Participants in the attack on the Pskov paratroopers in 2000 were sent to a penal colony

Four participants in the attack on soldiers of the 76th Pskov Airborne Division, which took place on February 29, 2000, were sent to a penal colony. This was reported by the FSB's Public Relations center and the official representative of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, Svetlana Petrenko.

"The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation, guided by the principle of the inevitability of punishment, continues to search for all members of the gangs of Sh. Basayev and Khattab involved in the attack on Pskov paratroopers in the vicinity of the village of Ulus-Kert in the Shatoi district of the Chechen Republic in February 2000, as a result of which 84 servicemen were killed," the Central Control Center said.

According to Svetlana Petrenko, an official representative of the Investigative Committee of Russia, as a result of the joint work of the department and the FSB, law enforcement officers managed to collect evidence related to the participation of Ilgiz Mukhametgaliyev, Mukhamedvali Shaikhutdinov, Haidar Razzakov, and Ilgam Gumerov in the incident (all four are listed as extremists and terrorists).

In April 2022, the men were detained. They were charged under Articles 209 ("Banditry"), 279 ("Armed rebellion"), 317 ("Assault on the life of a serviceman") of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. As a result, the attackers were taken into custody.

The Southern District Military Court found Mukhametgaliev, Shaykhutdinov, Razzakov, Gumerov guilty. They were also sentenced to 13 to 24 years in prison and served their sentences in a high-security penal colony.

At the moment, the sentences have not entered into legal force. Law enforcement agencies also continue to search for participants who managed to avoid criminal liability.

The attack on the Pskov paratroopers took place in a mountainous and wooded area near the village of Ulus-Kert in the Shatoi district of Chechnya. It was attended by a united armed gang under the joint leadership of Shamil Basayev and Amir Khattab. The episode became known as the battle of hill 776. 84 of the 90 paratroopers died. A total of 43 people were found to be involved in the attack.

Earlier, on March 27, 2024, law enforcement agencies detained another participant in the attack on Pskov paratroopers in 2000, Islam Batsiev. He was charged in accordance with Articles 279, Part 2 of Articles 209, Article 317 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ("Armed rebellion, participation in a gang and encroachment on the life of a serviceman").