Residents of Chechnya complain about forced subbotniks despite coronavirus threat

On March 16, residents of Chechnya complained to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that they were forced to take part in mass subbotniks (unpaid cleanup activities, usually on Saturdays), despite the earlier announced measures to prevent coronavirus.

"We watch the whole world trying to protect itself from the coronavirus; they close schools and universities; block borders and cancel sports and other events, but here people recently have been kicked off for the football match, now, they are ordered to hold subbotniks in dwelling settlements, and clean mosques and cemeteries everywhere. Recently, the republic's head himself spoke and urged people to refrain from taking part in crowded events; and almost immediately after that they announce subbotniks. It's strange logic," said Zarema, a teacher of one of Grozny schools.

She has noted that the day before, her pupils took part in a subbotnik to clean up the territory of the local mosque; while at the end of last week, teachers and high school pupils had to clean up the territory assigned to the school.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on March 17, 2020 at 04:39 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.