Rally against Yangulbaevs in Grozny was addressed to Kremlin

By organizing a thousands-strong rally in Grozny, Ramzan Kadyrov has decided to reinforce his enmity against Yangulbaevs with the "people's position" and to show the Kremlin, amid rights defenders' criticism, that Chechen authorities are well in control of the situation in the republic, the analysts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" have noted.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on February 2, residents of Chechnya went out to a rally in central Grozny on order to voice curses, following the republic's leadership, against the Yangulbaev family. The pro-government Chechen media have treated the rally as spontaneous and reported that 400,000 people took part therein.

The rally in Grozny may be a sign of Chechen authorities' uncertainty or the tensions arising between Grozny and Moscow, Abbas Gallyamov, a political analyst, believes. "Earlier, Kadyrov people coped with it without rallies; they didn't need them. Now, for some reason, they decided to demonstrate 'people's support'. Perhaps they don't feel very confident. We can assume that Moscow tried to discipline them; and Kadyrov didn't like it, and he decided to back up his positions with the people's one," Mr Gallyamov told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

The rally in Grozny is intended to demonstrate to the federal authorities that the Chechen ones control the situation in the republic, Ruslan Kutaev, the president of the Assembly of Caucasian Nations, believes.

"The recent active events against Chechen authorities may alert the Kremlin – they can think that Chechen authorities are losing control over the situation. Therefore, first of all, the today's rally should evidence that Chechen authorities control the republic and people's moods," Mr Kutaev told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on February 2, 2022 at 10:11 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.