HAINICA MAGAZINE | WORLD NEWS | HUMANITY
October 27, 2026 — A story of courage from March 7, 2025
ALMATY, KAZAKHSTAN — Sometimes, an extraordinary act of humanity begins with a simple choice: refusing to leave another person alone in danger.
On March 7, 2025, at approximately 11:45 a.m., a 67-year-old man entered the domestic terminal of Almaty International Airport and confronted security staff. When asked for his documents, he seized 21-year-old airport security officer Botagoz Mukhtarova by the hair and threatened her with a knife. The attacker also reportedly threatened an explosion; reports do not establish that he possessed an actual bomb.
“Take me hostage instead of her”
Musa Abdraim, a 52-year-old Kazakh man with a background in boxing and martial arts, was at the airport seeing off acquaintances when he heard the commotion. As police tried to calm the attacker, Abdraim offered to take the young woman’s place.
The assailant accepted. Mukhtarova was released, and Abdraim became the hostage. He watched for an opening and, when the attacker’s grip weakened, seized the knife. Airport security and police then helped restrain and arrest the man. Authorities reported no injuries.
In an interview with Tengrinews, Abdraim described his decision: “Take me hostage instead of her.” He explained that, as a citizen of Kazakhstan, he felt he could not have acted differently.
He was thinking of the young woman
Speaking to local journalists, Abdraim said his fear was for the woman, not himself. He imagined that she could have been his own daughter. He had not gone to the airport to perform a heroic act; he had gone to see people off. Yet when a stranger needed help, he chose to act.
His sporting experience may have helped him disarm the attacker, but the most remarkable part of the story came first: he voluntarily accepted a dangerous position so that someone else could escape it.
Recognition for an extraordinary act
Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev awarded Abdraim the For Courage medal. The decoration was presented on March 8, 2025, by Almaty’s mayor, Yerbolat Dossayev, alongside a monetary award.
The World Boxing Council also recognized his actions, describing him as a “Hero of Humanity” and later naming him its “Bravest Man on Earth.”
After the rescue: a meeting with the family
The story did not end at the airport. On March 10, 2025, Kazakh media reported that Abdraim visited Mukhtarova and her family after her father invited him to their home. He shared that she was doing well. The family expressed their gratitude, and reporting by BAQ.KZ described how the young woman’s 90-year-old grandmother offered him a traditional blessing.
Abdraim, a father of five, told BAQ.KZ that what mattered most was that the young woman survived. His message to others was simple: do not pass by people in need; help, and be kinder.
Additional reporting: Tengrinews, March 10, 2025; BAQ.KZ, March 11, 2025.
Hainica Magazine | Editorial tribute
There is a reason this story deserves to travel beyond Kazakhstan. Newsrooms have a responsibility to report violence and injustice, but also to remember the people who resist them through compassion and courage.
Musa Abdraim did not need to know Botagoz Mukhtarova to recognize the value of her life. He did not wait for an award or a camera. He saw a person in danger and made a choice that could have cost him dearly.
At Hainica Magazine, we honor that choice. We honor the dignity of the woman whose safety was at stake, the people who worked to end the confrontation, and the man who stepped forward when it mattered.
To Musa Abdraim: your courage is a reminder that humanity is not only something we speak about. It is something we do.
Hainica Magazine — By People, To the World.
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