Imangazali Magomedov, native of Dagestan, manages to avoid deportation to Russia

A year after his detention in Ukraine, Imangazali Magomedov, a native of Dagestan, has left the country for the European Union.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on March 29, 2023, it became known that a court in the Sumy Region of Ukraine extended the 43-year-old Imangazali Magomedov's stay at the deportation centre by six months. Magomedov appealed against this decision, asking to be deported to a third country, as he considers it unsafe to return to Russia.

Last summer, Imangazali Magomedov crossed the Russian-Ukrainian border aiming to escape from administrative supervision in Russia and was detained by Ukrainian border guards. According to his version, he twice applied for asylum in Ukraine, but the migration service refused to consider his applications. Magomedov explained the decision to leave Russia by law enforcers’ pressure, who forced him to cooperate and "inform on Muslims", threatening to "imprison" him otherwise.

Imangazali Magomedov left for the European Union on August 19, the “Kavkaz.Realii”* project has reported.

"Ukraine doesn’t provide international protection during ...; the situation in the country is not simple. In the case of Magomedov, it got complicated by his Russian citizenship. Therefore, the applicant has left Ukraine to seek protection in a third country that is safe for him," the human rights defender has explained/

*Included by the Russian Ministry of Justice (MoJ) into the register of foreign agents.