London: Ingush political prisoner Akhmed Barakhoev has been released from a penal colony in Yaroslavl after serving five years in prison on charges linked to the 2019 protests against a controversial land-swap agreement between Ingushetia and Chechnya. His release comes amid a series of significant political and legal developments across Russia, including arrests related to commemorations of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny and a court decision overturning the latest sentence of Zarema Musaeva.
Barakhoev, 71, was among the defendants in the high-profile case stemming from protests in Ingushetia over a border deal with Chechnya in 2019. He was released from a penal colony in Yaroslavl after completing his five-year sentence. Musa Malsagov, another protester convicted in connection with the demonstrations, was also freed on the same day.
Crowd Gathers at Magas Airport
According to local reports, at least 200 supporters gathered at Ingushetia’s Magas Airport on Wednesday to welcome Barakhoev upon his return. Authorities reportedly redirected his flight to neighboring North Ossetia-Alania amid the turnout.
Barakhoev and fellow community elder Malsag Uzhakhov, 73, were the oldest defendants in the case. Uzhakhov remains in custody and is expected to be released later this year.
The 2019 protests erupted after regional authorities approved a land-swap agreement redefining the border between Ingushetia and Chechnya, a move that sparked widespread demonstrations and subsequent prosecutions.
Arrests Over Navalny Commemorations
In a separate development, at least 19 people were detained across five regions of Russia, including Moscow, for publicly commemorating the second anniversary of the death of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, according to the human rights watchdog OVD-Info.
Seven of the reported detentions occurred in Ufa, the capital of the republic of Bashkortostan. Authorities have not publicly detailed the specific charges against those detained.
Chechnya Court Overturns Musaeva Sentence
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court of Chechnya overturned the most recent sentencing of Zarema Musaeva, the jailed mother of exiled critics of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov.
Musaeva, who has been in detention since January 2022, was previously sentenced to three years and 11 months in prison for allegedly assaulting a prison guard in August last year. She and her family deny the allegations. Following the court’s decision, Musaeva will await a retrial while being held in a pre-trial detention centre.
Utility Crisis in Belgorod Region
In the Ukraine-bordering Belgorod region, authorities are grappling with prolonged utility outages attributed to Ukrainian airstrikes on energy infrastructure. Regional officials have pledged to establish emergency commissions to address a growing number of complaints.
Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov warned that the regional capital may remain without hot water until April, intensifying concerns among residents facing infrastructure disruptions.
These developments underscore ongoing political tensions and regional challenges within Russia, ranging from protest-related cases and opposition commemorations to infrastructure strains near the Ukrainian border.
