Vladimir Putin: Nemtsov's murder was shameful tragedy with political subtext by Reuters in Moscow | Putin Makes First Public Comments on Nemtsov Killing | Putin Tells Police To Avert 'Shame' Of Political Killings | FSB Chief Says There Are Suspects In Nemtsov Slaying, No Specifics | MOSCOW (Reuters) - The director of Russia's Federal Security Service said on Wednesday that an investigation into the murder of opposition leader Boris Nemtsov had identified several suspects, Russian news agencies reported.
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Russian opposition leaders allege Kremlin links to Nemtsov slaying
Poroshenko: Nemtsov planned to reveal Russian links to Ukraine conflict(1:37)
Ukraine mourns the death of a prominent Russian opposition figure, who Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko says had evidence of Russian links to the Ukraine conflict. (Reuters)
MOSCOW — Russia’s imperiled opposition movement on Saturday accused the Kremlin of being linked to the gangland-style killing of a towering figure of post-Soviet politics, amid the first signs that the true culprits may never be known.
The killing of Boris Nemtsov — at the Kremlin’s doorstep and beneath the colorful domes of St. Basil’s Cathedral — stunned the opposition. Many members said they felt new anxiety about their safety in a nation that has been whipped to a hard-edged patriotic fervor after a year of conflict with Ukraine. The killing of the man who had once served at the top levels of Russian power was by far the highest-profile assassination during President Vladimir Putin’s 15 years in power.
Authorities announced they were investigating a slew of possibilities, none of which included what Putin critics said was a primary suspect: the Kremlin itself. Many in the opposition reasoned that, at minimum, the security services that blanket Red Square must have had advance warning of Nemtsov’s fate.
Some said they feared a fresh wave of political terrorism in Russia, and more than a few were deeply pessimistic about the future. With Nemtsov’s death, Russia’s two most charismatic opposition leaders have been rendered mute, since Alexey Navalny, a leader a generation younger, is back in jail and has been plagued by legal troubles. There are few obvious successors at a time when Kremlin critics have struggled to make headway against the nationalist zeal that surged after the annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula a year ago.
Opposition leaders announced a memorial march across central Moscow on Sunday, scrapping a rally that they had hoped would revive their movement and that had been Nemtsov’s pet project in recent weeks.
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The life and protests of Boris Nemtsov
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The Russian opposition leader was shot and killed in central Moscow, the Russian Interior Ministry said early Saturday.
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The Russian opposition leader was shot and killed in central Moscow, the Russian Interior Ministry said early Saturday.
March 15, 2014 Boris Nemtsov addresses demonstrators during a rally in Moscow to oppose President Vladimir Putin’s policies in Ukraine. More than 10,000 people turned out to oppose what many called an invasion of the Crimean Peninsula. Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP
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It was unclear whether the slaying would spur support for the beleaguered opposition movement or whether its members would be further marginalized by fear and the silencing of one of its most prominent voices.
“It’s not decided, but it could go both directions. Toward more cruelty or actually some change in the regime, as well, if we figure out how to use this momentum,” said Leonid Volkov, an opposition leader who had been organizing Sunday’s rally with Nemtsov.
Volkov said that opposition leaders were newly fearful for their lives. Before, the assumption was that they risked being deprived of their liberty for their political activism. Now they face a more existential dilemma.
“It’s a new era in Russian opposition politics,” Volkov said.
A Putin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said Saturday that the assassination was a provocation intended to discredit the Kremlin and drive a wedge into Russian society. He said that Russian investigators were hard at work trying to track down suspects. Authorities said that Nemtsov, 55, was shot with a Makarov pistol at least four times as he walked with his girlfriend on a bridge over the Moscow River on an unseasonably warm winter night.
A local Moscow television station on Saturday broadcast what it said was surveillance footage of the bridge at the time of the killing late Friday. The grainy footage appears to show a figure leaping into a passing getaway car, although the view at the precise moment of the shooting is obscured by a passing snowplow. It takes 11 minutes for an emergency vehicle to arrive.
The slain politician had said publicly and privately that he feared for his life, friends and associates said Saturday. He made powerful enemies among the Kremlin’s inner circle while campaigning against corruption, and he had lambasted Putin in unusually personal terms. But Nemtsov always gambled that he had a shield provided by his past as a deputy prime minister and onetime heir to Russia's first post-Soviet president, Boris Yeltsin.
Although Putin condemned Nemtsov’s death, Russian authorities appeared to be making few concessions to the opposition. The investigative committee charged with leading the inquiry said it was checking whether Kremlin critics had arranged Nemtsov’s killing to give themselves a martyr and raise their profile.
“Nemtsov could have been a kind of sacrifice for those who stop at nothing to attain their political ends,” committee spokesman Vladimir Markin said in a statement.
He also said authorities were examining connections to Islamist extremism, Ukraine, business dealings and personal disputes — none of which opposition leaders said seemed likely.
Nemtsov’s death was a bitter bookend to the hopes that had accompanied the dashing, Western-style politician in the heady years after the breakup of the Soviet Union as he took a lead role in igniting Russia’s rocket-powered free-market economy. Now many of those reforms have been undone, with Putin taking near-absolute personal control of the country and re-nationalizing broad swaths of the market.
In the year since the conflict began in Ukraine, Russian society has mobilized around the concept of an existential clash with the West. Putin warned darkly of a “fifth column” of Western-
oriented Russians, and Nemtsov was surely high on the list. State-run television constantly pushes the accusation that U.S.-backed fascists are perpetrating genocide in Ukraine. Igor Strelkov, a far-right nationalist with dreams of establishing a new Russian Empire, was for a time last year one of the most popular figures in the country when he led pro-Russian rebel forces in eastern Ukraine.
oriented Russians, and Nemtsov was surely high on the list. State-run television constantly pushes the accusation that U.S.-backed fascists are perpetrating genocide in Ukraine. Igor Strelkov, a far-right nationalist with dreams of establishing a new Russian Empire, was for a time last year one of the most popular figures in the country when he led pro-Russian rebel forces in eastern Ukraine.
In a measure of the paranoia gusting through the nation, a rumor spread among Putin supporters Saturday that the United States had killed Nemtsov to destabilize Russia.
Kremlin critics, meanwhile, traded other theories Saturday about the shooting, boiling down to whether it was directly ordered by authorities or was the product of the dangerous new climate.
“There is only one conclusion,” opposition leader and Nemtsov ally Vladimir Milov wrote on his blog. “The murder of Boris Nemtsov is connected to the authorities.” He said that Nemtsov was surely being closely tracked by authorities a day ahead of the protest, especially in the high-security heart of Moscow.
Others said it might simply be violence in the air.
“I cannot rule out this aggressive atmosphere created by the Kremlin for the last year,” said Stanislav Belkovsky, an opposition analyst who was an associate of Nemtsov’s. “They are united by very dangerous principles, truly hating the opposition. All this could lead to the murder.”
At the crime scene on a dreary Moscow Saturday, hundreds of people gathered to lay red roses and white carnations. Many of the people were in tears.
“It’s the fault of all this hate and intolerance,” said Galina Asadova, 30, who works in advertising. “We just hope it comes to an end. We just hope it won’t be cruel, and without a lot of blood.”
Michael Birnbaum is The Post’s Moscow bureau chief. He previously served as the Berlin correspondent and an education reporter.
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On Dec. 1, 1934, a lone gunman walked into the offices of Sergei Kirov, the top figure of the Communist Party in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) and a member of the Politburo. Not long thereafter, Kirov was dead, with a bullet hole in his neck.Read full article >>
MOSCOW (Reuters) - The director of Russia's Federal Security Service said on Wednesday that an investigation into the murder of opposition leader Boris Nemtsov had identified several suspects, Russian news agencies reported.
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Published time: March 04, 2015 10:05
Edited time: March 04, 2015 12:26
Edited time: March 04, 2015 12:26
Reuters/Neil Hall
Russian President Vladimir Putin described the assassination of Boris Nemtsov as “brazen.” He also asked the Interior Ministry to spare Russia from such shame and tragedies.
“We should finally spare Russia from tragedies like the one we’ve seen lately,” Putin told senior officials of the Interior Ministry on Wednesday. “I mean the brazen murder of Boris Nemtsov right in the center of the capital.”
The president said he wanted police efficiency ultimately enhanced, especially when it comes to investigating crimes of a political nature.
“We really need an ultimate breakthrough here, the new quality of work of the Interior Ministry and the whole of the law enforcement system,” he said. “The most serious attention should be devoted to high-profile crimes, including those with political underpinning.”
Investigators looking into Boris Nemtsov’s assassination are considering a number of suspects, according to the head of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), Aleksandr Bortnikov.
“We always have [suspects],” Bortnikov told journalists at a briefing on Wednesday.
A Ford vehicle the investigators have been looking for in connection with Nemtsov’s murder, appears to belong to a security firm that provides services for the Russian Finance Ministry among other organizations.
“The Ford in question does not belong to the Finance Ministry,” the government agency’s press service told RIA. It also added that when the car passed the crime scene, police were already working there.
Boris Nemtsov, 55, who occupied senior government posts under President Boris Yeltsin and afterwards became an opposition leader, was shot dead late on Friday night in the center of Moscow.
Tens of thousands across Russia rallied in commemoration of the murdered politician on Sunday.
On Tuesday, people stood in a kilometer-long line to get into Nemtsov’s memorial service hours before his funeral at the Troekurovskoe cemetery in Moscow. Some prominent Russian and foreign politicians and activists bid their final farewell to the slain opposition leader.
The politician’s murder could have been provocation to destabilize the political situation in Russia, according to the Russian Investigative Committee.
They are also looking into four other possible reasons behind Nemtsov’s killing. It could have been linked to the threats the politician received over his stance on the Charlie Hebdo shootings in Paris, or the current civil war in eastern Ukraine. The politician’s business activities and a possible assault related to his personal life are also being investigated.
Read the whole story
· · ·
President Vladimir Putin said that Russia must rid itself of "shame and tragedies" like opposition politician Boris Nemtsov's slaying, and told police they must solve political killings.
Speaking to senior Interior Ministry officials on March 4, Putin seemed to acknowledge the harm done to Russia's reputation by slayings of government critics such as Nemtsov, who was gunned down meters from the Kremlin on February 27.
"The most serious attention must be paid to high-profile crimes, including those with political undertones," Putin said in an address shown live on state television.
"It is necessary to finally rid Russia of shame and tragedies such as the one we have just endured and seen -- I mean the killing, the brazen killing, of Boris Nemtsov right in the center of the capital," he said.
Putin's remarks appeared aimed to acknowledge the significance of Nemtsov's slaying, which has shaken many Russians and sharpened anger among critics who say he has created a climate of hate, without taking any blame.
Putin suggested it is Kremlin opponents and "extremists" who have sown hate in Russian society, saying: "The actions of extremists are becoming more and more acute. And we are encountering attempts to use so-called 'color technologies,' from the organization of illegal street protests to overt propaganda of hatred on social media."
Kremlin critics say Russian authorities often lump antigovernment protesters in with extremists, blurring the boundaries between legitimate political activity and militancy.
Putin spoke shortly after the head of he Federal Security Service (FSB), Aleksandr Bortnikov, said that there were suspects in Nemtsov's slaying but made no suggestion that investigators were close to solving the crime.
Asked by journalists whether there were any suspects in the case, Bortnikov answered, "There always are."
Asked by journalists whether there were any suspects in the case, Bortnikov answered, "There always are."
Nemtsov, a reformist politician who served as deputy prime minister under President Boris Yeltsin in the 1990s and later became one of Putin's most prominent foes, was shot while walking across a bridge just off Red Square with a Ukrainian female companion shortly before midnight.
He was buried on the outskirts of Moscow on March 3 after an emotional ceremony attended by thousands of people.
Shortly after the killing, Putin called it a "provocation" and vowed to bring those responsible to justice.
Government opponents fear that may never happen, pointing to slayings of several Kremlin critics in the past that have gone unsolved.
Russia's most prominent opposition leader, Aleksei Navalny, wrote in his blog on March 3 that he believes Nemtsov was killed in accordance with "an order from the political leadership of the country," stressing that included Putin.
Investigators said on February 28 that they were looking into several theories about the killing, including the possibility that it could have been linked to Islamic extremism or the conflict in Ukraine, or that Nemtsov could have been used as a "sacrificial victim" to further political aims -- wording pointing the finger at the opposition.
In his remarks on March 4, Putin also ordered police to "react immediately to any signals of extremist acts being prepared" and take steps to avert extremism, particularly among youth.
"Extremists poison society with the toxin of militant nationalism, intolerance, and aggression," Putin said.
He added that "we know very well what this can lead to from the example of neighboring Ukraine."
Russian officials routinely cast the ouster of Moscow-backed Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych in February 2014 as the result of a coupsupported by fascists.
Read the whole story
· · ·
The head of Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said on March 4 that there are suspects in the slaying of opposition politician Boris Nemtsov, but he gave no specifics and did not indicate authorities are close to solving the case.
Asked by journalists on March 4 whether there were any suspects in the case, FSB Director Aleksandr Bortnikov answered, "There always are."
Nemtsov, a vocal critic of President Vladimir Putin, was shot dead near the Kremlin late on February 27.
He was buried on the outskirts of Moscow on March 3 after an emotional ceremony attended by thousands of people.
Putin called the killing a "provocation" to destabilize the country and vowed to bring those responsible to justice.
Government opponents fear that may never happen, pointing to slayings of several Kremlin critics in the past that have gone unsolved.
Investigators said they were looking into several possible motives in Nemtsov's slaying, including Islamic extremism, the conflict in UKraine, and his personal life.
Based on reporting by TASS and Interfax
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3 March 2015 Last updated at 20:23 ET
A pun on the name Boris means "fight on"
Georgy Mirsky
Despite the crowds who turned out to mourn Boris Nemtsov in Moscow on Sunday, it's 20 years since Russians have voted for liberal politicians in any numbers. These are dark days for Russians who espouse liberal values and a peaceful foreign policy - a mood captured in a tribute to Nemtsov by 88-year-old historian Prof Georgy Mirsky.
Here is a translation of his blog post on the website of the Ekho Moskvy radio station.
It was on the second day after Nemtsov's death, that I suddenly realised Nemtsov was the only politician I loved.
Words like "love" are frankly not suited to politics. It's a different sphere of human relations. But this is an exception, for me, at least. I was not personally acquainted with Nemtsov, I never saw him close-up. It doesn't matter. I understood his weaknesses, his shortcomings. It doesn't matter. No other political figure of ours (and over the decades plenty of them have passed in front of me) of any orientation summoned from me such warm feelings.
For 20 years I followed this man's progress, worried about him and cheered for him. And now he's gone. Fifty-five years old - a child compared with me. A completely different generation, a different experience of life, what could we have in common?
But there was something… More than belonging to one political cohort, which it is now customary to call "liberal". People have begun to use this word to signify everything hateful and inimical, without pausing to think about what it means, the root of the idea.
A pun on the name Boris means "fight on"
My childhood comes back to me: who is the enemy? It was the White Army, then the fascists. But there was something real about that. And now? Some people have simply gone crazy with this word, and the phrase "liberal fascism" has come along, and the devil knows what. Whatever, if Nemtsov was a liberal, I am proud to name myself a liberal too.
There is no point attempting to work out who, precisely, organised the murder. The main thing is - why? It's because he was a liberal. A dissident. A fighter for freedom of thought and speech, for human rights. A fighter against an authoritarian system, dominated by the police and KGB gendarmes, which is taking on totalitarian features in front of our eyes.
You murdered him, you orators on television, whipping up popular hatred. You windbags and toadies, members of parliament, generals and professors. It's thanks to your efforts that a culture of hatred is spreading in Russia, a culture of intolerance, bitterness, national arrogance, and malicious smears against everything that seems foreign to you.
You, false patriots, crying at every step about the power of enemies and traitors, Russophobes and a fifth column. You, who are murdering [captured Ukrainian pilot] Nadezhda Savchenko - you killed Nemtsov too. It was him - and only him - that you had a need to kill.
It's not important whether or not he posed a real danger to the authorities or whether his murder gives the Kremlin more minuses than pluses. The symbol, the spirit - that's what it was necessary to kill. The symbol and spirit of freedom - that is what Nemtsov was.
You are leading Russia not only towards disgrace - you got there long ago - but to degradation and ruin. And the murder of Nemtsov is just a landmark on this shameful journey.
- Prof Georgy Mirsky worked at the Institute of World Economy and International Relations in Moscow and also at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations
- His books include On Ruins of Empire: Ethnicity and Nationalism in the Former Soviet Union, and Life in Three Epochs which discusses Stalinism, Brezhnev and modern-day Russia
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· · · · · ·
Russian President Vladimir Putin told senior police officials they should “finally rid Russia of shame and tragedy” such as the killing of opposition activist Nemtsov.
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Latvian Deputy: Ban From Nemtsov Funeral Solidifies EU View Of Moscow by noreply@rferl.org (RFE/RL)
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Fellow fighters have vowed to avenge the death of Konstandinos Erik Scurfield, from Barnsley, who was killed while taking on Islamic State (Isis) in Syria
Friends and fellow fighters have described a former British Royal Marine who died fighting for Kurdish forces battling Islamic State (Isis) in northern Syria as a “kind man” and a fearless warrior.
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Dozens of miners are missing and feared dead after an explosion Wednesday at a coal mine in the rebel-held part of eastern Ukraine.
Rebel authorities in the separatist stronghold of Donetsk say the explosion was not caused by shelling that has hit frequently hit the area.
A rescue operation is ongoing at the Zasyadko coal mine in Donetsk. Some injured miners reported seeing five bodies retrieved from the mine.
Initially, some officials in Kyiv reported at least 33 people had died, but they later said those figures could not be confirmed.
Local authorities said over 200 workers were in the mine at the time of the explosion, the cause of which is not clear.
A VOA reporter on the scene spoke to relatives who said they have not heard anything about family members working at the mine.
One miner told VOA he and seven others were able to escape when the explosion happened, because they were not far enough down the mine.
The pro-separatist Donetsk News Agency quoted officials as saying the blast appears to have been caused by a mixture of gas and air.
Eastern Ukraine has seen nearly a year of fighting between Russian-speaking rebels and the Kyiv government. More than 6,000 people have been killed in the violence.
Russian anti-Kremlin activist Alexei Navalny said Tuesday that he thought fellow opposition leader Boris Nemtsov was killed by members of either the state security services or a "pro-government organization" acting "on the orders of the political leadership of the country," including President Vladimir Putin.
He wrote in a blog post that "the only question is how the order was formulated: 'You must kill Nemtsov,' or 'You must carry out a noisy, high-profile action.' "
Navalny is serving a 15-day prison sentence for handing out leaflets promoting a protest and thus was not permitted to attend Nemtsov's funeral Tuesday.
Nemtsov, who was shot dead on a bridge near the Kremlin Friday night, was buried at Moscow's Troyekurovskoye Cemetery.
In his blog post, Navalny took issue with some liberal Russian politicians and analysts who, in the wake of Nemtsov's slaying, have accused the Kremlin of creating an atmosphere of hatred against the opposition through the state-controlled media, but say they do not think Putin or members of his government were directly involved in the killing.
Some of these same observers also have said that Nemtsov's murder was "disadvantageous" to Putin.
Calling such comments "nonsense," Navalny pointed to what he said were officially sanctioned "pro-government extremist terrorist groups" set up in recent months. He specifically cited the "Anti-Maidan” group, which held a pro-Kremlin demonstration in Moscow last month, and gunmen loyal to the pro-Moscow leader of Russia's Chechnya leader, Ramzan Kadyrov.
In late December, Kadyrov offered Putin a "special regiment of volunteers" ready to defend "Russia, its stability and its borders." This unit, the Chechen leader said, is ready to carry out "any order of the national leader of Russia" and protect Russia's "legitimate interests" anywhere in the world.
Navalny said groups that have "expressly declared their goal to fight the opposition where the police cannot" have been created during "meetings in the Kremlin" to carry out "acts of terror" like the killing of Nemtsov.
Such actions are "beneficial to Putin," Navalny wrote, citing the examples of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin and Chilean military dictator Augusto Pinochet. "Open a history textbook," he added.
Putin, whose official residence is inside the Kremlin, called the killing a provocation and vowed to find whoever was responsible. The president is said to be overseeing the investigation.
Read the whole story
· ·
Russian president’s comments suggest police will no longer pursue lead that Kremlin critic’s killing was linked to his personal life
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said the murder of the Kremlin critic Boris Nemtsov was a shameful tragedy that carried a political subtext.
Nemtsov, a former deputy prime minister, was shot dead on Friday evening as he walked with his girlfriend near Red Square. He was the most prominent opposition figure to be killed in Russia during Putin’s 15-year rule.
Continue reading...Mourners Gather for Funeral of Slain Russian Opposition Leader by webdesk@voanews.com (Amanda Scott)
Mourners gathered in Moscow to pay their final respects to one of the Kremlin's most vocal critics, Boris Nemtsov, the 55-year old opposition leader and former deputy prime minister who was recently shot to death not far from the Kremlin. VOA's Amanda Scott reports from Washington.
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Nothing New in Netanyahu Speech, Obama Saysby webdesk@voanews.com (Luis Ramirez)
President Barack Obama was critical of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech Tuesday before the U.S. Congress, saying the Israeli leader offered no new alternatives on dealing with Iran and its nuclear ambitions. Obama told reporters in the Oval Office he did not watch the speech but did see a transcript. “As far as I can tell, there was nothing new,” said the president, who was taking part in a videoconference with European leaders on Ukraine and other issues as the Israeli leader...
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President Obama said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel “didn't offer any viable alternatives” on Iran during his address to Congress. Produced by: Reuters http://www.nytimes....
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Interviewed by the editor-in-chief of Vestnik Kavkaza, Maria Sidelnikova
After the death of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia experts still cannot agree on the question of how foreign policy in Riyadh will change. Not so long ago, US media falsely reported that Saudi Arabia proposed that Moscow abandon support for the regime of Bashar Assad, promising in return to reduce the level of oil output and contribute to the growth of world prices for "black gold". However, in Moscow and Riyadh the reports of that "deal" were denied. However, the war in Syria has seriously complicated Russian-Saudi relations. Saudi Arabia recognized the Syrian opposition coalition as a legitimate force opposing Assad. Russia, on the other hand, did not.
In general, relations between Moscow and Riyadh in recent decades have not been equal, but they have been multifaceted. One of the important milestones in their development was the visit by the head of Chechnya, Akhmad Kadyrov, to Saudi Arabia. At that time, in the early 2000s, Andrei Baklanov served as ambassador to Saudi Arabia, and was one of the organizers of the visit. Today, Andrei Baklanov - the famous Russian scientist-orientalist, an expert in the field of international relations, is a guest in the Vestnik Kavkaza studio.
- What was the talking point during the conversation between the Chechen delegation and the Saudi Arabian authorities?
- I remember, it was a very important meeting with one of the most experienced politicians in the world - Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal. He worked more than 30 years as foreign minister, had seen a lot and wanted to hear what Kadyrov would say. The minister had quite unusual questions that revealed the depth of his interest. Al-Faisal, for example, asked Kadyrov: "You have a very well-educated people, how is it that in the initial stages of changes, the extremists seized the initiative in the country? Why did others take it passively?" And Kadyrov spoke in detail that at first there was hope for transformation, but it turned out that everything is going in a completely different plane, the plane of separatism, cracks between nations. Kadyrov, frankly, said that we underestimated the impact of the hostile, cynical forces that were located far from Chechnya.
I also told him that the forces hostile to our country had several scenarios for a Russian collapse. Initially, priority was given to collapse due to the formation of the Urals Republic. This project was of far more importance than the script associated with Chechnya. But movement there stopped, and then began in Chechnya.
- What were the results of Ahmat Kadirov's negotiations in Saudi Arabia?
- There was definitely a change in the mood among the Saudis. They quite clearly stated for themselves that they should be working with Kadyrov and the new Chechen leadership. Moreover, it is necessary not only to establish relations with Russia, but also in terms of not allowing external forces to start a provocative situation in the country, to drive a wedge between different segments of the population, ethnic or religious.
It was agreed to promote cooperation in the trade and economic spheres. Separately, I would like to highlight the meeting with the Minister of Hajj Madani, who has now become general secretary of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and in his new role is going to come to our country in June. I think that his trip to Chechnya will be organized, where he will meet with [Ramzan Kadyrov] the son of the man whom he took into his residence as Minister of Hajj very warmly.
We had meetings with the ministers of industry, economic trends, healthcare and a number of others. The program was very extensive. Everywhere, Kadyrov was very impressive, not only as a leader of the Chechen Republic and a representative of the Caucasus region, but also as a representative of the Russian government.
His visit - part of the restoration of normal relations, which occurred in the first half of the 2000s, and Kadyrovs’ merit is very high. For Chechnya it was important, because for her, the gates to the whole Islamic world were open. Especially considering that the Organization of Islamic Solidarity is located in Jeddah, in the city where Akhmad Kadyrov met with President of the Islamic Development Bank, and then agreed to develop this line of communication. This was a very versatile format of the visit, and in every direction Kadyrov was well prepared, brilliantly held talks, left a good memory of him, and began to do many things in practical terms.
- There was definitely a change in the mood among the Saudis. They quite clearly stated for themselves that they should be working with Kadyrov and the new Chechen leadership. Moreover, it is necessary not only to establish relations with Russia, but also in terms of not allowing external forces to start a provocative situation in the country, to drive a wedge between different segments of the population, ethnic or religious.
It was agreed to promote cooperation in the trade and economic spheres. Separately, I would like to highlight the meeting with the Minister of Hajj Madani, who has now become general secretary of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and in his new role is going to come to our country in June. I think that his trip to Chechnya will be organized, where he will meet with [Ramzan Kadyrov] the son of the man whom he took into his residence as Minister of Hajj very warmly.
We had meetings with the ministers of industry, economic trends, healthcare and a number of others. The program was very extensive. Everywhere, Kadyrov was very impressive, not only as a leader of the Chechen Republic and a representative of the Caucasus region, but also as a representative of the Russian government.
His visit - part of the restoration of normal relations, which occurred in the first half of the 2000s, and Kadyrovs’ merit is very high. For Chechnya it was important, because for her, the gates to the whole Islamic world were open. Especially considering that the Organization of Islamic Solidarity is located in Jeddah, in the city where Akhmad Kadyrov met with President of the Islamic Development Bank, and then agreed to develop this line of communication. This was a very versatile format of the visit, and in every direction Kadyrov was well prepared, brilliantly held talks, left a good memory of him, and began to do many things in practical terms.
- Do such visits happen often in Saudi Arabia, or was it a rare case?
- Still, it was a one-time visit, because before that, for a long period of time, there were serious dissensions in our approaches. It was necessary to bring our positions closer. Before this, they took representatives of hostile forces, met them, "attacked" us at international conferences, and here there was a 180-degree turn. It was a breakthrough visit, the effects of which are felt to this day.
- The mechanics that were laid that time, are they still functionating?
- The role of Saudi Arabia is multifaceted. It dominates the Arabian Peninsula. Look at how much building was constructed there, cities renewed, a large income of foreign investment. Of course it mattered what position Saudi Arabia takes. And the visit played a huge role in ensuring that there would be a positive reaction in the Arab world. With the Minister of Hajj we consolidated our priorities. Even when the Holy Land was reconstructed, and because of this the quotas for those who come from abroad decreased, for us, for the Chechen component, an exception was made and our quotas were not reduced. We were given the opportunity to send the same number of pilgrims as before. This is a very important thing – psychological support.
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Maxim Stulov / Vedomosti"The Chechen republic will become one of the top world centers for training special forces," the republic's leader Ramzan Kadyrov has announced.
Chechnya will soon host a state of the art special forces training center the size of a city, the republic's leader Ramzan Kadyrov has announced.
"The Chechen republic will become one of the top world centers for training special forces," Kadyrov announced via Instagram late Wednesday.
It was unclear when construction would be completed, but Kadyrov said the project involved an entire city that would exist specifically for counter-terrorism training purposes.
"In the unique tactical city there are high-rises, schools, hospitals, kindergartens and a theater, all meant for drills on freeing hostages and destroying terrorists," Kadyrov wrote. "The center can accommodate parachute, mountain, forest, water and other kinds of training. Construction on a wind tunnel is under way as well," he wrote.
The announcement comes after thousands of special forces gathered at a stadium in Grozny last December to declare their "readiness to fulfill any order or task of the president of Russia," according to the BBC's Russian service. The statement was broadly interpreted at the time as a vow to fight in Ukraine if the conflict there escalated.
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