At gatherings, residents of Chechnya condemn "provocateurs" from Ingushetia

At mass gatherings held in mosques of Chechnya, officials and clergymen have condemned "provocateurs" from Ingushetia, demanding from them to stop insulting Chechens. A series of apologies amid Kadyrov's ultimatum to Ingushes have aggravated the conflict of residents of the two republics, journalists have noted.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on January 11, Ramzan Kadyrov threatened that if the statements that the Chechen authorities had illegally taken Ingush lands did not stop, then the "remaining villages" would also go to Chechnya. The head of Ingushetia, Makhmud-Ali Kalimatov, has failed to react to Kadyrov's ultimatum, although the republic was waiting for his reaction.

After Kadyrov's ultimatum, a gathering of residents was held in the mosque of the village of Benoi. Aslanbek Muzuruev, the head of the administration of the Nozhai-Yurt District, stated that provocateurs' utterances are intended to tarnish the Chechens' reputation and divide the fraternal nations.

The "Grozny" TV Company has also posted on the Instagram a story from the gathering held in the "Heart of Chechnya" Mosque. The audience demanded to "immediately stop provocations, lies and insults by some residents of Ingushetia." Those gathered "condemned the behaviour of Yakhya Khadziev, who had violated all the norms of the Caucasian mentality."

After being criticized by members of his teip (family clan), Yakhya Khadziev, a former head of the Ingush Department for Religion Matters, has repented of having greeted the head of Chechnya at a meeting in Grozny.

The wave of apologies has only aggravated the Chechen-Ingush relations, the journalist, Marina Akhmedova, has pointed out, while Ksenia Sobchak, a TV presenter, has treated the Kadyrov's video with an ultimatum put forward to residents of Ingushetia as a direct threat.