Residents of Sunzha approached Chaika with a request to build a sports complex.

The Ingush authorities are ignoring requests from Sunzha residents to build a sports and fitness center on a vacant lot in the city center. They have asked the Russian Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy to the North Caucasus Federal District to intervene.

Sunzha residents have written a collective appeal to the Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy to the North Caucasus Federal District, Yuri Chaika, and the Russian Minister of Sport, asking for assistance in building a new sports complex on Engels Street to replace apartment buildings and garages demolished in 2023, Fortanga reports.

Residents are dissatisfied with the lack of a sports and fitness center for children in the city center. The city's only sports and fitness center is located on the outskirts, the publication reported, citing documents provided.

"We've written to all regional authorities, including the head of the republic, Makhmud-Ali Kalimatov, and the speaker of parliament, Magomet Tumgoev, but they keep referring us to the Ingush Ministry of Sports, where they're refusing to build it," said one of the petitioners.

According to residents, the vacant lot where the demolished buildings once stood has now become a haven for drug addicts. "It's better to improve the area and build a sports facility for children." Moreover, the mayor of Sunzha, Aslan Umarov, directly stated during a direct line with Kalimatov that this land belongs to the municipality and the authorities are ready to provide the site for the construction of a sports and recreation center,” a Sunzha resident was quoted as saying in a publication dated December 31, 2025.

Earlier, city residents and parents of children involved in sports asked local authorities and the head of the republic, Makhmud-Ali Kalimatov, not to demolish the old sports and recreation center located in the city center, but were unsuccessful.

“The sports and recreation center was located in the central part of the city near the cultural center, and it was demolished. They want to build a new one in a different place,” Sunzha residents appealed to Kalimatov in 2022; their appeal was published by Angusht.Online.

“Caucasian Knot” also wrote that at the end of August, blogger Ramzan Barkinkhoev published a video showing the depressing The state of Sunzha's main city park. Once a local magnet, it was abandoned after closing for renovations in early 2025. Ramzan Barkinkhoyev's video sparked a public outcry. Following numerous complaints from residents and the video, the head of Ingushetia promised to reopen Sunzha's city park in the summer of 2026.