Chechen Head Ramzan Kadyrov has issued sharp threats against his Chechen compatriots who criticise his regime from abroad, calling them ‘enemies’ and promising to ‘cut off the heads’ of those who continue to ‘insult the honour’ of Chechnya and its leadership.
The address was delivered in Chechen at a meeting with security officials dedicated to the increasing drone attacks on the republic and was published on Kadyrov’s Telegram channel, with RFE/RL providing a translation of his remarks.
Kadyrov said that although ‘everything is calm’ in Chechnya compared with the past, when ‘it was impossible to go outside’, there are people ‘sitting in Europe’ who ‘do not understand’ what is happening and who, ‘succumbing to provocations, engage in discussions’. He urged these critics to ‘hold their tongues’ and warned that ‘you do not know what awaits you tomorrow’.
‘We will behead anyone who has written something, without any doubt’, Kadyrov stressed, noting in particular that this applies to those who ‘insult the honour’ of Chechnya. Kadyrov explicitly described such people as ‘our enemies’.
These threats were made against the backdrop of drone strikes that are presumed to be carried out by Ukraine. There have been at least four in the last month, but the most notable one occurred last week.
On 5 December, during the night leading into Friday, the complex of high-rise buildings known as Grozny-City in the Chechen capital was damaged by a powerful explosion on several upper floors. The building houses, among others, government offices, including the Chechen Security Council, the Ministry of Tourism and other bodies.
Numerous witnesses claim that the explosion occurred as a result of a drone attack. Russian authorities also reported the introduction of an alert regime because of drones over the city and the temporary closure of airports in Grozny and neighbouring regions.
Kadyrov confirmed that the building had been damaged as a result of a drone strike, while noting that no one had been injured. He characterised the attack as an act of terrorism against a peaceful city and promised a ‘harsh response’ within the coming week, stating that ‘Ukrainian fascists will feel the answer’.
Against this backdrop, on Tuesday, 9 December Kadyrov held a meeting with the heads of Chechnya’s security agencies, discussing measures to counter drones and instructing them to organise regular exercises to repel such threats. He ordered the republic’s minister of internal affairs and his 18-year-old son, Adam Kadyrov, the secretary of the Security Council, to ‘strengthen the coordination of security forces in response to the increasing attempts at drone attacks from Ukraine’.
In addition, Kadyrov announced that the fighter who had shot down one of the drones would receive a ₽1 million ($13,000) reward and a letter of gratitude on behalf of the Head of Chechnya. Kadyrov did not specify the source of the funds for the reward. Similar incentives for downing drones have not previously been mentioned in other Russian regions.
Kadyrov’s threats against various individuals have become frequent in recent years. He has repeatedly called for reprisals against opposition figures, activists and critics of the regime who are located abroad.
In particular, the previous year he publicly called for ‘getting rid of’ the authors of opposition communities regardless of where they were and stated that even relatives of those accused under ‘extremist’ and ‘terrorist’ articles should be held accountable, even if their families had already ‘disowned’ them.
Reports of the killings of Kadyrov’s political opponents on Turkish territory appear regularly. The list includes at least nine people murdered between 2008 and 2016.
Elizaveta Chukharova
