Murdiev's mother complained about the lack of contact with her son.
Chechen teenager Roman Murdiev was transferred to a pretrial detention center in Volgograd and placed in solitary confinement. After being transferred, he was not allowed to call his family.
As Kavkazsky wrote "knot", a Moscow court on September 29, 2025, sentenced ninth-grader Roman (Muslim) Murdiev to one year and 11 months in prison. Murdiev was charged with disturbing public order and using violence (Article 213 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) after a fight in which the teenager, according to him, stood up for a 12-year-old boy he knew. After the appellate court decision came into force, he was sent to a correctional facility in the Volgograd region, although he had less than a month left on his sentence. The teenager's mother appealed to Putin and Kadyrov, calling on them to ensure the child's safety, amid threats of revenge for Nikita Zhuravel, who was beaten by Adam Kadyrov.
On December 4, 2024, 18 months ago, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov declared that Murdiyev would not be jailed. He then stated that human rights activists, deputies, senators, and he personally were working on Murdiyev's case. "They won't jail him; they won't do anything to him. I've personally spoken with everyone. He will be released soon," Ramzan Kadyrov expressed confidence, as quoted by the Chechnya Today news agency that same day.
The appeal from Roman Murdiyev's mother was published on his Instagram page* by lawyer Aslanbek Minkailov.
My son, a minor, Roman (Muslim) Murdiev, was brought to Volgograd on June 12th. <...> My son is currently in Pre-trial Detention Center No. 1 in Volgograd. We were hoping that today he would be allowed to call his family. But the call never happened. This is the hardest thing for a mother—not knowing what is happening to your child, not hearing his voice, and not knowing if everything is okay,” the teenager’s mother writes.
The information that Roman is being held in solitary confinement raises even more questions.
“Why is a minor being alone? Is it to ensure his safety? Or are there other reasons? I don’t want to speculate. I just want answers. My son is a minor. He has the right to safety, to health, and to humane treatment,” she said.
Murdiyev’s case had previously attracted the attention of human rights activists and politicians. In December 2024, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov criticized the leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Investigative Committee for initiating a case against the teenager, and the Chechen human rights ombudsman demanded protection for Murdiyev’s family from threats against their relatives. “Murdiyev’s case shows that the people at the top, like Bastrykin and "Kolokoltsev, they're not in their rightful place," the head of Chechnya said at the time. Murdiyev didn't initiate the conflict and stood up for the younger teenager, according to his family and defense. According to them, the case was marred from the very beginning by violations and the disregard for evidence presented by the lawyers. The defense alleged pressure on the teenager, restrictions on his right to a defense, and a disproportionate preventive measure. The defense also pointed out that, under similar circumstances, other defendants in the case, not originally from the North Caucasus, were removed from the indictment and were used as witnesses. Human rights activists and relatives viewed the trial as a show trial and pointed to possible ethnic bias..
* Meta (owner of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp) is banned in Russia.