Day of Chechen Women celebrated in Chechnya

The Day of Chechen Women was celebrated in Chechnya. The cities and towns of the republic hosted festivals and concerts, and in the evening of September 18 and the holiday was marked by a ten-minute fireworks in the city of Grozny.

On the Day of Chechen Women the activists of the Chechen Government's Committee for Youth Affairs and the activists of the youth movements "Ramzan" and "Putin" arranged in Grozny distribution of flowers, headscarves and pamphlets on religious topics to women. In recreation-and-entertainment parks, free entertainments were arranged for children.

Events dedicated to this holiday, which was established by the republic' leader Ramzan Kadyrov three years ago, were held in all major cities and dwelling settlements of Chechnya. Public places were heavily guarded by law enforcement agents.

Earlier, it was announced that due to the Day of Chechen Women each married couple that had been living together for 25 years and that had three or more children, would be paid 50 thousand roubles. However, according to some local residents, they did not receive money promised by the authorities.

"We didn't receive the money, although, apart from three children, we have already three grandchildren," said Musa M., a resident of Grozny.

According to the head of a local NGO, the idea to allocate 50 thousand roubles to each large family married for more than 25 years was initially impossible.

"It was just a PR stunt to attract as much as possible people to participate in the festivities and raise the authority of the power," believes the head of an NGO, who preferred to remain anonymous.