UAE hands over two Russians wanted on corruption, security charges

The United Arab Emirates has handed over two Russian nationals who were on international wanted lists in connection with criminal cases involving aiding participation in an illegal armed group and receiving bribes totalling more than 5 million rubles (approx. $67 277), Russian Interior Ministry has stated.

Spokesperson Irina Volk said the handover took place at Dubai airport, adding that one of them was wanted as an accomplice in participation in an illegal armed formation, while the other is accused of receiving a particularly large bribe as an official, Caliber.Az reports, citing Russian media.

According to Volk, in 2016, the first suspect provided a resident of Chechnya with a vehicle to travel to a conflict zone to participate in an armed formation abroad not provided for under the legislation of that state and acting against Russia’s interests.

He fled justice abroad and was placed on an international wanted list in February.

“The second wanted individual, between 2018 and 2020, worked at a supervisory authority. It has been preliminarily established that he repeatedly received money for inaction and for failing to take state response measures regarding reports of violations in the construction of apartment buildings. The total amount exceeded 5 million rubles,” the spokesperson said, noting that he was placed on an international wanted list in August 2025.

Following cooperation via Interpol channels, both suspects were located and detained in the UAE.

By Bakhtiyar Abbasov