The Georgian human rights organization Social Justice Center has responded to the death of 43-year-old Dmitry Pushkarev, who was extradited from Georgia to Russia. The NGO stated that resuming the transfer of prisoners to the Russian Federation categorically violates international human rights standards.
According to rights advocates, between 2017 and 2022, Russia submitted 33 extradition requests to Georgia for its citizens, with the Georgian authorities granting 29 of them. As the organization points out, this indicates that Georgia complies with Moscow’s requests in nearly 90% of cases.
The Social Justice Center emphasized that the state has an absolute obligation not to carry out extraditions when there is a real risk of torture, or inhuman or degrading treatment.
“On October 4, media reports emerged regarding the killing of Dmitry Pushkarev, who had been extradited from Georgia to Russia. According to Russian media outlets, he was shot dead aboard the Vladikavkaz–Adler train in Kabardino-Balkaria after killing an officer of the penal enforcement inspectorate and wounding three others.
On September 24, the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation published a statement regarding the transfer of Pushkarev and Korney Fedunov, whom Russian law enforcement agencies had accused of establishing and participating in an organized criminal syndicate, as well as several drug trafficking offenses. The Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia made no official statements regarding the extraditions to Russia.
It is also noteworthy that, according to a February 2 statement from the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office, Georgia handed over Nikita Podstavin, who was wanted on charges under Article 111 of the Russian Criminal Code (intentional infliction of grievous bodily harm resulting in death by negligence). The Russian supervisory agency released a similar announcement on July 3, 2026, regarding Maxim Cherbakov, extradited from Georgia, followed by the extradition of Dagestan native Rasul Kaitmazov by Georgian authorities on July 17.
In September 2026, the extradition of Mikhail Timofeev to the Russian Federation was also under consideration; however, the proceedings were halted pursuant to a decision by the UN Human Rights Committee, after which Timofeev was released from pre-extradition detention on bail. The Committee prohibited Georgia from carrying out extradition or deportation until the case had been examined on the merits. The lawfulness of his detention is currently being reviewed by the European Court of Human Rights.
Georgia had already decided to suspend prisoner extraditions to Russia in 2022. The Georgian side made an official statement to this effect during proceedings in the case of Sumbaev v. Georgia, emphasizing its commitment to refrain from handing over detainees to the Russian Federation until the Council of Europe and the European Court established a unified position on the issue. At that time, Tbilisi submitted statistics confirming that following March 2022—when the Russian Federation was expelled from the Council of Europe—not a single prisoner had been extradited from Georgia.
It should be underscored that between 2017 and 2022, the Russian Federation petitioned Georgia 33 times for the extradition of its nationals, and in 29 instances, the Georgian side granted the request. This demonstrates that Georgia complied with Russian requests in nearly 90% of cases,” the human rights advocates noted in their statement.
The Social Justice Center called on the Government of Georgia, the Ministry of Justice, and the Prosecutor General’s Office to immediately cease the transfer of individuals to the Russian Federation “until the situation in Russia undergoes radical change and an international consensus is formed around this matter.”
“Continuing the current practice of extradition to the Russian Federation—especially without adequate public justification, exceptionally stringent individual risk assessments, and effective independent monitoring mechanisms—poses a direct threat of Georgia breaching its obligations under Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights and Article 3 of the UN Convention Against Torture.
The Social Justice Center calls upon:
The Government of Georgia, the Ministry of Justice, and the Prosecutor General’s Office—to immediately suspend the extradition of individuals to the Russian Federation until conditions in Russia change substantially and an international consensus is reached on the issue;
The Prosecutor General’s Office—to release official statistical data on extradition requests received from the Russian Federation since March 16, 2022, the decisions issued regarding them, and the extradition procedures actually executed;
The Ministry of Justice—to provide legal clarifications regarding the revocation of the moratorium declared before the European Court in the Sumbaev v. Georgia case, as well as to specify what individual safety guarantees and post-extradition monitoring mechanisms were utilized in the extraditions that have already taken place,” the statement concluded.
