Fact Check: Moscow Attack Suspect Misidentified As Chechen Islamist Leader Fighting In Ukraine

Claims on social media that one of the suspects in the Moscow attack was a Chechen Islamist leader who fought in the Russia-Ukraine war from Ukraine's side is false.

Fact Check: Moscow Attack Suspect Misidentified As Chechen Islamist Leader Fighting In Ukraine

Source : X/TikTok/Screenshots

The Verdict: [False]

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The man claimed to be Rustam Azhiev was identified as Tajik national Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev by Russian authorities.

Context 

On Friday, March 22, 2024, gunmen carried out an attack on Crocus Concert Hall in Moscow, killing more than 130 people. A day later, the Russian secret police, FSB, announced that 11 people had been arrested, including four "directly involved" in the attack.

Footage appeared online, shared by RT editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan, of one of the arrested suspects being interrogated. 

Soon claims spread on social media that the man in the video was in fact Rustam Azhiev, also known as Abdul Hakim al-Shishani, leader of a Chechen Islamist faction who has fought in the Russia-Ukraine war on the Ukrainian side. 

However, the man in the video has been misidentified. 

In Fact

On Sunday Russia charged four men for the attack, among them the man seen in the video. He was identified by Russian authorities as Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev. According to Russian state-run news agency Tass, Mirzoyev identified himself as a citizen of Tajikistan.  

Even prior to Mirzoyez being identified, users on social media - among them visual investigations reporter at the New York Times Aric Toler - pointed to several inconsistencies between Azhiev and the man in the footage, including that Azhiev has cauliflower ears, and that his nose slopes differently from the man in the footage.

Azhiev (right) has cauliflower ears, and his nose slopes differently from Mirzoyev's (left). (Source: Telegram/X/Screenshots)

The Kremlin has claimed without evidence that Ukraine was involved in the concert hall attack. The Ukrainian government and the White House have denied the claims. 

The Verdict 

The man claimed to be the Chechen Islamist leader Rustam Azhiev was identified as Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, a Tajik national. Mirzoyev’s appearance differs from Azhiev’s in multiple ways. Therefore, we have marked this claim as false. 

(This report first appeared on logicallyfacts.com, and has been republished on ABP Live as part of a special arrangement. Apart from the headline, no changes have been made in the report by ABP Live.)