Some Kadyrov's subordinates maintain their Instagram pages

Djambulat Umarov, Chechen Minister for External Relations, Press and Information, Elkhan Suleimanov, Chechen Minister for Public Health, and the Aishat Kadyrova's fashion house "Firdaus" continue to keep their pages in Instagram, despite the massive withdrawal of officials and institutions from the social network.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on December 20, the United States included Ramzan Kadyrov in the Magnitsky List of sanctions. At night on December 23, Ramzan Kadyrov's accounts in Facebook and Instagram, where he was very active, became not available.

The Chechen leader has announced the launch of the social network Mylistory and started an account there, and after that Chechen officials declared they moved to the social network.

The campaign to exit Instagram after the Ramzan Kadyrov's page had been blocked was supported by most official institutions. In particular, the Spiritual Administration of Muslims (SAM) and the Grozny Mayoralty, the Parliament, the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), and the Prosecutor's Office of the Chechen Republic announced in Instagram about their transition to Mylistory.

Djambulat Umarov, Chechen Minister for External Relations, Press and Information, still keeps his account in Instagram. He has severely criticized the blocking of the Ramzan Kadyrov's page. Meanwhile, Djambulat Umarov announced he had followed Ramzan Kadyrov to Mylistory.

Local officials use the resonance around the blocking of the Chechen leader's page in Instagram for demonstrating their loyalty, observers believe.

"All the fuss about the blocking of the Ramzan Kadyrov's page in Instagram is first of all a PR action for him and his subordinates... Ordinary people were in general rather indifferent to those reports. They are more concerned over their problems, including the growth of tariffs for housing and communal services, increase in prices and so on," noted a leader of a Chechen NGO.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.