10:49, 1 October 2020

Amid tightened rules, Kadyrov's retinue neglects mask regime

Mufti of Chechnya Salakh Mezhiev, head of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov and State Duma deputy Adam Delimkhanov at the opening ceremony of the reconstructed ancient settlement of Khoi. Screenshot: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCjxw764SnM

Ramzan Kadyrov and his subordinates have again ignored the ban on holding mass events without wearing medical masks, when they attended the opening ceremony of the reconstructed ancient settlement of Khoi in Southern Chechnya.

The demand to wear a mask in public places has been in effect in Chechnya for four months; and the authorities are strictly enforcing this regime. However, the head of Chechnya himself and his entourage have repeatedly demonstrated disregard for the mask regime, which causes outrage in the republic.

The head of Chechnya was at the opening of the reconstructed ancient settlement of Khoi together with his closest associates, ministers and theologians. All the participants in the solemn ceremony, including Ramzan Kadyrov and his entourage, were without protective medical masks in violation of the demands of the "Rospotrebnadzor" (Russian Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing) and instructions of Kadyrov himself.

A video clip about the opening of the ancient settlement was posted by various Chechen publics on the Instagram. Some users have noted that the participants in the ceremony had violated the mask regime.

"Why don't you have masks? You are torturing people by demanding to wear them," the user msr52752 of the public "Chechnya Today" wrote in particular. A similar comment was left to the post about the event by the user michail_6699 of the public "ChP Chechnya-95". "They're without masks again," he has added.

The residents of Chechnya interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent on September 30 also expressed their dissatisfaction with the Chechen authorities' disregard for the mask regime.

"The situation is quite paradoxical. Our leaders demand from people to strictly observe the regulations of the 'Rospotrebnadzor' to wear masks and not to attend any mass events, but they themselves, moreover, defiantly violate these rules. It turns out that coronavirus has no effect on bureaucrats, but affects ordinary citizens only, who must obediently perform everything that authorities demand from them," Said-Khusein believes.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on October 1, 2020 at 03:40 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.

Source: CK correspondents