At least hundreds of Chechens have taken part in a state-sanctioned pro-war rally in Chechnya. The head of Chechnya also announced that he would not be implementing the Kremlin-dictated partial mobilisation, a decision opposition groups attribute to fear of growing discontent in the republic.

The public movement 1ADAT, which is critical of  Ramzan Kadyrov, the head of Chechnya, has claimed in their Telegram channel that Kadyrovtsy, security forces loyal to Kadyrov, had cordoned off the centre of Grozny and were checking the phones of ‘suspicious people’.

The channel also claims that security cameras in Akhmat Kadyrov Square have been disabled.

1ADAT also reported that the Kadyrovtsy will ‘drive employees from state institutions and create rallies’ in an attempt to block anti-war rallies.

According to the Telegram channel, there will be also be an anti-war and anti-mobilisation protest in Grozny today.

On 22 September, Kadyrov confirmed that an anti-war protest took place in Grozny. He claimed that 40 women, mothers of military age sons in Chechnya had held a protest against mobilisation in Chechnya. This was the first known protest in Kadyrov’s 15 years in power.

The head of Chechnya threatened that those who came out to protest, their relatives, and their children would also be sent ‘to the front line’.

[Read on OC Media: Anti-war protest held in Grozny]

Kadyrov: mobilisation in Chechnya already 254% above capacity

Following the announcement of a partial mobilisation of Russia’s reserve forces, Kadyrov said that his republic would not be carrying out any mobilisation efforts, as Chechnya had ‘prepared in advance for this’.

‘The conscription plan in the Chechen Republic has been overfulfilled by 254%’, claimed Kadyrov in a public meeting. ‘We worked out this mechanism from the very beginning, even before the announcement of partial mobilisation’.

In addition, Kadyrov said that in Chechnya, ‘thousands of volunteers are ready to join the ranks of the defenders of the fatherland.’

However, 1ADAT suggests that Kadyrov may be in defiance of the Kremlin by choosing not to mobilise the republic’s reservists, and that he may have disobeyed federal orders due to ‘the fear of the discontent that is now raging in Chechnya’.