“Delete it, or we’ll cut off your hands” – threats to a JAMnews editor over criticism of Wildberries

Threats to the JAMnews editor

JAMnews editor received threats over a critical comment on news about the Russian marketplace Wildberries, which has begun operating in Georgia despite being under international sanctions.

For security reasons, we are not disclosing the name of our colleague.

A Telegram user with the Chechen name Zelimxan Boraev somehow found out her residence in Tbilisi, identified the specific district, and threatened to “cut off her hands” if she did not delete the comment.

On October 23, Georgian social media buzzed with news about the Russian company Wildberries entering the local market.

A Russian online store, Wildberry, which has come under sanctions, begins sales in Georgia

The ordered products will be delivered to the country through a Georgian franchise company.

On the same day, the Telegram channel of the Russian online publication Paper Kartuli, which operates from Georgia, reported on this. The editor of JAMnews recounts that she left a critical comment on this channel regarding the news about Wildberries:

“The publication stated that Wildberries had begun operations in Georgia but did not mention that the company is under sanctions from the EU and the US for financing Russia’s war against Ukraine. I commented on why they omitted this important fact and asked how they can report such news while being in a country that is partly occupied by Russia.”

Twenty minutes after this comment, she received a personal message from someone named Zelimxan Boraev:

“Delete the message about Wildberries, or we will cut off your hands so you won’t write anymore. You live in Mtatsminda, right?” wrote Zelimxan Boraev.

“In the next message, he mentioned the area in Tbilisi where I live. Given that he is in the Paper Kartuli chat, it’s likely that Boraev is in Georgia,” she says.

According to her, she initially contacted Paper Kartuli’s support team. However, they “only expressed regret and mentioned that this is not the first time subscribers have received threats.”

Following that, the JAMnews editor reported the incident to the police.

“My colleague and I spent four hours at the police station in the Old City area, repeatedly recounting all the details of the story. The police promised to pass the case on to an investigator, and now we are waiting for results. The next day, I reached out to the Ukrainian consulate [the JAMnews editor is Ukrainian], while my French neighbor contacted hers. We tried to draw attention to the situation,” she explains.

Immediately after sending the threats, Boraev deleted the conversation and changed his avatar to a screenshot from a Russian meme.

With the help of colleagues from international media, we began investigating the identity of the person making the threats:

“It turned out that he changed his name several times on Telegram. He was previously known as General Ivonker and SchutzStaffel. His account has been active since April 2022, and he was a member of the groups ‘Rusi u Zemunu’ and ‘Toyota Celica Russia.’ He may have lived in Serbia for some time, as he was active in local chats of the Russian diaspora.”

The Chechen connection in this story is particularly concerning, as Chechens, led by Kadyrov, are actively involved in a corporate dispute regarding the “reorganization” of the company through a merger of Wildberries with Russ.

The highest levels of the Russian government, including Putin himself, are implicated in this matter. The situation escalated into armed conflict and a shootout between criminal groups on September 18, 2024, near the Wildberries headquarters in Moscow.

Two security guards were killed, and seven people were injured in these events, which also involved individuals from Chechnya.

JAMnews is closely monitoring the investigation initiated by the Georgian police regarding the threats made to our editor.