Patyaeva shared details of her detention in Grozny.
Activist Elena Patyaeva reported that the security forces who detained her in Grozny behaved correctly, and one of the police officers, after a conversation about the disappearance of Seda Suleymanova, noted that there are many such stories.
As reported by "Caucasian Knot", on August 24, Elena Patyaeva left Chechnya after being released from the police station in Grozny. The security forces drew up a protocol against her for repeated violations of the rules for holding public events after a solo picket demanding an investigation into the murder of Seda Suleymanova.
The native of Chechnya, Seda Suleymanova, was detained in St. Petersburg in August 2023 and taken against her will to relatives in Chechnya. After that, she has not sent any messages. Her friends and human rights activists fear that she has become a victim of the so-called "honor killing", according to the report of the "Caucasian Knot" "Abduction of Seda Suleymanova".
According to Elena Patyaeva, she returned to St. Petersburg. The activist shared today in her Telegram channel "Where is Seda?" the details of the picket in Grozny and the subsequent detention. According to her, she was able to stand with a poster in the journalists' square for almost an hour. Due to the heat above 30 degrees and practically no sleep the previous night, it was physically difficult for her.
Passersby mostly looked silently at the poster that Patyaeva was holding, some turned away, and a few people photographed Patyaeva from across the street. At one point, a group of tourists stopped in front of her. According to the activist, the guide pointed out the journalists' square, who died for freedom of speech, but after talking with the person accompanying the group, the tourists did not approach the stele.
About an hour later, three security officers arrived at the picket site, one of whom was armed, Patyaeva reported. "Finally, a police car arrived. Three men in black uniforms and berets got out, one of them with a weapon in his hands. I say "weapon" because I don't understand its types and don't know exactly what it was. Maybe a submachine gun? In general, bigger than a regular pistol, but smaller than an automatic rifle," the activist wrote.
According to Patyaeva, at first the security forces stood silently nearby while she continued her picket. After the arrival of another vehicle, they photographed her with the poster, took her passport, and then the poster itself. The activist was offered to go with the security forces. At first, she was taken to the nearest police station, but then, according to her, the escorts received instructions to change the route, and she was taken to another police station in Grozny.
Patyaeva also noted the driving style of the security forces accompanying her. "They were honking the siren with enthusiasm and constantly ran red lights and drove in the opposite lane. There was no reason for this: I was already sitting in the car, not running away, so it seemed, what was the rush. However, they clearly enjoyed that everyone had to let them pass; it seemed they felt cool. When some boys on the side of the road waved at them, one of the security officers generously waved back," the activist wrote.
There are many such Seds Suleymanovas
According to Patyaeva, in the department, she was moved several times from one office to another, while the officers escorting her constantly changed. According to her, they spoke to each other in Chechen. After checking the database, the officers found information about previous administrative cases against the activist for pickets and mentioned repeated violations several times.
In communication with Patyaeva, the police officers mostly behaved politely, asking who Seda Suleymanova was, how the activist knew her, and whether she was a blogger. Some officers, according to her, remembered Suleymanova's case and Patyaeva's previous picket in Grozny.
On March 20, 2025, Patyaeva already held a solo picket in Grozny demanding an investigation into the disappearance of Seda Suleymanova. At that time, she was detained, but soon released without drawing up a protocol. On November 27, 2025, the Krasnoselsky District Court of St. Petersburg sentenced Patyaeva to 10 days of administrative arrest, recognizing her solo picket at the police station where Suleymanova was taken before returning to Chechnya as a repeated violation of the rules for holding public events.
In her Telegram channel, Patyaeva also recounted a conversation with one of the police officers about the alleged murder of Suleymanova. She explained to him that Suleymanova had escaped from her relatives and was planning to marry a young man in St. Petersburg, and that her relatives, in Patyaeva's opinion, might consider this dishonorable. According to the activist, after this, her interlocutor indicated that he understood such motivation from the relatives. Another officer, Patyaeva claims, remarked: "There are many such Seds Suleymanovas."
A lawyer was allowed to Patyaeva soon after her arrival at the station. The activist reported that the security forces allowed the possibility of keeping her in police custody until the trial, but ultimately released her.
"The only thing they threatened me with was that they would detain me until the trial. But in the end, they decided to release me. Of course, I think they weren't the ones deciding what to do with me – they were just waiting for a call from higher authorities. In the protocol, they wrote that I was holding a solo picket. In their view, that was my offense," Patyaeva wrote.
Patyaeva doubted that she would be acquitted in case of trial and suggested that she would be fined heavily or given administrative arrest. "But who cares what is written in the law? I don't know if there will be a trial in the end, but if there is, I have no doubt that I will not be acquitted, but accused. I will most likely be sentenced to a huge fine, although theoretically, a 30-day arrest is also possible. In general, we'll see," she wrote.
As of 12:37 MSK on August 25, there are no comments on the circumstances of Patyaeva's detention and the actions of the police officers on the website of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Chechnya.