UPD: The Ministry of Internal Affairs announced an investigation "regarding a blogger who posted videos with provocative statements about the residents of the Chechen Republic on social media". The security forces reported that they will conduct "necessary expert examinations".
Almost a day after the kidnapping, the Investigative Committee opened a criminal case due to the kidnapping of Areg Shchepikin. The specific article under which the case was initiated is not mentioned in the security forces' press release, but it does state that those involved in the kidnapping were brought to the Moscow branch of the Investigative Committee. "They will be detained shortly under Article 91 of the Criminal Procedure Code," the statement says. Currently, department employees are examining the seized phones and car.
Areg Shchepikin, who was kidnapped from Yaroslavsky railway station yesterday, got in touch and reported in a video, appearing with bruises on his face, that he was released. "I was, roughly speaking, kidnapped and taken out of town. Not tortured much, more interrogated. I didn't like that they wanted to know the addresses of my wife and parents. They were interested in whether I have any connections or contacts with Ukraine, or if I am somehow associated with the opposition," he said.
Today, the Minister for National Policy of Chechnya, Akhmed Dudayev, reported that Shchepikin was detained by law enforcement officers of the republic, who are cooperating with relevant departments in Moscow.
According to Dudayev, Shchepikin is being investigated under an article on public actions committed to insult the religious feelings of believers, he may also be charged with "rehabilitation of Nazism", "public calls for extremist activities", "incitement of hatred or enmity" and other accusations.
As Dudayev stated, the detainee "openly, publicly, and repeatedly called for ethnic cleansing and Nazism, insulted religion and God, and also expressed clearly extremist views and declared an intention to rape underage children".
Areg Shchepikin, a 39-year-old native of Armenia, has lived in Russia for many years and holds a Russian passport. On social media, he calls himself a speaker and mentor of the MSP corporation, which supports small and medium-sized businesses, and judging by his social media, he actively participates in various business clubs, including those supported by the authorities. The reason for the kidnapping, apparently, was videos with insults towards Chechens, Dagestanis, and the Quran, which the man published on social media. The last video, as noted by Baza, he published from Yaroslavsky railway station, which could have revealed his location.
The recordings show how several men in civilian clothes and with beards push another man into a black Mercedes with two beacons, who is shouting "help" and "this is not the police". Around midnight, the car was stopped on the Kiev highway. Later, the car and those inside it were brought back to Yaroslavsky railway station, where investigative actions took place. Later, a video appeared showing the men leaving the police station, getting into the Mercedes and a police car nearby, after which the vehicles drive away.