Punishment for "Novaya Gazeta" shows Kremlin's attitude to Kadyrov

Moscow is ready to forgive any actions of Ramzan Kadyrov, as long as the Kremlin sees in him a guarantor of stability and a symbol of Putin's victory in Chechnya, the political analysts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" assert.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the "Roskomnadzor" had forced the "Novaya Gazeta" newspaper to restrict access to the publication that angered Ramzan Kadyrov. On April 15, the newspaper closed readers' access to the article by the observer, Elena Milashina, entitled "Death from a coronavirus is a lesser evil", which described the situation with the coronavirus spread in Chechnya.

The action to block the paper's article that angered the head of Chechnya was initiated by the Kremlin, which is supporting Kadyrov, said Alexei Makarkin, the first vice president of the Centre for Political Technologies and Professor at the Higher School of Economics.

"No changes have occurred: what had happened before the epidemic, and will occur during and after it. Moscow supports Kadyrov because he is the guarantor of stability in Chechnya," Mr Makarkin told the "Caucasian Knot".

Kadyrov is not a regional, but rather a federal politician, having direct access to Putin, Dmitry Oreshkin, a political analyst, has noted. "Kadyrov is a symbol of Putin's victory in Chechnya. He controls the territory, and if he's removed, it's not clear what happens there. The loss of Chechnya will be Putin's disaster, since he began his 'gathering of Russian lands' from Chechnya. Therefore, he supports Kadyrov; and the latter is constantly testing the limits of permissible," Mr Oreshkin has emphasized.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on April 16, 2020 at 10:42 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.