The court ordered the Ministry of Internal Affairs to pay compensation to Khalit Mustafaev's family.

The cassation instance upheld the decision to pay compensation to the relatives of Stavropol resident Khalit Mustafaev, who was killed by a security officer during a chase. The arguments of the Ministry of Internal Affairs that the police officer acted on his own initiative were deemed unconvincing by the court.

As reported by "Caucasian Knot", in March, the Pregorodny District Court awarded 3.8 million rubles in compensation to Khalit Mustafaev's relatives: one and a half million rubles to his parents and 800 thousand rubles to his brother. The Ministry of Internal Affairs appealed this decision, but on June 2, the appellate instance upheld it. The Prosecutor's Office of the Stavropol Territory supported the Mustafaevs' position and requested that the court's decision remain unchanged.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs insisted on the employee's non-involvement

The Fifth Cassation Court of General Jurisdiction denied the Ministry of Internal Affairs' appeal against the decision on compensation for moral damages to the family of the murdered Khalit Mustafaev. The Ministry demanded the cancellation of the decision to pay 3.8 million rubles to the parents and brother of the deceased, as reported today on the Telegram channel of "Team Against Torture" (included in the register of foreign agents).

In its appeal, the Ministry insisted that the police officer Maxim Marchenko, who shot Mustafaev, made this decision independently, without coordination with the Ministry, and therefore the Ministry is not responsible for the employee's actions. The cassation court disagreed with these arguments and upheld the compensation decision, human rights defenders explained.

The amount awarded is trivial, but we agreed to it, while the Ministry demanded to cancel even that

"The court understood our objections. The Ministry took my boy's life. He worked in the oil industry, supporting the whole family. Compensation will not bring my son back; his life is worth much more. The amount awarded is trivial, but we agreed to it, while the Ministry demanded to cancel even that," said Bakir Mustafaev, the father of the deceased, as quoted in the publication.

The cassation court made a decision at the first hearing

The consideration of the cassation appeal, submitted on September 14, took place on November 10, and the decision was made at the first hearing, as indicated in the case card on the website of the Fifth Cassation Court of General Jurisdiction (Pyatigorsk).

The plaintiffs listed in the card are Bakir Mustafaev, Timur Mustafaev, and Svetlana Mustafaeva, while the defendants are the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Stavropol Territory and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia. Maxim Marchenko and the Department of Internal Affairs of the city of Lermontov were involved as third parties in the case.

Marchenko avoided criminal liability by being in the SVO zone

Recall that police officers shot Khalit Mustafaev in October 2020 near the village of Suvorovskoye during a chase. Mustafaev did not stop his vehicle at their request and attempted to flee. The police fired warning shots, but Mustafaev did not stop, and then one of the officers shot him. The bullet hit the man in the head. The Investigative Committee initiated a criminal case under the article on exceeding authority against the shooter Maxim Marchenko. Investigators stated that Marchenko did not have the right to use firearms to stop the fleeing Mustafaev.

However, the proceedings in the case were suspended because the accused went to the SVO. In July 2025, the Pregorodny District Court terminated the criminal prosecution of Marchenko, who had already returned from the SVO zone. The father of the deceased, Bakir Mustafaev, called the decision unjust and stated that he intends to seek the resumption of the case. He believes that there is a corrupt element in the termination of the case.

At the beginning of 2025, the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs department in Lermontov apologized for the death of Khalit Mustafaev. The apologies came four years late, Bakir Mustafaev pointed out at that time. He demands accountability for the police officers, one of whom went to the combat zone, while the other was only a witness in the case.

"Caucasian Knot" also reported that several police officers accused in the case of the death of the detained Makhachkala resident Kurban Dalgatov, who was beaten in the police department in January 2023 and died in the hospital, also took advantage of the opportunity to go to the SVO. By January 2026, most of the 11 accused had not yet received sentences, while five of them went to the SVO.