Pavel Gubarev spoke about his captivity in Chechnya amid the Alaudinov denunciation case.

In 2015, Pavel Gubarev was kidnapped by Chechen fighters after reports surfaced online that he had alleged Ramzan Kadyrov's involvement in the Charlie Hebdo attack. The former "people's governor" of Donbas stated this in an interview shortly before the hearing of the army defamation case, which was opened following Apti Alaudinov's statement.

In an interview with journalist Yuri Dud*, Pavel Gubarev, the former "people's governor" of Donbas, spoke about his captivity in Chechnya.

The reason, he said, was publications in Ukrainian media about his allegations of involvement in the attack on the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov. Gubarev noted that journalist Maxim Shevchenko later contacted him and asked for a retraction.

"I told him, 'What's there to deny? It's complete nonsense, and it's obvious it's a hoax.' But they called anyway. I said something about how I respect Ramzan Akhmatych, the usual phrases about Ramzan Akhmatych holding Chechnya in his fist, and, of course, I denied that I hadn't accused anyone. But nevertheless, I don't know whether it's a system bug or an inspiration, but some people from the entourage of the first head of the DPR, Alexander, "Zakharchenko came to my office, and a squad of Chechens—those big, bearded warriors—came after them," Gubarev explained.

According to him, he was drugged and taken to the city of Zuhres (DPR). "I woke up tied up, lying in some room. They unblinded me, and there, a group of Chechens were standing in some corridor, and one of them started beating me," he said.

According to Gubarev, he was questioned and demanded to apologize on camera, while the men beating him were simultaneously talking to someone on the phone. Gubarev refused to apologize. He said that during the phone conversation with his captors, he "realized who was on the line," though he did not name them in the interview. "They started to figure out that it was a screw-up," Gubarev said. He added that he was taken away in a car and dumped on a highway in Donetsk. No one apologized to him. According to him, the Chechens who kidnapped him were later arrested.

Pavel Gubarev is a political and public figure. During the 2014 protests in Donbas, he was declared the "people's governor" of the Donetsk region. He became one of the organizers of the "Donbass People's Militia," where he was responsible for recruiting volunteers, Kommersant reports.

When a government was later formed in the Donetsk People's Republic, he did not hold any position, Lenta.ru reports.

I consider the activities of "Akhmat" and Apti personally to be deeply destructive.

An administrative protocol for discrediting the Russian army was filed against the former "people's governor" of the Donetsk region, Pavel Gubarev, RBK reported, citing Moscow City Court records. The case was registered on February 18.

21:21 06.02.2026

Divnich reported on the sentence for Alikhan Bersayev

Chechen fighter Alikhan Bersayev has been convicted of leaving his unit without leave and will no longer be able to go to the war zone, stated blogger Maksim Divnich, who participated in the conflict with Bersayev in the Luhansk basin.

In an interview with war correspondent Yuri Kotenok on March 12, Gubarev stated that the denunciation against him was filed by Apti Alaudinov, head of the Akhmat special forces unit. "As part of my legal assessment of the legal proceedings against me, I am authorized to state that I consider the activities of Akhmat and Apti personally to be deeply destructive. His attacks on an Orthodox priest, his position on the pool fight involving Max Divnich, his threats against bloggers and activists, and his lobbying for religious proselytism have provoked my outrage," he is quoted as saying in the publication.

"I do not admit any defamation. The purpose of my publications is to provoke readers to a critical attitude toward the aforementioned activities of Alaudinov," he said.

Attached to the publication is the text of a criminal complaint filed on behalf of Apti Alaudinov. The document states that the author of the publication on the Telegram channel "Private Gubarev" "was guided, among other things, by motives of national hatred, allowing a dismissive and unfriendly attitude towards the Akhmat special forces unit, represented by its commander," the document states.

The hearing is scheduled for April 20 in the Tagansky Court, according to the file on the court's website.

As a reminder, some Z-bloggers are conspiratorial enemies of Russia or unknowingly serve its interests by criticizing Akhmat, unit commander Apti Alaudinov stated on November 14, 2025. He promised to destroy such Z-bloggers "legally through criminal prosecution" if they do not apologize. That same day, the Gelendzhik City Court fined Oksana Kobeleva, the author of the Telegram channel "Security in a Vatnik," 30,000 rubles for publishing questions to the commander of the Akhmat special forces, Apti Alaudinov, although she later deleted the post and repented for the material. On November 13, Alaudinov announced a reconciliation between two other Z-bloggers, Ilya Remeslo and Vladimir Grubnik. The latter, a friend of Akhmat, complained to the Chechens about Remeslo's criticism. The conflict between Remeslo and Grubnik arose over attitudes toward pro-Putin Ukrainian defectors in the Z-community.

Caucasian Knot also reported that Gubarev was the target of an assassination attempt in 2014. His car was hit by gunfire near the town of Snezhnoye in the Donetsk region. That same day, Gubarev was hospitalized unconscious in Rostov-on-Don. The next day, he woke up and was transferred from intensive care to the hospital.