Overview

• A cleaner found Abakar Abakarov’s body on Friday in a rented Istanbul villa after he had been missing for more than a week.
• Media reports say he suffered multiple stab wounds, but officials have not disclosed a cause or motive.
• Rental records show the villa was booked on October 6, and security footage reportedly captured two men entering the next day and one leaving that evening with two suitcases.
• Abakarov, who ran the Morning Dagestan Telegram channel, had fled Russia and was accused of inciting the 2023 unrest at Makhachkala airport.
• Turkish police have opened an investigation with no public findings, as the case is being covered alongside recent European probes into threats against Russian exiles.