Dzhokhar-Khala/Agency Caucasus – Ramzan Kadyrov, Moscow-backed President of Chechnya, continues to lionize the name of Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister of Russia, who masterminded the war between Chechnya and Russia that has caused as many as 130 000 civilians to die since 1999.
Kadyrov ordered the name of the Square of Victory in Dzhokhar-Khala, capital of Chechnya, to be changed to the Square of Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin. "This boulevard will from now on be called Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin. He is the saver of the Chechen nation. He saved us from genocide. The 1999 military operation saved Chechnya from international homicide. I am sure that 90 percent of the Chechen population supports me in my opinion," Kadyrov said.
He ordered the 420th anniversary of Friendship between Russia and Chechnya to be celebrated on Sunday in Dzhokhar-Khala, ignoring 400 years of the Chechen struggle for independence. Balloons were released and placards were carried to mark the event in a Soviet way on October 5, the day with which Kadyrov’s birthday coincides. Kaydrov is now 32.
Kadyrov was honored on behalf of the whole Chechen nation with a marvelous gesture from Vladimir Ustinov, Russian President Dmitri Medvedev’s representative in the North Caucasus.
FT
