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).
Russian telegram channels report that the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, blamed the former Minister of Health and Deputy Prime Minister of the republic Elkhan Suleymanov for the deterioration of his health and brutally executed him. Kadyrov decided that Suleymanov was deliberately trying to poison him and buried him in the ground.
Elkhan Suleymanov was not just the Minister of Health, but directly Kadyrov’s personal physician. After several years of work, the official fell out of favor.
A source from the Cheka-OGPU said that Kadyrov blamed Elkhan Suleymanov for the sharp deterioration in his health, who personally gave him injections and allegedly wanted to poison a high-ranking patient. Since then, no one has seen the doctor again.
On Suleymanov’s Instagram page, which he previously updated almost daily, the last post dates back to October 2022. In addition, previously the doctor often appeared in educational and medical institutions in Moscow, where he was not seen for almost a year. Witnesses also note that they have not seen a Chechen official in the republic for a long time.