Ramzan Kadyrov has objected to a Russian state-sanctioned narrative in a textbook about the history of the Caucasus republic he rules, the latest example of the Chechen leader’s potential problems for the Kremlin.
Kadyrov and other North Caucasus leaders and public figures are reportedly outraged by a newly released textbook for Russian schoolchildren that claims people from countries in the region were deported during World War II because they were Nazi collaborators.
Historians say there were indeed some guerrilla groups in the region who supported Nazi Germany, but they were few in number and not very influential. Some prominent figures in the Caucasus condemned the story of the deportations, although the book did acknowledge the unfairness of forced exile.
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The book is reportedly authored by former Russian Culture Minister Vladimir Medinsky, a Putin aide who is said to be Putin’s “ghostwriter” responsible for preparing books bearing the Russian president’s name. text. New York Times.
Titled “Instigators of the Occupiers,” the book describes Soviet leader Joseph Stalin’s deportation of some 600,000 Chechens, Ingush, Balkars and Karachas to Siberia and Karachi in 1943 and 1944. Central Asia, the cause of thousands of deaths on the way. Or after they arrive.
times of london Magomed Daudov, the head of Chechnya’s parliament, said Kadyrov had ordered copies of the book to be confiscated in Chechnya and he later deleted the part of his Instagram post that said the book had been confiscated. He also called on Medinsky to change the text of the book.
Ali Totokulov, chairman of Russia’s Caucasus People’s Congress, said his organization would try to ban the textbook for 16-year-olds.
Weekly newspaper The Kremlin was approached for comment via email.
The row came as Kadyrov shared a video praising his teenage son for beating a prisoner accused of burning a Quran, saying “he did the right thing”, sparking Russia’s concerns of government officials.
Kadyrov made the comment alongside a Telegram video in which a young man dressed in khaki beats another man who was huddled in a chair, then threw him to the ground and slapped him head.
The prisoner was 19-year-old Nikita Zhuravel, who was arrested in May on charges of setting fire to a copy of the Quran outside a mosque in Volgograd, according to the United States Commission on International Religion. He was then sent to predominantly Muslim Chechnya to face prosecution. Liberal groups have expressed concerns for his safety.
Russia’s human rights commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova said in August that the incident would be investigated after Zhuravil submitted a complaint.
State Duma deputy Yevgeny Popov said on the propaganda plan 60 minutes “You cannot beat people. It is illegal. The punishment of criminals is decided by the courts. And only the courts,” he said on the Russia-1 channel.
Vladislav Davankov, deputy speaker of the State Duma of the Russian Federation, said the law protecting the feelings of religious believers “does not say that beating in a pretrial detention center is an acceptable punishment.”
War Translator’s X (formerly Twitter) account posted that Russian troops who used to wear Kadyrov T-shirts “are now attacking him.”
Meanwhile, rumors about Kadyrov’s health have circulated in recent weeks, with reports suggesting he was seriously ill or even dead, with Ukrainian military intelligence spokesman Andrei Yusov saying he had “systemic health problems.”
However, Kadyrov posted a video of himself on Telegram, saying he was “alive and doing well” and said he was going to Moscow’s Central Clinical Hospital to visit his uncle Has-Mago, who was being treated there. Dmitry Kadyrov. The video was allegedly produced on September 20.
Kadyrov, who has been accused by international groups of overseeing human rights abuses, has frequently criticized Russia’s actions during Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, without directly mentioning the Russian president, whose troops have played a crucial role in Ukraine’s fight for Moscow. role.
The death of the leader, who has ruled Chechnya with an iron fist since 2007, is likely to complicate the role of the Chechen army, which fights alongside Putin’s forces.
