Mintsayeva's arrest highlighted the problem of security forces interfering in family disputes.

Belkisa Mintsayeva arrived in Chechnya before her arrest under pressure from security forces, who threatened to send her brother to the SVO. Even if the court orders the return of both daughters, who were taken away by her ex-husband, to Mintsayeva, the enforcement of this decision could take years, human rights activists noted.

As reported by the "Caucasian Knot," on April 14, Lidiya Mikhalchenko, head of the "Motherless Caucasus" human rights project, reported that security forces detained 33-year-old Belkisa Mintsayeva "without any grounds" in the Nadterechny District of Chechnya. According to the human rights activist, Mintsayeva's children are with her ex-husband.

Belkisa Mintsayeva is still being held by law enforcement agencies, and there is no contact with her, Lidiya Mikhalchenko told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent on April 18. "She doesn't have a lawyer because those Nadterechny security forces are intimidating lawyers so they won't work with her," she said.

Mintsaeva went to Chechnya again because she was very afraid that her brother, who is in the security forces, would be sent to the SVO, a acquaintance of Mintsaeva told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent on condition of anonymity.

She said that her brother is in [the security forces], they are threatening to send her brother to the SVO. They told her: 'Come, we'll talk, we'll give him back.' Her mother kept calling her, intimidating her. She, as I understand it, is very attached to her mother and her family, and supported them financially. She said that she has a mortgage on her apartment. […] "What she earns goes toward paying the mortgage, supporting her family, and supporting herself and her children," the woman said.

The theory that Mintsayeva was forced to come to Chechnya was also put forward on April 16 by a "Caucasian Knot" reader with the nickname krystle. "Security forces detained her brother and threatened to send him to the SVO as a volunteer if she didn't come. As soon as she arrived, they detained him," he wrote in his comment.

According to the acquaintance, Belkisa believed that "everything would be fine, that this would be resolved." "I told her, 'Nothing will be resolved, and everything will be bad.' I was in a similar situation, too. I was threatened, my family was threatened. [...] Don't give up the children, don't go, don't go, stay in Novosibirsk.' She didn't listen, she didn't hear. She only heard her mother," said a friend of Belkisa Mintsayeva.

In family disputes, the threat of going to court or initiating a criminal case is often used as a tool to pressure one of the parents, Ekaterina Neroznikova, coordinator of the Marem movement, told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

In these situations, no one can help. Everyone is afraid.

She emphasized that this is happening not only in Chechnya, but "all over the country." "And while such things happen all over the country, the problem in Chechnya is more that no one can help in these situations. Everyone is afraid. So, for example, if some girl, like Belkisa, were detained by the police in Moscow, they could put out a call, asking people to call that department, demanding her release. But here, it's clear that such a call is pointless, because people will be afraid to do so. Therefore, of course, they [the security forces] have more freedom. They know no one will interfere with them," the human rights activist said.

On April 15, a Caucasian Knot reader with the nickname valerie.gutmann shared the story of an acquaintance who got his children back with the help of connections in the security forces. "The father took the two children from their mother and placed them with their grandmother. When she began to demand that the children be handed over to her, they invited her in for a 'talk.' The woman, who, like Mintsayeva, lived in another region, arrived, but was taken to the [security agency] department where her ex-husband's close relatives worked. There, she was held for a day, threatened with criminal charges for drugs allegedly found on her, and forced to renounce any claims to the children. After which she went back, and the children remained with the father's family. Moreover, an acquaintance spoke of how they 'solved the problem', not hiding his pride," he wrote in his commentary. "Caucasian Knot" cannot verify the veracity of this information.

In fact, women are suing for their children in Chechnya, Dagestan, and Ingushetia.

A Chechen woman was able to get her daughters back after a divorce.

In the North Caucasus, society supports the idea of Neroznikova noted that the child remains with the father after the divorce. "So, of course, some people will sympathize with this woman. But in general, that's the way it is. Everyone will say: well, yes, that's how it's done here, so don't get involved. There are cases where the court rules in the woman's favor and will order that the children live with her. But this decision will be impossible to enforce; it will come into force, but will not actually take effect. Because it's not enough for the court to simply rule that the children live with the mother. It also needs to be implemented, to ensure that this decision comes into effect. That means the bailiffs have to go, find them, take them away, and move the children. This whole thing can drag on for years. "That is, women are actually suing for their children in Chechnya, Dagestan, and Ingushetia," she said.

Men from the North Caucasus regions often take their children and bring them back to their home countries, from where it is then quite difficult to return them, even if the court rules that the child stays with the mother. The situation, according to human rights activists, is especially difficult in Dagestan, Ingushetia, and Chechnya.

Her son saw her in court and said, "Who is this woman?"

Starting legal proceedings to determine the children's place of residence is the easiest thing, the human rights activist emphasized. "But how long will it last? What will happen during that time?" You can drag this out forever, and eventually the children will grow up with absolutely no interest in living with this scandalous mother. For them, their mother will always be a source of troubles, problems, and arguments. Why do they need that? You also wrote about Maria Smelaya. Recently, on the 13th, I think, or the 14th, she had a final court hearing, which determined that her child will live with her father. She will see him twice a month, on Saturdays. And while they were dragging this [proceedings], they didn't let her see him. Two years have passed, and now he doesn't recognize her. So he saw her in court and said, "Who is this woman?" "This is a systemic problem with a very large number of different factors, involving not only the [security forces] who were called in to exert pressure, and the mother left, but also many other factors," concluded Ekaterina Neroznikova.

A court decision and bailiff visits do not guarantee that a mother separated from her child in the Caucasus will be able to see him. Six such stories, which have come to light in recent years, are compiled in the "Caucasian Knot" report "Courts and Customs: How Mothers Are Separated from Their Children in the Caucasus."

There is a judicial practice of returning children to mothers, but the problem is more likely to be the enforcement of court decisions, agreed the president of the Center for the Study of Global Contemporary and Regional Issues "Caucasus. World. Development." Saida Sirazhudinova.

"They are often simply ignored. It's a question of patriarchy and male solidarity. Even if a person isn't a security official, they can side with him. Connections in the region are crucial. The stronger the family's power, the more they are exploited. But this isn't unique to Chechnya. It's just that the situation in Chechnya in general is extremely tense in terms of the capabilities of local security forces," she told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.