‘Barbaric and medieval’ Chechen authorities publicly display corpse of teenager accused of attacking police

On April 8, a teenager in the Chechen town of Achkhoy-Martan was reportedly shot and killed after fatally stabbing a police officer. Two days later, the Chechen opposition group NIYSO claimed that local authorities had used the incident to send a message — by publicly displaying the boy’s body at a public gathering. Here’s what we know so far about the incident and the reactions from activists and officials.

Authorities in the Chechen town of Achkhoy-Martan publicly displayed the body of a teenager who was killed after allegedly attacking a police officer earlier this week, according to the Chechen opposition group NIYSO, which shared footage of the incident on Telegram.

NIYSO reported that on Wednesday morning, local authorities organized a public gathering in response to the attack, which had taken place two days earlier. The group said teachers, students, local officials, and other public sector employees were rounded up and forced to attend.

A 16-second video, filmed outside the Achkhoy-Martan administrative building, shows a large crowd gathered while women can be heard crying off-camera. The body of a young man lies on the ground. The outlet Caucasian Knot noted that the shape of the face and hairstyle match those of the person identified in Chechen media as the alleged attacker.

NIYSO later posted a second video showing the body still lying in the square after the gathering had ended.

“They named us — NIYSO activists — as the organizers of the attack, and accused a Ukrainian intelligence officer of coordinating it,” a NIYSO member told iStories. “They brought in the body of the young man who was killed. They’re trying to manipulate people emotionally — to turn them against us and silence our efforts to get information out.”

According to the activist, Chechen authorities issued an ultimatum to the group: if they don’t end their opposition activities, all their relatives will be expelled from the republic and their property confiscated within a month.

“They used the situation to vilify us and give themselves free reign,” the NIYSO member continued. “Maybe, like in previous cases, they recruited the guy themselves. He was known for holding radical views. That’s how it usually happens — they find young people with extremist leanings, guide them online, recruit them, and then eliminate them. They needed someone to carry out an attack like this.”

Earlier, the state broadcaster ChGTRK Grozny aired a photo of the 17-year-old allegedly involved in an attack on a traffic police checkpoint. Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov claimed the attacker was killed during the incident and had been directed by contacts in Turkey and a Ukrainian national. Kadyrov promised a “harsh response” against “each one of them.”

Commenting on the video of the body being displayed, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the Kremlin does not consider opposition Telegram channels a reliable source of information.

Meanwhile, Eva Merkacheva, a member of Russia’s Presidential Council for Human Rights, called the public display of the teenager’s body “barbaric” and “medieval” in an interview with Gazeta.ru. She continued,