Chechen singer Zelimkhan. Zelimkhan Bakaev - singer, biography
“The brothers apparently presented...”
Ramzan Kadyrov suggested that the Chechen singer Zelimkhan Bakaev, who disappeared without a trace in early August, could have been killed by his relatives. This was reported by the publication “Kavkaz.Realii” with reference to the speech of the head of Chechnya on the evening news of the ChGTRK “Grozny”.
Kadyrov stated that he did not give the order to the police to capture Bakaev. “His relatives, who didn’t keep track, who were ashamed to admit that he was theirs, are now saying that Kadyrov took [Zelimkhan]. What evidence?” - asked the head of the republic.
The politician hinted that Bakaev’s relatives killed him after learning about his non-traditional sexual orientation. “The family could not stop him, and then they called him home, and the brothers, apparently, presented that he was this one... Do they really have no one in the village, no men in the family to admit - “we did it”? They know perfectly well who their relatives are,” Kadyrov added.
About the sudden disappearance of Zelimkhan Bakaev, who lived in Moscow, the first publication was “Caucasus. Realities." According to him, a young man who arrived in Grozny for his sister’s wedding stopped contacting his relatives after August 8. Eyewitnesses allegedly saw that the singer was grabbed by people in military uniform and taken away somewhere.
An interlocutor of Kavkaz.Realii in one of the human rights groups in Chechnya said that a high-ranking official from Kadyrov’s administration may be involved in the disappearance of Bakaev. However, nothing was reported about the reasons for Bakaev’s abduction. The artist’s acquaintances, in turn, said that the young man had a family conflict.
Earlier it became known that the Investigative Committee of Chechnya opened a criminal case into the disappearance of the singer. His mother Malika Bakaeva said that so far the search has not yielded any results, and her son’s phone number has been re-registered to another person.
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In which 25-year-old singer Zelimkhan Bakaev, who disappeared on August 8 in Grozny, addressing his friend Islam, reports that he is in Germany. Radio Liberty talked to Bakaev’s friends, they are sure that the video is staged, and the singer is in mortal danger.
They showed everyone that he is abroad and this is not their problem, and now they can simply get rid of him
“When I saw him, I didn’t recognize him at first,” says M., Zelima’s close friend. “Thin, haggard, there was some swelling on his face.” “And they quickly gave him a beard, in a way he would never have done, and they gave him a disgusting haircut,” says another friend of Zelima B. “He is naturally quite strong, his biceps are large, but here he is very thin, I never I haven’t seen him like this, he has a belt wrapped around his waist almost twice, in my opinion,” another close friend of Zelima KCH agrees with them. “This is Zelim. But not the one I know,” says R. “I have known Zelim for a very long time, we have been friends for many years. His behavior in the video is the complete opposite of him. Ridiculous dances, constrained movements, idiotic hairstyle ". The last time R. spoke with Zelim was the day before his disappearance, the young people laughed at the singer’s new haircut: “He shaved almost bald. In the video he says that it’s mid-August - how could his hair grow back in such a short time?” The singer’s friends are afraid that the appearance of the video may finally take away hope for Zelim’s release: “In order to film it, they probably promised him that he would be released, but in fact they showed everyone that he was abroad and this is not their problem, and now they might just get rid of him,” says KCH, who cannot cope with his excitement and is trembling as if he is ready to cry.
Two videos with Bakaev appeared on Youtube on the page of a certain Artem Lebedev; there are no other materials on this page. ChGTRK released the news literally two hours later, and Lebedev’s signature under the video was similar in style to the text of Chechen television. Zelim is in a room with a certain Rus, who is holding a camera, and turns to his friend Islam. Radio Liberty managed to find out the names and places of residence of both men. Islam actually lives in Holland, but he has not received any video from Bakaev and has not communicated with him recently. “Yes, Islam is generally a ‘hello-bye’,” says M., “if Zelim wanted to contact someone, he would have written to me.” Rus is also a friend of Zelim, who has not seen him since his departure from Russia, and Rus lives far from Germany and has also not spoken to Zelim for a long time. Islam and Rus know each other, Rus doesn’t say a word in the video, and Zelim promises to introduce Islam to some “friend” of his, without specifying whether he means Rus or not.
Four of Bakaev’s friends confirmed to RS that Zelim behaves unnaturally, speaks from a memorized text, reporting, as if for the record, his location, time of year, and even pointing as a reference point to the new song of the singer Rihanna, Wild Thoughts, released in June 2017. “I know Zelima like crazy, I know how he behaves when he drinks, when he feels bad, when he feels good,” says M. “He’s a singer, he’s not an actor, he doesn’t know how to act, besides, he never became I wish I could record a video like this: Zelim always sent voice messages, and, as a last resort, wrote if he couldn’t speak.”
RS showed the materials to psychologist Olga Makhovskaya and neurologist Semyon Galperin, president of the interregional public organization Doctors' Defense League. “I noticed that the hero is not in the best condition: circles under his eyes, as if he either hadn’t slept or had been crying for three days,” says Makhovskaya. “The impression is that he is very tired and his joy is ostentatious, that he is trying to talk "It's fun, but this is agitation against the background of depression. We [psychologists] always distinguish what level of vitality a person has, but here there is a discrepancy between this bravura text and the haggard appearance." Semyon Galperin noted that Bakaev was “relaxed and slightly inhibited, perhaps under the influence of alcohol or some other drug,” however, the specialist did not see any signs of torture: “He moves independently, no obvious injuries are visible, but whether he suffered torture, we can say there is no point without an inspection,” says Semyon Galperin.
Russian sofas
He was like all young people. Well, who drinks energy drinks now to get high?
An acquaintance of Bakaev L., who worked at ChGTRK, pointed out that the situation in the room where the video was recorded not only does not look like a German apartment, but resembles scenery: “They are constantly doing such fakes there,” says L. “They could, if you forgot to film something at some important meeting with officials, recreate a similar room in the editorial office and complete the necessary footage with extras.” According to KCH and M., Zelim did not smoke a hookah (especially since in the video there are no coals burning in it), and when he was resting, he drank alcohol, and not energy drinks, popular in Chechnya, where alcohol is not easy to get: “Well, what is this? “He sat down at the table like some kind of baron from the 80s,” says KCH. “He didn’t behave like that, he was like all the young people. Well, who drinks energy drinks now to get high?” Moreover, the Mediazona publication, citing the PepsiCo press service, wrote that one of the energy drinks on the table - Drive Me - is not sold in Germany.
Lord, at least they rolled up the carpet! This can be found in any market
Both Zelim’s friends and other Chechens with whom RS spoke about the furnishings said that both the furniture and decor are typical for Chechnya, and Mediazona readers indicated in the comments that in the video Bakaev is sitting on the Nova 140 sofa from the Moscow factory Rival, next to the sofa there is a rocking chair "Vega", produced by the Russian company "Elegia" from Borovichi. "It's even funny: a TV set-top box and next to it there are two remote controls on the shelf - for the TV and for the Tricolor" ( "Tricolor TV" is popular, incl. in the Caucasus, telecommunications company. – Approx.) is a typical combination in Chechnya. Did you install these sockets abroad? Cheap flowers in a vase are also everyone’s favorite design element; Chechens love baroque. Lord, at least they rolled up the carpet! This can be found in any market,” exclaims KCH. RS asked the same questions to residents of Germany, according to them, such set-top boxes are sometimes bought by immigrants from Russia to watch Russian TV channels, sockets are actually uncharacteristic for a German apartment, and the situation in general doesn’t look like Germany in any way, and besides, the curtains in the room are drawn, so it’s unclear not only where Bakaev is, but even the time of day and time of year when the video was filmed.
Bakaev’s friends assure that he went to Grozny for his younger sister’s wedding, which took place without him on August 9, but he was lured to Chechnya for a long time: “There were various rumors about him that he lived wrong in Moscow, some of them were just fantasies, but they could have angered someone,” says M. According to two RS interlocutors, one of Bakaev’s working contacts strongly suggested that he return to Chechnya, and Zelima’s mother also stated this in an interview with Kavkaz.Realii. RS knows the name of this person, close to the Chechen leadership ( the editors decided not to make it public. – Approx.): “Zelim had a casting in Moscow on August 10 at the “Star Factory” ( There is a profile of the singer on the Muz-TV website. – Approx.), - says M. - And so XX calls him and says that he urgently needs to come, because some producer from Muz-TV is coming to Grozny and he wants to introduce them so that Zelim has the green light on the 10th ". Zelim asks why he can’t meet this producer in Moscow, especially since, according to XX, he was returning to Moscow the next day, but he told him that this was impossible, that he must definitely meet in Grozny,” says M .
It is curious that the Chechen authorities suggested that the singer could have fled the country immediately when a scandal erupted around the singer’s disappearance. The very next day after the news appeared in the media, the Minister of the Chechen Republic for National Policy, External Relations, Press and Information Dzhambulat Umarov called the reports of Bakaev’s disappearance “nonsense.” According to Umarov, the singer will appear “in a while.” Bakaev’s former manager from Chechnya, Gilani Stadnik, also told reporters that Bakaev could have gone into hiding due to a conflict in the family caused by the negative attitude of his relatives towards his work, which did not bring in money and seemed “extravagant.” Stadnik did not answer calls from RS Gilani.
The singer’s friends and relatives unanimously say that Zelim not only did not intend to go to Germany, moreover, in principle he refused to emigrate: “I constantly told him: “Leave,” but he said that now his second sister will get married, my mother will stay alone. He actually wanted to take his mother to Moscow,” says M. “They were very close with their mother and with other relatives - with his cousin, for example. He would definitely have told them that everything was fine with him,” - I agree with M. KCH. “Germany is the last place I would go,” R. quotes Zelima, adding that friends invited the young man to other countries, but he flatly refused to leave Russia.
Tea with Kadyrov
M. says that on August 8, the day of Zelim’s abduction, she left for Makhachkala with her sister, went to the beach, leaving her phone at home, and when she returned, she found a bunch of messages from Bakaev, in which he complained that he had come home in vain and asked her come back quickly. “I was supposed to return on the 9th, but I went on the same day. I tried to call him, but he didn’t pick up, I thought that I was busy preparing for the wedding. At 18:30 I wrote to him that I was in Grozny, a message "was delivered, but he did not read it. At 18:45 I already found out that he was missing."
The singer’s friends told RS that Zelim Bakaev studied at school in Moscow, then the family returned to Grozny, Zelim worked for a year and a half in the Department of Culture of the Grozny City Hall - he was one of the soloists of the song and dance ensemble "Stolitsa", performed concerts in Chechnya and other North Caucasian republics “Then he took this photo with Kadyrov. Kadyrov loves artists, buys them cars. One day they all gathered at his residence for tea,” says KCH. He worked in the department for “a year and a half,” he was fired “for some unknown reason,” after which he came to Moscow, where he tried to build a career as an artist. “He was looking for meetings with producers, trying to get through,” says KCH. “He earned money at Chechen and Dagestan events: at weddings, at concerts, at awards.” Silver jug“I worked,” KCH recalls. “He is generally a very creative person, I believe in Zelim Bakaev.”
The mother of the missing singer wrote a statement to the police on August 18; on September 16, it became known that she had turned to the head of the republic, Ramzan Kadyrov, for help, but Chechen law enforcement agencies have not yet announced the initiation of a criminal case. The video published by official Chechen television may become the basis for the police to stop looking for the singer altogether.
Chechen singer Zelim Bakaev, who lives in Moscow, disappeared during his trip to Grozny for his sister’s wedding. This was reported by Kavkaz.Realii with reference to Bakaev’s relative. This information was confirmed to Dozhd by two of Bakaev’s friends.
As a relative of Bakaev told Kavkaz.Realii, on August 8 he went out on his own business and there is still no information about him. “The police didn’t tell us anything either,” the publication’s interlocutor noted.
An anonymous source in one of the Chechen human rights organizations, in a conversation with Kavkaz.Realii, suggested that a high-ranking official from Kadyrov’s administration was involved in the singer’s disappearance.
As two friends of the singer told Dozhd on condition of anonymity, local residents told them that Bakaev was captured on August 8 by people in military uniform in the center of Grozny. The Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia in Grozny said that “this is the first time they have heard about this” and they have not received any statements about the disappearance of a person named Zelim Bakaev.
One of Dozhd’s sources said that Bakaev “the other day” wrote to his mother and aunt saying that he was alive and well and that he was going abroad. “After that, he immediately left WhatsApp and turned off his phone, but he won’t be able to fly away because he has loans,” Dozhd’s interlocutor emphasized. The source does not believe that these messages were written by the singer himself. According to him, Bakaev “never wanted to fly abroad” - he was going to Moscow, where he wanted to become a singer.
The singer’s manager Leila Vakhaeva told Dozhd that she also does not know about his whereabouts; the last time he contacted her was on August 6. On August 10, Bakhaev’s brother contacted her and said that he had left home because a conflict situation had occurred. “If you know where Zelim is, tell us, because the fact that he left and did not solve the situation on the spot only made things worse for him,” Vakhaeva recounted his brother’s words.
“Recently he had panic attacks, he asked for help when he was in Chechnya,” the manager said. She connected this with problems in Bakaev’s career: “he did not have constant production, performances, he could not perform in Chechnya due to the fact that he was not a member of the Chechen Philharmonic, and there were no performances in Moscow either.”
Bakaev’s relative did not answer Dozhd’s call or message.
One of the human rights organizations dealing with the problems of the republic told Dozhd that it had launched an investigation. Rain does not publish its name so as not to expose Bakaev’s life to additional danger.
Ramzan Kadyrov (left) and Zelim Bakaev (right). Bakaev’s page on VKontakte.
Zelim Bakaev is 25 years old. In 2013, he competed for the annual Vainakh music award “ASSA” in the “Breakthrough of the Year” category. In his VKontakte profile (Dozhd’s sources corresponded with him through this page) there is a photo with the head of the republic Ramzan Kadyrov.
In Moscow, Bakaev planned to participate in the show “New Star Factory” on the MUZ-TV channel. There is a profile for him on the show's website. He also released several music videos.
The mother of singer Zelimkhan Bakaev, Malika, who disappeared in Chechnya, appealed to the Human Rights Council under the head of Chechnya with a request for help in finding her son, the Caucasian Knot publication reports, citing HRC member Kheda Saratova.
The application was received the day before; a request for measures taken to establish the whereabouts of Zelimkhan Bakaev was sent to law enforcement agencies, she noted.
“Currently, operational search activities are being carried out aimed at establishing the whereabouts of Bakaev, his telephone connections and address details are being checked, and people with whom he communicated on the eve of his disappearance are being interviewed,” the Chechen Human Rights Council noted.
“After all the actions have been carried out, we will be informed about the results of this work,” said Saratova, who became famous in April for her statement in the case of the persecution of gays in Chechnya that “the society in which we live does not even take an extreme measure against such people.” will condemn."
15 days have passed since Bakaev’s disappearance, notes the Kavkaz.Realii website. Nothing is known about his location.
The singer's mother spoke about the last SMS received from her son
Malika Bakaeva said that Zelimkhan disappeared unexpectedly for his relatives. After he helped his mother withdraw money from her Sberbank card on August 8, he went to see his friend and stopped communicating. “We called him until late at night. Then the phone was turned off, since then we have not known anything about him,” explained Malika Bakaeva.
Zelimkhan flew to Chechnya because the wedding of his older sister Asya was planned for August 9. “On the 10th he was supposed to be at the casting at the Star Factory, and he warned that after the wedding he would urgently need to leave,” she said.
On August 12, she received an SMS from her son’s phone number in which Zelimkhan said that everything was fine with him and apologized for his unexpected departure. “He sent a text message and wrote: “Mommy, I’m already in Moscow, sorry, I urgently need to go to Canada and back. Tell Aska that this happened, but I’ll come and call you. The phone won't work, but I myself am in so much pain. I love you all".
However, earlier one of the sources of the Dozhd TV channel said that he did not believe that the singer himself wrote these messages. According to him, Bakaev “never wanted to fly abroad,” he was going to Moscow, where he intended to make a singing career.
“We called, he didn’t pick up [the phone], and an hour later the phone was turned off again,” Malika said. She also refuted the message of Bakhaev’s brother, who said that he left home because a conflict situation occurred. There were no conflicts, says the mother of the missing man.
Zelimkhan’s father flew to Moscow on August 10 and found out that his son was not at the casting. “Zelim lived with his cousin. Lately with friends. But he hasn’t appeared anywhere. I don’t believe that he was detained by Chechen security forces. But I have suspicions that the reason is the intrigues of the enemies of his musical activity,” said Malika Bakaeva.
The last time Zelimkhan came to Chechnya was two months earlier. “He stayed at home for almost a month. He didn’t have any conflicts with anyone during his last visit,” said the singer’s mother.
On August 17, she filed a statement about the disappearance of her son to the Leninsky District Department of Internal Affairs of Grozny. Law enforcement officers told her that a train ticket from Nalchik to Moscow had been purchased in her son’s name. The police did not know whether he left or not. On August 22, they clarified that he did not leave on this ticket and did not board the train, Malika Bakaeva said, noting that at the time of parting Zelimkhan had 300 rubles and “he could not buy the ticket himself.”
As two friends of the artist previously told the Dozhd TV channel on condition of anonymity, local residents told them that Bakaev was captured on August 8 by people in military uniform in the center of Grozny. Friends said that a few hours before his disappearance they saw him in a men's beauty salon. When Bakaev was leaving the hairdresser, unknown masked men grabbed him, pushed him into a car and took him away.
An anonymous source from the Kavkaz.Realii portal in one of the Chechen human rights organizations suggested that a high-ranking official from the administration of the head of the republic, Ramzan Kadyrov, was involved in the singer’s disappearance. Local authorities called media reports of the abduction stupid.
Zelim Bakaev is 25 years old, he performs songs mainly in the Chechen language. The young man has already given concerts in Dagestan, Ingushetia and Moscow. In 2013, the singer competed for the annual Vainakh music award "ASSA" in the "Breakthrough of the Year" category.
At the same time, according to a friend of the artist, Bakaev was banned from performing in Chechnya because “his music was too different from what is understood in Chechnya.” His manager Leila Vakhaeva complained that he “did not have constant production, performances, he could not perform in Chechnya due to the fact that he was not a member of the Chechen Philharmonic, and there were no performances in Moscow either.” Due to problems in his career, he had “panic attacks.”
A photograph of him with the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, was published on Bakhaev’s page on the social network VKontakte. In Moscow, as expected, Bakaev was supposed to participate in the show “New Star Factory” on the MUZ-TV channel. There is a profile for him on the show's website.
Bakaev Zelimkhan is a famous singer who was kidnapped due to suspicion of promoting homosexuality in Chechnya. Born in Grozny in April 1992.
He spent his childhood and school years in Moscow. Later his family had to be returned back to Grozny. From a very early age, Bakaev loved the work of the famous singer Britney Spears.
In youth was a Michael Jackson fan. Despite his young age, he was invited to work in the department of culture of the city of Grozny. After meeting the cultural ensemble “Stolitsa”, he joined it and began performing concerts in the cities of Chechnya.
Already in 2012, his composition in the Chechen language gained popularity and began to be heard from literally every passing car. Composition “Michach hyu lela bezam” translates to "Where do you find that love?"
He continued to practice vocals and improve himself in this direction. After becoming famous, the young man moved to Moscow, from there he steadily sent a sum of money to the family to provide them with a comfortable existence.
The family wasn't happy depending on what the son does, because among many acquaintances, all the sons were involved in wrestling and sports, the family was ridiculed behind their backs for choosing their son. Despite this, Bakaeva often were invited to give concerts in Dagestan and Ingushetia.
Later, Bakaev’s friends will tell you that the main reason for his departure for permanent residence in Moscow will be threats from the Chechen Republic. This is because his compositions did not correspond to the general concepts and traditions of the people.
Kidnapping
Despite the ban on giving concerts, no one forbade Bakayev from visiting Grozny. Therefore, he left without suspicion or fear August 6, 2017 for the wedding of his sister. Based on the ticket he purchased, he was supposed to return to Moscow by the evening of August 9.
On August 10 there was supposed to be a music competition, for which Bakaev had been preparing for a very long time. Later it turns out that many acquaintances of Bakaev’s parents knew that An assassination attempt is being prepared on the singer and under no circumstances should he cross the border with Grozny.
Already on the morning of August 8, it became known that Bakaev had disappeared. Immediately after visiting the hairdresser, he was supposed to return home, but this did not happen. The majority of eyewitnesses believed that the singer’s disappearance was connected with a conflict in the family, but it later turned out that, naturally, there was no conflict.
The main reason for the disappearance is Bakaev’s affiliation to supporters of the LGBT movement, which contradicts the laws of the Caucasus and Chechnya.
The last time Bakaev got in touch was on August 12; in a phone call to his mother, he said that urgently flies to Canada. After which the connection abruptly ended, and nothing more was heard about the young performer.
The very next day, the authorities and security forces of Chechnya commented that they had nothing to do with the abduction and would help in finding the young man.
The mother understood that she would not be able to achieve the truth, so on August 18 she wrote a statement about the abduction of her own son. And three days later I was forced to contact to the Human Rights Council under the head of Chechnya.
The police continue to claim that the young man purchased a ticket from Grozny to Moscow, and was supposed to arrive on August 11. Bakaev’s mother understood that her son could not miss the competition and the data was falsified.
Already on August 31, an international conference was held to draw attention to the disappearance of the young performer. Human rights activists demanded that Bakaev be returned to Moscow, or that a search for him be urgently launched.
On September 6 it became known about persecution and numerous murders LGBT representatives throughout the republic. However, the country's leadership assures that there are no homosexuals in Chechnya. Ultimately, attempts by the international human rights committee failed to obtain an adequate explanation from the police and management.
On September 16, Bakaev’s mother officially addressed Ramzan Kadyrov for help in finding her son, but she received a refusal.
A little bit later Tatiana Moskalkova visited Chechnya and began checking, during which she found the last video with a living Bakaev. The young man looked very bad, was exhausted and could barely speak; he claimed that he had moved to live in Germany and that everything was fine with him.
This video puts an end to the kidnapping case. As it turned out later, the young man didn’t even cross the border with Grozny, therefore, it is nearby and clearly kept in poor conditions. But the case was dropped due to the fact that in the video the young man himself says that everything is fine with him. His whereabouts are still unknown.
On January 17, information was received that Bakaev was killed relatives of Ramzan Kadyrov, but due to lack of evidence the accusation is considered unfounded.
