Was Armenian Businessman Areg Shchepikhin Kidnapped or Arrested in Moscow?

Unknown individuals kidnapped an Armenian man at Moscow's Yaroslavsky railway station. A black Mercedes car approached the station, from which several men emerged, seized 40-year-old businessman Areg Shchepikhin, and took him in an unknown direction.

Eyewitnesses called the police and published videos on the internet. Rumors spread that the reason for the kidnapping was videos by Areg Shchepikhin containing insults directed at Chechens and Muslims. Later, law enforcement officers found the black car involved in the kidnapping near the Kievskoye highway.

Areg was not in the car. It is noted that the car belongs to the inner circle of Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov. Later, official information was disseminated stating that Areg Shchepikhin was not kidnapped but was arrested by law enforcement officers of the Chechen Republic, who are cooperating with the relevant Moscow departments.

This statement was made by Akhmed Dudayev, the Minister for National Policy of Chechnya. Shchepikhin is being investigated under several articles for public actions committed with the intent to insult the religious feelings of believers.