Support for Belkharoev family continues trend of Kadyrov’s protection of “his people”

The fact that after searches and arrests in Ingushetia, the leader of Chechnya called members of the Belkharoev family his close friends reminded of Ramzan Kadyrov’s close contacts with followers of Sheikh Batal-Khadji during the establishment of borders between Chechnya and Ingushetia, as well as the attempts of the leader of Chechnya to intercede for Sagid Murtazaliev, who had been put on the wanted list in Dagestan.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov stood up for the Belkharoev family, several members of which were arrested in Ingushetia. The leader of Chechnya also stated that the term “Batalkhadjin terrorist society” is absurd.

Ramzan Kadyrov’s support for the followers of Sheikh Batal-Khadji became an argument in the dispute over the establishment of the borders between Chechnya and Ingushetia. In 2018, when mass protests began in Ingushetia against the establishment of the new border with Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov demonstrated his special relationship with the community of the followers of Sheikh Batal-Khadji. Thus, the leader of Chechnya made it clear that he had support in the neighbouring republic. In particular, Ramzan Kadyrov visited the place where Sheikh Batal-Khadji had been buried and the mosque, which mainly gathered residents of the village of Surkhakhi and followers of the Sheikh Batal-Khadji’s doctrine, loyal to Ramzan Kadyrov.

When commenting on the Chechen leader’s visit to the sacred places of the Sheikh Batal-Khadji community, many social media users noted that they considered the trip of Ramzan Kadyrov a method of putting pressure on Yunus-Bek Evkurov, who then held the position of the leader of Ingushetia.

Even before the police showed their interest in checking the activities of Sagid Murtazaliev, Ramzan Kadyrov himself called him “a brother.”

After Sagid Murtazaliev had been put on the wanted list, Ramzan Kadyrov said that the accusations against Sagid Murtazaliev might be unfounded. The leader of Chechnya also called Sagid Murtazaliev “a true patriot and faithful son of Russia.”

Dagestani journalists considered Ramzan Kadyrov’s support for Sagid Murtazaliev useless.