A citizen of Volgograd arrested for burning the Koran was transported to Chechnya

A resident of Volgograd, 19-year-old Nikita Zhuravel, suspected of burning the Koran in the local mosque, was taken to the pre-trial detention center in Grozny, RIA Novosti reports. According to the agency, “indignant residents of the region” were waiting for Zhuravel in the detention center. Some held signs reading “Hands off the Koran,” “People’s Court for Satanist,” and “Our Religion is Our Life.”

Nikita Żurawel was arrested on May 21 in Volgograd. During the interrogation, Żurawel testified that he carried out the operation “at the behest of the Ukrainian special services for a reward of 10,000 zlotys. rubles.”

Video footage provided by the FSB shows law enforcement arresting a courier on a bicycle with a backpack from the Samokat courier company. In the next frame, a young man lies face down and says that he was recruited via Telegram by representatives of Kiev. On May 22, the Central Court in Volgograd arrested Żurawel for two months.

Russian Justice Minister Konstantin Chuichenko welcomed the decision of the chairman of the Investigative Committee of Russia, Alexander Bastrykin, to transfer the case to the TFR department for the Chechen Republic. He also stated that he considered it “necessary and right” to send Zhuravel to a colony in a predominantly Muslim region following the verdict.

The leader of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, has previously commented on the episodes with the burning of the Koran. ABOUTannounced a reward of 10 million rubles for the capture of a military APU who lit a fire with pages from the holy book of Muslims. “For the elimination of this scum, I announce a reward of 5 million rubles. For taking alive – twice as much – 10 million rubles,” wrote Kadyrov.