Scale of festivities in Grozny shows Kadyrov's ambitions

The city of Grozny, the capital of Chechnya, has celebrated the City Day and the 45th Ramzan Kadyrov's birthday; he has also taken the post of the head of Chechnya for another term. Kadyrov has combined the holidays to be more visible; his ambitions grow from year to year, Svetlana Gannushkina, a human rights defender, has noted. A large number of holidays are alien to the Chechen society, said Ruslan Kutaev, the President of the Assembly of Caucasian Nations.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Kadyrov's inauguration as the head of Chechnya coincided not only with his birthday, but also with the 203rd anniversary of the city of Grozny. In his inaugural speech, Kadyrov promised to respect and protect citizens' rights.

Ramzan Kadyrov is trying to maintain his position, and unites holidays in order to be more visible, Svetlana Gannushkina, the chair of the "Civil Assistance" Committee*.

The decision to combine all the holidays was made with an eye to Moscow. If to celebrate all of them during three days – the inauguration, the City Day and the birthday, – Moscow may be unhappy with the "republic's too idle lifestyle," Alexei Malashenko, a political analyst, has noted.

The prolonged celebrations can also annoy people who need to make their living. This could tell negatively on Kadyrov's rating among ordinary Chechens, Mr Malashenko believes.

A simultaneous celebration of several holidays was invented by the Kremlin, said Ruslan Kutaev, the President of the Assembly of Caucasian Nations. In his opinion, pompous festivities are aimed at vulgarizing the Chechen society, which will become easier to govern. Moscow "deliberately injects alien values and behaviour into Chechens," and Kadyrov is "a victim and a hostage of the situation," Mr Kutaev has stated.