The Prosecutor General's Office of the self-proclaimed Republic of South Ossetia announced the arrest of a Georgian citizen on charges of espionage. According to media reports, she is civil activist Tamara Mearakishvili.
The Supreme Court of Russia upheld the 11-year sentence for 23-year-old Rasul Baysultanov, convicted of preparing a terrorist attack and storing explosives.
According to investigators, in October 2020, Baysultanov joined a criminal group planning to wage an armed struggle against government officials in Chechnya. On the instructions of the group's leader, who lived abroad, Baysultanov was instructed to transport a homemade explosive device and place it in a hiding place near the site of the planned terrorist attack in Grozny.
However, the hiding place was discovered by law enforcement officers, and the explosive device was replaced with a dummy. The bomb did not explode. Baysultanov was found guilty of illegally transporting, storing and manufacturing explosives, as well as committing a terrorist act as part of an organized group.
Russian security forces believe that the group's organizer is Daud Muradov. He was deported from France at Russia's request and died in February 2022 in Chechnya under unclear circumstances.