Farmer near Samara accused of attempting to murder six neighbors
Samara Region, Koshkinsky District Court. For over six months, twice a week, from morning to evening, a trial has been ongoing that has split the quiet village of Sukhie Avrali. On one side is a father of many children, farmer Sabir Kyarimov. He has spent a year and a half in a pre-trial detention center, his family has lost almost all their livestock, and the business is on the brink of collapse. On the other side are his neighbors, who claim that in September 2024, Kyarimov came out to them with a rifle and fired twice, attempting to kill.
The accusation sounds dry and terrifying: attempted murder of six people, including two underage girls, committed in a publicly dangerous manner out of hooligan motives. The sanction under the article is up to 20 years of imprisonment.
But in the courtroom, besides legal formulations, the word «revenge» is heard. And the defendant«s lawyer announces the content of voice messages from a 15-year-old girl, where she laughs and says she »embellished« her testimony and provided false information to the investigation due to nationalist hatred. Witness testimonies speak of dozens of cars and people in masks. And, most importantly, the question arises: what actually happened on the dark evening of September 6, 2024, at house No. 3 on Oktyabrskaya Street? Was it a cold-blooded attempt at reprisal? Or a desperate attempt to protect one»s home and family when a crowd of strangers suddenly appeared at the doorstep?
Farmer, neighbors, and a conflict among children
To understand the essence of the trial, we need to go back a few years. In 2021, the Sh. family—Roman, Kristina, and their daughter Vasilisa (the girl«s name has been changed)—moved to the village of Sukhie Avrali in the Yelkhovsky District. The Kyarimov family—Sabir, his wife Samira, and their four children—had lived there for a long time. Their houses are on the same street, a few hundred meters apart.
«Initially, the relations were neutral. They visited each other, consulted on agricultural matters because the Sh. family also kept chickens and geese. They communicated as neighbors,» Mikhail Volodin, a lawyer from the AB SO «Khalchenko and Partners» law firm, told 63.RU journalist.
The conflict, which would later be called a «minor pretext,» originated among the children. Fifteen-year-old Vasilisa Sh. and the Kyarimov sons of about the same age were either friends or quarreled. The case materials (available to the editorial board) include a story described by the «victims» from July 2023: the eldest Kyarimov son allegedly jokingly took a cap from a mutual acquaintance. Vasilisa stood up for him, and a verbal altercation occurred between her and the boy, which, according to the girl, ended with a slap. The fathers talked then, and the incident was resolved. But, as the defense claims, from that moment on, Vasilisa began saying that the Kyarimov sons scared her on the road by cutting her off with a car.
Sabir Kyarimov was actively engaged in animal husbandry. He had his own subsidiary farm, supplying dairy products and cheese to restaurants in Tolyatti. The family had several cars. His teenage sons, according to villagers, sometimes drove, which, of course, caused dissatisfaction. Vasilisa«s family also periodically complained about this.
«Several times this girl was caught lying. For example, she would call her dad and say, »Dad, Sabir«s son almost ran me over again.» Roman would call Sabir. He would reply, «He»s in Samara.« They»d call on video, and the son was indeed in Samara. But then the stories repeated,« lawyer Volodin recounts.
In the morning «almost ran over,» and in the evening a shot rang out at the gate
The fateful day began with another such incident. Around 10 a.m. on September 6, 2024, according to the victims« version, Vasilisa Sh. was walking along Oktyabrskaya Street. According to her, a Lada Granta sped past at high speed, driven by underage Elvin (name changed), the middle son of the Kyarimovs. The car abruptly swerved onto the shoulder, and the girl had to jump into the ditch to save herself. A neighbor, Ivan L., was allegedly a witness (later in court, he would state that he did not actually see who was driving the car).
The schoolgirl, hysterical, called her father. Roman Sh., in turn, called Sabir Kyarimov.
«Sabir, I»ll come to you in the evening, we need to talk,« he said.
«Come,» Kyarimov replied.
At this stage, both sides describe the conversation as calm and amenable to agreement.
Evening. Sabir Kyarimov returns from Tolyatti, asks his wife to open the gates, drives onto the property, and starts closing them. And then cars pull up to the house.
From this moment, the testimonies of the parties diverge radically.
Prosecution version (according to the victims—the Sh. family, their friends Denis P., Alexander N., and neighbor Ivan L.):
Two cars drove up to the house. Out came Roman Sh. himself, his wife Kristina, family friend Denis P., Alexander N., and witness to the morning incident Ivan L.; their daughter Vasilisa and her friend Katya B. also approached. Altogether, 6-7 adults and two girls. They remained on the street, not entering the Kyarimovs« property. A conversation began, which quickly escalated into an argument. Kyarimov»s wife, Samira, behaved aggressively, shouting. Then Sabir Kyarimov, without a word, went into the house, ran out with a self-loading carbine «Vepr,» went out through the gates of his property onto the street, shouldered the rifle, aimed at the gathered people, and fired two shots in their direction. The bullets missed, and people scattered in terror. Kyarimov was prevented from completing the crime only by their active evasive actions.
Defense version (according to Sabir Kyarimov, his family, and a number of villagers):
In the evening, not two but 12-13 cars drove up to the house, many of which had been parked at the Sh. house earlier. Among them were SUVs. About 30-40 people got out of the cars. Many were in black masks or balaclavas, with clubs (bats), some had radios. One villager allegedly saw a knife. These people did not come just to talk—they started shouting: «Where is your son?» demanding he be brought out, and using obscenities. At this moment, Sabir«s wife came out of the house. One of the masked people grabbed her by the arm and forcibly pulled her out through the gates, onto the street, threatening violence. Seeing his wife being roughly dragged and an aggressively настроенная толпа approaching the house, Sabir Kyarimov ran into the house, took his legally stored hunting rifle, ran back out, but remained on his property. He shouted for everyone to leave or he would call the police, and, seeing no reaction, fired one warning shot upward, into the air. After this, the attackers released his wife, she ran into the yard, and the Kyarimovs closed the gates. After the gates were closed, three muffled shots were heard from the street (possibly from non-lethal weapons). Kyarimov and his wife hastily called police officers and reported the attack on them.
Investigation: from «shot in the air» to «shot to kill»
Initially, during the police check, almost all participants from the Sh. side gave written explanations stating there was one shot in the air. The protocols included phrases about a «warning shot.» Roman Sh. also mentioned a second shot, «at the feet.» However, according to lawyer Mikhail Volodin, later, when the Investigative Committee took over the case, the victims« testimonies suddenly and suspiciously changed. All, as one, began to assert that Kyarimov purposefully shot at them twice, intending to kill.
«Everyone gives testimony word for word, with the same lexical and punctuation errors. The investigation in the indictment writes that he failed to achieve his intent because they »took cover from the shots and promptly contacted the police.« But that»s absurd! According to their own testimony, he fired from a distance of 2-3 meters with a rifled carbine «Vepr,» that is, almost point-blank. My client is a hunter. It is impossible in principle to miss from such a distance with a rifled weapon at a target that wasn«t even trying to hide. Moreover, the six victims were not standing in a column so that one shot could kill them all at once, but were dispersed across the area,» lawyer Volodin points out the formulations.
Video recording that changes everything and proves nothing
The key piece of evidence became a video recording made that evening by Vasilisa Sh. on her phone. It was examined in court. It seemed the video should have ended the dispute. But it became a new point of contention.
The defense insists that even this short recording, which they studied thoroughly, refutes the prosecution«s version.
What is seen and heard on the video (according to the defense):
On the recording, people are seen standing very close to the gate line, almost in the opening.
Sabir Kyarimov is visible in the distance, walking across his yard from the house towards the gates. From the moment he appears in the frame (0:52) to the sound of the shot (1:00), 8 seconds pass.
Lawyer Volodin personally went to the site and conducted a sort of «investigative experiment.» He claims that even running, it is impossible to cover the distance from the point where Kyarimov is seen on the video to exiting beyond the gates in these 8 seconds. «He could not have been shooting on the street. He fired while on his property,» the defender insists.
The sound of the shot on the recording is muffled, not loud. The defense interprets this as proof that the shot was fired into the air, and the barrel was not aimed at those filming.
On the recording, radio communications are also heard: a male voice says, «Well, there»s a war here,« then asks over the radio, »What are you doing?« and then, »If it«s war, then let»s go fight.« The victims explain this by saying that a radio was on in the Sh. car. The defense, however, sees this as evidence of coordination by a large group of people.
Based on these inconsistencies, the defense moved to admit evidence of Kyarimov«s innocence and to conduct a site inspection, as well as appoint a video-technical examination that could determine exact distances, localize sound and objects. The court rejected the motion.
«Severny Chelovek»
Another painful issue raised in court is the possible affiliation of some participants from the Sh. side with the public movement «Severny Chelovek.» A journalistic check by a 63.RU correspondent confirmed: Denis P., listed in the case as a victim, is indeed repeatedly mentioned in publications on the official channels of this community. In one post, it says about him: «Denis is a person with a conscious civic position, actively participating in the life of our association... He is an active member of the Northern Druzhina.»
In court, Denis P. denied an active role in the organization, stating that he only «heard about it,» but could not explain in what circles and for what purposes he is referred to by the call sign «Strizh» (it is by this call sign, according to the accused side, that others who arrived at the Kyarimovs« house addressed him on the day of the events). Moreover, his social media page contains links and tags connecting him, the person with the call sign »Strizh,« to the movement. Lawyer Volodin directly asks: was the entire action at the Kyarimovs» house not an attempt to «talk,» but a planned forceful action by a structured group?
The 63.RU editorial board sent a request to the public organization «Severny Chelovek» asking for comment on the situation. In response, we received an official statement:
«Good day. The defense is spreading false information. It pursues two goals: to artificially »embellish« the defendant»s personality and to blacken the organization, unjustly labeling it as «nationalist.» All official persons of the organization are known, the indicated information is publicly available, Denis is not among the indicated persons; however, we do not exclude that in the course of our activities we may have collaborated with him on issues of collecting humanitarian aid for the SVO, since we interact with a large number of both individuals and legal entities who have expressed a desire to provide this or that assistance.«
Thus, the organization distances itself from Denis P.«s active participation in its leadership structures but admits the fact of cooperation with him within humanitarian projects.
Life in pre-trial detention and a ruined family
While a verbal battle rages in court, the Kyarimovs have practically been ruined. The head of the family has already spent a year and a half in pre-trial detention. His cheese supply business collapsed. The personal subsidiary farm, which had about 100 head of cattle and 300 head of small livestock, was almost destroyed without the owner«s supervision.
«Almost everything perished. Now they are in a very dire situation,» the lawyer states.
The youngest son, who was supposed to enter college, couldn«t do so—no time: he, like the entire family, works from morning to night, trying to save the remnants of their property.
The court seized three of the family«s cars. The house was not seized because underage children live in the only dwelling. The family itself, according to the defender, are »maximally assimilated« Azerbaijanis, Russian citizens since 1996, who were always considered adequate neighbors.
What is charged and what is sought
Sabir Kyarimov is charged under Part 3 of Article 30, points «a,» «e,» «i» of Part 2 of Article 105 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. In legal terms: attempted intentional murder of two or more persons, committed in a publicly dangerous manner, out of hooligan motives. This is a particularly serious crime.
The victims filed a civil lawsuit for compensation for moral damages totaling more than 5 million rubles (about $50,000 at current rates).
«In court, there were even suggestions that my client would get an additional term to think and compensate for the damage, while the Sh. family would request a new psychiatric examination for their daughter to toughen the article. Essentially, it»s about bargaining, where at stake is a person«s fate and the well-being of his family,» says Mikhail Volodin.
The defense insists on the farmer«s complete innocence.
«Even in the darkest interpretation of events, Kyarimov»s actions do not amount to attempted murder. At most, what they can «pin» is hooliganism (Article 213 of the Criminal Code). But there is no basis for hooliganism either, as there was a preceding conflict and an obvious threat to the life and health of Sabir and his wife, as well as their property. Hooliganism is when I go out to a square and fire a machine gun burst to express obvious disrespect for society. But he essentially acted in connection with an existing conflict, defending his family,« the lawyer summarizes.
The judicial investigation continues. The trial is slow, with two hearings per week, and each—from morning to evening. Judge Pavel Nikonov, chairman of the Koshkinsky District Court, carefully listens to the parties.
«Vasilisa»s family has moved away from Sukhie Avrali, and the Kyarimovs continue to fight, while the accused is forced to fight from behind bars, as the victims allegedly fear him and ask the court to extend his detention in the pre-trial detention center, despite the fact that within a week from the events until his arrest, Kyarimov made no attempts to influence Roman Sh. and his family, who lived two houses away, and now have even moved to another area,« says lawyer Volodin.
We can only await the court«s verdict, which may put an end to this drama but is unlikely to return both families to the life they led before September 2024.
