Two Ingush men sentenced to 17 years in prison for brutal murder of Saint Petersburg woman
The Saint Petersburg City Court has sentenced 23-year-old Murat Ganizhev and 21-year-old Abdul-Malik Buzurtanov, both from Ingushetia, to 17 years in prison. They were found guilty of the murder of a 25-year-old woman, committed with particular brutality by a group acting in prior conspiracy.
The crime took place in the summer of 2025 in a flat on Krasnoputilovskaya Street in Saint Petersburg. On the day of the incident, the woman, identified only as Elizaveta K., reportedly invited acquaintances to her home.
According to the investigation, while hosting, Elizaveta began experiencing hallucinations due to substance use. At first, she demanded that the guests leave the apartment, then refused to let them go. Someone began praying, to which she said she was a ‘witch’ and could not tolerate it. The two Ingush men then reportedly attacked Elizaveta with knives.
Elizaveta Chukharova
According to the investigation, the defendants were under the influence of narcotic substances at the time of the crime. An expert examination confirmed the presence of such substances in their bodies.
During their interrogations, the two men said Elizaveta had reproached them for walking around the flat in their shoes and putting out cigarette butts wherever they liked. They claimed they had wanted to leave, but she had locked the door and threw the key out of the window.
According to the case materials, Ganizhev and Buzurtanov, acting in turns, inflicted multiple stab wounds on the victim, the total number exceeding 580. Prosecutors say that the two used three kitchen knives to commit the crime, which led to acute massive blood loss. Afterwards, they left the flat through a window, descending via a drainpipe in order to avoid being captured on surveillance cameras. They then left Saint Petersburg.
Elizaveta’s body was discovered several days after the incident. According to local media outlet 78.ru, a week later, a neighbour of the deceased contacted police after noticing a stench from the apartment landing. He also reported that the victim was the mother of a four-year-old child. She had been deprived of parental rights due to regular alcohol and drug use.
According to Elizaveta’s friend, Elena Terentieva, before the divorce, Elizaveta’s husband had beaten her. He did not work and allegedly lived off his wife’s income. The friend said that Elizaveta later gave the child to her husband, after which she fell in with a questionable circle. It was then that she met Ganizhev and Buzurtanov.
‘She did drink beer, but not often. As for drugs, I can’t say whether she used them or not. Not in my presence. I would have noticed. She spent time with her child, too. Her home was always clean. I told her: “Go and get a job”. She found one. Then those friends reappeared. And everything started going downhill. That was it’, Terentieva said.
A few days before the incident, Elizaveta had reportedly tried to distance herself from these friendships, deciding to leave for a while and packed her belongings.
‘She was planning to come to my dacha, just before her death. She was supposed to come to me the next day. And then this happened’, Terentieva said.
Investigators established the suspects’ identities using CCTV footage and witness testimony.
‘As the stairwell was not entirely safe because of that flat, the neighbours installed cameras on their floors and on her floor in order to see who was coming to her and what was happening. We were able to reconstruct the full sequence of events from the moment she entered the building and proceeded to the flat, and with whom’, forensic investigator Maria Ivanova said.
Ganizhev was detained in early August 2025 in the town of Ali-Yurt in Ingushetia, while Buzurtanov was detained in nearby Sunzha at around the same time.
During the trial, Ganizhev did not admit guilt, while Buzurtanov admitted guilt only partially. The court also upheld a civil claim filed by Elizaveta’s mother, ordering the convicted men to pay more than ₽2 million ($24,500) in compensation for moral damages.
At the hearing to determine the measure of restraint, Ganizhev refused to state his position regarding the charges, but signed documents in court and submitted an application to participate in Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The application was not accepted.
In addition to the prison terms, the court imposed a further restriction of liberty following the completion of the sentences.
The verdict has not yet entered into legal force and may be appealed.
