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).
A court in Vladikavkaz decided to fine journalist Ruslan Totrov 20 thousand rubles under the article of inciting hatred and enmity against a group of people. In one of the social networks he wrote: “The most popular reaction to this on the Internet is the clown emoji. But the sovereign's servants are not clowns. They are exemplary fascists." Totrov published the post after a passenger on a Moscow-Vladikavkaz flight was detained for reading a book in Ukrainian.
Previously, Ruslan Totrov repeatedly criticized the war in Ukraine and the “partial mobilization.” He spoke out that Ossetians are not part of Putin’s so-called “Russian world.” According to him, the Russian army and government have discredited themselves at all levels. He had previously been fined three times. The journalist was forced to leave Russia.