Abakarov Khizri Magomedovich

Russian statesman and public figure, entrepreneur. Head of the administration of the city of Derbent, Republic of Dagestan. State secretary of the Republic of Dagestan since November 10, 2020.

Member of the State Duma of the Russian Federation since 2021 from the United Russia party.

Born in the city of Yuzhno-Sukhokumsk, at an early age his family moved to Derbent and then to Makhachkala. In 1983 he graduated from the Dagestan Polytechnic Institute with a degree in mechanical engineering. After graduating from the university, he was assigned to the Borisoglebsk Instrument-Making Plant, where he worked as a design engineer.

From 1983 to 1985 he served in the Soviet Army. For two years after finishing his service, he worked in different positions: as a fitter for foreign equipment, chief mechanic and trainer-teacher in Novy Urengoy. In 1987, he took the position of president of the Novy Urengoy Federation of Oriental Martial Arts. Since 1993, he has been engaged in entrepreneurial activities.

In 1999, he began his political career by becoming an assistant to the famous Dagestan businessman Suleiman Kerimov, who was then a State Duma deputy from the LDPR. In 2007, when Kerimov took the position of senator of the Federation Council, Abakarov followed his boss, becoming an assistant to the senator. As an assistant to Kerimov, he oversaw his socially oriented projects, including the reconstruction of the Anzhi Arena stadium in Makhachkala.

In 2013, after completing work at the Anji Arena, he became the manager of the stadium by appointment of Kerimov. In 2014, he received the position of Chairman of the Board of Directors of Makhachkala Airport.

In 2018, by a unanimous decision of the Council of Deputies of Derbent, he was elected mayor of the city district. According to experts, Abakarov’s appointment was the result of an agreement between the head of Dagestan Vasiliev and Kerimov, who promised to attract investment to the city. These facts are confirmed by the fact that when elected, Abakarov promised to increase the city budget 5 times, and his receipt of a new position occurred against the backdrop of purges of the leadership of Dagestan.

In 2020, he moved to the position of Secretary of State of the Republic of Dagestan. In 2021, he was elected to the State Duma from the United Russia party.

Like many other government officials, he condemned Prigozhin’s rebellion in 2023, publicly stating:

“Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin is a strong leader, and we are a strong state! The rebellion will be suppressed and order will be restored! We will protect our people and statehood from any threats, including internal betrayal!”

Winner of several federal and republican awards. One of them was received from the Chairman of the Investigative Committee, Bastrykin, for protecting Jews flying from Tel Aviv to Makhachkala from an anti-Semitic pogrom in 2023.

- Violation of the territorial integrity of Ukraine. Thus, Abakarov was one of the deputies who voted for recognition of the independence of the puppet DPR and LPR, which became the formal reason for the start of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. Abakarov also voted for bills on the admission of the Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions of Ukraine to the Russian Federation, that is, again for the annexation of the territories of a sovereign state.

For these actions he is under personal sanctions from the EU, UK, Ukraine, USA, Switzerland, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Japan.

- Adoption of repressive, anti-democratic legislation. So, since 2021, while serving as a deputy of the State Duma, Abakarov voted for the following bills restricting human rights and freedoms:

- Tightening the law on foreign agents. So in 2022, amendments were made to the law to allow foreign agents to be added to the list not only for foreign funding, but also for “foreign influence.” Under this law, onerous restrictions were imposed on citizens and organizations, for non-compliance with which administrative and criminal liability was provided. In reality, this article was used for repression against dissidents in cases where it was not possible to initiate a criminal case.

- Introduction to the Criminal Code and the Code of Administrative Offenses of articles on “discrediting the RF Armed Forces” and “fakes about the Russian army.” Later, in 2024, he also voted to tighten these articles in the Criminal Code. In accordance with the new provisions for “fakes about the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation” and a number of other political articles, in addition to the punishment itself, confiscation of property is also provided.

- Toughening of the article on high treason, providing for a maximum penalty of imprisonment up to life and equating “switching to the side of the enemy” with high treason, that is, persons who want to resist Putin’s aggression in Ukraine.

- Russia’s withdrawal from the Council of Europe and the denunciation of related treaties, which denied Russian citizens access to the European Court of Human Rights.

- Introducing criminal liability for calls for the execution of decisions of international organizations, primarily for calls to implement the decision of the International Criminal Court to arrest Putin.

The adoption of these laws was also one of the reasons for the imposition of sanctions by Western countries.

Membership in the anti-democratic party "United Russia". So Abakarov has been a member of United Russia for several years, at least since 2021. This party is responsible for many years of usurpation of power in the Russian Federation, the adoption of anti-democratic laws, corruption, and violation of the territorial integrity of neighboring states.