Rights defenders treat activists and journalists as addressees of Kadyrov's threats

Ramzan Kadyrov's statement about "provocateurs" on the Chechen-Ingush border is a threat to the activists, who had filmed the construction equipment in the "Erzi" Nature Reserve, as well as the journalists, who would visit the pre-border area, human rights defenders have stated.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on October 31, the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, announced plans to improve the territory on the border with Ingushetia and threatened to arrest those who "are trying to destabilize the situation" in connection with the border agreement.

Kadyrov's statement about provocations suggests a fairly broad range of addressees, since he treats any criticism against him as a provocation, said Svetlana Gannushkina, the chair of the Civil Assistance Committee.

She recalled that in some cases people's appeals to Kadyrov for help triggered persecutions of them.

According to Ms Gannushkina, Kadyrov's new statement should alert the activists who may be found involved in the conflict over the Ingush-Chechen border.

Kadyrov's words may pe problems for opponents of the border agreement, Alexander Cherkasov, the board chairman of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial", has suggested.

At the same time, he has acknowledged the danger of appeals to changing borders in the modern Northern Caucasus, since they can provoke a real conflict.

Travels to Chechnya and Ingushetia, and the pre-border areas of these republics are unsafe, especially for journalists and rights defenders, said Albert Kuznetsov, the coordinator of the North-Caucasian branch of the Committee against Torture (CaT).