Said Murtazaliev. Screenshot: Dozhd
An 18-year-old from the Russian North Caucasus republic of Dagestan who was tortured into signing up for the war in Ukraine is feared to have been murdered by his commanders after uncovering a corruption scheme, an investigation by independent Russian broadcaster Dozhd revealed on Sunday.
Said Murtazaliev was detained in the Moscow region in early January on fraud charges. The details of his case are unknown, but within days of his arrest, he was forced to sign a contract with the Russian army and sent to the front in Ukraine’s eastern Luhansk region.
Murtazaliev’s mother, Leyla Nakhshunova, told journalists that her son was subjected to torture during the police interrogation. “They put a gas mask on his head and pressed down on his chest until he passed out,” she told Russian outlet Ponyatno.Media. She insisted her son would never have enlisted voluntarily — he didn’t even have a military ID.
According to the Dozhd report, the investigator involved in Murtazaliev’s forced recruitment was identified as 36-year-old Nadezhda Zabelkina, a mother of two and a police investigator in the town of Shatura, east of Moscow. Russian independent media outlet Verstka has previously reported that police officers can receive up to 100,000 rubles (€1,100) for each detainee they force to enlist.
Once deployed, Murtazaliev was assigned to an assault unit, where he had served for under three months. On 7 March, he sent his mother a video message in which he revealed that, under orders from his commanding officers, he had collected over 1.15 million rubles (€12,500) from fellow soldiers, allegedly as payment for them not to take part in the most dangerous frontline assaults — referred to in Russian army slang as “meat storms”.
Murtazaliev warned his mother that his life was in danger. He was declared missing in action the following day.
Screenshot from a video Murtazaliev sent to his mother.
According to the investigation, Murtazaliev’s commanding officers using the call signs Altay and Kilo gave an order for him to be killed as the only witness to the corruption scheme. The soldier allegedly tasked with carrying out the execution went by the call sign Spartak.
Dozhd journalists identified Altay as 25-year-old Senior Lieutenant Mikhail Prasolov, who was deployed to the war in Ukraine in 2023 and had reportedly been awarded the Medal for Courage.
Despite evidence linking Prasolov and other commanders to extortion and murder, Prasolov remains on active duty at the front, according to Dozhd. None of the implicated officers have been arrested, though a preliminary investigation is underway.