Musayeva's daughter explained her motives for contacting Aishat Kadyrova.

Chechen authorities have not responded to an appeal to Aliya Yangulbaeva, the daughter of the head of Chechnya, for help in freeing her mother, Zarema Musayeva. Musayeva and her family are pinning their hopes on a prisoner exchange with the West, but she decided to try appealing to Ramzan Kadyrov's eldest daughter. Zarema Musayeva managed to raise 212,000 rubles through parcels.

As reported by "Caucasian Knot," on June 17, Aliya Yangulbaeva published an open letter on social media addressed to Aishat Kadyrova, the eldest daughter of the head of Chechnya. In her appeal, Yangulbaeva asked for assistance in securing the release of her mother, Zarema Musayeva.

Chechen authorities have not responded to Yangulbaeva's appeal

Aliya Yangulbaeva said she didn't believe her mother would spend so many years behind bars. "For the past five years, I've been hoping for justice to prevail. My mother has diabetes, and it seemed impossible to me that she would spend so much time in prison. Even when she was given a prison sentence, I still believed the decision would be overturned and she would be released. I simply couldn't imagine that she would spend so many years behind bars," she told Daptar.

According to her, the idea to contact Aishat Kadyrova arose about six months ago. "I discussed this with my brother. I wanted to do everything possible for my mother. Abubakar supported me and said: if I think this is right, I can try. I think it's sometimes difficult for men to change their minds. I know from personal experience that a daughter can sometimes find a way to talk to her father. <...> I think Aishat can also find the right words. As far as I know, she is her father's favorite daughter. Besides, I've heard that she does many good deeds. That's why I decided to approach her," Aliya said.

She noted that so far, she has had no reaction to her appeal from the Chechen authorities. "I think they've already seen my letter. They usually see everything quickly. Until there's some kind of reaction, I want to publish, publish, publish. Not in posts, but in Stories, I'll post, post, post," the girl says.

At the same time, according to her, both Zarema Musayeva and her family are pinning their hopes on a prisoner exchange between Russia and the West. "She writes about this in almost every letter. I think she has very high hopes for an exchange. In fact, she has almost lost all other hopes. But she still has hope for an exchange. I had that hope too. <...> We were really hoping that my mother would be included on this list. But that didn't happen," she said.

Aliya Yangulbaeva and her father were forced to leave the country

Aliya herself reported that after her mother's abduction, she and her father were forced to urgently leave Russia and essentially start their lives anew. "We were supposed to go to Georgia via Turkey, but it turned out I had COVID. We were quarantined for two weeks. When the quarantine ended, we were sent to Ankara to get a visa to Norway. It was issued very quickly, and we flew out the next day," she says.

According to her, she lives in Norway with her father, has learned the language to level B2, and works as a cook.

"After the language program, I started working. I've been working as a cook for three years now. To do that here, you need to get an education and qualifications. This year, I'm planning to go to university. For a long time, I couldn't decide what I wanted to do next. In Russia, I almost finished my law degree and thought it was too late to go back to that field. But recently, I realized that I really want to study law," Aliya said.

"In Chechnya, I have no one left except my mother. The most important thing for me now is to have her by my side," the girl says in an interview.

She added that her mother is even now "trying to support" the family. "She tells everyone that everything will be fine. But I know that she is very sick. And I know that she is very tired," Aliya noted.

88,000 rubles remain to be raised to reach the required amount for Musayeva's packages.

As of 9:00 PM Moscow time, 212,165 rubles have been raised for food parcels for Zarema Musayeva, according to data posted on the "Zaodno" platform.

A total of 70.72% of the required amount has been raised, according to the "Caucasian Knot" calculations.

The Team Against Torture* is collecting funds through the "Zaodno" platform.

In early April, human rights activists sent a complaint from Chechen political prisoner Zarema Musayeva to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. In it, the woman stated that she was being punished for the actions of her sons, who criticize the Chechen leadership, and that the court hearings in the case were being conducted with violations.

Zarema Musayeva is the wife of former federal judge Saidi Yangulbaev. Chechen security forces took her away from her apartment in Nizhny Novgorod on January 20, 2022. After this, Ramzan Kadyrov accused the Yangulbayev family of organizing a terrorist network and stated that their place was "in prison or underground."

You can read about Kadyrov's conflict with the Yangulbayevs in the "Caucasian Knot" reports "How the Yangulbayevs Became Kadyrov's Enemies" and "The Main Thing About Kadyrov's Fight Against the Yangulbayevs".

* are listed as foreign agents.

** Meta (owner of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp) is banned in Russia.