Chechnya

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Ramzan Kadyrov. Screengrab from the official 9 October meeting footage.

Chechnya

Kadyrov threatens blood feud against three Russian lawmakers

by Shota Kincha

•2 min read

The head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, has publicly accused three Russian lawmakers — Daghestani Federation Council Senator Suleiman Kerimov, as well as State Duma MPs Bekkhan Barakhoev and Rizvan Kurbanov — of plotting to assassinate him and threatened to declare a blood feud against them. At a meeting with Chechnya’s commanders and security forces leaders on 9 October, Kadyrov, speaking in Chechen, reportedly claimed to have information about a contract on his life. He warned that if the thre

adam kadyrov

Quran burner beaten by Adam Kadyrov charged with treason

by Luiza Mchedlishvili

•2 min read

A man who set fire to a Quran and was subsequently beaten up by Adam Kadyrov while in detention in Chechnya has been charged with high treason for allegedly sharing information with Ukrainian security services. The Volgograd Prosecutor’s Office approved the charges against 20-year-old Nikita Zhuravel on Thursday. He faces up to life in prison if convicted. Zhuravel gained public attention after footage purportedly of him burning a Quran appeared on social media. He was arrested and later

Chechnya

Mufti of Chechnya elected leader of North Caucasian Muslims

by Luiza Mchedlishvili

•2 min read

The Mufti of Chechnya and known advisor to Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, Salakh Mezhiev, has been elected chair of the Coordination Centre of Muslims of the North Caucasus. On 28 September, the Council of Muftis unanimously elected Mezhiyev during a meeting in Cherkessk, the capital city of Karachay–Cherkessia. ‘I congratulate the respected Sheikh Salakh-Khadzhi Mezhiev on his election to this post. I am confident that he will justify the high trust placed in him by religious leaders o

The author, and a Ukrainian-Chechen protest in Sheffield.

Chechnya

Opinion | Fighting on two fronts: Chechen activists in the West

by Ayman Eckford

•10 min read

Exiled from their republic due to threats to their lives, Chechen activists in the West navigate a difficult balance between visibility and caution, facing erasure by both Russian and Western society. However, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine might offer Chechnya and its activists a shift in the tides. ‘Ukraine’s incredible incursion into the Kursk region made me finally believe that Russia could soon be defeated’. This is what Ali Bakaev, a Chechen online activist who now lives in London tells m

Akhmat special forces unit. Image: nsn.fm

Austria

Chechen native disappears after being deported to Russia

by Luiza Mchedlishvili

•2 min read

A Chechen native has disappeared after being detained in Cairo and deported to Moscow. Local media reported on Tuesday that Yusup Musayev had been detained at Cairo International Airport earlier this month at the request of Russian authorities. On 18 September, Musayev was deported to Russia. No one has heard from him since his plane arrived at Sheremetyevo Airport in Moscow later that same day. According to Chechen opposition movement 1adat, once in Russia, Musayev was kidnapped by Che

The Sheikh Mansur Reserve during rifle training. Image via Grozny-inform.

Azerbaijan

Chechen authorities threaten to send Azerbaijani citizens to fight in Ukraine

by Luiza Mchedlishvili

•2 min read

Five Azerbaijani citizens have been detained in Chechnya under threat of being sent to fight in Ukraine. In response, Azerbaijan has sent a note of protest to the Russian Foreign Ministry. Chechen authorities recently detained five Azerbaijani men, two of whom — Vugar Maharramov and Elkhan Shirinov — have since been forced to sign military contracts. Shirinov and Maharramov were detained with their brother-in-law, Nihad Rzayev. They originally travelled to Chechnya in May in order to mak

Screengrab from video: AptiAlaudinovAKHMAT/Telegram.

Chechnya

Chechen commander orders captured Chechens in Ukraine to ‘kill themselves’

by Luiza Mchedlishvili

•3 min read

A Chechen special forces commander has dismissed calls for a prisoner swap with Ukraine, and ordered captured Chechen soldiers to kill themselves so that they could end their ‘journey as men’. On 15 September, the commander of the Chechen Akhmat special forces unit and a Russian Major General, Apti Alaudinov, posted a video on his Telegram channel stating that Ukraine could ‘keep’ Chechen soldiers it had captured. In the video, Alaudinov discussed how he had recently received several vide