Dispute with Peskov highlights Kadyrov's special position among regional heads

Ramzan Kadyrov is the only regional head who dares objecting to Dmitry Perskov, the presidential press secretary; however, the head of Chechnya overestimates his influence; next time the Kremlin will severely siege him, the experts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" have noted.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on March 15, the "Novaya Gazeta" newspaper published a story by Suleiman Gezmakhmaev, a former fighter of the Akhmat Kadyrov Special Police Regiment, about torture and extrajudicial executions in Chechnya. After that, the fighters of the regiment in a video appeal to Vladimir Putin asked to stop the "information war" against the regiment. Dmitry Peskov responded that the appeal was not to the right address; and offered regiment fighter, if necessary, to file a lawsuit. Ramzan Kadyrov objected to him stating that "citizens have every right to appeal to the president."

By objecting to the presidential press secretary, Ramzan Kadyrov overestimates his importance, Alexei Malashenko, a political analyst and the head of scientific studies at the "Civilizations' Dialogue" Institute, believes. "He's sure that he has a special position, and, although this is no longer quite the case, he retains the feeling that he can do anything. But if he says something like that again, he will be cut rather harshly," Mr Malashenko is sure.

After such Peskov's statement, any other regional head "would shut up and sit silently in a corner," said Oleg Orlov, the head of the "Hot Spots" Programme at the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial"*. "This is an insult to Peskov; and it puts Putin in an extremely uncomfortable position," Mr Orlov has added.

In his opinion, by objecting Peskov, Kadyrov went for broke to continue to look "cool" in the eyes of his retinue.

* the HRC "Memorial" is recognized in the Russian Federation as a foreign agent

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on March 20, 2021 at 06:50 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.