Kadyrov's dispute with Mishustin affects infection statistics in Chechnya

The Ramzan Kadyrov's public polemic with Russian Premier Mikhail Mishustin has affected the official coronavirus statistics in Chechnya, the "Novaya Gazeta" newspaper has noted.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on April 6, Mr Mishustin made a remark to heads of regions, who, by their decisions, introduced a ban on leaving and entering their regions. Already after Mishustin's criticism, Chechen authorities continued tightening the access regime at the administrative border.

Chechnya has 49 confirmed coronavirus cases; five persons have died; 15 have recovered, the republic's Ministry of Public Health wrote on the Instagram page in the evening on April 12.

The Kadyrov's public conflict with Mishustin could have affected the coronavirus infection statistics in Chechnya, Elena Milashina, an observer of the "Novaya Gazeta", wrote on April 12 in her article "Death from coronavirus is a lesser evil".

"Throughout the week, the infection statistics in Chechnya stood at 22 cases confirmed by federal laboratories. The information about the cases identified during the initial testing has disappeared altogether from official news reports. Perhaps the reason for this is in Kadyrov's public conflict with Mishustin, who had criticized the Chechen authorities for unjustifiably harsh closure of Chechen borders," Milashina wrote in her article.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on April 12, 2020 at 11:05 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.