The Adat People's Movement (; ) is a clandestine Chechen opposition movement founded in 2020 and led by Ibragim Yangulbaev. The movement gained fame thanks to the

Telegram channel Telegram, also known as Telegram Messenger, is a Cloud computing, cloud-based, Cross-platform software, cross-platform, social media and instant messaging (IM) service. It was originally launched for iOS on 14 August 2013 and Android on 20 Octo ...

, the authors of which criticize the

head of the Chechen Republic The head of the Chechen Republic or head of Chechnya (; ; formerly president of the Chechen Republic or president of Chechnya until 5 March 2011) is the highest office within the Politics of Chechnya, political system of the Chechnya, Chechen Re ...

Ramzan Kadyrov Ramzan Akhmatovich Kadyrov (born 5 October 1976) is a Russian politician and current head of the Chechen Republic. He was formerly affiliated with the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, Chechen independence movement, through his father who was the ...

. Adat claims to be in favour of "an end to the genocide of the Chechen people, the unification of the Chechen people and the de-occupation of Chechnya." The materials of their Telegram channel were termed by the Russian court as extremist and the entire movement is designated as an extremist entity in Russia.

History

The movement was founded in April 2020 initially as a Telegram channel. Its leader is Ibragim Yangulbaev (born in 1995) of the Yangulbaev family. His father Saidi Yangulbaev is a well-known former judge in the republic who left the country in early 2022 after the arrest of his wife Zarema Musayeva. On 31 January 2022, the

Grozny Grozny (, ; ) is the capital city of Chechnya, Russia. The city lies on the Sunzha River. According to the 2021 Russian census, 2021 census, it had a population of 328,533 — up from 210,720 recorded in the 2002 Russian Census, 2002 ce ...

Court put Ibragim Yangulbaev on the wanted list. On 12 May 2022, the

telegram channel Telegram, also known as Telegram Messenger, is a Cloud computing, cloud-based, Cross-platform software, cross-platform, social media and instant messaging (IM) service. It was originally launched for iOS on 14 August 2013 and Android on 20 Octo ...

"1ADAT", associated with the movement, was recognized as extremist by the Supreme Court of the

Chechen Republic Chechnya, officially the Chechen Republic, is a republic of Russia. It is situated in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe, between the Caspian Sea and Black Sea. The republic forms a part of the North Caucasian Federal District, and share ...

. Earlier, at the suit of the prosecutor's office, publications in the telegram channel of the movement were recognized as extremist. On 11 July 2022, the movement was included in the list of banned organizations by the

Russian Ministry of Justice The Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation () is a Ministry (government department), ministry of the Government of Russia responsible for the Legal system of Russia, legal system and Prisons in Russia, penal system. The Ministry of Justi ...

. Soon the movement was added to the Federal List of Extremist Organizations at number 92. Threats against the Yangulbaev family were made by the head of Chechnya,

. He called the family "accomplices of terrorists" and called on them to detain, and in case of resistance – to "assassinate". In August 2022, it was reported that Salman Tepsurkayev, moderator of the movement's telegram channel, was killed by Kadyrov's security services. After the announcement of the mobilization in Russia, the movement stated that its human rights activists had already received many complaints about the abductions of men in Chechnya and threats to send them to

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

. The Russian propaganda company

Internet Research Agency The Internet Research Agency (IRA; ; 2013-2023), also known as ''Glavset'' (, ), and known in Russian Internet slang as the Trolls from Olgino () or Kremlinbots (), was a Russian company which was engaged in online propaganda and influence ...

called the Adat movement a project of the West, the main goal of which is to discredit Chechnya and Russia.

References

{{Separatists in Russia 2020 establishments in Russia Banned secessionist parties Chechen nationalism Indigenous rights organizations in Europe Opposition to Vladimir Putin Organizations of the Russo-Ukrainian War Political organizations based in Russia Political parties established in 2020 Political parties in Chechnya Politics of Chechnya Russian invasion of Ukraine Secessionist organizations in Europe Organizations designated as extremist by Russia Political parties of minorities in Russia