Russian law enforcement agencies have claimed that members of the Batalkhadzhin Sufi community were linked to the Caucasus Emirate*, a militant Islamist organisation. Human rights advocates, however, have questioned the allegations, noting that the group effectively ceased to exist more than a decade ago and that publicly available case materials contain little evidence of specific acts of support for militants.
TikTok Blocks Sputnik Georgia and Sputnik Abkhazia
The Chinese platform TikTok has blocked 37 accounts of the Russian news agency Sputnik and the profile of RT International. These measures occurred amid the expansion of US sanctions against Russia. The Sputnik news agencies also include Sputnik Georgia and Sputnik Abkhazia.
In early September, the United States imposed sanctions on the Rossiya Segodnya media group and its subsidiaries: RIA Novosti, RT, Ruptly, and Sputnik. The restrictions also affected RT editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan. On September 13, the US authorities accused Rossiya Segodnya and RT of working for the Russian special services.
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