Russian investigators have reopened a murder case against three sisters who killed their abusive father in 2018, months after a court posthumously found him guilty of sexual violence, their lawyer told Russian media on Wednesday.
The murder probe into Krestina, Angelina and Maria Khachaturyan had been suspended while authorities investigated their father, Mikhail Khachaturyan. In April 2025, a Moscow court found him guilty of sexual abuse, causing serious bodily harm and producing pornography, but closed the case due to his death.
Following that ruling, investigators resumed the case to determine whether the actions of the three sisters constituted murder or self-defense, their lawyer Alexei Parshin told the Kommersant business daily.
“Neither the defense nor the investigators have yet received the final ruling from the Moscow City Court,” Parshin said in separate comments to the state-run TASS news agency.
The Investigative Committee, Russia’s top investigative body, has not publicly confirmed whether it reopened the murder probe as of Wednesday.
Parshin said the defense plans to seek a dismissal of the case, arguing tha the sisters acted in self-defense. In his view, that conclusion is supported by the April 21 ruling of Moscow’s Butyrsky District Court against their father.
In November, the Moscow City Court upheld that verdict, striking down an appeal by Khachaturyan’s relatives.
The Khachaturyan sisters, who were 17, 18 and 19 at the time, admitted to killing their 57-year-old father in July 2018 after what they described as years of physical, psychological and sexual abuse.
The case sparked nationwide debate in Russia, dividing public opinion between those who viewed the sisters as acting in self-defense and those who considered the killing a crime, coming amid broader criticism of Russia’s weak domestic violence protections.
Parshin said the Khachaturyan sisters are currently barred by court order from communicating with each other, the media or witnesses in the case.
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