Ukrainian-born political prisoner previously beaten by Kadyrov’s son disappears in Russia
22-year-old Mykyta Zhuravel, convicted in Russia first for burning a Quran and later for treason, has not been heard from since December 24, 2025, his lawyer Andrey Sabinin told member of Putin’s Human Rights Council Yeva Merkacheva in a letter, Radio Liberty’s Kavkaz.Realii project reports.
In a letter published by Merkacheva on her Telegram channel, Sabinin said Zhuravel was transferred from Moscow at the end of December. On December 24, his relatives received a letter he had sent from Ulyanovsk — after which all contact and information about him ceased.
“There is no evidence that he is alive,” the lawyer wrote, asking Merkacheva to help locate him.
Zhuravel had been held in Volgograd’s pretrial detention center from October 2024 to November 2025, where he was illegally denied long visits with his parents, according to the lawyer.
Background on the case
Zhuravel was born in Russian-occupied Crimea. He studied at a cadet school and later at a university in Volgograd. In May 2023, at age 19, he was arrested for filming a video of a Quran in front of a mosque.
The case was transferred to Chechnya on orders from Investigative Committee head Alexander Bastrykin, in violation of Russian criminal procedure rules. The alleged crime was to be investigated where it occurred, in Volgograd. He himself was transferred to Grozny, where, outside the walls of the detention center, Zhuravel was met by participants in a protest organized by local authorities, who called for a “people’s court.”
In summer 2023, while in Grozny pretrial detention, Zhuravel was beaten by 15-year-old Adam Kadyrov, son of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov. Instead of facing punishment, the teenager received state awards and positions. Ramzan Kadyrov publicly praised his son for “defending religion.”
On February 27, 2024, a Grozny court sentenced Zhuravel to 3.5 years in prison for “insulting the feelings of believers” and hooliganism motivated by religious hatred.
In October 2024 he was additionally charged with treason for allegedly offering cooperation to Ukraine’s Security Service via messenger. Human rights group Memorial declared him a political prisoner, noting that the only evidence was his own confession, likely obtained under duress, and that burning a Quran should be treated as an administrative offense, not a criminal one.
Zhuravel was sentenced to 13.5 years for treason in November 2024; the verdict took effect on December 4.
- Share: