Kadyrov accused Shamanov of crimes against Chechens

General Shamanov, who spoke out against the renaming of cities in Chechnya, shot men in the fields during military campaigns, Ramzan Kadyrov said, calling him "the most cruel general toward the Chechen people" and calling for him to be "tried before a court martial."

As reported by the "Caucasian Knot," on September 25, State Duma deputy from Chechnya Shamsail Saraliev introduced bills to rename three Chechen cities, which the deputies approved in the first reading. In June, the Chechen parliament introduced three bills to the State Duma to rename settlements. The city of Sernovodskoye is proposed to be renamed Sernovodsk, the city of Naurskaya to Nevra, and Shelkovskaya to Terek. General Vladimir Shamanov, a veteran of the Chechen wars, called the renaming of Cossack villages in Chechnya an erasure of historical memory after the republic's Russian-speaking population was expelled. Deputy Anzhelika Glazkova pointed out that the renaming in heavily subsidized Chechnya will be carried out at the expense of Russian taxpayers. The renaming of Cossack villages in Chechnya constitutes a de-Russification of toponyms within the country, declared the "Russian Community."

Chechnya's leader, Ramzan Kadyrov, called State Duma deputy Vladimir Shamanov a criminal who should be brought to trial.

"The Chechen Republic is changing for the better every day. But there are people who don't like it, including in the federal center and in our neighborhoods. Now that we've started changing the names of Shelkovskaya and Naurskaya, the vile scoundrel Shamanov has spoken out, and he needs to be brought to trial for the crimes he committed. He was the most cruel general to the Chechen people, leading the male population into the fields and executing them," Vainakh TV quoted Kadyrov as saying.

He promised the general retribution. "These crimes will come back to haunt him. Now he's unhappy that we renamed cities," Chechnya Today quoted an excerpt from Kadyrov's speech at a meeting to mark Teacher's Day.

Kadyrov stated that he did not rename Grozny, although documents to this effect had been prepared.

"The name of the city of Grozny originates from the Groznaya Fortress, founded by Yermolov. Akhmat-Khadzhi firmly rejected the proposal to move the capital to another location, saying that we would restore Grozny. Then many proposed and asked me to rename the city in honor of Akhmat-Khadzhi. Despite the fact that documents for the renaming had already been prepared, I then stated that I did not agree with this, since Akhmat-Khadzhi said that we would restore and make more beautiful the city of Grozny. We are not changing the name of Grozny. "We are changing the names that are absolutely inappropriate for the cities we created," Kadyrov was quoted as saying in the statement.

The Naursky and Shelkovskoy districts, where the three cities that Chechen authorities proposed renaming are located, are populated primarily by ethnic Chechens. Thus, changing the names of settlements founded by Cossacks corresponds to changing ethnic realities, analysts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" indicated.

The campaign to change toponyms in Chechnya has been ongoing for several years. On December 10, 2020, authorities conducted a survey of Grozny residents asking for their consent to renaming all four city districts and eight inner-city settlements in honor of national heroes. In particular, it was proposed to rename the Leninsky district of Grozny to Akhmatovsky (in honor of Ramzan Kadyrov’s father), Oktyabrsky to Baysangurovsky, Zavodskoy to Sheikh-Mansurovsky, and Staropromyslovsky to Visaitovsky. On December 29, 2020, Ramzan Kadyrov announced that 69.68% of voters took part in the vote and supported the proposal, in particular, renaming the Leninsky District to Akhmatovsky was supported by 98.07% of respondents.

Based on the survey, the Grozny village of Gikalo was named after Zhamalayli Elikhanov, Prigorodnoye - after Sheikh Iznaur Neserkhoyev, the village of Rodina - after Hussein Isayev, the Third State Farm was renamed to the village named after Sheikh Deni Arsanov, the village of Michurin - after Sheikh Daud-Khadzhi Khadzhimusayev, Solenaya Balka - Darban-Khi, the 30th precinct - Suyr-Kort, The town of Ivanovo is now named after Dadin Aibiki. Many names in Chechnya are associated with the cult of Chechen President Akhmat Kadyrov, which began to develop immediately after his death in 2004. Among the names given to the elder Kadyrov are an avenue in Grozny and Ramzan Kadyrov's home village of Akhmat-Yurt in the Kurchaloyevsky District. In addition, the main sports complex in Grozny, a mosque in the capital of Chechnya, and a number of sports clubs in the republic, in particular, the Terek Football Club, are named in honor of Akhmat Kadyrov.