Activist Elena Grigorieva was killed in St. Petersburg

Activist Elena Grigorieva was killed in St. Petersburg, human rights activist Dinar Idrisov wrote on Facebook. According to an unnamed Fontanka source, a murder suspect has already been detained.

“Elena Grigorieva was brutally murdered near her home on the night from Friday to Saturday. Her mutilated body was discovered yesterday. A criminal case has been opened. <...> Recently she has been a victim of violence, and she has often received death threats,” Idrisov said.

He added that Grigorieva herself and her lawyer contacted the police because of the threats, but there was no reaction: “Everything was in the style of ‘if they kill you, call me,’ I didn’t have time to call.”

Fontanka, with reference to Grigorieva’s relatives , writes that she was on the list of potential victims of a certain project “Saw against LGBT”. The publication also adds that there could be several killers - the Investigative Committee is also considering this version.

According to Fontanka, on the evening of July 21, a St. Petersburg resident contacted the police and said that he had found the body of a woman with a cut-up back, face and signs of strangulation near house No. 11 on Pulkovskaya Street. Forensic experts found that the woman was killed at least 12 hours before her body was found by a passerby.

Later, security forces detained a suspect in the murder - he turned out to be a 40-year-old resident of Bashkortostan, the publication notes. The Investigative Committee assured that there are no suspects yet.

According to activist Alexander Mironov, a janitor who helped Grigorieva around the house was detained in connection with the murder. Mironov spoke about this after interrogation by the Investigative Committee, reports MBKh Media.

Elena Grigorieva is a regular participant in protests in St. Petersburg. In particular, she was detained at a picket against the transfer of Ingush lands to Chechnya, at a rally against torture and repression, and at an event about LGBT issues.

Updated at 5:34 p.m. Added information "MBH Media".

Updated at 10:50 p.m. Added information about Fontanka.