As it turned out, Zelimkhan Mazaev has been in custody since July 2022,…

As it turned out, Zelimkhan Mazaev, whom the UAE authorities accused of carrying out the murder of the ex-commander of the Vostok battalion Sulim Yamadayev, has been in custody since July 2022. He was arrested by the Khamovnichesky Court on charges of Part 1 of Art. 208 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (participation in an illegal armed formation). On August 25, the court extended his arrest.

Mazaev was a fighter of the Vostok battalion, led by Hero of Russia Sulim Yamadayev. And then he moved to one of the special forces controlled by Ramzan Kadyrov. In the spring of 2009, Mazaev ended up in the UAE, where a high-profile crime was committed. On March 28, 2009, Hero of Russia, ex-commander of the Vostok special battalion Sulim Yamadayev was killed in Dubai. The killer, who, according to the UAE police, was Zelimkhan Mazaev, opened fire on the victim with a pistol in the underground parking lot of the Jumeirah Beach Residence residential complex. After the crime, Mazaev flew to Moscow.

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Zelimkhan Mazaev has been a constant figure in criminal chronicles in recent years. Either he forgot his Stechkin pistol in the restaurant, or he accidentally shot himself in the leg. Then he was detained in a Mercedes car with a “Chechen” license plate (95th region), containing the letters KRA. In the republic, such numbers are considered “thieves”, since the local population deciphers them as “Kadyrov Ramzan Akhmatovich.” A briefcase with a Magnum M combat revolver was found inside.

All these times the Chechen authorities helped Mazaev get out of unpleasant stories. However, as a source of the Cheka-OGPU said, then because of Mazaev’s addiction to potent substances, his patrons turned away from him. And almost immediately he was caught in a banal robbery.

After serving only part of his sentence, he was released. And now he’s behind bars again.