An orphan from Makhachkala secured the housing he was entitled to under the law after an online outcry.

Makhachkala officials promised to provide orphan Magomedfazil Kurbetov with legally required housing after his story of being forced to sleep on the streets for seven years sparked an online outcry.

A complaint filed by Magomedfazil Kurbetov, an orphan from Makhachkala, regarding the violation of his housing rights was published on May 26 by the Instagram* page tut.dagestan.

The published video shows a young man lying on a park bench at night. A local resident filmed the video. She explained that the young man is an orphan and is forced to sleep outdoors because officials refuse to provide him with the housing he is legally entitled to.

"I was supposed to get my own apartment when I left the orphanage, but they didn't give it to me," said Magomedfazil Kurbetov. He went on to say that he had lived in a rented apartment for a while, but was then forced to move out. Kurbetov added that he had graduated from an orphanage seven years ago.

The video's author was outraged, asking where the government was looking. "The state doesn't pay any attention at all," Kurbetov replied.

"Imagine, it's rainy weather, and here he is, sleeping on a bench," the video's author noted, promising to send the video to the authorities.

Network users are outraged by the prolonged violation of the orphan's rights

This post on the Instagram* public page tut.dagestan, which has about 1.6 million subscribers, had garnered about 14,400 views and 868 comments as of 9:50 AM Moscow time on June 5.

"Every day, a woman walks by and sees a guy sleeping on a bench. "Doesn't the local police officer see the same thing, or don't the police officers walk down this street?" wrote aliomarova001.

"Several years? Has no one seen him?" – user aisha_i_malika also asked.

"We need a lawyer to investigate this injustice. Let the perpetrators answer for every night they spent on the streets," said gulnara_mir_beauty.

"There are tons of stories about how orphans in Dagestan weren't allocated apartments and are now going to court to get housing. Your life and that of your descendants will be hard, taking away an orphan's property," wrote fatima_zahra_massaj.

"It's strange that our compassionate people left him on the street for so many years. I'm sure they'll help him after this video," noted goryanka__luiza.

Authorities Magomedfazil Kurbetov, a graduate of the "Zabota" boarding school and an orphan, has been temporarily housed in a hotel in Makhachkala. Kurbetov is on a waiting list for housing, the Makhachkala City Management Center (CMC) reported on its Telegram channel. Officials have offered Magomedfazil a job in the Makhachkala Department of Architecture and Urban Development. The city administration will also assist Magomedfazil with his education and professional development, the publication stated. The "Caucasian Knot" also reported that security forces in Dagestan periodically open criminal cases against officials for fraudulent practices involving housing for orphans. Thus, at the end of September 2024, the chairman of the Makhachkala Property Management Committee purchased 47 apartments in an apartment building unfit for habitation, and then gave them to orphans as their legally due housing.

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