Little Mourning For Kadyrov In North Caucasus

In the mostly Muslim provinces of southern Russia neighboring Chechnya, the reaction to Akhmad Kadyrov’s death has been lukewarm. Public statements by officials, memorial services and the like have focused mainly on condemning yet another act of terrorism rather than on commemorating Kadyrov himself, according to an article by Milrad Fatullaev in Nezavisimaya Gazeta on May 21.

Political analyst Murad Meshkhoev told Fatullaev that this “lack of any serious reaction” had two causes. First, during his years as boss of Chechnya, Kadyrov failed to build genuinely co-operative relations with his counterparts in the other southern republics: He preferred to work exclusively with the Kremlin. The second cause: the heavily negative practical effects of the two Chechen wars on the rank-and-file populace of these republics, such as overwhelming flows of refugees and a sharp rise in crime. The other Muslim ethnic groups in the south feel less tolerant toward Chechens in general than they did a decade ago.