Investigation into Khachaturyan sisters' murder case reopened

The investigation has been resumed against the Khachaturyan sisters—Kristina, Angelina, and Maria—in the case of the murder of their father Mikhail Khachaturyan in 2018. The young women face lengthy prison terms.

The sisters are accused of stabbing their sleeping father Mikhail to death in July 2018, according to the investigation. They were charged with murder by prior conspiracy in 2018. The case caused a major public outcry: in 2021, a criminal case was opened posthumously against Mikhail Khachaturyan under articles on torture, violent acts of a sexual nature, and coercion into sexual acts. In April 2025, he was found guilty of violence and distributing pornographic materials.

«The investigation has been resumed, investigative actions are being carried out, they will be charged with what they were charged before—murder. We dispute the motive for the murder, they claim that he allegedly raped them, we refuse to believe it, there is no evidence in the case materials,» Mikhail«s family representative Georgy Chuguashvili told RIA Novosti.

In April of last year, Moscow«s Butyrsky Court found Khachaturyan guilty of violence against his daughters and distributing pornographic materials. The case was terminated due to his death.

At the time, the sisters« lawyer Yaroslav Pakulin told MSK1.RU that once the verdict came into force, there were two possible scenarios.

«When the decision comes into force, the Investigative Committee will attach it to the cases of Angelina, Kristina, and Maria and will consider further reclassification, and possibly a complete termination of the case, because the girls acted in necessary self-defense,» Pakulin said.

The sisters have now been in the status of accused under Part 2 of Article 105 of the Russian Criminal Code for the eighth year. All this time, by court order, they have been prohibited from communicating with each other and with witnesses in the case.

Kristina, Angelina, and Maria were waiting for the decision in their late father«s case to come into force. According to Pakulin, the case should have been terminated because there was no excess of necessary self-defense. He also implied that Mikhail Khachaturyan»s side would appeal the verdict.

«I think the other side will appeal, although we are not having any discussions. If they do appeal, it will drag out the procedure for several months,» Pakulin said in a conversation with MSK1.RU.

In November 2025, the lawyers asked to cancel the preventive measure for the sisters. During the hearing, the Moscow City Court only slightly changed the wording of the verdict: Mikhail Khachaturyan was found to have committed the crimes, not to be guilty.

The sisters« defense assessed the court decision positively. Pakulin emphasized that it has «prejudicial significance.» This means that the fact of violence against the daughters is now recognized and cannot be challenged.

However, starting today, the high-profile case is entering its final phase. Investigators will have to take into account the court decisions that confirmed the facts of Mikhail Khachaturyan«s violence against the young women.

«Currently, we are preparing a motion to terminate the criminal prosecution of the sisters, because their actions are necessary self-defense against the criminal Mikhail Khachaturyan, which has now been established and is confirmed by the court«s findings. They have been subjected to various types of violence for many years. For many more years, they will have to undergo treatment and rehabilitation from the violence and nightmares they experienced. I believe that the Main Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee, with such obvious and court-established facts, will not delay terminating the criminal prosecution of the young women. They have already suffered enough. It is time to end this story, leave them alone, and let them live in peace,» commented the lawyer for one of the sisters—Angelina—Alexey Parshin in a conversation with «Rossiyskaya Gazeta».

In the fall of 2022, the Khachaturyan sisters« mother for the first time told how the young women are living. A year later, the case against the three sisters was sent for further investigation. Until there was a verdict in their father»s case, the case against them could not move forward.