During the week from December 15 to 21, no casualties were recorded in armed and terrorist attacks in the North Caucasus and Southern Federal Districts of Russia.

During the week from December 15 to 21, 2025, no casualties were recorded in armed and terrorist attacks in the North Caucasus and Southern Federal Districts of Russia. These are the results of the "Caucasian Knot" calculations, based on its own materials and information from other open sources.

As reported by "Caucasian Knot," no casualties were recorded in armed and terrorist attacks in the North Caucasus and southern Russia during the week of December 8-14, 2025.

Trials and arrests under terrorism-related articles

On December 15, police in Krasnodar Krai sent a warning about the inadmissibility of "extremist" manifestations and actions to Vyacheslav Anikin, a resident of the Anapa district, whom law enforcement officials believe to be the organizer of a collective appeal to Putin. About 60 people participated in the video appeal, holding signs that read: "Help! They are depriving us of our only home. Lawlessness!"

A Moscow court arrested 58-year-old businessman from Kalmykia Eduard Baltykov, who participated in protests in Elista. He is accused of participating in the activities of a terrorist organization.

According to the FSB, ten Russians were detained in five regions on December 15. They, on orders from Ukrainian special services, set fire to law enforcement vehicles and illegally interfered with the operations of energy and transport facilities. One of the detainees set fire to a substation in the Novorossiysk district of the Krasnodar Territory. A criminal case has been opened against him under the article "Terrorism."

On December 16, an online comment became the reason for initiating a criminal case against a woman for public justification of terrorism, which carries a prison sentence of up to seven years. According to investigators, a Stavropol resident left a comment on a post on a publicly accessible page of a messenger app in 2023.

The Military Court in Rostov-on-Don extended by three months the arrest of Kazbek Emkuzhev and five other Nalchik residents accused in the case of a terrorist organization. Hearings in the case are being held with lengthy breaks and are constantly being postponed.

The Southern District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don sentenced Ukrainian border guard Denis Storozhuk and DPR resident Valentina Zayarnaya, finding them guilty of preparing a terrorist attack. The court sentencedDenis Storozhuk to 22 years in prison, his accomplice Valentina Zayarnaya was sentenced to 12 years.

On December 17, the Southern District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don sentenced the former head of a penal colony in Kalmykia, Pavel Batayev, and his former deputy, Artur Tsamayev, on charges of aiding a terrorist organization, accepting bribes, and abuse of office. Batayev and Tsamayev received 22 and 24 years in prison.

In the Rostov region, security forces reported preventing a terrorist attack in a penal colony that was being prepared by prisoners. According to the FSB for the Rostov region, the prisoners in the colony were supporters of a terrorist organization banned in Russia. According to the plan, they were going to seize hostages from among the colony employees and set fire to the buildings. During searches of the suspects, sharpened knives, scraps of fabric resembling the flag of a terrorist organization, and mobile phones containing terrorist materials were found.

A criminal case for participation in a terrorist organization and preparation for a terrorist attack has been opened against a 19-year-old resident of the village of Novaya Adygeya. According to investigators, the suspect intended to create a cell of an international terrorist organization and recruited residents of Adygea and the Krasnodar Territory.

On December 18, the FSB reported the arrest of a college student in Volgodonsk, who, on instructions from Ukrainian special services, was going to bring a backpack containing an improvised explosive device with a capacity of 10 kg of TNT equivalent to 12 lbs to the city administration building and hand it over to an official. Upon inspection of her backpack, they found "signs of an improvised explosive device" in it, and bomb disposal experts were called to the scene.

The Krasnodar Regional Court sentenced a 72-year-old Sochi resident to 13 years in a maximum-security penal colony for treason. According to the court, the man voluntarily transmitted information about the situation on the Black Sea coast to Ukrainian intelligence. The defendant fully admitted his guilt and repented.

On December 19, the Military Court in Rostov-on-Don was unable to hold a hearing in the case of the Kuban pensioners accused of creating an illegal armed group, as the condition of Nikolai Nabiev, who was hospitalized with a third heart attack, worsened. The next day, December 20, the court extended the pretrial detention of pensioners Nabiyev, Kuzovenko, and Zakharova, but the hearing was again disrupted because doctors prohibited Nabiyev from participating in the trial.

The First Department for Investigating Particularly Important Cases of the Investigative Department for Karachay-Cherkessia completed the criminal investigation against a local resident accused of publicly justifying terrorism due to a video and comment on a messenger. The case has been referred to court.

The Southern District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don sentenced Dagestani resident Omar Ismailov to four years in prison, finding him guilty of promoting terrorism. According to the investigation, In June 2024, Ismailov, while in Istanbul, posted a text on an online channel he managed that contained statements justifying and promoting terrorist activity.

The "Caucasian Knot" publishes monthly, quarterly, and annual statistics on victims of the armed conflict in the regions of the North Caucasus Federal District in the section "North Caucasus - Victim Statistics".

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