Threat of terror in Chechnya persists despite liquidation of underground leaders

There is no organized underground in Chechnya, but it is beneficial for the republic's authorities to maintain the status of a troubled region in order to receive additional funding for the fight against terrorism, Svetlana Gannushkina, a human rights defender, and Ruslan Kutaev, the President of the Assembly Caucasian Nations, have stated in connection with the attack on policemen in Grozny.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in January, after the killing of a grouping of militants led by Aslan Byutukaev in Katar-Yurt, Ramzan Kadyrov stated that the armed underground in Chechnya was over. On June 23, President Vladimir Putin called Chechnya one of the country's safest regions and credited Kadyrov for this. However, on July 9, policemen were attacked in Grozny.

According to Natalya Zubarevich, an economic geographer, Moscow allocates more subsidies to the regions "where there is more shooting."

It is beneficial for the Chechen leadership to maintain the status of a region where attacks are taking place, and to receive additional funding for the fight against terrorism, although Northern Caucasus itself can be an economically self-sufficient region, Ruslan Kutaev, the President of the Assembly of Caucasian Nations, has stated.

However, Sergey Goncharov, the president of the International Association of Veterans of the "Alpha" Antiterror Unit, believes that attacks are not beneficial to Kadyrov in terms of funding and in any case are negatively affecting the authorities' image.

Chechnya is a really calm region, where situation is kept under special services' control; and there is no organized armed underground there, Mr Goncharov has pointed out.