Centre of the capital of Chechnya blocked by militia

In the centre of the capital of Chechnya, employees of power agencies have completely blocked the streets leading to the Victory Avenue, the solemn opening of which after reconstruction was appointed for October 5. Reinforced militia units have blocked all the access routes to the central street of Grozny. Only building workers are admitted to the Victory Avenue.

In the morning on October 4, the residents of Chechnya who work in the organizations and establishments located in the central part of the city faced serious problems. Militiamen would not let people to the area of the Victory Avenue, referring to an "order from above".

Tomorrow, on October 5, within the celebrations dated to several events at once - Ramzan Kadyrov's birthday, City Day of Grozny, 420th anniversary of establishment of good-neighbourhood relations between Russia and Chechnya, the opening of this Avenue, about 1.5 km long, should take place.

"Militia doesn't let anyone to the Victory Avenue; they say that they have some order. They wouldn't listen to people's explanations and requests," a resident of Grozny named Anzor, 30, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

"Militiamen are on duty in all yards and near all gates, not to let anyone in direction of the Avenue. I tried to persuade one officer to let me go there, but he told me: "We have an order not to let anybody except for the builders to the Avenue. Come the day after tomorrow," said Makka Khizrieva, a lady of 40.

According to an officer of the Chechen militia, the cordon around the Victory Avenue in the Leninskiy District of the city of Grozny was set up last night under the order of the chiefs. "These are usual security measures," the interlocutor asserts. "It certainly creates some inconveniences for people, but there's nothing to be done. This is our work, and we follow the orders of our bosses."