Seda Suleimanova's Friend Demands Punishment for Her Killers

Two years after security forces took Seda Suleimanova to Chechnya, Lena Patyaeva held a picket in St. Petersburg demanding that her friend's killers be punished. According to sources, Suleimanova was killed and buried in Chechnya back in November 2023, human rights activists reported.

As reported by the "Caucasian Knot", on April 16, the "Crisis Group Investigative Committee SOS"* announced a campaign to send appeals to the Investigative Committee demanding that it take control of the investigation into the disappearance of Seda Suleimanova. By June 13, more than 4,000 online appeals had been sent to the chairman of the Investigative Committee calling for him to take control of the investigation. By July 21, the Investigative Committee had forwarded several such requests to Chechnya, and ignored most of the requests, so the "Crisis Group SK SOS"* announced an "additional campaign" of requests to the Investigative Committee. By July 29, 330 people had sent repeated requests to the Investigative Committee of Russia demanding that it take control of the investigation. Investigators have offered Seda Suleimanova's friend Lena Patyaeva, who is campaigning to investigate her disappearance, to take a polygraph test in Chechnya.

Lena Patyaeva went out to picket in St. Petersburg today. "Exactly two years ago, Seda Suleimanova was kidnapped from St. Petersburg and taken to Chechnya. From that day on, she never contacted me, or other friends, or her boyfriend, or human rights activists, or journalists. Investigative Committee SOS believes that she was most likely killed three months later - in November 2023. For a very long time, I continued to hope that Seda might be alive. Two years later, I have almost no hope left. Does this mean that it's time to give up? Not for me," Patyaeva wrote on the Telegram channel "Where is Seda?"

She demands that the girl's killers be punished. "Murder is illegal in Russia. Any murder. There is no separate clause in the law that allows "honor killings" on the territory of Chechnya. And since this is the case, since we still have only laws, I demand that Seda's killers be put in prison," she wrote.

As can be seen from the photo posted by the Telegram channel "Word of Defense," Patyaeva is standing with a poster that says "Stop putting me in jail. Put Seda Suleimanova's killers in jail."

 Suleymanova could have been killed in November 2023 and buried in her ancestral village, said David Isteyev, director of the SOS* Investigative Committee crisis group.

"According to our information, Suleymanova was buried in the village of Alkhan-Yurt "outside the cemetery, like a dog, on the side of the road." This information was received from several independent sources who may have access to such information from Seda's relatives, family friends, or other close associates. We cannot verify it, but we believe this information to be quite reliable," the report says.

The report also indicates that sources stated that the order was given personally by State Duma deputy Adam Delimkhanov. But the veracity of these reports has raised doubts. "We cannot call these reports trustworthy, since we have not been able to establish where these sources could have obtained this kind of information: none of them have any relevant connections. There is a possibility that this information could be rumors. Reports of Delimkhanov's possible involvement appeared to us after the case of another Chechen fugitive, Liya Zaurbekova, in whose case Delimkhanov publicly intervened. This case could have served as an additional catalyst for rumors. However, the practice of regular intervention by the Chechen authorities and security forces in the cases of fugitives speaks in favor of the version of Delimkhanov's involvement," the SOS* crisis group Investigative Committee reported on its Telegram channel.

Recall that State Duma deputy Adam Delimkhanov refused to activists' request to initiate an investigation into the disappearance of Chechen native Seda Suleimanova.

Earlier, Adam Delimkhanov responded actively to the situation with another ethnic Chechen, Liya Zaurbekova, who fled from relatives who were trying to forcibly return her home. "The deputy did not report his lack of authority at the time," representatives of the "Crisis Group SK SOS"* noted earlier.

Recall that in April-May, Seda Suleimanova's support group collected signatures demanding that the presidential administration ensure an effective investigation. The campaign covered more than 20 cities. On May 13, activists submitted more than 5,000 signatures on signature sheets and 2,000 electronic signatures under the appeal to the presidential administration. The Presidential Administration forwarded the appeal to the Prosecutor General's Office and the Investigative Committee.

On May 5, information about the abduction of Seda Suleimanova was sent to the UN Working Group on Enforced Disappearances. This will bring Suleimanova's case to the international level, and the UN group's analysis and recommendations will serve as a reminder to the Russian authorities, human rights activists explained.

On June 16, 2025, it became known that the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs had declared Suleimanova wanted. This indicates rather an imitation of activity, since when a criminal case is initiated, all active actions to search for the missing person are carried out at the discretion of the Investigative Committee investigator, human rights activists pointed out. It is noteworthy that the police officers who detained Patyaeva after the March picket in Grozny, called Suleimanova's fate a "family matter".