He was detained in the late evening of 3 September 2021. He was not shown any documents, a plastic mask was put over his eyes and handcuffs on his hands. According to Akhtemov, at first he was told that he had raped a girl. Ten days after his detention, Akhtemov said that he was brought to a basement where he was electrocuted, after which he agreed to speak a prepared text on camera. He was then taken to the Federal Security Service building where he was interrogated, forced to sign some documents and again to speak on camera. Initially, Akhtemov was charged with sabotage, then the charge of possession of explosives by an organised group was added. In October 2021, Akhtemov's lawyer reported that he was not being transferred from quarantine to a regular cell in the pre-trial detention centre - in her opinion, this was done to hide the remaining traces of physical abuse. On 21 September 2022, Akhtemov was sentenced to 15 years in a strict regime colony. In June 2023, it was reported that Akhtemov was being tortured in the pre-trial detention centre.