A court in Ingushetia has sentenced 49-year-old Kharon Toldiev, the brother of former military police (OMON) head Khussein Toldiev, to eight years in a high-security penal colony in a case over the murder of a Nazran resident outside a restaurant. The verdict was reported by the Investigative Committee and the republic’s Prosecutor General’s Office.
The incident took place on 23 September 2023 in Nazran. According to investigators, late at night outside the Ogni Kokshetau restaurant on Mutaliev Street, a conflict broke out between Toldiev and a 34-year-old local resident, identified only as Kh. Dzeytov. During the quarrel, Toldiev inflicted a knife wound to Dzeytov’s neck. He died on the way to hospital.
After the attack, Kharon Toldiev went into hiding and was declared wanted, but was detained only in December 2024. In a video released by police at the time of his arrest, Kharon Toldiev admitted that he had ‘cut’ the victim.
The case attracted attention due to the former high-profile position of Khussein Toldiev, Kharon’s brother.
Khussein Toldiev led the OMON in the 2000s, when the region remained one of the most unstable in the North Caucasus. In 2012, an assassination attempt was carried out against his convoy: unknown assailants planted an explosive device on the roadside. The blast damaged the armoured UAZ vehicle of the special unit commander, but Khussein Toldiev himself was unharmed. Experts estimated the bomb’s power to be equivalent to no less than 500 grammes of TNT.
At the time, investigators linked the assassination attempt to the activities of underground radical groups that were active in Ingushetia during that period.
At Kharon Toldiev’s trial, prosecutors argued that his actions were deliberate and posed a serious threat to society. The defence sought a lighter sentence, pointing to the spontaneous nature of the conflict and the defendant’s lack of a prior criminal record.
Nevertheless, the court found Toldiev guilty of murder and sentenced him to eight years’ imprisonment in a high-security colony.
The Prosecutor General’s Office noted that the verdict may be appealed.
According to the Russian criminal code, murder is punishable by six to 15 years in prison.
In 2025, the North Caucasus has recorded significantly more serious and especially serious crimes than in the previous 14 years. In Ingushetia, the number of such offences from January to August this year increased by 10% compared with the same period of the previous year.
Elizaveta Chukharova
