In Grozny, "Immortal Regiment" shows Kadyrov's loyalty to Kremlin

Some students and state servants have treated their participation in the Victory Day celebrations and the "Immortal Regiment" march in Grozny as compulsory. Experts view the "Immortal Regiment" action in Chechnya as a demonstration of Kadyrov's loyalty to the Russian federal authorities.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on May 9, the "Immortal Regiment" marches dedicated to the memory of the participants of the Great Patriotic War took place in many cities of Russia and abroad.

In the morning on May 9, Grozny held two consecutive celebrations – a military parade and the "Immortal Regiment" march. The marchers were headed by republic's leadership led by Ramzan Kadyrov. According to the Grozny Mayoralty, over 15,000 people took part in the march.

Students and state servants (employees of budget-funded organizations) have explained their participation in the military parade and the "Immortal Regiment" march by coercion. For the march, many of them were given ready-made portraits of persons unknown to them.

Rizvan Ibragimov, a local publicist, has treated the "Immortal Regiment" march in Chechnya as a formality. "The Kremlin needs to support its importance; therefore, it conducts these marches. This is a pure formality – Chechnya is part of Russia; and its leadership is obliged to fulfil orders from above," Mr Ibragimov has told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent today.

The "Immortal Regiment" is a demonstration of loyalty to the Russian authorities, Akhmed Yarlykapov, a senior fellow at the Centre for Studying the Caucasus at the MGIMO, agrees.

"It happens on any all-Russian holiday. Moreover, the 'Immortal Regiment' is a sort of a symbol of all-Russian identity," Mr Yarlykapov told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on May 11, 2019 at 05:31 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.