The case against the Khachaturyan sisters has been reopened despite their recognition as victims of violence.

The Investigative Committee has reopened the investigation into the murder of Mikhail Khachaturyan by his daughters, despite a court decision posthumously finding the businessman guilty of sexual abuse against the girls. Khachaturyan's representative continues to dispute the sisters' allegations of sexual abuse by their father.

As reported by "Caucasian Knot," in May 2022, investigators completed their investigation into the child abuse case against Mikhail Khachaturyan, with three of his daughters accused of murdering him. Investigators also increased the charges to include the dissemination of intimate materials involving the victim's daughters. The prosecutor's office returned the case against the Khachaturyan sisters, accused of murdering their father, to investigators in October 2023. The agency recalled that the girls had been subjected to domestic violence and demanded that the motives for the murder be included in the indictment.

The Investigative Committee has reopened the criminal investigation against Krestina, Angelina, and Maria Khachaturyan. Investigators intend to determine whether the sisters' actions constitute self-defense or whether they should be charged with murder, Kommersant reported on January 28, citing a lawyer for one of the girls.

Alexei Parshin noted that neither the investigators nor the defense have received the Moscow City Court's ruling on the case of Mikhail Khachaturyan, who was posthumously convicted of sexually assaulting his daughters. "After receiving the ruling, we will file a motion to dismiss the Khachaturyan sisters' case," the publication quotes him as saying.

In April 2025, the Butyrsky District Court of Moscow posthumously found Mikhail Khachaturyan guilty of physical and sexual abuse of his daughters, as well as distribution of pornographic materials – he sent pornographic videos to a friend of the sisters. The court terminated the criminal prosecution of Khachaturyan due to his death. Following this ruling, the Khachaturyan sisters' lawyers expressed hope that the girls would be exonerated from criminal liability, as there were grounds to recognize their actions as self-defense. Khachaturyan's lawyers appealed this decision, demanding that Khachaturyan be declared not guilty and rehabilitated. In November 2025, the Moscow City Court rejected their appeal, but changed the wording in the district court's decision from "find guilty" to "find guilty."

Georgiy Chuguashvili, a representative for the victim's relatives, also confirmed the resumption of the investigation into the Khachaturyan sisters' case. "Investigative actions are underway, and they will be charged with the same crime as before – murder. We dispute the motive for the murder; they claim he allegedly raped them, but we refuse to believe this; there is no evidence in the case file," RIA Novosti quotes him as saying.

The Consortium of Women's NGOs is providing legal assistance to the Khachaturyan sisters. Back in early 2020, the Prosecutor's Office urged the Investigative Committee to reclassify the charge of murder by prior conspiracy to murder in self-defense, but this was never done. A few months later, the former deputy chairman of the Investigative Committee became head of the Prosecutor General's Office, and the agency changed its position, according to the human rights activists' Telegram channel.

Mikhail Khachaturyan's relatives attended closed court hearings in his case, where evidence and witness testimony were presented, but continued to maintain his innocence, noted lawyer Mari Davtyan, who is representing the sisters, after the trial ended. According to Davtyan, Khachaturyan's relatives "went on TV shows," which resulted in "a huge amount of misinformation."

The Khachaturyan sisters remain under a ban on certain activities: they are prohibited from communicating with each other, with other participants in the criminal case, and with journalists.

“The internet can only be used to access Gosuslugi and other government services (...) Now they work, rent apartments, and support themselves. They all live in different places. They graduated from school, work, and are building their lives like [other] young women their age. I can say that the girls are certainly doing great. They are managing to live ordinary lives, and we see that they are rehabilitating very successfully,” Davtyan was quoted as saying by the independent journalists’ cooperative “Bereg” in April 2025.

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