The Investigative Committee of Armenia has officially reported the names of two suspects in the murder of 23-year-old Chechen native Aishat Baimuradova, whose body was discovered in October 2025 in Yerevan.
In a response to a request from the BBC’s Russian Service, the Armenian agency confirmed on Tuesday that the main suspects in the case are considered to be two Russian citizens — Karina Iminova and Said-Khamzat Baisarov. According to the investigation, they acted on the instructions of ‘a person not yet identified’.
Baimuradova was found dead on 20 October 2025 in an apartment in the Armenian capital, where she lived after fleeing Chechnya. She had left the region fearing persecution from relatives.
In a letter sent to the BBC, the Armenian Investigative Committee clarified that in December 2025, the agency had appealed to the Russian authorities with a request for legal assistance within the framework of the investigation.
According to information provided by the investigative bodies, Baimuradova’s cause of death appeared to be mechanical asphyxiation. At the same time, the official response noted that it was not possible to establish the exact cause of death unequivocally due to the nature of the injuries and the condition of the body.
Investigators noted that ‘small and large foci of haemorrhage’ were recorded on Baimuradova’s body, which, according to expert opinion, could have been caused by the impact of blunt objects. In addition, on the right side of her face ‘a couple of small superficial skin defects’ were found. The agency indicated that these injuries could have occurred as a result of exposure to high temperatures.
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The Armenian Investigative Committee confirmed that on 1 December 2025, it sent a request to Interpol for assistance in locating the suspects, though via a less formal procedure compared with an Interpol ‘red notice’. They did not explain why this particular format of international search was chosen and whether the possibility of applying for more stringent measures was being considered.
The names Iminova and Baisarov had previously appeared in publications by human rights organisations and independent media, which considered them responsible for the death of Baimuradova, as she had been planning to meet Iminova on the day she disappeared. In addition, Iminova was captured on surveillance cameras near the entrance of the building in the apartment where Baimuradova’s body was found.
Baimuradova moved to Armenia in 2023. Human rights activists reported that she left Chechnya because of a conflict with relatives and fears for her safety — she had been subjected to violence both by her father and by her husband.
Earlier in February, Armenian Parliamentary Speaker Alen Simonyan promised to assist in transferring Baimurodova’s body to human rights activists for the organisation of her funeral, and also to facilitate a transparent investigation into her death.
Elizaveta Chukharova
