Human rights activists have claimed that Russian authorities are concealing Baimuradova's alleged killers.

The Chisinau Convention, to which both Russia and Armenia are parties, obliges states to assist each other in criminal investigations, but Yerevan's request regarding the case of Chechen native Ayshat Baimuradova was ignored.

As reported by the "Caucasian Knot," the Investigative Committee of Armenia officially confirmed on February 3 human rights activists' reports regarding suspects in the murder of Chechen native Ayshat Baimuradova. For the first time, the agency officially named the defendants in the case, noting that Russia ignored its request for assistance with the investigation. The Investigative Committee also noted that information about the suspects had been sent to Interpol.

For the third month, Russia has failed to respond to Armenia's official request for legal assistance in the case of Aishat Baimuradova's murder, despite having direct international obligations to respond to such requests promptly, according to the Crisis Group SK SOS*.

According to human rights activists, the request from Yerevan was sent on December 10, 2025. The Chisinau Convention on Legal Assistance, which both Armenia and Russia have signed, obliges authorities to transmit such requests to the "competent authority" for execution within five days if the original addressee is unable to directly execute them. In this case, the requesting party is required to be notified of the request being forwarded between agencies.

In the case of the Russian Federation, the Prosecutor General's Office received the request from Yerevan, which was supposed to forward it to the Investigative Committee and notify Armenia. "This was not done. If the request cannot be fulfilled (for example, the person is in hiding), Russia is obliged to notify Armenia of the obstacles. The Russian side would also have to report if it had detained the suspects," the group's Telegram channel stated.

Investigators in Armenia "have information that Said-Khamzat Baysarov and Karina Iminova, suspects in the murder of Aishat Baimuradova, are in Russia," so the Russian law enforcement's ignoring of the request from their Armenian colleagues "looks like a direct cover-up for the killers," Heda Media notes.

"Russia has left an international inquiry unanswered regarding the murder of a woman (its citizen) who fled systemic violence and sought protection," the project's publication emphasizes.

Aishat Baimuradova's body remains in the morgue, and Armenian authorities are considering burying her according to the procedure for so-called "unclaimed bodies." A petition calling for Aishat's body to be returned to her friends for a proper burial had garnered 215 signatures as of 6:00 a.m. Moscow time today on the website Change.org.

Chechens traditionally bury their deceased compatriots in their homeland in accordance with the norms and rules of Islam. If the relatives of the deceased, for whatever reason, are unable to collect the body and organize the burial, this responsibility is "taken on by either acquaintances, members of the same clan, or even complete strangers," noted Caucasian Knot reader maribel.huel.

“And here, with her relatives, fellow villagers, and fellow clan members still alive, the body of a murdered girl has been sitting in the morgue for months, and it seems no one cares. Such indifference is simply unfathomable. Therefore, the best solution is to give Baimuradova's body to friends willing to bury her remains. And let her family live with this for the rest of their lives,” he wrote.

“This situation should have been resolved long ago, without petitions, appeals to the authorities, and all the rest. There's a murdered girl whose body has been sitting in the morgue for months. Relatives ignore the death of a family member and don't want to claim the body, but there are friends willing to bury her. So why not accommodate them?” wonders a reader of the “Caucasian Knot” with the nickname nelson.

As reported by the "Caucasian Knot," 23-year-old Chechen native Ayshat Baimuradova was found dead on October 19, 2025, in a rented apartment in Yerevan. She fled to Armenia from domestic violence and publicly criticized Kadyrov's regime.

Representatives of the Armenian Ministry of Internal Affairs insist on the return of Baimuradova's body to her formal relatives to avoid future claims. At the same time, the Speaker of the Armenian Parliament, Alen Simonyan, expressed his readiness to assist human rights activists with the legal formalities involved in organizing funerals.

* are listed as foreign agents.

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