Famous MMA fighter Ilyas Yakubov went straight from the pre-trial detention center where he spent last year to Russia’s special military operations zone in Ukraine.
In October 2023, the Moscow Chertanovsky Court detained Yakubov: he was charged with publicly justifying or encouraging terrorism (Part 2 of Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). The fighter faced five to seven years in prison.
The reason for such serious accusations was the training video, or rather its voice, that Yakubov published on his social networks.
The athlete was preparing for the fight and training his muscles while listening to audio recordings of the speeches of Chechen terrorist Shamil Basayev, who claimed responsibility for carrying out terrorist attacks in Budennovsk, Moscow and Beslan.
In this monologue, Basayev talked about the “indomitable spirit of Ichkeria, which cannot be broken.”
As a result, law enforcement officers detained Yakubov as soon as he returned from the UFC 294 tournament in Abu Dhabi, where he supported another famous Chechen athlete, Khamzat Chimaev.
Yakubov refused to plead guilty to inciting terrorism and statedthat he was “an athlete, not a criminal.”
However, in August 2024, he was officially added to the list of terrorists and extremists.
I was burning with the desire to go to the Northern Military District
Two months later, the fighter had the article reclassified from justifying terrorism to inciting hatred or hostility (Article 282 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).
According to information RIA NovostiYakubov “burned with a desire” to leave the pre-trial detention center and go to the Northern Military District, but the charges of terrorism did not allow this.
Yet the warrior was so persistent that the investigation was abandoned midway and he changed the article. After this, Yakubov requested a voluntary transfer to the special operations zone to the Ministry of Defense, and this request was accepted.
“Yakubov was taken to the SVO, the criminal case against him was dropped,” a law enforcement source said.
Who is Ilyas Yakubov?
The MMA fighter survived two Chechen wars and was orphaned in his childhood. HE I rememberedHe said that he often had to hide in the basement due to the bombings and that he lost many relatives.
Later, Yakubov became actively involved in martial arts and had 16 fights at the professional level and won 12 victories.
Then the Chechen switched to pop MMA, where he had many high-profile fights, including the victory over Vyacheslav Datsik.
He is scheduled to fight former Bellator fighter Vyacheslav Vasilevskiy in October 2023. The event was canceled due to Yakubov’s arrest.
What are you thinking?
Source: Gazeta
Gregory Robert is a sports aficionado and a writer for “Social Bites”. He provides in-depth coverage of the latest sporting events and trends, offering a unique and knowledgeable perspective on the world of sports.