interrogator: “ Why were you arrested by the police officer? ”
Imo̷mali : “ For a̷tt̷ac̷ki̷ng̷. I mean, there was a conflict. And in the course of the conflict, a k̷ni̷f̷e̷ was used. I wasn't aware of what I was doing. I was in shock. I had a k̷ni̷f̷e̷ with me, but I took this k̷ni̷f̷e̷ from my... well, from the apartment, when I came home with my brother, so that my brother... well, in short, I took the k̷ni̷f̷e̷ from the apartment. I was in shock, with the adrenaline and all that. And in the course of this conflict, I used the k̷ni̷f̷e̷. ”
18 January 2026, Moscow, Russia.
Imo̷mali Turdiev a 19 yrs old tajik, stepped in to defend a woman who was being h̷ara̷ss̷ed by a group of four neon̷az̷i̷s̷ making o̷bsc̷ene and o̷ffe̷n̷si̷v̷e gestures towards her.
Imo̷mali noticing the situation. (He's the boy in the black hat and white jacket)
The boy stopped and had a verbal argument with one of them before asking them to get off the bus (where all this was happening) to continue the argument. Once the group of four men got off after Imo̷mali, the first fight broke out. There is no information about this initial argument – whether it was physical or verbal, whether it was one-on-one, Imo̷mali against the four, or whether he was threatened with any of the w̷ea̷p̷o̷ns̷ the neo̷n̷az̷i̷s̷ were carrying (pepper spray and a flare gun). However, after this first altercation, while the group of neo̷n̷az̷i̷s̷ was walking towards the next bus stop, Imo̷mali went to his flat to find his brother and a k̷ni̷f̷e̷.
Once back at the scene, the group of neo̷n̷az̷i̷s̷ notices the k̷ni̷f̷e̷. Imo̷mali attempts to confront one of them, and Ilya Polizhaev (the vic̷t̷im̷) tries to intervene but slips and falls. Another member of the group then sprays Imo̷mali with pepper spray. It's during this chaotic moment that Imo̷mali s̷ta̷b̷s Ilya Polizhaev three times. The latter fires a flare before realising, once on the bus again, that he's i̷nju̷re̷d̷.
the elektrostal city court ordered Imo̷mali's arrest, and he was charged with m̷u̷r̷d̷e̷r̷ under Article 105, Part 1 of the Russian criminal code, facing a sentence of up to 15 years in prison.
It's important to note that, according to friends of the deceased, the h̷ara̷ss̷ed girl was known to the group, and the whole thing was a “prank”. However, there's no evidence of this. The girl didn't make any public statement, and when Imo̷mali stood up to defend her, there was no sign that she tried to defend the group of her “friends.”
and that the “neo̷n̷az̷i̷s̷” labeling was not only made by internet users upon seeing the almost goofy cosplay of combat boots, camouflage jeans and baldness but a thing confirmed by russian media.
