On January 18, 2026, a group of teenagers—later identified by media and local groups as far-right neo-Nazis—were acting aggressively, using profanity, and harassing female passengers on a public bus.

Turdiev stepped in to defend the passengers and reprimanded the group. The dispute moved outside the bus at a stop, where the group attacked Turdiev by spraying him with pepper spray and firing a flare gun at him.

In what he later described as a state of shock and adrenaline, Turdiev retaliated with a knife, stabbing 18-year-old Ilya Polezhaev (an active member of an ultra-right group) multiple times. Polezhaev later died in the hospital from his injuries.