Week in the Caucasus: review of main events of January 31-February 6, 2022

Involvement by Kadyrov of the public in Chechnya into the fight against the Yangulbaev family; determination of a candidate for the post of President of Armenia; explosion at a mine in Tkibuli; sentence to a native of Dagestan in a case on the terror acts in the Moscow metro, – see the review of these and other events in the Caucasus during the week of January 31-February 6, 2022, prepared by the “Caucasian Knot”.

Involvement by Kadyrov of public in Chechnya into fight against Yangulbaev family

In Chechnya, the struggle between Ramzan Kadyrov and members of the Yangulbaev family, whom he considers involved in one of the opposition Telegram channels, continues to gain momentum. On February 1, top-ranking Chechen officials, law enforcers, and religious figures from the Muftiate issued a sharp condemnation of the Yangulbaev family, addressed them with curses and insults, and threatened with reprisal. Ramzan Kadyrov compared the Yangulbaev family members with Khattab and Basaev. The “Grozny” ChGTRK (Chechen State TV and Radio Broadcasting Company) explains that the indignation was provoked by the statements about Kunta-Khadji Kishiev. According to the “Grozny” ChGTRK, Ibragim Yangulbaev was an author of the scandalous audio record. On February 2, at a rally which gathered many thousands of people in the centre of Grozny, its participants followed the leaders of the republic and voiced curses against the Yangulbaev family. The Mufti of Chechnya announced to the audience that the Yangulbaev family had offended the feelings of believers. Chechen officials condemned the Yangulbaev family, and the local residents who gathered for the rally burned portraits of the members of the Yangulbaev family. At the rally, the participants also called on President Putin to stop the operation of the newspaper “Novaya Gazeta”, the “Dozhd” (Rain) TV Channel*, and the “Committee Against Torture”**. According to the analysts interviewed by the “Caucasian Knot”, Ramzan Kadyrov needed the rally in order to reinforce his enmity with the Yangulbaev family with the “position of the people” and demonstrate to the Kremlin amid the criticism from human rights defenders that the Chechen authorities were well in control of the situation in the republic. On February 3, at a rally in the village of Goity, relatives of the Yangulbaev and Musaev families and members of the Keloi teip (family clan, – note of the “Caucasian Knot”) disavowed their relatives and promised to take revenge on them. The relatives of the Yangulbaev family were forced to curse and threaten them, fearing for their safety, but the declaration of revenge by the relatives led to real danger for the members of the Yangulbaev family, human rights defenders and Caucasian experts interviewed by the “Caucasian Knot” point out.

On February 1, Adam Delimkhanov, a State Duma member and an adviser to the leader of Chechnya, posted a video on his Instagram page in which he threatened in Chechen language the members of the Yangulbaev family with physical reprisal and punishment for those who would translate his words into Russian. Adam Delimkhanov based his threats on blood feud. Some of the Adam Delimkhanov’s colleagues in the State Duma said that law enforcers should check those threats. The promise voiced by Adam Delimkhanov to cut off the heads of the Yangulbaev family members and those who would translate his words into Russian could well be regarded as a threat of murder, especially in the realities of Chechnya, so the Russian authorities are obliged to respond immediately, Caucasian experts and human rights defenders point out. On February 2, presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said that the Adam Delimkhanov’s statements should be assessed by the State Duma Commission on Parliamentary Ethics.

Amid the scandal caused by the threats voiced by the authorities of Chechnya to the Yangulbaev family, human rights defenders, and journalists, the President of Russia met Ramzan Kadyrov in Moscow. The meeting was reported on the night of February 3. The meeting took place despite the fact that earlier, presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov assured that there were no such plans. Dmitry Peskov said that one of the topics discussed during the meeting was the work of the law enforcement bodies. The President Putin’s meeting with Ramzan Kadyrov looks like an attempt by the Kremlin to gently correct the leader of the region, but that will not affect the stability of the Ramzan Kadyrov’s positions, analysts interviewed by the “Caucasian Knot” note.

Determination of a candidate for post of President of Armenia

On February 3, in Armenia, the ruling “Civil Contract” Party nominated Vaagn Khachaturyan, the minister of high-tech industry, a candidate for the presidency of the country. On February 4, it became known that the “Armenia” and “I have the Honour” parliamentary opposition factions decided not to nominate their candidates for the presidential election. In a joint statement, the oppositionists declared that the participation of the opposition in the presidential election would legitimize the process. Let us remind you that on January 23, Armen Sarkisyan announced his resignation from the post of President of Armenia. Armen Sarkisyan explained that he had no levers of influence on domestic and foreign policy and became “the target of various political groups.”

Explosion at a mine in Tkibuli

On the night of January 31, an explosion occurred at the Mindeli coal mine in Tkibuli in the Imereti region of Georgia. As a result of the explosion, one miner was killed, and eight others were hospitalized in the Tbilisi burn centre. Doctors assessed the condition of seven victims as severe, and the condition of one more as extremely severe. When announcing a preliminary conclusion, the Georgian Labour Inspection Service reported that the explosion at the mine in Tkibuli was caused by an excess of methane concentration due to safety violations. The Labour Inspection Service suspended blasting works at the mine. The tragedy in Tkibuli has drawn attention to the miners’ safety. The authorities should thoroughly investigate the mine explosion in Tkibuli and carry out regular inspections to prevent a repeat of the tragedy, says Ombudsperson Nino Lomdjariya.

Sentence to a native of Dagestan in a case on terror acts in Moscow metro

On February 4, a court in Moscow sentenced Magomed Nurov, a native of Dagestan, in a case on the terror acts committed in 2010 at the “Lubyanka” and “Park Kultury” stations in the Moscow metro. The court sentenced the native of Dagestan to life imprisonment in a high-security penal colony. Let us remind you that on March 29, 2010, two explosions occurred at the “Lubyanka” and “Park Kultury” metro stations in Moscow. Forty people were killed, and over 100 others were injured. According to the investigators’ version, the explosions were committed by a wife of Magomedali Vagabov, one of the leaders of the Dagestani militants, and a widow of Umalat Magomedov, the leader of the Dagestani militants, who was killed in late December 2009. The militants of Northern Caucasus claimed responsibility for the terror acts and called them the revenge on the militaries for actions in Chechnya. Investigators believe the terror acts were organized by Gusen Magomedov, who was killed in 2013. According to the investigators’ version, Magomed Nurov helped Gusen Magomedov escape after the terror act, and Magomed Nurov also acted as a militants’ agent, drove its members in his car to meetings where explosions were planned. Magomed Nurov fully admitted his guilt.

*The organization has been put by the Russian Ministry of Justice on the register of NCOs performing the functions of a foreign agent.

** The “Committee Against Torture” (CaT) was included by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) of Russia in the register of NCOs-foreign agents in 2015. In this regard, leaders liquidated the organization and created a new legal entity: the “Committee for the Prevention of Torture”, which was also included in the list of foreign agents, and the organization was closed. At present, the “Committee Against Torture” operates as an unregistered public association.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on February 5, 2022 at 09:35 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.