A woman from Chechnya, Madina Makhamashova, says her former husband has prevented her from seeing or speaking to their daughter for almost two years, despite a court ruling establishing a schedule for contact. She has publicly appealed to Aishat Kadyrova, the eldest daughter of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, for help.

According to human rights defenders, Makhamashova’s daughter lived with her after the divorce. When Makhamashova remarried, the girl remained with her maternal grandmother. The child was later taken by her father.

Makhamashova claims that the transfer of the girl to her father was preceded by a decision by Chechnya’s Muftiate. She says she was subsequently effectively deprived of contact with her daughter. According to her, her former husband and his current wife do not allow her to speak to the child even by phone.

Makhamashova said she took the matter to court, which established a schedule for her contact with her daughter. However, she says the ruling has effectively not been enforced: on the days scheduled for visits, her former husband would repeatedly find reasons not to bring the child.

“I am her biological mother. I want to raise my daughter,” Makhamashova wrote, asking Aishat Kadyrova to help restore contact with her child.

The appeal drew widespread attention on social media. By midday on August 18, the post had received more than 4,000 likes and over 1,000 comments. Many users expressed support for the woman and shared their own experiences of being separated from their mothers as children.

The former husband’s position has not been publicly reported.

The separation of mothers from their children after divorce has repeatedly become a subject of public debate in the North Caucasus. Human rights defenders say that in such family disputes, decisions by secular courts can come into conflict with local religious and traditional practices.

This is the second public appeal to Aishat Kadyrova for help in a family or family-related dispute. The Chechen leader’s daughter has previously held several government positions in the republic and leads a more public life than most of Ramzan Kadyrov’s other children, particularly on Instagram.

Two months ago, Aliya Yangulbaeva, the daughter of jailed Chechen political prisoner Zarema Musaeva, also appealed to Aishat Kadyrova for help. In June, she asked Kadyrova to assist in securing the release of her mother, who is ill and in detention, and to intervene with her father. There has been no public response to the appeal so far.