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A Russian woman purported to be the world's oldest person has celebrated her '129th birthday' - but she wishes she had died young.

Koku Istambulova says she has never lived a happy day in her life and she has no idea how she has lived so long that she has outlasted her children.

Other centenarians have credited a healthy diet or a lifetime of exercise for their longevity.

But Koku says "it was God's will" in her case - and she considers it "punishment" instead of a gift.

Russian officials believe Koku is 129-years-old, which would make her the oldest person in the world.

(Image: TASS)

Koku, from the village of Bratskoye in the south-western Russian Chechen Republic, celebrated her birthday at the start of this month with her six grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren.

She said: "I see other people eating healthy and doing fitness routines, I have no idea why I have lived so long."

She added: "It was God's will. I did nothing to make it happen.

(Image: TASS)

"I have not had a single happy day in my life. I have always worked hard, digging in the garden.

"I am tired. Long life is not at all God's gift for me - but a punishment."

She would also have been 55 when World War II ended, and 102 when the Soviet Union collapsed a generation ago.

According to the Russian government, Koku's passport states her date of birth as 1 June 1889.

(Image: TASS)

Koku lost all her children except for one daughter during the Chechen Wars, and her remaining daughter died in 2013.

Some years ago Koku lost her eyesight and now depends on her descendants to take care of her as there are some things she cannot do on her own.

Her granddaughter Azma attributes her longevity to a healthy plant-based nutrition of and hard manual work.

She said: "Grandma hasn't been eating meat for a very long time, even chicken. She only eats fruit and vegetables."

Koku recalls Nazi German tanks passing her home during the war and how her family were deported along with the many other Chechens being accused of Nazi collaboration by Stalin.

(Image: TASS)

She said: "I survived through the Russian Civil War [after the Bolshevik revolution], the Second World War, the deportation of our nation in 1944 and through two Chechen wars.

"I remember tanks with Germans passing our house. It was scary.

"But I tried not to show this, we were hiding in the house. Life in Kazakhstan was the hardest for us.

"When in exile - we lived in Siberia too - but in Kazakhstan we felt how the Kazakhs hated us.

"Every day I dreamed of going back home. Working in my garden helped me to get rid of my sad thoughts but my soul always wanted home."

Related video: World's oldest man celebrates with cake

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She said: "Looking back at my unhappy life, I wish I had died when I was young. I worked all my life. I did not have time for rest or entertainment."

Russian officials say all Koku's birth documents were lost during the Second Chechen War from 1999 to 2009 and therefore it is impossible to verify her information.

The state Pension Fund in Russia claims there are 37 people over 110 years of age in Russia, although most also lack birth certificates and childhood records.

Most of these people, like Koku live in Caucasus or Caucasia, a region located at the border of Europe and Asia, which is known for the longevity of its people.

The oldest documented woman in the world is 119-year-old Japanese woman Chiyo Miyako, born on 2 May 1901.

Whereby the oldest documented lifespan of a human is 122 years and 164 days, who was French woman Jeanne Calment.