Elena Patyaeva—a friend of Seda Suleymanova, who disappeared three years ago after being forcibly returned from St. Petersburg to Chechnya—was detained in Grozny. On August 23, Patyaeva stood by the monument to journalists who died for freedom of speech, holding a sign that read: "I demand an investigation into the murder of Seda Suleymanova." This was reported by the human rights project "Slovo Zashchite" (Word for the Defense).
Elkhan Suleymanov, the former Minister of Health and Deputy Prime Minister of the Chechen government, came out to dispel rumors of his execution. He said that he was in Turkey.
In an interview with the Azerbaijani agency Minval, Suleymanov noted that he had no disagreements with the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, and he resigned of his own free will due to problems with the child’s health. Suleymanov resigned in October 2022, and at that time Kadyrov was healthy.
“All these rumors about my execution are the opposition of Ramzan Kadyrov. Perhaps she doesn't like the fact that there are positive developments in Chechnya. This does not suit them, and they begin to come up with some stories. I don’t know what motivates them,” Suleymanov said.
Earlier it was reported that Kadyrov blamed the former Minister of Health for the deterioration of his health and brutally executed him. Kadyrov allegedly decided that Suleymanov was deliberately trying to poison him, and buried him in the ground.