Aida Mirmaksumova

25 Posts

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Aida is a journalist and human right activist from Makhachkala, Daghestan. With more than 15 years of experience as a journalist, she has worked with numerous Russian and international media organisa

Chechnya

Voice | ‘Just give me back my children’

by Aida Mirmaksumova

•6 min read

According to Chechen tradition, a divorced woman cannot return to her parents’ house with her children, since the children ‘belong to’ the man and he and his family are responsible for them. Jamilya (not her real name), shared her story of separation with OC Media. ‘My ex-husband — the father of my children — worked in a construction company, and often used to travel to other cities. On one of his business trips, he met another woman. He left me and never returned. I stayed with my two childre

Daghestan

Russia’s presidential elections: a special report from Daghestan

by Aida Mirmaksumova

•10 min read

On Sunday 18 March, Russia held presidential elections. OC Media’s correspondent in Daghestan, Aida Mirmaksumova, was in Makhachkala as a member of the territorial election commission. Vladimir Putin was declared the winner in the elections, with the official results giving 90.73% of votes in Daghestan to him. [Read More on OC Media: ‘Landslide victory’ for Putin in the North Caucasus] This year, for the first time, I participated in my country’s presidential elections not as a voter, but

Corruption

Searches and detentions in Daghestan — ‘the Kremlin’s tactics of strengthening its power’

by Aida Mirmaksumova

•4 min read

Detentions of officials in Daghestan are continuing. According to a researcher at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO), Vadim Mukhanov, the crackdown is aimed at strengthening Moscow’s power in the region and are not indicative of systemic changes. On 17 January media reports emerged that an official commission had arrived from Moscow to Makhachkala to inspect the issue of chaotic city development and land allocation. Two days later, detentions began. As of 1 M

Daghestan

Voice from Makhachkala | ‘Mum, we are not in Turkey, but in Syria’

by Aida Mirmaksumova

•7 min read

On 21 October, a special flight from Syria landed in Grozny with 21 children on board. The passengers included three women and six children from Daghestan. [Read on OC Media: Wives and children of Islamic State militants return home] The instant after touching down, the three Daghestani women were arrested and taken to Makhachkala. The trial of 33-year-old Zagidat Abakarova for ‘participating in an illegal armed formation’ began at the end of December. Naida Shaikhakhmedova was sentenced

Daghestan

Christians in Daghestan are fighting against a new church in a Makhachkala park

by Aida Mirmaksumova

•6 min read

Construction on the shore of Makhachkala’s Ak-Gyol Lake by local authorities and private entrepreneurs has been going on for years, to the chagrin of many locals. The fight against the latest such construction, an Orthodox Christian cathedral, has been taken on by local Christians themselves, who are suing the local government and their own diocese. A number of Orthodox Christians in Makhachkala are suing the city’s administration and the Makhachkala Diocese, demanding that they halt con

Chechnya

Wives and children of Islamic State militants return home

by Aida Mirmaksumova

•6 min read

Four women and eight children arrived in Grozny on the evening of 1 September from the Iraqi city of Mosul. They were returning from Syria, where they had traveled with their husbands to join the Islamic State. Together with their relatives, OC Media’s special correspondent was waiting for them in the airport. Travelling on the flight from Mosul were three women from Russia and one from Kazakhstan, all with small children aged between eight months and nine years. This was the first fligh

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