Probe into police beating of North Ossetian man suspended after officer goes to fight in Ukraine

A criminal investigation into the brutal beating of North Ossetian native Tamerlan Marzoev in Moscow has been suspended after one of the main suspects, a police officer, signed a military contract and was deployed to Ukraine.

Nearly six months after the case was opened, no charges have been filed against any of the officers involved, and key investigative procedures have yet to be carried out, lawyers from the legal group Crew Against Torture told OC Media.

The incident occurred on the evening of 14 October 2023, as Marzoev and his wife were on their way home. They were stopped by patrol officers on a Moscow street, allegedly for a routine ID check. According to Marzoev, the officers then began insulting him — including with ethnic slurs — and proceeded to beat him. One officer reportedly struck Marzoev in the face with the butt of a rifle.

‘He asked me where I was from. I said I’d been living in Moscow since I was seven-years-old and that I’m originally from North Ossetia. Then he said, “Why have you all come here?” The officer punched me in the jaw several times. I fell onto the tarmac near a car tire and hit my head. My clothes were soaked in blood,’ Marzoev told the Crew Against Torture group.

Marzoev was then taken to a police station where the abuse allegedly continued. He was reportedly mocked for his ethnicity before being brought into an office, forced to strip naked, and made to squat repeatedly.

A hospital later documented that Marzoev had suffered a double fracture of the lower jaw and multiple contusions.

A criminal complaint was filed with the Investigative Committee shortly after the incident. However, investigators initially refused to open a case, citing a lack of evidence that a crime had been committed. It was only after repeated petitions by lawyers and pressure from human rights groups that a criminal case was opened in July 2024 under Article 286 of the Russian Criminal Code — abuse of office with the use of violence.

Yet even after the case was launched, the investigation encountered new obstacles.

After one of the officers involved in Marzoev’s detention went to fight in Ukraine under contract,  his absence made it impossible to carry out key procedures, including identification.

Additionally, a second officer resigned — no procedural steps have been taken against him so far. The third officer remains on the force.

‘In March, the Prosecutor’s Office ruled the suspension of the investigation unlawful, and the case was reopened. We will continue to push for a proper investigation and challenge illegal decisions and police inaction’, representatives of the Crew Against Torture told OC Media. ‘The investigators must carry out several critical steps, and we will insist on them being completed.’

According to the lawyers, the case file contains contradictions. The officer now in Ukraine claimed that Marzoev allegedly struck his own face on the weapon’s butt when being stopped on suspicion of drug possession. However, no drugs were found, and this version of events is not supported by any video footage or witness testimony.

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OC MediaElizaveta Chukharova