The security forces released Patyaeva from the police department in Grozny.
Lena Patyaeva was released from the police department in Grozny after a picket demanding an investigation into the murder of her friend Seda Suleymanova.
As reported by "Caucasian Knot", Chechen security forces detained Seda Suleymanova's friend Lena Patyaeva, who went out in Grozny for a solo picket demanding an investigation into Suleymanova's murder.
Born in Chechnya, Seda Suleymanova was detained in St. Petersburg in August 2023 and taken against her will to relatives in Chechnya. After that, there have been no messages from her. Her friends and human rights activists fear that she has become a victim of so-called "honor killing", according to a report by "Caucasian Knot" titled "The Abduction of Seda Suleymanova".
Lena Patyaeva was released from the police department in Grozny, the project "Word for Protection" reported today.
Lena arrived in Grozny for the third anniversary of her friend Seda Suleymanova's abduction. The date coincided with the celebration of the 75th anniversary of Akhmat Kadyrov.
The publication also contains a denial of reports that Patyaeva was arrested. "Various media outlets citing Eva Merkacheva claim that Lena Patyaeva was arrested for 10 days. This is not true. Merkacheva herself has already deleted the erroneous information," the publication states.
"I know this girl very well. She has written to me and called me several times. Thanks to her, I sent inquiries to the investigation and the prosecutor's office regarding Seda. People like her, who care, are the real civil society. She has been asking one single question all these years: where is Seda?" wrote human rights activist Eva Merkacheva on her Telegram channel.
Lena Patyaeva is a friend of Seda Suleymanova and the organizer of a campaign demanding an investigation into her disappearance. The security forces have repeatedly detained her for public actions related to Suleymanova's case: for instance, in August 2025, the activist stood for four hours in a solo picket at Akhmat Kadyrov Bridge, after which she was taken to the police department, and in April, for a picket at the same bridge, Patyaeva received 20 hours of community service.
On November 27, 2025, the Krasnoselsky District Court of St. Petersburg considered Elena Patyaeva's solo picket a repeated violation of public event regulations and sentenced her to 10 days of arrest. Patyaeva reported that police tried to see "signs of extremism" in the text of her poster.
In March 2025, Lena Patyaeva held a picket in Grozny, where she was also taken to the police, but released without a protocol. Meanwhile, the Grozny security forces called Suleymanova's fate a "family matter".
In April 2024, it became known that the Investigative Committee is investigating the disappearance of Seda Suleymanova under the article on murder. In January 2025, Patyaeva complained to the Prosecutor General's Office about the inaction of the investigation, stating that for 10 months, the investigation yielded no results. On June 16, 2025, it became known that the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia announced Seda Suleymanova wanted. The appearance of a wanted card in the Ministry of Internal Affairs database indicates rather an imitation of activity, human rights activists pointed out.