Prosecutors say the young man has confessed to killing his sister with multiple gunshots because of her “immoral behavior.”

They said in a statement Saturday that the murder was the latest in a string of killings and disappearances of women in the region. About 30 women aged 18 to 27 have been killed or gone missing since last fall.

Chechnya’s Kremlin-backed leader Ramzan Kadyrov said recently that some of the victims were rightfully shot by their male relatives for their “loose morals.”

Kadyrov has carried out a campaign to impose Islamic values and strengthen the traditional customs of predominantly Muslim Chechnya.