Baisangur Yangulbayev, the youngest brother of self-exiled Chechen opposition bloggers Ibragim and Abubakar Yangulbayev, has been added to Russia's federal wanted list.
Baisangur Yangulbayev's name appeared on the Interior Ministry's registry of wanted persons on May 9.
It remains unclear why Baisangur Yangulbayev was added to the list. In November, Russian authorities added him to a list of extremists and terrorists without explanation.
Baisangur and his brother Ibragim left Russia in 2021. Abubakar fled Russia in December.
Their father, retired federal Judge Saidi Yangulbayev, and their sister Aliya, fled Russia in early 2022 fearing for their safety.
The three men's mother, Zarema Musayeva, whom Chechen police detained in January last year in her apartment in the Russian city of Nizhny Novgorod, some 1,800 kilometers from Chechnya, is currently on trial in Grozny on charges of fraud and assault of a law enforcement officer. Critics insist the charges are politically motivated.
Bloggers Ibragim and Abubakar Yangulbayev have been known for their online criticism of Kremlin-backed Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov.
Kadyrov, other Chechen officials, and a member of the Russian Duma from Chechnya have publicly vowed to kill all members of the Yangulbayev family, calling them "terrorists."
Journalists, rights activists, and other Russians have urged the government to punish those who issued the threats.
Ibragim and Abubakar Yangulbayev say they faced years of pressure from Chechen authorities over their criticism of Kadyrov and the rights situation in Chechnya.
Russian and international human rights groups have for years accused Kadyrov of overseeing grave human rights abuses, including abductions, torture, extrajudicial killings, and the persecution of the LGBT community.
Kremlin critics say Putin has turned a blind eye to the abuses because he relies on the former rebel commander to control separatist sentiment and violence in Chechnya.