Viktor Zolotov's visit to Chechnya emphasizes special status of Ramzan Kadyrov

At night of August 31, Chechnya held a sudden operational readiness test of the regional branch of the OMON (riot police) of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA). This was announced by Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov at his page on the social network "VKontakte". The operational readiness test was organized by Viktor Zolotov, Russian First Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs and Commander-in-Chief of the Internal Troops of the Russian MIA.

Alexei Malashenko, a member of the Scientific Council of the Moscow Carnegie Centre, has drawn attention to the fact that Chechen power agents were tested by the order issued by Viktor Zolotov and not by Ramzan Kadyrov.

"I think it fits into the trend that we have seen since the end of the past year: the constant attempts to show Kadyrov that he is not omnipotent," the "Caucasian Knot" was told by Alexei Malashenko.

According to the expert, "a clamp-down" against Kadyrov "permanently takes place throughout the year", and it "will not stop."

Political analyst Mikhail Remizov, the president of the National Strategy Institute, treats the Viktor Zolotov's visit to Chechnya as a support of the Chechen leader by the federal government. Mikhail Remizov has emphasized, first of all, two striking facts of the situation: the high status of Viktor Zolotov and the fact that he is a top-ranking official close to the President of Russia.

Meanwhile, according to Mikhail Remizov, the visit of Viktor Zolotov can be a sign of the deterioration of the Ramzan Kadyrov's relations with Russian power agents, with whom the Chechen leader had a conflict against the background of the incident with Stavropol law enforcers and the murder of opposition politician Boris Nemtsov.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.