A resident of Adygea has been sentenced to 11 years in prison on charges of participating in the ‘Council of United Circassia.’

29-year-old Ibragim Nagoyev has been sentenced to 11 years in prison under the article on participation in a terrorist organisation (part 2 of Article 205.5 of the Criminal Code). This was reported by the press service of the Southern District Military Court.

He is to spend the first two years in prison, with the remainder of his sentence to be served in a high-security colony.

Nagoyev fully admitted his guilt in court.

The man was accused of participating in the “Council of United Circassia.” In January 2025, this organisation was added to the list of terrorist organisations as a subdivision of the “Forum of Free Post-Russia States.” In total, authorities have assigned 172 organisations to the “Forum” as branches—these include initiatives bringing together activists from indigenous peoples of Russia, republican governments in exile, national battalions fighting on the side of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and some organisations may simply be fictional.

The court press service claims that Nagoyev administered a certain channel and distributed materials that “justify and legitimise the activities” of the “Council of United Circassia” and its members, “promoting destructive ideas to an unlimited number of people.” He also published a call to take part in an event in memory of the victims of the Caucasian War in Maykop, held on 21 May 2025. He himself also took part.

The court did not specify what exactly the event entailed.

The Telegram channel Republic of Circassia reported that on the morning of 21 May in Maykop, a large city in the Republic of Adygea, several dozen people held a mourning procession. After the event, police detained underage participants.

Activist Asker Sokht wrote that those detained were released after a conversation at the police station. However, an anonymous subscriber to the Republic of Circassia channel claimed that following intervention from the head of the republic’s Ministry of Internal Affairs, the detainees were returned to the station and official protocols were filed against them. There was no official statement on the detentions.

• The “Council of United Circassia” was established in January 2023. The organisation states that its goal is the creation of an Independent Circassian Republic on the historical territories of the Circassians. It has condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the deployment of Circassians to the combat zone.
• Remembrance events for the victims of the Caucasian War are held annually on 21 May in Nalchik, Cherkessk and Maykop. In Nalchik, a major city in the North Caucasus, last year eight participants of a mourning rally were detained. All of them were either arrested or fined under administrative cases for an unauthorised event involving road closure (part 6.1 of Article 20.2 of the Administrative Offences Code).