New Year celebration passed in Grozny under increased security measures

During the New Year celebrations in Grozny, the capital of Chechnya, the territory, where the main New Year Tree was installed, was cordoned off; policemen conducted personal inspection and did not let people out before the end of the event, said local residents.

"We decided to see the New Year in with our friends at the main New Year Tree in the territory of the high-rise complex "Grozny City". A lot of police and military outfits were deployed there; ambulances and rescuers were on duty everywhere. Getting to the park, where the New Year Tree was installed, was possible only through the cordon, where policemen conducted personal inspection. No one was allowed to get beyond the cordon until the end of the celebrations," Ayndi, a resident of Grozny, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

"I can well understand that they checked everyone who went to the New Year show; but why didn't they allow people to go out of there? After all, there were children there. All the people had to spend several hours in the territory of 'GroznyCity'; but it was quite cold there," said another local resident named Khusein.

Leyla, a resident of Chechnya, came to the celebrations, with her husband and two children, from the Grozny District. "We stayed there for about an hour and a half; then, the children wanted to go home, but policemen refused to let us out of the cordon, arguing that they had received strict instructions to that end. With great difficulty I managed to convince them to let us out, and only because the younger daughter had a sudden body temperature increase," she said.

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