Anna Politkovskaya was killed on 7 October 2006. Her articles, written from behind Chechnya’s blood-soaked information wall and barbed wire, became a voice of truth — the truth about what residents of the republic were experiencing as they became a convenient and powerless collective victim of the global “fight against international terrorism”.
The Nalchik Garrison Military Court in Kabardino-Balkaria found Murad Khutiev guilty of leaving his military unit without permission during mobilization (Part 5, Article 337 of the Russian Criminal Code) and sentenced him to seven years in prison.
According to the investigation, Khutiev failed to report to his military unit on May 15, 2025, and was discovered by a police officer on August 1 in Mozdok, North Ossetia. It was established that he had been at his place of residence during his absence.
In determining his sentence, the court took into account that on August 6, Khutiev had already been sentenced in Vladikavkaz to six years in prison for other serious crimes committed during his service. By combining the sentences, the final sentence was seven years in a general regime penal colony.