of Terror (1996-2026)

The Southern District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don has received The criminal case against Arsen Koldasov, whom security forces believe to be a participant in the 1999 attack by Basayev and Khattab's group on Russian servicemen in Dagestan, was opened, TASS reported today, citing a court representative.

According to investigators, Arsen Koldasov and another detainee, Radzhab Khasayev, participated in an attack on villages in the Botlikh and Tsumadinsky districts of Dagestan in August 1999, RBC reported in May 2025.

Arsen Koldasov's case file on the court's website is unavailable for viewing as of 1:05 p.m. Moscow time. "Not all case categories are subject to publication, and search results may not display a complete list of cases pending before the court," explains a message on the court's website's case search page.

As a reminder, security forces regularly report the arrests of alleged members of Basayev and Khattab's gang. The "Caucasian Knot" also reported that a court sentenced Stavropol resident Albert Elakayev to nine years in prison after finding him a participant in the 1999 attack by Shamil Basayev's gang on Dagestan.

Criminal cases involving participation in Basayev and Khattab's gangs are similar and often falsified, lawyer Narine Ayrapetyan told the "Caucasian Knot." "The witnesses are the same everywhere. Five witnesses are usually called – three secret witnesses and two public ones," she said.

Ayrapetyan emphasized that cases are fabricated against innocent people, too. "When people weren't involved, but are threatened, including with torture, others are forced to testify against them. For example, one of my clients, who is serving a sentence in the Ulyanovsk region, told me that he is being pressured to testify about the events of 1999 against people he didn't even know before," the lawyer said.

In 2019, Vladimir Putin signed a law granting militiamen from Dagestan who fought militants in 1999 the status of combat veterans, along with the right to monthly payments and financial benefits. The list of applicants included about 28,000 people, but only 520 received certificates, and most of those who actually fought were not included, members of veterans' organizations stated in December 2020.