Three men have been arrested on suspicion of attacking Pskov paratroopers in Chechnya
Rustam Murzagishiev from the Karachay-Cherkess Republic, Ilkhom Shukurov, a resident of Tatarstan, and Chingiz Savchenko, a citizen of Ukraine, have been arrested and charged with armed rebellion, participation in a gang, and attempting to kill military personnel. They were charged with involvement in the attack on Pskov paratroopers during the Second Russo-Chechen War in 2000.
According to investigators, on February 9, 2000, the suspects, along with a detachment led by field commanders Shamil Basayev and Khattab, took part in an attack on soldiers of the 104th Regiment of the 76th Pskov Airborne Division in Chechnya. It was reported that 84 soldiers were killed and four others were injured to varying degrees.
This is not the first time citizens have been accused of involvement in the attack on Pskov paratroopers in 2000. Previously, a native of Chechnya, 63-year-old Alavdi Batykayev, was also charged in this case and denied his guilt.
As human rights activists from Memorial have previously noted, "standard" testimony from relatives of Russian soldiers has been presented as witnesses in virtually all criminal cases brought against Chechen natives. The witnesses often repeated the official version of events.
