Russia’s Supreme Court declares Batal-Hadji brotherhood extremist — The Moscow Times
The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation — an aggressor state — has designated the Ingush Sufi brotherhood Batal-Hadji as an extremist organization and banned its activities. The court granted a petition by state prosecutors, who accused the closed religious order of providing material support to insurgents in the North Caucasus, The Moscow Times reports.
Prosecutors’ statements
Russia’s Prosecutor General’s Office said that members of the brotherhood were linked to a number of attacks on Russian police officers and military personnel in the North Caucasus. The agency also claims that members of the brotherhood organized the bombing of the Nevsky Express train in 2009. Chechen insurgent leader Doku Umarov claimed responsibility for that attack.
According to the prosecution, individuals associated with the brotherhood sold weapons and ammunition to the perpetrators of the attack on the Crocus City Hall concert venue near Moscow in March 2024, as well as of the killing of Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov that same year. The agency said that more than 100 members of the order had been convicted of illegally trafficking means for committing terrorist acts. The prosecution also reported allegedly illegal channels for supplying foreign firearms from abroad created by the community’s leaders and members.
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History of the brotherhood
Russian authorities had already designated the brotherhood’s so-called military wing as a terrorist organization in 2023. The order was founded in the 19th century by Ingush Sheikh Batal-Hadji Belkhoroyev, a disciple of Chechen Muslim mystic Kunta-Hadji Kishiyev.
Membership in the closed brotherhood, which has about 20,000 members, is passed down exclusively by birth. In the 1990s and early 2000s, representatives of the order held several important government posts and had an almost monopoly position in Ingushetia’s construction industry. According to Meduza, about 100 members of the brotherhood allegedly joined the Russian army in 2022 as part of the Batal-Hadji rapid response unit, which was part of Ramzan Kadyrov’s Akhmat military formation.
