During antiterrorist exercises, MIA by mistake mentions three Sakhalin residents as militants from Dagestan

Photos of three Sakhalin residents of Caucasian appearance were disseminated by the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) through social networks as part of wanted bulletins for alleged militants from Dagestan. The Sakhalin residents, who were named in the wanted bulletins for the suspects killed during a special operation in Izberbash and Makhachkala, filed complaints to the Prosecutor's Office.

Under the photos of the Sakhalin residents in the wanted bulletins the MIA listed the names of Magomed Khalimbekov and Rashid Umakhanov, real residents of Dagestan, killed on September 7.

The Sakhalin residents complained to the Prosecutor's Office and demanded from the law enforcement bodies of the region to give a formal denial of the information given in the MIA's bulletins, the "Interfax" reports.

Yesterday, on October 24, Yulia Voinilovich, the acting chief of the press service of the Russian MIA's Department for the Sakhalin Region, apologized to the local residents on behalf of the MIA's Department.

According to the MIA's Department for the Sakhalin Region, the bulletins with the names of the wanted members of a terrorist grouping, allegedly arrived in Sakhalin, were disseminated for educational purposes and for internal use during the antiterrorist exercises.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.