Detention: On January 23, 2019, in occupied Crimea, 25-year-old Edem Kadyrov, a resident of the village of Yarkoe Pole, Kirovsky district, AR Crimea, was detained.

The Russian FSB accused him of allegedly joining the "Crimean Tatar Volunteer Battalion named after Noman Çelebicihan" in 2016, which is based in the border areas of the Kherson region. He allegedly underwent special training there, including handling firearms, and served as a "personal bodyguard for the battalion commander Lenur Islyamov, engaged in constructing facilities and barriers near the border, and inspecting vehicles." Islyamov publicly denied this version, stating he was not acquainted with Kadyrov. On April 23, 2019, Kadyrov's arrest was extended.

Sentence: On May 6, 2019, Kadyrov's case was considered in a special procedure during a single court session. On May 31, 2019, the Russian-controlled Kirovsky District Court of Crimea sentenced Edem Kadyrov to 4 years of imprisonment and 1 year of restriction of freedom under Part 2 of Article 208 of the Russian Criminal Code ("participation in an armed formation not provided for by law"). Kadyrov pleaded guilty and made a deal with the investigation. He was held in Pre-trial Detention Centre No. 1 in Simferopol (Lenin Boulevard, 4). On May 3, 2023, Edem Kadyrov was released after serving his full sentence.

Edem Kadyrov is a Crimean Tatar, resident of the village of Yarkoe Pole, Kirovsky district, AR Crimea, born on March 22, 1994. His case is part of the mass persecution of Crimean Tatars in cases related to the Noman Çelebicihan Battalion. Since 2014, the Crimean Tatar Resource Center has recorded 28 detentions on charges of participation in the battalion: 12 in occupied Crimea, 16 in occupied Kherson region after February 24, 2022.

On the same day as Edem Kadyrov, May 3, 2023, another figure in the battalion cases, Aydin Mamutov, also sentenced to 4 years, was released. The Crimean Tatar Resource Center recognized both as political prisoners. The organization Freedom House Ukraine also issued a statement in defense of Kadyrov.

Information used from open sources: Crimean Tatar Resource Center, CrimeaSOS, Hromadske Radio.

Photo: Crimean Tatar Resource Center.

Update date: 07/03/2026.