Mitsaeva joins Kadyrov’s propaganda corps

Rubati Mitsaeva got the role of a Ramzan Kadyrov’s admirer to motivate other Chechen migrants to return to their homeland, note human rights defenders interviewed by the “Caucasian Knot”.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that on December 14, with the permission of Ramzan Kadyrov, Rubati Mitsaeva, an associate of Akhmed Zakaev, returned from Germany to Chechnya. At the airport in Grozny, she was met by top-ranking officials, and the leader of Chechnya then personally received Rubati Mitsaeva and danced with her.

Svetlana Gannushkina, the chair of the “Civic Assistance Committee”*, has told the “Caucasian Knot” correspondent that the Chechen authorities consider the return of Rubati Mitsaeva a significant event, since the woman had an influence on Chechen migrants.

The human rights defender notes that the return of Rubati Mitsaeva can be used by the authorities of Chechnya as an example to be followed by Chechen migrants. According to the idea of the Chechen authorities, the image of a “repentant” supporter of Ichkeria, who is not being persecuted, should return to the homeland other Chechen natives who left Russia, Svetlana Gannushkina believes.

The return of Rubati Mitsaeva is considered significant by the Chechen authorities, but they use the event exclusively for their own PR campaign, notes Oyub Titiev, an employee of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) “Memorial”**. “I urge the public to pay as little attention to the event as possible and to do more important things. There is nothing significant in the Rubati Mitsaeva’s case, except for the PR of the Chechen authorities,” Oyub Titiev stated categorically.

* The organization has been put on the register of foreign agents by the Russian Ministry of Justice

** The organization is included by the Russian Ministry of Justice in the register of NPOs performing the functions of a foreign agent

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on December 21, 2021 at 06:44 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.